The Milwaukee Bucks are waiting for an update on Giannis Antetokounmpo after their two-time MVP was forced to leave Friday's game early after a clash of knees.
Antetokounmpo played just six minutes before he signalled to the bench to take him out, but the Bucks did not miss a beat as they blew out the Miami Heat 128-99.
All-Star Jrue Holiday picked up the slack with a team-high 24 points on nine-of-14 shooting, adding seven assists and five rebounds, while Bobby Portis chipped in 18 points (seven-of-11 shooting) and 11 rebounds off the bench.
For the Heat, Kevin Love was given a spot in the starting line-up after being bought out by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he finished with eight rebounds, four assists and zero points, missing all four of his three-point attempts.
Touching on the status of his star player after the win, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said he is still not sure of the severity.
"I haven’t gotten the full breakdown, but I’m pretty sure either on a drive or on a screen or something like that, he knocked knees with somebody and just wasn’t able to return," he said.
Antetokounmpo was only able to make a ceremonial start in the All-Star Game as he used the break to recover from a wrist injury, and Holiday said he would like to see the franchise exercise some caution with him, given their strong position.
"Sometimes you have to stop him from himself," he said. "Being able to calm down and maybe even not play a couple of games, knowing that we're the number two [seed], knowing that we're all right.
"I know he doesn't like it. He tries to play every single game, which I completely understand. I feel like I'm the same way."
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra agreed that the Bucks can survive without Antetokounmpo if necessary.
"It didn't slow them down one bit when Giannis went out," he said. "They just put it in overdrive."
The win improves the Bucks' record to 42-17, just one game behind the league-leading Boston Celtics (43-17), while the Heat sit seventh in the East at 32-28.
The top two seeds at the Rio Open remain on a collision course after both Carlos Alcaraz and Cameron Norrie advanced to the semi-finals on Friday.
World number two and top overall seed Alcaraz was strong in his 6-4 7-6 (7-0) victory over Serbia's Dusan Lajovic, improving his unbeaten record in 2023 to 6-0.
Alcaraz has his eyes set on his second title win in a row after also emerging triumphant in last week's Argentina Open.
Meanwhile, Norrie had to fight back from an early deficit to eliminate Hugo Delien 4-6 6-1 6-4, with the world number 13 and second seed now boasting eight wins from his past nine matches. The only loss during that stretch was to Alcaraz in the Argentina Open decider.
For a chance to avenge that loss, Norrie will have to beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles after he overcame Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4 2-6 6-4 in an all-Spanish quarter-final.
Alcaraz will contend with Nicolas Jarry, after the unseeded Chilean knocked out his second seeded opponent of the tournament, this time getting the better of Sebastian Baez 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Former Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder is nearing an agreement to fill the Atlanta Hawks' head coaching vacancy.
According to a report from The Athletic's Shams Charania, Snyder is expected to command a salary in the range of $8million per year to replace Nate McMillan, whom the Hawks fired Tuesday with the team sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference at the All-Star break.
The 56-year-old Snyder is arguably the top available coach on the market after leading the Jazz to six consecutive postseason appearances before resigning in June. Utah compiled a 294-178 regular-season record over that six-year stretch, the highest winning percentage among Western Conference teams and the third highest in the NBA.
Utah was not able to achieve the same success during the postseason, however, as the Jazz failed to advance past the conference semifinals in each of those six playoff trips.
Atlanta's interest in Snyder, a Hawks assistant under current Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer in 2013-14, was already known after general manager Landry Fields told reporters Wednesday the former Duke player and assistant coach was among those the team was considering to replace McMillan.
McMillan took over as Atlanta’s interim head coach after the team fired Lloyd Pierce during the 2020-21 season and went 27-11 to lead the Hawks to the East’s fifth seed. Atlanta later upset top-seeded Philadelphia in the second round to reach the conference finals before losing to Milwaukee in six games.
