Max Verstappen cannot turn an enthralling end to the Formula 1 season into a "demolition derby".
Those were the words of former world champion Damon Hill, who criticised Verstappen for his driving at a controversial Mexican Grand Prix last weekend.
The Dutchman received two 10-second penalties for incidents early on in Sunday's race, which was won by Carlos Sainz.
Reigning champion Verstappen was given one penalty for forcing Lando Norris off the track at Turn Four on the 10th lap, and then another for leaving the track four corners later.
Subsequently, Verstappen finished in sixth, while McLaren's Norris finished in second, closing the gap to 47 points in the drivers' championship with four races to go.
"It can't just be a demolition derby just to keep your place, or deny everyone getting a place just because you don't want to be overtaken," said Hill on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.
"So there needs to be a way of disciplining the driver.
"I think Max, if he carries on like that, there will be long-term questions over whether or not it was wise for him to drive like that.
"He's got so much talent, he's got so much ability. He could always use that skill to defeat his opponents. It shouldn't just be a dodgems race."
The incidents came a week after the pair's contentious battle in Austin, where Norris lost third place to Verstappen after being penalised for an overtake.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner suggested the penalties Verstappen received were "very harsh", using data to back up his claims shortly after the race.
Horner also added that Verstappen will "always drive aggressively" within F1's regulations,
"There's never any attempt to publicly describe his driver in a way that other people would recognise it," Hill continued.
"It is always a protective comment from Christian about Max. It almost appears as though Max is free to do whatever he likes.
"His team will never criticise the way he drives. And I think if you're in a competition, that's probably fine to do that publicly.
"But really, at some point, there has to be a conversation. It's the responsibility of the team to also contribute to the driver's attitude."
Verstappen will, however, look to increase his advantage at the summit of the drivers' standings at this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, a track he knows well.
The 27-year-old won the last race at Interlagos in 2023, though there has not been a winner in two consecutive races at the Brazil circuit since Nico Rosberg in 2014 and 2015.
Nikola Jokic was in jubilant mood after inspiring the Denver Nuggets' second straight overtime win in the NBA this season.
Coming off the back of an overtime victory against the Toronto Raptors at the Scotiabank Arena, the Nuggets did it again to beat the Brooklyn Nets 144-139 on Tuesday.
Jokic's display saw him become the first player with multiple triple-doubles and multiple 40-point games within his first four matches of a season in NBA history.
The Serbian finished the game with 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists but, when speaking to local TV after the game, said that he was just happy to win.
"We were fighting," he said, when asked about how they ground out the victory.
"We're still not playing the way we're supposed to play, but we're finding a way to win games.
"I think that's the most important thing right now, just to find a way to win a game."
While Jokic made a triple-double, he was one of four players on the Nuggets roster who finished with 20 points or more and one of six who got into double figures.
One of those was Russell Westbrook, who made 22 points in 21 minutes on the court.
"Russ was really amazing, in the third or fourth quarter, I don't know, he kept us in the game.
"He was really good, pushing the pace and made a couple of shots, he was really good today.
"We shared the ball, we found the open guys and that's how we scored a lot."
Westbrook is a relatively new arrival at the Nuggets, having only joined the team in July from the Los Angeles Clippers.
But according to Jokic, he has been a welcome addition to the roster.
"He's always talking, he's always lifting the guys up, he's always pushing the guys. He's a really good teammate and it's good to have him on our team."
Nikola Jokić had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, becoming only the second player in NBA history to reach those totals in a game, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 144-139 in overtime on Tuesday night.
Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon each scored 24 points for the Nuggets, while Russell Westbrook added 22.
Dennis Schröder scored 28 points for Brooklyn, which led by 17 in the second quarter. Cam Thomas scored 26, Cam Johnson had 20 and Nic Claxton added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Thomas gave the Nets a 127-125 lead with the first basket of overtime, but the Nuggets scored the next eight points and led the rest of the way.
Jokic has two triple-doubles in the Nuggets’ first four games and has scored at least 40 twice, with neither of those outbursts occurring within the triple-doubles.
Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, who did it twice, is the only other player to have at least 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists in a game.
