Chris Paul said he has "never played with this much talent" after helping the Phoenix Suns to an imposing 3-1 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in their first-round playoff series.

The Suns are among the favourites to reach the Conference Finals from the West given a stacked roster that now includes Kevin Durant alongside Paul and Devin Booker.

Paul (19 points), Durant (31 points) and Booker (30 points) all contributed in Saturday's 112-100 victory, which leaves the Suns one win away from progressing.

At 37, Paul – who spent seven years at the Clippers – has been around the block but this crop of Phoenix stars is among the best he has seen assembled.

"I've never played with this much talent," said Paul, who drained 12 of his points in the fourth quarter. 

"Where people are doubling off of me. I've never seen so many open shots.

"It's something that I'm getting used to. Trying to figure out when to pick your spots, when to be aggressive. We're figuring this thing out on the fly. I'm just happy that a few of them fell tonight."

The Suns were sloppy at the start of the second half, giving up seven straight points in the opening minute, leading to Paul aiming a few choice words at the team from the bench.

"I think the way the third quarter started, I was p*****. We all was," Paul added. 

"We were on the bench sort of going at each other. But it's healthy. Just trying to get us going. I tried to get myself going defensively. The shots, they're going to come."

One potential concern is a lack of depth, with Durant (45), Booker (42) and Paul (38) racking up big minutes – indeed the former two players are clocking an average of 43 minutes in the playoffs.

But Durant gave short shrift to the idea of being overworked.

"How'd I look tonight?" Durant said. "I felt great. I missed a lot of time this season. 

"I want to be out there every minute. I wish I could play 48 every game."

Durant also had high praise for Clippers star Russell Westbrook, who had a game-high 37 points.

Westbrook endured a tough spell at the Clippers' rivals the Los Angeles Lakers, but Durant said he is among the best in the business.

"People going to always criticise when you're successful and doing your thing for this long. Russ has been resilient his whole life. He comes to work, doesn't say much. Just come hoop," Durant added.

"When he retires, people are going to really tell the truth about his game. Right now, the fun thing to do is to make a joke out of Russ. But the way he's been playing since he got with the Clippers is showing everybody who he really is."

LeBron James said it was not about making a statement after helping the Los Angeles Lakers take a 2-1 lead over the Memphis Grizzlies following a flashpoint with Dillon Brooks.

A raucous sell-out crowd at Crypto.com Arena roared the Lakers onto a 111-101 victory in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series.

James had 25 points, while Anthony Davis had 31 and 17 rebounds in a game where the Lakers raced into a 35-9 first-quarter lead.

The Grizzlies saw Ja Morant put up 45 points after missing one game with a sore right hand and also had Brooks ejected 17 seconds into the third quarter for a flagrant foul when he struck James in the groin.

It did not take the officials long to toss Brooks from the game, but James said the focus was merely on getting the win on the board.

"I didn't make a statement," James said. "I've been doing this too long. 

"I'm not making any statements. We had the opportunity to come home and play well on our home floor, and we did that. No statement was made. 

"We just wanted to play well, and we got a win. I don't need to make statements."

Brooks had been taunted by the Lakers crowd all game and head coach Darvin Ham said the vociferous home support was crucial in their efforts.

"I thought our crowd was phenomenal," Ham said. "Really felt them in the building. Thank God we gave them something to cheer about, the way we came out."

While Brooks did not address the media, Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins merely said of the incident: "Officials made a call."

Morant scored 22 consecutive points for the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter, while he also had 13 assists and nine rebounds. Ultimately, though, Memphis' lowest first-quarter return in franchise history proved too big an obstacle to overcome.

"I think we won by double digits in the last three quarters, so obviously that first quarter pretty much hurt us," Morant said. 

"I feel pretty good. Obviously some stuff you've just got to play through and tolerate.

"In that fourth quarter, I was just trying to win the game. Got it going pretty good, making shots, and just couldn't get it over that hump."

The Miami Heat will wait on scan results on a worrying knee injury to Victor Oladipo that soured Saturday's 121-99 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of their first round series.

Oladipo went down on a drive to the bucket following a foul from Bobby Portis with 3:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, immediately clutching his left knee with an ominous look on his face.

The injury-cursed Heat guard was eventually assisted off the court by Miami's coaching staff, including head coach Erik Spoelstra, with the home court crowd cheering him out.

"We'll just have to see," Spoelstra said. "I feel like throwing up right now, but I don't know what the prognosis is. I want to stay positive on this, and we'll just see what happens."