The Hawks removed the interim tag from McMillan shortly after that strong run, but Atlanta was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round in 2021-22 and struggled to find consistency this season. Atlanta took a 29-30 record into the All-Star break after entering the campaign with high expectations, fuelled by the offseason acquisition of guard Dejounte Murray to pair with All-Star Trae Young.
McMillan amassed a 98-80 regular-season record with Atlanta, who tabbed assistant Joe Prunty to serve as interim coach for Friday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Reigning Korn Ferry Tour Championship winner Justin Suh has a chance to win his first PGA Tour event after finishing Friday's second round of the Honda Classic with the outright lead.
Suh, 25, produced a near-perfect campaign last season on the Korn Ferry Tour, finishing number one overall in points, winning the Tour Championship and being voted the tour's Player of the Year.
He has made the cut in eight of his 11 events to start his PGA Tour career, and after collecting his first top-20 in January's Farmers Insurance Open, he is looking to break through in a big way.
After his opening 66 at PGA National, Suh followed it up with a six-under 64 to reach 10 under overall and take a one-stroke lead into the weekend.
Alone in second place is Chris Kirk, who sits one shot back at nine under after posting a 62 for Friday's round of the day.
England's Ben Taylor is joined by American Monday qualifier Ryan Gerard in a tie for third at eight under, while the trio of Ben Martin, Eric Cole and Brice Garnett round out the top-five at seven under.
After finishing the opening round tied for the lead, both Billy Horschel and Joseph Bramlett fell back into a tie for 28th, following their 65s with a pair of 73s.
With none of the world's top-17 golfers in the field, world number 20 Shane Lowry will feel he still has a chance from his position at four under, tied for 16th, while 18th-ranked Im Sung-jae is at two under.
Andy Murray will play Daniil Medvedev in the Qatar Open final after the 35-year-old came through yet another lengthy contest in his semi-final against Jiri Lehecka.
Murray appeared to be on course for a routine win after taking the first set 6-0, but was broken early in the second, eventually losing 6-3 to take him to a fourth three-set contest in four matches this week in Doha.
Lehecka should have won a hard-fought decider when 5-4 and 40-0 up on his own serve, but Murray's trademark resilience saw him break back despite facing five match points against, before ultimately winning the tie-break 8-6.
"I don't know how I managed to turn that match around," Murray said after the win. "In the 5-4 game, I think I played most of the match points really well. He missed one bad shot on the deuce point in that game at 5-4, but I played the match points pretty well.
"It's been an amazing start to the year. I have never experienced this in my whole career, like this many matches... It was sort of looking [like it might be a quicker match] for 30 minutes and then it turned into something completely different. Yeah, just amazing that I managed to turn that around."
Murray equalled Jimmy Connors for the fifth-most ATP hard court wins in the Open Era (489), and will play Medvedev in the final after the Russian's 6-4 7-6 (9-7) win against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Canadian had three set points in the second set tie-break to try and force a decider, but Medvedev showed determination to turn it around and seal his place against Murray in the final.
At the Open 13 Provence, number one seed Hubert Hurkacz is through to face Alexander Bublik in the semi-finals, with both also having to come through three-set matches in a deciding tie-break.
Hurkacz was finally able to overcome Mikael Ymer 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) before Bublik defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 3-6 7-6 (8-6).
Third seed Alex de Minaur was shocked by Benjamin Bonzi, who broke the world number 23 four times on his way to a 6-2 6-4 victory to avenge his third-round defeat at the Australian Open.
Bonzi will meet qualifier Arthur Fils in the final four after the French 18-year-old beat former world number three Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 to reach a second straight tour-level semi-final.
The Kansas City Chiefs have promoted Matt Nagy to offensive coordinator for the 2023 season, the team announced on Friday, filling the void created by Eric Bieniemy's departure.
Nagy is a longtime mentee of head coach Andy Reid and previously served as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator from 2016-17.
Nagy was head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2018-21, compiling a 34-31 record and collecting honours as the AP's Coach of the Year in 2018.