The Nets led by one when Dorian Finney-Smith went to the foul line with 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. He only made one of two, allowing Jokic’s inside bucket to tie the score with 8.8 seconds remaining. Finney-Smith then missed an open 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Irving, Doncic lift Mavericks over Wolves
Kyrie Irving scored 16 of his 35 points in the third quarter, Luka Dončić had a late surge to finish with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks held off the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-114 in the first rematch of last season's Western Conference finals.
Anthony Edwards had 24 of his 37 points in the first quarter to set a Target Center record, going 7 for 13 from 3-point range.
Doncic put his stamp on the game with a 33-footer with 1:04 left to stretch the lead to eight points, barking at fans as he skipped back to the bench after a timeout. That was his only make in eight tries from behind the arc.
P.J. Washington added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who played on back-to-back nights after beating Utah 110-102 at home on Monday.
Julius Randle had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who had 20 turnovers that Dallas turned into 25 points.
Irving went 6 for 8 from 3-point range, including one with 2:31 left and Randle tightly guarding him at the top of the key after the Timberwolves pulled within 109-107.
Short-handed Warriors rally past Pelicans
Buddy Hield scored a season-best 28 points, Brandin Podziemski had 19 points and fuelled a furious second-half comeback, and the Golden State Warriors rallied from 17 down to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-106.
Zion Williamson had a season-high 31 points on 12-for-20 shooting and eight rebounds for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram scored 30 points.
Jonathan Kuminga, who started the initial three games for Golden State but was averaging 8.0 points on 33.3% shooting, came off the bench to score 17. Reserve Lindy Waters III had 21 points and nine rebounds in his best game yet for Golden State.
The short-handed Warriors needed everything from everybody with starters Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins sidelined.
Curry missed the game with a sprained left ankle he injured in the second half of Sunday's 112-104 loss to the Clippers. He is set to be re-evaluated on Friday.
Wiggins and De’Anthony Melton each sat out with lower back strains.
Hield returned to the starting lineup and overcame a slow start to make seven 3-pointers after a disappointing home debut Sunday in which he missed 8 of 9 3s and scored eight points.
Anthony Volpe hit a grand slam and New York’s bullpen tossed five scoreless innings as the Yankees avoided a World Series sweep with an 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
Freddie Freeman homered for his sixth straight Series game, hitting a two-run drive in the first inning for the second straight night and again stunning the Yankee Stadium crowd.
Game 5 is Wednesday night, with the Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty meeting in a rematch of Game 1.
Twenty-one of the previous 24 teams to take 3-0 Series leads went on to sweeps, all but the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics against the Chicago Cubs, the 1937 Yankees against the New York Giants and the 1970 Baltimore Orioles against the Cincinnati Reds. All three of those Series ended in five games.
Seeking to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit, New York surged ahead 5-2 on Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second and Volpe’s drive against Daniel Hudson in the third. Volpe turned on a first-pitch slider at the knees and drove it into the left-field seats.
Volpe came across with New York's first run when he walked after falling behind 0-2 in the count in the second inning. He also doubled and stole two bases.
Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres added homers for the Yankees, who broke open the game with a five-run eighth. New York had scored just seven runs in the first three games.
Los Angeles closed within 6-4 in a two-run fifth that included Will Smith's homer off starter Luis Gil and an RBI grounder by Freeman. Despite a sprained right ankle, Freeman beat a relay to avoid an inning-ending double play on what originally was ruled an out but was reversed in a video review.
Wells hit a second-deck homer in the sixth against Landon Knack, and Verdugo added another run-scoring grounder in the eighth ahead of Torres' three-run homer off Brent Honeywell.
Tim Hill, winning pitcher Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver and Tim Mayza strung together five innings of one-hit relief with seven strikeouts, and the Yankees avoided what would have been their first losing Series sweep since 1976.
New York's Aaron Judge drove in his first run of the Series with an RBI single in the eighth and is 2 for 15 in the four games. Dodgers sensation Shohei Ohtani also is 2 for 15 after going 1 for 4 with a single, his first hit since partially separating his left shoulder in Game 2.
Casper Ruud suffered an early exit at the Paris Masters, after he was beaten in three sets by Jordan Thompson.
The three-time major finalist was the latest big name to fall at the Accor Arena, where his Australian opponent prevailed 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4.
Ruud took early control of the contest, breaking in game four to move to the brink of drawing first blood at 5-2 up.
However, Thompson broke back and then controlled the tie-break to edge his nose ahead.
Ruud - a two-time French Open runner-up in Paris - responded by breaking twice in the second set to level.