Oladipo was restricted to only eight games in the 2021-22 season due to injury and only 33 during the 2020-21 campaign across three teams.

The injury soured a win that saw the Eastern Conference eight seed go 2-1 up with home court advantage for Game 4 against the top-seeded Bucks.

"It was a great win, but when you see a player go down like that and particularly a player like Vic, who has gone through so much in the last three years - I don't know what it is right now, so I don't want to jump the gun on anything," Spoelstra said. "But that's definitely not a good feeling to see."

The Bucks-Heat series has been riddled with injuries, with Giannis Antetokounmpo (bruised lower back) and Tyler Herro (broken hand) both unavailable for Game 3.

The Heat's injury concerns got worse with top scorer Jimmy Butler taking a hard fall in the third quarter and exiting the game with a bruised glute after 30 points in 28 minutes.

"He went back to the locker room and said, 'Hey, just give me a couple minutes, I'll be ready to go,'" Spoelstra said.

"I was going to insert him back into the game if it broke 15, but the second unit all night long gave us a tremendous boost."

The Bucks missed MVP candidate Antetokounmpo, shooting 44.7 per cent from the field and gifting 18 turnovers, while Miami scored 46 points in the paint compared to Milwaukee's 36.

"We'll continue to monitor him through the day tomorrow, through the day the next day," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters pre-game about Antetokounmpo's status.

"He's not in a place where he can go, so we'll just continue to monitor and work with him and hope for the best."

Randy Arozarena was the hero as the Tampa Bay Rays set a major league record for scoring homers in each of their first 21 games in a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Arozarena brought up the milestone with a two-run blast over left-center field in the first inning, before hitting a walkoff RBI single in the 10th.

The Rays, who started the season with 13 straight wins, improved their record to 18-3, marking the best start by any side in the majors since the New York Yankees in 2003.

Tampa Bay also broke the Seattle Mariners' 2019 record of homering in 20 straight games to start that season.

The game was in the balance after homers from Eloy Jimenez and Yasmani Grandal for the White Sox, before Arozarena singled to left for Diaz to score at the bottom of the fifth.

Gavin Sheets squared the game up with a homer to right field at the top of the eighth, before Arozarena settled the game.

Jimmy Lambert intentionally walked Wander Franco with two out and a runner on second, before Arozarena's first-pitch single to right field, driving in Vidal Brujan. Arozarena finished with four RBIs.

Shane McClanahan sent down 10 strikeouts across six innings, while White Sox starter Dylan Cease had five K's.

Garcia crushed three HRs in Rangers rout

Adolis Garcia blasted three home runs and eight RBIs in five innings as the Texas Rangers smoked the Oakland Athletics 18-3.

Garcia blasted a two-run 432-foot homer at the bottom of the first, repeating the dose in the third inning with a 419-foot bomb over center.

The Rangers outfielder made it 13-2 at the bottom of the fifth with 401-feet blast, before a two-run double in the seventh capped a remarkable showing, taking his season tally to seven homers and 28 RBIs.

Garcia went five-for-four, becoming the third player since 1901 with at least 16 total bases, three homers, eight RBIs and five runs in a single game.

Tatis homers for first time since 2021

Fernando Tatis Jr blasted his first home run since returning from an 80-game drug suspension as the San Diego Padres won 5-3 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tatis, in his third game back since the suspension elapsed, crushed a 374-foot homer over left field for his first blast since 2021. The Padres outfielder led the majors for homers in 2021, with 42.

Right-hander Joe Musgrove earned his first win of the season, following a toe injury sustained in the weight room during spring training, striking out six, giving up three runs on seven hits.

The Winnipeg Jets have been dealt a major blow with Josh Morrissey ruled out of the rest of their Stanley Cup first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights after Saturday's 5-4 double overtime loss.

Morrissey has had a career-best season, with 76 points in 78 games while averaging a team-high 24:14 per game, but collided knee on knee with Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud after four minutes in Saturday's game.

The Jets' All-Star defenseman favoured his right leg following the incident and exited down the tunnel and did not return.

Jets coach Rick Bowness confirmed the injury after the thrilling loss where Winnipeg had rallied back from 4-1 down, only to lose in OT, with VGK opening up a 2-1 series lead.

"It was very unfortunate to lose Morrissey, he's got a lower body [injury] and he's done for the series," he said.

"We've played all year long with a lot of injuries, every team does. You have the next man up. He's a top five D in this league right now. He plays important minutes. He drives the offense so he's a big hole.

"We played the rest of the game without him. We scored four. We're going to have the play the rest of the seirs without him because this series is far from over."