After he and the Bears parted ways, Nagy returned to Kansas City last February as a senior assistant and quarterbacks coach, helping the Chiefs win their third Super Bowl in franchise history.
Bieniemy had served as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator for the last five seasons before leaving this offseason for Washington, who named him their assistant head coach and OC.
Nagy has been professionally connected to Reid since 2008, when he joined the Philadelphia Eagles' staff as a coaching intern.
After playing quarterback for the University of Delaware, Nagy was not selected in the 2001 NFL Draft and ended up in the Arena Football League, where he threw over 300 touchdown passes from 2002-08.
As the national women's softball team prepares to leave the island shortly, they do so confident in the backing they have received from the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA).
The team leaves for the US Virgin Islands where they will participate in a qualifying tournament for the Pan-American Games as a precursor to an Olympic bid.
The national association is funding the aspirations of softball on a journey which, hopefully, will be historic.
“History making and their love for country compel our support for softball and I have watched them in training exemplifying commitment and going beyond the challenges of not having the luxury of resources in the sport to creating a wealth of talent,” said JOA President Christopher Samuda.
The national team has been in training at their home ground at Up Park Camp and for JOA Secretary General/CEO, Ryan Foster, “the JOA is proud of and committed to the softball artillery as part of our armoury of building capacity in several sports in giving them a fighting chance in the international arena of combat. This investment is bankable.”
Softball Jamaica’s President, Marvalyn Campbell, thanked the nation’s governing sport body “for believing in softball and responding every time to the call which will not be forgotten and for which the team is very grateful.”
The JOA Executives also lauded the directors of Softball Jamaica for growing the support and providing our sportsmen and women opportunities for self-actualisation and national representation.
Barbora Krejcikova will play Iga Swiatek for the Dubai Tennis Championships title after settling a see-saw semi-final against Jessica Pegula in ruthless fashion.
Having seen Swiatek brush aside Coco Gauff in straight sets in the first match of the day, Krejcikova would have been confident of doing likewise after taking the opener against Pegula.
Third seed Pegula battled back to take the second set, though, and the American appeared to have momentum on her side, only to bow out in a one-sided decider, losing 6-1 5-7 6-0 for her first defeat to Krejcikova.
The pair's only prior meeting had been a straight-sets win for Pegula at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Pegula's sole other tournament since Melbourne had ended in similar circumstances to this one, with a 6-3 6-0 crushing at the hands of Swiatek in the final of last week's Qatar Open. The Pole is who Krejcikova must play next.
Krejcikova is the first player since Svetlana Kuznetsova in Cincinnati in 2019 to beat two top-three opponents at the same WTA 1000 tournament.
Yet after seeing off number two Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals and number three Pegula in the semis, she faces the world number one in the final.
Swiatek has had a rather more straightforward path, granted a walkover in the last eight and then, on Friday, playing Gauff, who she continues to dominate.
The Pole is now 6-0 across her career against Gauff, winning all of those matches in straight sets.
Gauff at least made Swiatek work a little harder than she has in many recent matches, going down 6-4 6-2 – the first match since Melbourne in which the number one has not won a set either 6-0 or 6-1, piling up the 'bagels' and 'breadsticks'.
Swiatek is 2-1 against Krejcikova for her career, although the Czech won their most recent meeting and their only encounter in a final in Ostrava last year.
Jamaica’s former WBA Super world featherweight champion Nicholas ‘Axe Man’ Walters says he was encouraged to return to the ring by several trainers in Panama where he is based.
The 37-year-old is set to break a six-year layoff with an eight-round super lightweight bout this Saturday in Santa Marta, Colombia, against local fighter Luis Diaz Marmol.
In recent years, Walters had been visiting the boxing gym to keep in shape but admits he “wasn’t really serious about fighting” until experts around the gym encouraged him to come out of retirement.
“After sparring with other fighters here in Panama, my coach and other coaches asked me to come back to the sport,” Walters said.