The two players exchanged breaks early in the decider, which looked set to go the distance until a timely break to love in game nine proved crucial for Thompson, who then held to set up a last-16 clash with either Zizou Bergs or Adrian Mannarino.
Data Debrief: Ruud's rueful form continues
A winner in Barcelona and Geneva earlier in the season, Ruud has been unable to maintain that momentum.
The Norwegian, who occupies sixth place in the Race to Turin, has now lost seven of the last eight matches he has played, and now requires favours from elsewhere to secure his place in the Nitto ATP Finals.
Nevertheless, Thompson deserves credit for taking his chances when they arrived. In fact, the Australian converted three of the four break-point opportunities that were presented to him.
Andrey Rublev's Nitto ATP Finals hopes were dented after suffering a first-round exit against Francisco Cerundolo at the Paris Masters.
Rublev, who currently occupies eighth place in the Race to Turin, cut a frustrated figure as he was beaten 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) by his Argentine opponent.
A semi-finalist at the indoor ATP Masters event 12 months ago, the sixth seed broke early for a commanding 5-2 lead in the opening set.
However, Cerundolo came roaring back, breaking twice for a 6-5 advantage, before drawing first blood in the tie-break.
Once again, Rublev was in control of the second set, with his second break putting him 4-2 to the good.
But Cerundolo hit back once more, breaking in game eight and then prevailing again in the tie-break for the 100th ATP win of his career.
His reward is a showdown with Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-3 6-4.
Data Debrief: Rublev's ATP Finals fate in the air
It took two hours and 18 minutes, but it was worth the wait for Cerundolo, who won his fourth match in seven against a top-10 opponent in 2024.
The Argentine struck 35 winners, while winning 86% (six out of seven) of points at the net.
As for Rublev, whose frustration culminated in him lashing the racquet against his knee, he must now nervously await his ATP Finals fate.
Tsitsipas, Alex de Minaur and Grigor Dimitrov are among the players in action this week who could deny the Madrid Open champion his fifth successive appearance at the year-end championship.
Carlos Alcaraz began his Paris Masters campaign with a straight-sets victory over Nicolas Jarry.
The French Open and Wimbledon champion took 90 minutes to wrap up a 7-5 6-1 win over the Argentine, avenging his defeat in the semi-finals in Buenos Aires back in February.
Alcaraz made a purposeful start at the Accor Arena, breaking at the first attempt on the way to an early 3-0 lead.
Jarry responded by breaking back to 15 in game nine. However, an untimely double fault in the 12th handed the opening set to the Spaniard.
Also a winner in Indian Wells and Beijing this term, Alcaraz took control of the second set when he broke in the fourth game.
He did so again in the sixth, before holding to set up a last-16 clash with either Ugo Humbert or Marcos Giron.
Data Debrief: Carlitos applies the breaks
Alcaraz is aiming to progress beyond the quarter-final of this ATP Masters event for the first time.
Break points and unforced errors proved crucial in the contest. The Spaniard converted four of his five break point opportunities, and committed just six unforced errors to his opponent's 24.
In sealing the victory, Alcaraz improved his impressive record in opening rounds in 2024 to 13-2.
Steve Borthwick expects the "energy and passion of our supporters" to give England an "extra lift" when they face New Zealand on Saturday.
England welcome the All Blacks to the Allianz Stadium this weekend for their first match of this year's Autumn Nations Series.
Borthwick's side will be playing on home soil for only the third time in their last 16 internationals, and the head coach is pleased to be back in familiar surroundings.
"We're excited for the challenge of playing against one of the best teams in world rugby," he said.
"We'll need to be accurate, keep our discipline, and maintain a level of intensity throughout the match, from the first whistle to the final moment.
"With just two games at Allianz Stadium in our last 15, it's fantastic to be returning to play in front of our home crowd again. The energy and passion of our supporters always give the team an extra lift."
Henry Slade will start at centre, despite playing just 54 minutes of club rugby this season after recovering from shoulder surgery, with Ben Spencer replacing the injured Alex Mitchell at scrum-half.
Ellis Genge is back after missing the summer tour of New Zealand with a calf injury, while there are also starts for Maro Itoje and Tom Curry, with George Ford named on the bench.
Anthony Richardson took himself out of the Indianapolis Colts' last game.