Adam Lowry had tied the game with 21.9 seconds left in regulation, capping the Jets' three-goal third period comeback, after goals from Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele.

But Michael Amadio scored at 3:40 of the second overtime to earn the Golden Knights a crucial road win.

Bowness added: "That was a hell of a hockey game. The crowd was fantastic. The guys laid it all out on the line. They played their hearts out.

"We're down three going into the third and we kept fighting. There's no quitting in this group."

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy praised his experienced side for clinching victory after letting slip their three-goal lead.

"You shouldn’t give up a lead when you have a veteran group, you should find a way to get it to the finish line," he said.

"We're also a veteran group who can put it behind us. If you've followed our team all year, we've found different ways to win."

On Morrissey's injury, Cassidy added: "Obviously that’s a heavy minute, highly productive player that they'll miss. Their depth will have to come through for them.

"It's a tough break in the playoffs to lose a guy like that but it won't change how we're going to play."

Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler retained their lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a third-round 62 in Saturday's four-ball.

The duo carded a 10-under 62 to be 26-under overall heading into the final day, leading by one stroke from Keith Mitchell and Sung-jae Im at TPC Louisiana.

The three teams are tied for third at 23-under overall, in Vincent Norrman and Matthias Schwab, Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore, and Nick Hardy and Davis Riley.

Clark and Hossler produced a bogey-free round with 10 birdies, including three in a row to start the back nine.

Clark birdied the 18th to ensure their solo lead from Mitchell and Im, who also went without a bogey for the round with the South Korean providing six front-nine birdies.

Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick also managed a third-round 62 to be 21-under overall, tied for seventh alongside two other teams.

Reigning champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay could only manage a six-under 66 on Saturday to slip down the leaderboard at 20-under overall.

Charley Hoffman, playing alongside Nick Watney, provided a highlight with a hole-in-one on the par-three ninth hole. The duo are back at 17-under overall.

The stroke play tournament concludes with the alternate shot format on Sunday.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out again for the Milwaukee Bucks ahead of Saturday's Game 3 in their NBA first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat, reports said.

Battling a bruised lower back, which he suffered in the series opener, the two-time NBA MVP had to miss the second game and remains on the injured list.

The Bucks had listed Antetokounmpo as doubtful on Tuesday after an X-ray and MRI scan both came back clean, and the problem has not gone away.

The Greek forward averaged 31.1 points and 11.8 rebounds per game during the regular season, sitting in the NBA's top five for both categories.

Without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks drew level in the seven-game series by winning 138-122 on Wednesday.

The Philadelphia 76ers will need Joel Embiid back for the Eastern Conference semi-finals, despite their Game 4 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

That is according to Tyrese Maxey, who labelled team-mate Embiid as a "leader", though the Sixers secured a 4-0 series sweep of the Nets without him on Saturday.

Embiid led the league for points per game in the regular season (33.1), but suffered a knee sprain in Game 3 against Brooklyn.

While a series comeback still seemed unlikely, the Nets had some hope on Saturday when they led by eight at half-time at Barclays Center, only for the Sixers to fight back and take the game 96-88.

Philadelphia will face either the Boston Celtics or Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semis, which the Celtics lead 2-1 ahead of Game 4 on Sunday, and Maxey hopes Embiid can be back in time.

"It starts with Joel," the Sixers guard said. "He's the leader of this team and for him, he takes the guys before the game and he told us good luck and we appreciate him for that. And we need him to get healthy."

Tobias Harris top-scored with 25 on Saturday, while James Harden had an impressive outing with 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and he echoed Maxey's comments.

"Obviously, today was big for us, so we can get [the] big fella healthy," Harden said. "That's priority number one."

Coach Doc Rivers had explained the situation with Embiid before the game, but clarified further afterwards, suggesting the Cameroonian perhaps has a "50 per cent" chance of making it for the next round.

"I just don't know," he said. "I would say, right now, it's probably the same percentage I said before the game... probably 50 per cent, at best."

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers is unsure when Joel Embiid will return from injury after a knee sprain sidelined the MVP favourite for Game 4 against the Brooklyn Nets.

It was announced on Friday that Embiid had suffered the injury in Thursday's Game 3 win over the Nets – the 76ers' third straight victory in the series.

Embiid has sustained injuries during several previous postseason campaigns, including sitting out two games as the 76ers were beaten by the Miami Heat in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals.

An ESPN report suggested Embiid could return to the court as early as next week, but Rivers was unwilling to put a timeframe on the center's recovery on Saturday.