“I was making it very difficult for the guys that I was sparring with, so everyone was saying I should make a comeback,” added Walters, who boasts a solid ring record of 26 wins (21 kos) against one loss and one draw.
The 29-year-old Marmol brings an aggressive style to this Walters bout and upset unbeaten Colombian prospect Diego Silva his last time out. Marmol has a ring record of 19 wins (11 kos) against 16 losses.
Originally from Montego Bay on Jamaica’s north coast, Walters became the first Jamaican ever to win a world boxing title at home when he defeated Daulis Prescott on December 8, 2012 in Kingston via a seventh round TKO. He will be fighting for the first time since 2016 but has been actively training for months.
Walters has also enlisted the services of well-respected manager Gabriel Barron as he returns in a weight class 14 pounds above his title-winning featherweight division. In his last bout on November 20, 2016, Walters quit against Vasiliy Lomachenko after being dominated by the outstanding Ukrainian for seven rounds in Nevada, USA.
Walters had turned pro in 2008 after an amateur career that included bronze at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and two gold medals at the Caribbean Championships in 2005 and 2006. Within a few years he became one of the world’s most exciting fighters of the lower weight divisions after defeating big names like Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan.
Ireland centre Garry Ringrose has been ruled out of their Six Nations trip to Italy after failing to overcome a calf injury in time.
Ringrose suffered the problem during their week two victory over holders France but was named in the starting XV for Saturday's game at Stadio Olimpico.
He has failed to overcome the issue however and has now been withdrawn, with Stuart McCloskey now in line to start and utility back Jimmy O'Brien elevated to the bench.
Andy Farrell will hope Ringrose recovers in time to take part in their final two games next month, against Scotland and England.
Ringrose had been in line to win his 50th cap for Ireland in this weekend's fixture and was looking to score on his third consecutive visit to Rome.
The centre has been a standout performer for Ireland in the Six Nations too, beating more defenders than any of his team-mates in the tournament so far, on eight occasions.
Ireland will be expected to stay in the hunt for a Grand Slam when they resume the Six Nations against Italy while Scotland's title credentials will face a stern test in Paris.
Andy Farrell's Ireland side showed why they are the top-ranked team in the world by halting France's long winning streak with a 32-19 victory at the Aviva Stadium before the break.
The leaders ought to make it three wins out of three at the expense of Italy at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday before third-placed England take on wounded Wales at the Principality Stadium.
Scotland followed up their win over England by hammering Wales and will be braced for a response from defending champions France in what should be an entertaining contest at Stade de France on Sunday.
Stats Perform previews the three tussles with the help of some standout Opta data.
ITALY v IRELAND
FORM
The Ireland juggernaut will take some stopping, with their winning run now at seven matches.
They have come out on top in 19 of their past 21 Tests, losing only to France and New Zealand last year in that period. Farrell's ruthless men have averaged 4.4 tries per game in those 21 matches.
In his 32 Tests in charge, Farrell has a 78 per cent win rate – the best of any Ireland head coach to have been at the helm for two or more games.
Italy have lost each of their 23 home games in the Six Nations since beating Ireland in Rome in 2013. After almost pulling off a shock against France in the opening round, they suffered a 31-14 loss to England last time out.
ONES TO WATCH
Italy powerhouse Sebastian Negri has made 30 carries in the Six Nations this year, the joint-most along with Scotland playmaker Finn Russell. He must play a big part if the Azzurri are to trouble Ireland.
Garry Ringrose will win his 50th cap for Ireland. On the six occasions the centre has faced Italy, he has scored three tries – two of those coming in his past two trips to Rome.
Ringrose has been more defenders than any other Ireland player in the tournament so far, doing so eight times.
WALES v ENGLAND
FORM
The start of Warren Gatland's second spell as Wales head coach has not gone to plan, losing twice and having to contend with a dispute over contracts that resulted in the threat of strike action from players this weekend.