For the next game, the Colts decided to remove Richardson from the starting lineup altogether.
The Colts are benching Richardson for their game Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings and will start Joe Flacco at quarterback.
The decision, which was reported by multiple media outlets on Tuesday, came a day after Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen said he was "evaluating" whether Richardson would remain the starter.
It also came two days after Richardson admitted pulling himself out of Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans because he was "tired."
The Colts selected Richardson fourth overall in the 2023 draft, but he has mostly struggled during his time in Indianapolis.
Sunday's performance against the Texans may have been his worst, however, as he completed just 10 of 32 passes for 175 yards and was sacked five times.
His paltry 44.4 completion percentage on the season is the worst among qualifying quarterbacks, as is his 57.2 passer rating.
In six games this season, he has 958 passing yards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions. He's rushed for 242 yards but also has an NFL-worst six fumbles.
The Colts are 2-3 in games Richardson has started and finished, and 2-1 in games Flacco has finished.
The 39-year-old Flacco started in Weeks 5 and 6 with Richardson sidelined due to an oblique injury, and he has completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 716 yards with seven touchdowns to just one interception for a 102.2 passer rating.
Fernando Alonso said he was left feeling hurt after being forced to retire at the Mexican Grand Prix in what was his 400th race in the competition.
Alonso qualified in 13th and started well in Mexico City, moving up a couple of places following Yuki Tsunoda's crash on the opening lap of proceedings.
However, after just 15 laps, the Spaniard was forced to retire from the race due to a suspected brake cooling issue caused by some debris stuck in his car.
Alonso has only missed four races since his first entry at the Australian Grand Prix in 2001.
Of the 1120 races in the history of the competition, the 43-year-old has competed in 35.7% of them.
"It was okay, the start was good," Alonso said. "Obviously, there was a lot of action in front of us, so we capitalised on that, but apparently, there was a bit of debris on the front brake ducts and the temperatures were over the moon.
“We tried to mitigate that, moving the brake balance rearwards and different actions, but it was still not under control so unfortunately we had to retire the car."
It was a familiar feeling for Alonso, who has suffered similar issues on his landmark occasions in the sport.
He also failed to finish at his 300th race back in 2018, as well as his 200th at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix.
“It hurts always the same, to be honest, when you don’t see the chequered flag. It doesn’t matter which number," Alonso added.
“We are here to compete. In a way, when you have to retire the car it’s better when you are not in a super competitive weekend.
"It was maybe unlikely to score points today, so hopefully more luck will come, and we come back stronger in the next race and next year here.”
Stefon Diggs' first season with the Houston Texans is over after just eight games.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said Tuesday that Diggs tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.
Diggs was injured in Sunday's 23-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts on a non-contact play, as he tried to make a cut before pulling up and grabbing his right knee.
An MRI revealed the severity of the injury.
Diggs arrived in Houston as part of a blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Bills this past offseason.
Acquired for a 2025 second-round pick, Diggs reworked his contract with the Texans and will become a free agent after this season.
In his first season with Houston, the 30-year-old Diggs had a team-high 47 receptions for 496 yards with three receiving touchdowns.
A four-time Pro Bowler, Diggs amassed 1,000 receiving yards each of the last six seasons, and led the NFL with a career-high 1,535 yards in 2020.
Diggs is the second receiver to sustain a serious injury this season for the AFC South-leading Texans with Nico Collins currently on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Collins, who must sit out at least one more game, leads Houston with 567 receiving yards despite being sidelined since Week 5.
Michael Malone praised the Denver Nuggets' character as they came from behind to defeat the Toronto Raptors for their first victory of the NBA season.
The Nuggets appeared set to begin the campaign with three successive losses, as they trailed by 15 points in the third quarter at Scotiabank Arena.
However, they battled back with Jamal Murray's last-gasp layup off a feed from Nikola Jokic, who registered 40 points and 10 rebounds, forcing overtime at 114-114, before going on to record a 127-125 win.
And Malone acknowledged the stakes were high following his side's difficult start to the season.
"It feels great to get a win after the first two [losses] at home," he told reporters during his post-match press conference.
"What I'm most proud about is the way we finished regulation [time], a 13-3 run. It shows the guys just never quit, they kept on fighting, they kept on competing, they kept on believing in themselves and their team-mates.
"In overtime, we got off to a great start; I thought the defence was really good. This felt like a playoff game in game three of the season."