"This is another obstacle in the story that we're going to write this year, and we're going to be okay. It may take a minute, but this is just part of it," Rivers said.

"He's human, and goodness, this happens again. Let's win, let's get him back on the floor and let's keep on our own journey."

Asked whether Embiid could return during this series if Brooklyn were to force a Game 5, Rivers added: "I don't know. I can't answer that, but I'm not sure.

"From my understanding, they checked his knee out right after the game because he was complaining about some soreness behind the knee, which is always a scary thing to hear about with players. 

"There was swelling already, which is way too early, so we did the MRI. As a coach, I hate that word. I hate those three letters, because it never comes out well. 

"It just feels like that, whenever they tell a coach you're going to get an MRI, it doesn't turn out well most of the time, and this time it did not."

Carlos Alcaraz raced through to the Barcelona Open final as the defending champion set up a final showdown with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

With his 20th birthday approaching on May 5, world number two Alcaraz will have the chance on Sunday to land his ninth ATP title as a teenager.

Alcaraz crushed the hopes of first-time Barcelona semi-finalist Dan Evans, racing to a 6-2 6-2 victory over a player who was seeking to become the first British finalist at this tournament.

Earlier, Tsitsipas, who had not dropped serve en route to the semi-finals, had to dig deep for a 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory against Lorenzo Musetti, the Italian who beat Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo last week.

Greek star Tsitsipas bizarrely has a 0-9 record in finals at ATP 500 level, the tier at which this tournament sits, despite having won two of his six title matches in elite ATP 1000 events.

Alcaraz will start as a firm favourite in the final. He holds a 3-0 career head-to-head lead over Tsitsipas from their past meetings, including a three-set win in the Barcelona quarter-finals last year.

That was a stormy encounter, with Alcaraz taking exception to almost being hit by a shot from Tsitsipas at the end of the opening set, so the rematch could be one to savour.

"It's so special to play a final here in Barcelona, a tournament I love playing," Alcaraz said on Prime Video. "I came to watch this tournament when I was very, very young, and I played for this club when I was 12, 11. I love this club, I love this tournament, and it's so special to have the chance to lift the trophy here again.

"Last year [against Tsitsipas] we had a spicy match, but I know he's a really nice guy off the court."

At the BMW Open in Munich, it was much the same story on Saturday.

Defending champion Holger Rune, another 19-year-old with a birthday approaching, in his case on April 29, earned another shot at the title.

Rune set up a Sunday showdown against Botic van de Zandschulp, in what will be a repeat of last year's final.

A resilient Rune lived up to his top seeding by ending Christopher O'Connell's fine run, which included a win against Alexander Zverev at the last-16 stage.

The 6-3 6-2 outcome masked the fact Rune saved eight break points as unseeded world number 82 O'Connell threatened to make it a tighter contest on the scoreboard than it turned out to be.

Van de Zandschulp then scored a fine win in the second semi-final as the Dutch fourth seed got the better of American second seed Taylor Fritz, winning 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 

Last year's trophy match ended in disappointment when Van de Zandschulp retired due to chest pains during the first set, with Rune saying it was "probably the worst way to win a final".

Rune has three ATP titles to his name, with 27-year-old Van de Zandschulp yet to lift a singles trophy.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek will face Aryna Sabalenka in the Stuttgart Open final after Ons Jabeur was forced to retire from their semi-final with a left calf injury.

World number one Swiatek was 3-0 up against Jabeur when her tearful opponent called a medical timeout and ultimately ended the contest early.

It sets up a mouthwatering showdown between top seed Swiatek and second seed Sabalenka, who defeated Anastasia Potapova in straight sets earlier on Saturday.

Jabeur, who struggled to shake off the injury sustained in the first game, said: "The third point, I don't know what happened.

"I was really excited to play Iga today – it's always a fun match between us. I wish her the best luck for the final. I'm sorry guys, I really tried to run, but Iga never makes it easy."

Sabalenka, a beaten finalist in the past two years, held her serve in the opening set against Potapova and twice broke her unseeded opponent to take the lead.

The Belarusian raced 4-0 ahead in the second set and saw out a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory in a little under an hour to reach her fourth final of the year.

"I think I was really focused, and I think from the very first point I was playing really aggressive," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. "I didn't give [Potapova] much time. 

"I think that's why the match finished like that quick. But anyway, she's a great player, and I think in the future she's going to be a top player."

Swiatek defeated Sabalenka in last year's Stuttgart final 6-2 6-2 and is aiming to become the first player to defend the title since Angelique Kerber in 2016.