Gatland has made nine changes after it was confirmed the game will go ahead in Cardiff, where Wales will attempt to avoid starting the tournament with three straight defeats for only the third time – having previously done so in 2003 and 2007.
England got their first win under head coach Steve Borthwick against Italy and will be looking to avoid a third successive away loss to Wales.
The Red Rose have won seven of their last nine meetings with Wales, though, with the previous six of those coming by a margin of no more than six points.
ONES TO WATCH
Gatland has dropped big names such as Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and George North after the heavy loss to Scotland.
Josh Adams is among the players who have retained his place, though, and the wing could help to lift the gloom. The flyer and Ken Owens have made four dominant tackles apiece in the tournament, with only seven players have produced that many.
Alex Dombrandt will start at number eight once again for England, having made more effective contributions at defensive rucks than any other player in the Six Nations with seven.
He has won two jackal turnovers and slowed down a further five rucks, so he can make his presence felt again.
FRANCE v SCOTLAND
FORM
Scotland put on another show to see off Wales, turning on the style at a raucous Murrayfield after winning a thriller against England.
They won on their most recent visit to the French capital, defeating Les Bleus 27-23 in 2021. Scotland have not won back-to-back games in Paris since 1967-1969.
France have won 18 of their past 19 Test matches on home soil, including nine in a row. Their only loss during that time was that one at the hands of Scotland.
A victory this weekend would give them a 10th straight home win for the first time since 1986-1989.
ONES TO WATCH
Damian Penaud finished superbly to score for France in their loss to Ireland.
The wing has beaten 15 defenders in his two appearances in this tournament and another livewire display could be on the cards.
Russell produced a masterclass against Wales and Scotland will need him to pull the strings once again.
The fly-half has made three line-break assists and also laid on three tries in the tournament so far and there should be more to come.
Warren Gatland is keen to "draw a line in the sand" ahead of Wales' Six Nations clash with England, saying the threat of strike action had taken the team "to the brink of disaster" this week.
Saturday's fixture at the Principality Stadium was in serious doubt as Wales players considered making themselves unavailable amid a dispute with the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) and Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
On Wednesday, however, PRB chair Malcolm Wall confirmed an agreement had been reached with the Welsh Rugby Players' Association on several key issues, including wages and changes to the 60-cap rule that governed international selection.
Wales coach Gatland was forced to delay naming his team due to the uncertainty, and he says the effects of Saturday's game not taking place would have been dire.
"Looking back now, few people realise just how close we came to the brink of disaster," Gatland wrote in a column for The Telegraph. "What took me by absolute surprise was the level of frustration and anger that boiled over from the players on Monday morning.
"Learning the extent of their frustration was one of the hardest things I had to deal with. I have always prided myself on putting the demands of the players first.
"I was caught in the middle. You want to support the players as much as possible, but you've got to be very careful about how much of the line you cross from that perspective.
"I'm not sure that they had thought about the potential consequences or the long-term effects of the game not going ahead. It would have had such an impact on all rugby in Wales, and potentially led to one or two of the regions going under.
"What hurt me most was hearing a couple of emotive comments from players, second hand, that I didn't care about them. That was the hardest thing because I have always been about putting the players first and looking after them. I just think it was the emotions of the time."
Gatland was eventually able to name his team on Thursday, as Wales look to respond to defeats against Ireland and Scotland in their first two Six Nations contests.
While the 59-year-old is acutely aware of the impact this week's events have had on Wales' preparations, the team are now keen to move on.
"I am pretty sure I would have easily got a team if I had walked up St Mary Street and asked who was up for beating England. But thankfully we never got that far," Gatland said.
"On Thursday morning I finally named the team. I said it had been a challenging week and we needed to draw a line in the sand and focus entirely on playing against England.
"In fairness to the boys, given what has been going on, they have trained hard and been good in the sessions. It has probably been a welcome distraction to them and I have to take my hat off to them.