On the game-tying play that forced overtime, he added: "We know that we have the best post-up player in the world [in Jokic]. Let's play through him; let him make the right read.
"And obviously him and Jamal kind of playing off of each other. Jamal makes a hell of a finish with the reverse layup. Everything worked out in our favour."
Jannik Sinner has confirmed his withdrawal from the Paris Masters after contracting a virus ahead of the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Sinner, who has won a Tour-leading seven titles in 2024, will not be making his fourth appearance at the tournament in the French capital.
The Italian guaranteed his spot at the summit of the ATP world rankings earlier this month, with only two players in history having done so quicker.
Sinner is the second high-profile player to pull out of the final Masters 1000 event of the year, following seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
“It's a very tough announcement. I'm not going to play here in Paris. We came here very early to prepare in the best possible way," Sinner posted on Instagram.
"After the first practice session, I really didn't felt good. I also talked with the doctor on Sunday. It's a virus, what makes you feel better in three or four days.
“Today I feel better already a little bit, but the body is not ready to compete and I still feel very, very weak.
"It doesn't make sense to go on court and try to compete for this tournament. [I am very] disappointed because it's a tournament where I would like to see where my level is at.
"That was one of my main goals for this week. But unfortunately I cannot make this happen.”
Frenchman Arthur Cazaux has received a lucky loser spot and will face Ben Shelton or Corentin Moutet in the second round.
Antigua and Barbuda celebrated a remarkable double success in international bodybuilding at the weekend, as Melissa Seaforth secured gold in the Czech Republic, while Kimberly Percival claimed silver in London.
Seaforth, an IFBB Elite Pro, dominated the Bikini Fitness category at the IFBB Pro Pepa in the Czech Republic.
Her gold medal performance adds to a recent string of impressive achievements, including top-five finishes at both the IFBB Pro Grand Gala in Italy last week and the Arnold Classic World Championships two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, in London, reigning Sportswoman of the Year Kimberly Percival also continued her outstanding run of form with a silver medal in the Bikini Fitness class at IFBB’s Night of Champions 2024.
Kimberly Percival was second in London.
Percival, who holds the current World Champion title, has been on an exceptional run, having secured victories at both the IFBB Pro Grand Gala and the Arnold Classic World Championships in recent weeks.
With the dual podium finishes by both athletes who have consistently performed at the highest level of the sport, the Ambassadors continue to establish themselves among the world’s elite competitors, bringing notoriety to Antigua and Barbuda.
Another top-five finish for the country was Tony ‘Tiger’ Jacobs, who finished fourth in the Men’s Physique class at the same event in London.
Jacobs was awarded his Pro Card at the Roger Boyce Classic in Barbados in June of last year.
Paolo Banchero claimed he was "in the zone" as he turned in a record-breaking performance for the Orlando Magic.
Banchero finished with a career-high 50 points on Monday as the Magic beat the Indiana Pacers 119-115.
In the process, he matched the fifth-highest scoring effort in a single game in the Magic's history.
Indeed, at 21 years and 351 days old, Banchero is the youngest player to record a 50-point game for Orlando, and the second-youngest player with 50 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in an NBA game. Only LeBron James (20 years, 80 days) in 2005 against the Toronto Raptors did so at a younger age.
And with 37 of those points coming in the first two quarters, Banchero also matched the team record for points in a half.
"Man, I'm tired; I'm tired as hell," said Banchero, who contributed nine assists and 13 rebounds, too. "But it was a hell of a game.
"It was just being in the zone.
"[It] felt like I was in an open gym, back at home, just working on my game. Every shot felt like it was going in and it's a good feeling when you've got a day like that.
"Not every game is going to be like that, but I'm glad today was."
Such was Banchero's dominance, his first-half tally matched the combined efforts of all the Pacers' starters across the opening two quarters.
"That first half was a magical first half, for sure," he said.
Tracy McGrady was the last Magic player to have a 50-point game, when he recorded a franchise-leading 62 points against the Washington Wizards in March 2004.
Devin Booker scored nine of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Phoenix Suns dealt the Los Angeles Lakers their first loss of the season with Monday's 109-105 comeback win.
Kevin Durant added 30 points, 18 of which came in the second half, to help Phoenix move to 3-1 despite trailing 83-76 after three quarters.