"The difficult thing to assess is what impact the mental stress of this week has had on the players. One thing I can promise the Welsh supporters is that the players know how much it means to you. Armageddon or not."
Wales captain Ken Owens said the ordeal had made Welsh rugby "a laughing stock" as he urged the players to pull together in order to get a much-needed result in Cardiff.
France head coach Fabien Galthie has selected Mohamed Haouas as the replacement for the suspended Uini Atonio for France's Six Nations clash with Scotland.
Atonio was handed a three-week ban for a high tackle on Ireland's Rob Herring, with Haouas coming in at tighthead despite not featuring in France's first two games.
That is the only change made by Galthie from the 32-19 defeat in Dublin on February 11.
Captain Antoine Dupont will play alongside Romain Ntamack in the half-backs, while Yoram Moefana and Gael Fickou remain as the centre pairing.
France have won 18 of their last 19 Test matches on home soil, including their last nine in a row, with their only defeat in that spell coming against Scotland in 2021. They will be aiming to win 10 straight home games for the first time since 1986-1989.
Scotland are looking to make it three wins from three after victories over England and Wales, and coach Gregor Townsend has also made just the one alteration to his side from last time out.
The 2021 Six Nations Player of the Championship Hamish Watson comes in to replace Luke Crosbie after recovering from a head injury sustained against New Zealand in December.
Crosbie and Chris Harris are not even named on the bench, with Sam Skinner coming in, while Ali Price is also back and among the replacements.
Stuart Hogg went off with a head injury in Scotland's defeat of Wales in round two, but has been passed fit to start.
France XV: Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Yoram Moefana, Ethan Dumortier, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (c); Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Mohamed Haouas, Thibaud Flament, Paul Willemse, Anthony Jelonch, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements: Gaetan Barlot, Reda Wardi, Sipili Falatea, Romain Taofifenua, Francois Cros, Sekou Macalou, Baptiste Couilloud, Matthieu Jalibert.
Scotland XV: Stuart Hogg, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie (c), Hamish Watson, Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, WP Nel, Jonny Gray, Sam Skinner, Jack Dempsey, Ali Price, Blair Kinghorn.
Eric Bieniemy is content with his new role as offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders and insists he is not already looking for a head coaching opportunity.
Bieniemy has joined the Commanders after his second Super Bowl win in five years as the Kansas City Chiefs' OC.
Despite his success in that job, the 53-year-old repeatedly failed to land a position as an NFL head coach following a number of interviews.
It is something that will appeal to Bieniemy again in the future, he suggested, but his sole focus for 2023 is on the Commanders.
"Being a head coach right now is not in my thought process," Bieniemy said. "What I'm focused on is being the best coach today; everything else will take care of itself.
"I live in the moment. Right now, my feet are planted here.
"[Getting a head coaching job] hasn't happened. It's not anything that's going to impact me moving forward.
"All that stuff about being the head coach, we can talk about that next year sometime. I'm focused on the job at hand."
Bieniemy's Chiefs offense led the league with 413.6 total net yards per game in 2022 as the Commanders ranked 20th (330.3 yards per game).
That was merely the Chiefs' third-best season under Bieniemy in that regard, while their worst performance saw 379.2 yards per game in 2019 – a mark Washington have topped only four times in their history.
Bobby Wagner has agreed an imminent departure from the Los Angeles Rams after only a single season on the team.
Reports revealed Wagner had come to an agreement with the Rams on Thursday, meaning he will return to free agency ahead of the 2023 season.
The linebacker spent the first 10 years of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, winning Super Bowl XLVIII and earning six First-team All-Pro selections.
Wagner then entered free agency for the first time last year and joined the Rams, then the defending Super Bowl champions.
A dismal season saw the Rams finish with a 5-12 record and miss the playoffs, although Wagner – having signed a five-year, $50million deal with $20m in guarantees – was a Second-team All-Pro for the third time.
With the Rams $13.7m above the salary cap approaching the new league year, they have saved $5m in space by releasing Wagner.
He will be free to join a new team as soon as the agreement is made official.
The Los Angeles Lakers might still be "figuring things out" but Anthony Davis is confident they are in position to make a push for the playoffs.
Malik Beasley scored 25 points and Austin Reaves stepped up with 17 from the bench as the Lakers defeated reigning NBA champions the Golden State Warriors 124-111 on Thursday.
The Lakers did not have it all their own way, having to shrug off the blow of losing D'Angelo Russell to a sprained ankle in the first quarter.
While Russell's initial scans came back clear of major damage, he is set for further assessments on Friday.
But without him, and with LeBron James – 13 points, eight rebounds and nine assists – not finishing with the kind of contributions he is accustomed to, the Lakers nevertheless got the job done in convincing fashion.
The Lakers are onto a 28-32 record for the season, just one win behind the Warriors, who occupy the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
For Davis, who added 12 points and as many rebounds, the Lakers showed they are a "complete" unit.
“We're still figuring things out on the fly," he told reporters.
"The past two games we've really looked good as a whole. I think we've got a complete team where we're able to make a run."
Beasley top scored, three points ahead of the Warriors' Klay Thompson (22), as the Lakers made it three wins from four since the trade deadline passed.
The Lakers traded Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz, with Beasley one of the players sent their way.
While Westbrook never ultimately linked up with the Jazz, instead buying out his contract to join the Los Angeles Clippers, Beasley has settled in quickly at his new team.
"LeBron and AD didn't get going as much as they wanted tonight, but we're deep, I think that's the statement we want to make," Beasley said.
"It can be any player on any given night."
Coach Darvin Ham added: "Just overall great team win. Everybody contributed, everybody had different moments and guys stayed aggressive.
"I feel great about what we've been able to do. It's paying dividends right now and we've just got to continue to get more and more familiar with one another."
Joel Embiid looked to channel his inner Bill Russell as he helped the Philadelphia 76ers edge out the Memphis Grizzlies 110-105 on Thursday.
Embiid could not get going in the first half, shooting two-for-14 – his joint-worst showing across the first two quarters of a game.
Indeed, he only shot seven-of-25 from the field through the game, but he turned on the style defensively.
Embiid stepped up in the second half to finish with 27 points, 19 rebounds and six assists.
He also added a steal and six blocks, while 17 of his rebounds were defensive.
"For me, defense is more important for me than offense," Embiid told reporters.
"I could not make any shots, especially the ones I usually make. But, defensively, I thought I had to be Bill Russell, to be able to kind of balance it out."
The late, great Russell – who died last year – was integral to the Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships between 1956 and 1969.
"Every single night I try to be as good of a defender as I can," added Embiid.
"But I think there's a pattern with myself where if you look at most of the games where I have bad shooting nights, I just can't make the shots that I usually do. I go from having a good defensive game to having an amazing defensive game.
"That's part of it. When you're not contributing offensively you've got to find a way, making your team-mates better. So defensively, just being a monster. It was a little bit more of a focus on that end tonight."
Fortunately for Embiid, he was not the only star player to have an off-colour performance from an attacking standpoint, with Grizzlies talisman Ja Morant finishing with 15 points.
James Harden, however, was on his game, top scoring with 31 points while adding seven rebounds and as many assists for the Sixers.
"As much as you don't want it to happen, it's part of basketball, not making shots. We were resilient, and we fought and fought and fought and gave ourselves a chance," Harden said.
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone did not mince words when discussing his superstar, declaring Nikola Jokic as the league's most valuable player.
Jokic, already the reigning back-to-back winner of the award, has a chance to become the first player since Larry Bird from 1984-1986 to win three MVPs in a row. The only other player to three-peat was Wilt Chamberlain (1966-1968).
This season, the 28-year-old Serbian has taken his already spectacular playmaking to a new level, averaging a career-high 10.2 assists per game while also shooting career-best percentages for his 24.7 points and 11.6 rebounds.