The Lakers had their three-game winning streak to start the season halted despite Anthony Davis' 29 points and 15 rebounds. Austin Reaves went 5 of 9 from 3-point range and scored 23 points for Los Angeles, while Rui Hachimura compiled 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
LeBron James had an off shooting night, however, as the Lakers' superstar went 3 of 14 from the field while finishing with 11 points and eight assists.
Phoenix opened the fourth quarter on a 10-1 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from reserves Ryan Dunn and Royce O'Neale, to take an 86-84 lead with nine minutes to go.
The lead traded hands several times down the stretch until Durant knocked down back-to-back jumpers to put the Suns up 105-101 with two minutes left.
Jokic's 40 points helps secure Nuggets' first win
Nikola Jokić put up 40 points and 10 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets got their first victory of 2024-25, a hard-earned 127-125 overtime decision over the Toronto Raptors.
The Nuggets appeared on the way towards an 0-3 start after trailing by 15 points in the third quarter, but battled back to force overtime on native Canadian Jamal Murray's layup off a Jokic feed that just beat the final buzzer to tie the game at 114-114.
Jokic then scored seven points during a 10-2 run to start the extra period as Denver built a 124-116 lead with under three minutes left.
Toronto responded with a 9-3 surge to get within 127-125 with time winding down, and had a chance to win at the end. RJ Barrett misfired on a late 3-point attempt, and the Raptors couldn't get two tip-in tries to go in as time expired.
Murray finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Aaron Gordon had 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Denver.
Scottie Barnes amassed 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists for Toronto before leaving the game in the final minute of regulation after being elbowed in the eye by Jokic.
Barrett scored 20 points in his season debut. The Toronto native missed the season's first three games with a sprained right shoulder.
Pritchard's eight 3-pointers help Celtics get to 4-0
Payton Pritchard went 8 of 12 from 3-point range in a 28-point performance off the bench that helped the Boston Celtics move to 4-0 with a 119-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Pritchard was 10 of 14 from the field while ending one shy of a career-high for 3-pointers in a game. The defending NBA champions also received 30 points from Jaylen Brown and 21 from Jrue Holiday while pulling away in the second half.
Milwaukee lost its third straight game since a season-opening win at Philadelphia despite Damian Lillard's 33 points and seven assists and a 30-point, 10-rebound, six-assist effort out of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks were coming off a 115-102 road loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
The Bucks owned an 80-79 edge late in the third quarter before Boston closed out the period on a 11-2 surge, capped by a Pritchard trey at the buzzer, to enter the fourth up 90-82.
Boston then shot 62.5 per cent from the field in the fourth quarter to end any Milwaukee comeback hopes, with Brown recording nine points during the period and Holiday adding eight.
A record-tying feat by Freddie Freeman and a sharp pitching performance from Walker Buehler has the Los Angeles Dodgers one win away from a World Series sweep.
Freeman had a two-run homer in the first inning and Buehler threw five scoreless innings as the National League Champions took a 3-0 series lead on the New York Yankees with Monday's 4-2 victory.
The Dodgers can wrap up their second World Series title in five years and eighth in franchise history in Tuesday's Game 4 at Yankee Stadium. Only one team in MLB history has won a best-of-seven post-season series after losing the first three games - the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.
Shohei Ohtani, in the lineup despite injuring his left shoulder in Los Angeles' Game 2 win on Saturday, went 0 for 3 but did draw a walk off New York starter Clarke Schmidt to begin Monday's contest.
Two batters later, Freeman drilled Schmidt's pitch into the right-field seats to stake the Dodgers to a 2-0 lead. The first baseman has now homered in five consecutive World Series games, tying a record set by the Houston Astros' George Springer during the 2017 and 2019 editions.
Freeman also joined Hank Bauer (1958) and Barry Bonds (2002) as the only players to homer in each of the first three games of a single World Series. The All-Star slugger also went deep in Games 5 and 6 of the 2021 Fall Classic while then with the Atlanta Braves.
Buehler did not allow a hit until Giancarlo Stanton's double with one out in the fourth inning and yielded just two overall before departing with a 3-0 advantage.
The Dodgers got another run courtesy of a lead-off walk in the third inning. Tommy Edman drew the free pass from Schmidt before moving to second on Ohtani's groundout and crossing the plate on Mookie Betts' bloop single to right field.