No center in league history has ever averaged more than Chamberlain's 8.6 assists per game in the 1967-68 season.
Among players attempting at least 10 field goals per game this season, Jokic leads the league with his 63.2 field goal percentage, while his true shooting percentage of 70.4 per cent – which takes into account his 40.2 per cent three-point clip and 82.5 per cent from the free throw line – leads all players averaging at least 25 minutes per game.
He also sits fifth in rebounds per game (11.6), his 1.3 steals per game leads all centers, and his average plus/minus of plus 10.5 also leads the entire league.
Jokic piled up 24 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists in a tough 115-109 road win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, keeping the Nuggets a perfect 22-0 in games their superstar has posted a triple-double in this season.
Speaking to reporters after the victory, Malone made it clear that he believes Jokic should be honoured for the third year in a row.
"He's the MVP," he said. "When the MVP goes out and puts up a triple-double, that means that he's impacting the game at a high level across the board.
"I think the most important stat – and he's going to set the record this year – for most assists per game by a center in NBA history. He's going to blow it out of the water, because he's going to average 10-plus assists per game.
"But his playmaking ability, to generate the shots, and the quality of shots he does every night, is just remarkable. "There are a lot of guys who can score, there are a lot of guys who can rebound, but the playmaking, and the ability to make everyone around him better, is what makes him truly a historically great basketball player."
With a record of 42-18, the Nuggets are six games clear atop the Western Conference standings.
Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner had a career night, but his side ultimately went down 142-138 in an overtime shootout against the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
Playing in front of his home fans after recently signing a contract extension, Turner tied his career-high with 40 points while shooting a spectacular 13-of-15 from the field. He also hit a career-high eight three-pointers from 10 attempts.
Among all centers this season, Turner's 78 made threes trail only Milwaukee's Brook Lopez (104), Washington's Kristaps Porzingis (100), Chicago's Nikola Vucevic (98) and Boston's Al Horford (92).
His All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton was terrific in support, scoring 22 points (seven-of-14 shooting) with 14 assists, three steals and two blocks, but the Celtics duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown proved overwhelming down the stretch.
It was a rough shooting night for Tatum, finishing nine-of-25 from the field, but he worked his way to the free throw line to finish with 31 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. Meanwhile, Brown – wearing a protective face mask in his first game returning from a facial fracture – had 30 points (11-of-24), 11 rebounds and three assists.
Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart chipped in 15 points and two steals, but he came through when it mattered, scoring seven of the Celtics' first eight points in the overtime period.
With the win, Boston remain alone atop the standings with a 43-17 record, while the Pacers sit 12th in the East at 26-35.
Jokic cruises to another big triple-double
Reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic was dominant in the Denver Nuggets' 115-109 road win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers came into the contest boasting one of the best home records in the NBA at 25-6, and they led at three-quarter time, but Jokic defied his unusual seven turnovers to produce another monster showing.
His 24 points on eight-of-13 shooting trailed only team-mate Michael Porter Jr (25) for the Nuggets' most, while Jokic also led both teams with 18 rebounds and 13 assists for his league-leading 22nd triple-double this season. The Nuggets are 22-0 in the games he has posted a triple-double.
Their win, combined with the Memphis Grizzlies' loss, leaves Denver (42-18) six games clear in the race for the Western Conference one seed.
Harden ignites late 76ers comeback
The Philadelphia 76ers overcame a rare poor shooting night from Joel Embiid to produce a fourth-quarter comeback, beating the Grizzlies 110-105 at home.
Embiid ended up with a gaudy stat line of 27 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and six blocks, but he shot just seven-of-25 from the field for his worst field goal percentage of the season.
The 76ers trailed by 12 with eight minutes remaining, but James Harden was in full control from that point, scoring nine of his game-high 31 points and dishing five of his seven assists, igniting a 31-14 run to close the show.
At 39-19, the 76ers own the fourth-best record in the league, and sit third in the East.
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