Schmidt lasted just 2 2/3 innings and issued four walks while permitting three runs.
Los Angeles extended the margin to 4-0 in the sixth. Gavin Lux was hit by a pitch from New York reliever Jake Cousins and stole second before being brought home by Enrique Hernandez's single.
The Yankees did not get on the board until former Dodger Alex Verdugo's two-run homer off Michael Kopech in the ninth inning.
New York missed out on a chance to score following Stanton's double in the fourth, however, as the slugger was later thrown out at the plate by Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez on single off the bat of Anthony Volpe.
The Dodgers are expected to throw a bullpen game in Game 4, while the Yankees will send out 15-game winner Luis GIl in an attempt to extend the series.
Calvin Austin scored two touchdowns, including a tie-breaking 73-yard punt return in the third quarter, to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 26-18 victory over the New York Giants on Monday.
Austin also hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson that gave the Steelers a 23-9 lead with 13:16 left to play. Pittsburgh (6-2) also received 114 rushing yards from Najee Harris and four field goals from Chris Boswell to win its third straight game and retain first place in the AFC North.
Wilson, meanwhile, delivered another solid performance in his second start since missing the season's first six games with a calf injury. The veteran quarterback completed 20 of 28 passes for 278 yards and no interceptions.
Tyrone Tracy rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 20 carries and had a 45-yard touchdown run for the Giants, who had a chance to tie the game late after getting to the Pittsburgh 35-yard line in the final minute.
Daniel Jones overthrew a pass for Devin Singletary, however, as the Steelers' Beanie Bishop came up with an interception that sealed the victory and handed New York (2-6) a third straight loss.
Greg Joseph kicked four field goals for the Giants, including three in the first half to match Boswell as the teams went into half-time tied at 9-9.
Austin broke the deadlock, however, with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter. The wide receiver fielded a punt at his own 27-yard line, broke free down the left sideline and out-sprinted all pursuers to record the Steelers' first punt return touchdown since 2019.
Wilson's touchdown strike to Austin early in the fourth put Pittsburgh up by two scores, but Tracy broke off his lone touchdown run on the following possession to bring New York within 23-15 with 11:07 left. The Giants failed on the two-point conversion try, though, as Jones' short pass intended for Malik Nabers was broken up.
Jones finished 24 of 38 for 264 yards with the late interception. Darius Slayton led New York receivers with 108 yards on four catches, while Nabers had seven catches totaling 71 yards.
Lewis Hamilton insisted that he had no doubts that Mercedes team-mate George Russell would race cleanly in their battle at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.
Hamilton finished the race in fourth, one place ahead of Russell, the seven-time world champion's best finish since winning the Belgian Grand Prix back in July.
The pair started fifth and sixth respectively, but swapped places on the opening lap, before Russell regained the initiative on Lap 14.
They each moved up a place through the pit stop phase, with Max Verstappen losing ground by serving two 10-second penalties, and Hamilton then closed in on Russell.
Hamilton shadowed Russell before eventually making the move stick into Turn 1 on Lap 65, climbing up into fourth position.
“It’s pretty straightforward, I don't think either of us are silly,” Hamilton said on his battle with his team-mate.
“George is really smart, and is fair, and he's just really good at where he places his car, and I think for me too.
"So when [the team] comes on the radio and says, keep it clean, it's like, ‘of course.’
"It's not really different to when you're fighting anyone else, except for it is your team mate, so you have to be double careful because you both want to finish.”
“It was fun, I had fun today,” Hamilton added. “I had a good start, I had a really bad first stint, took too much front wing out of the car, I had massive, massive understeer.
“After my stop, I was able to rectify it, and then after that I had a much better pace, and I was able to push and keep going.
"We stopped a little bit early as well, compared to what I had planned and stuff. We got good points.”
Hamilton will, however, hope to do better in Brazil this time around, having scored more points (185) than any other driver on the current grid around the Interlagos circuit.
Russell, meanwhile, ensured Mercedes claimed a double top-five finish and was happy with his finish after crashing in FP2 on Friday.
“I mean the pace looked pretty strong in the first stint but when I came out the pits behind Piastri, I pulled out down the straight and my front left flap just collapsed,” Russell said.
“I hit this bump so that probably cost me three or four tenths for the remainder of the race, so it was tricky to hold on for 40 laps. P5, probably would have taken that after Friday.”
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