Nikola Jokic suggested a novel way to try and get the Denver Nuggets firing after a stuttering start to the NBA season continued against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Superstar Jokic put up a hugely impressive 41 points but was unable to help the Nuggets to victory as the Clippers ran out 109-104 victors at the Ball Arena on Saturday.

It means the Nuggets have started the season 0-2 and Jokic was asked what the team could do differently to get things going.

He jokingly replied: "Party every time when we go out."

Jokic would later follow up with a more substantive answer, though, saying: "I really don't know, my friend. 

"We just want to win. We just want to win one game and uh, hopefully, we can do that on this road.

"I think we're really struggling to score. We scored 104 points. In today's NBA, I think that’s not a really good number. Last game, we scored 89 [actually 87]. I don't even know."

The Nuggets will attempt to get on the win column when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

Lewis Hamilton admits he has become accustomed to trailing Mercedes team-mate George Russell after struggling in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Hamilton qualified in sixth for Sunday's race, one place behind Russell despite the latter reverting to an older floor for his W15 car following a crash in Friday's practice.

The seven-time drivers' champion trailed his team-mate by almost three tenths of a second and has now only beaten him in qualifying five times in 20 races this year.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 following the conclusion of qualifying, which saw Carlos Sainz snatch pole position ahead of title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, Hamilton admitted he had struggled all year.

"I'm losing all the time, that's why I've been so bad in qualifying all year," Hamilton, who sits sixth in the drivers' championship standings, said. 

"It's a normal thing and I'm used to it. We have done everything. We worked so hard in the background, like everyone does, to get the car in a nice place.

"It was feeling good in final practice, so we were like, 'let's not touch anything or do anything'. All we changed was the rear wing and it's just a drastic difference.

"Every time I get to qualifying, the car is completely different. I can't pinpoint why, but it is what it is." 

Mercedes had switched to an older iteration of their car floor after both drivers struggled at last week's United States Grand Prix, with Russell now on an even older edition following his crash in second practice.

"Maybe George is more comfortable on the older package," Hamilton said. "I don't know, we'll see. We'll get a good reading of which is best."

Kevin Durant was hailed as a generational talent by Phoenix Suns coach Mike Budenholzer after becoming the eighth player to reach 29,000 career NBA points.

Durant scored 31 points as the Suns recorded their second victory in three games on Saturday, beating the Dallas Mavericks 114-102.

That made him just the eighth player in league history to score 29,000 points, after LeBron James, the NBA's scoring leader with 40,543 points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain.

Addressing the 36-year-old's landmark after the game, Budenholzer said: "What a tribute to a great, generational talent. I feel incredibly lucky to be around him every day."

Durant now has 29,010 total points through his 17 seasons in the league with the Seattle Supersonics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix.

He has averaged over 20 points in each of his campaigns in the league, but he said the credit must go to those who have put him in a position to score points.

"I've got to give credit to the people who have helped me since I was a kid," Durant said. 

"Team-mates who passed me the ball, set screens for me, coaches who drew up plays for me."

Zheng Qinwen was delighted to atone for her 2022 Tokyo Open final defeat as she overcame Sofia Kenin to capture the title on Sunday.

Zheng won her third WTA title of the year by beating wild-card entrant Kenin 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in one hour and 52 minutes in the Japanese capital.

The Chinese number one, who won gold at the Paris Olympic Games and successfully defended her Palermo title during the clay-court season, was featuring in her second Tokyo final after finishing as runner-up to Liudmila Samsonova two years ago.

Speaking after her victory, Zheng said: "I really appreciate that I'm able to fight through and be the champion in Tokyo. 

"This is the one I wanted to get when I was 19 years old. I fought so hard, but I didn't, I lost in the final. So this year, I'm just really happy."

Zheng will now look to continue her momentum when she makes her WTA Finals debut in Riyadh next week, but she knows the competition in Saudi Arabia will be fierce. 

"All the players are really tough to beat," Zheng said. "From the first match, I'll need to be focused. It's the first time for me in the WTA Finals. I am so motivated but let’s see what's going to happen."

Data Debrief: Zheng flying in Asia

Zheng now boasts a 28-4 record since the end of Wimbledon, and her form through the Asian Swing has been nothing short of magnificent.

She went 12-2 through the Asian events, and her career win-loss record in Tokyo now stands at 8-1.

Carlos Sainz celebrated a near-perfect qualifying session as the Spaniard now aims to win from pole at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Sainz was the quickest through qualifying on Saturday, and will start ahead of reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen.

Lando Norris rounded out the top three, with Sainz's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc – who won in dominant fashion in Austin last week – fourth on the grid.

It marks the sixth time Sainz, who is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season with Lewis Hamilton coming in as his replacement, has taken pole.

He said: "I'm very happy and [had] a great couple of laps.

"A lot of times around Mexico you always have a feeling that you can not put a lap together and it's extremely difficult with how much sliding there is, but today my two laps of Q3 were pretty much identical and almost perfect.

"I'm very happy because it's not normally the case around Mexico with how tricky it is."

Ferrari are third in the Constructors' Championship, with 496 points, eight behind Red Bull and 48 off pace-setters McLaren.

Sainz added: "It [the Constructors' Championship] is our number one priority. Especially if you win the race, those extra seven, eight points that you can win is important for the team in the Constructors'.

"I will be looking forward to getting that P1 into Turn One and hopefully our race pace will be good enough to win it."

Verstappen heads into Sunday 57 points clear of Norris in the driver standings, with just five races remaining.

"[The pressure] was quite a lot," said Verstappen. "I think [the circuit] is probably one of the hardest tracks to get right.

"Street circuits are difficult, but this one as well, as there is low downforce, it's very easy to have a lock-up or a slide, so it's one of the tricky ones on the calendar."

Three of the last four winners of the Mexican Grand Prix have come from third on the grid, meaning there is plenty of hope for Norris.

"I'm pretty happy with third honestly, I feel like I got to the limit of the car quite quickly which made us look good," he said.

"I struggled to get more out of it in the final two laps, Carlos and Max did good laps, especially Carlos who has been quick all weekend.

"No one has done proper long runs on the tyres that we are going to be on tomorrow so there are question marks for all of us. Ferrari have been very good in qualifying and long run pace over the last couple of races. It's going to be tough but we're in a good position so I'm looking forward to it."

LeBron James had a triple-double with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and Anthony Davis added 31 points and nine rebounds to lead the unbeaten Los Angeles Lakers to a 131-127 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.

The Lakers improved to 3-0 under new coach JJ Redick, and Davis has scored at least 31 points in each game this season. 

Los Angeles was up by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Kings cut the lead to 64-60 by halftime and had built a 7-point lead in the third quarter. James helped the Lakers come roaring back with 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Davis had a big 3-pointer with 37 seconds left to give the Lakers a 128-123 lead after the Kings had cut it to two.

Domantas Sabonis also had a triple-double in the loss. He scored 29 points on 10 of 14 shots and added 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

James made a long 3 in the fourth quarter to cap an 8-0 run to give the Lakers a 101-94 lead.

Durant, Suns overcome Doncic

Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Jusuf Nurkic added 18 points and 14 rebounds and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Dallas Mavericks 114-102 despite Luka Dončić’s 40 points.

The Suns never trailed after the first quarter, though the Mavericks kept the deficit in the single digits for much of the night. Doncic also grabbed 10 rebounds while Kyrie Irving added 22 points.

The Suns led 91-80 heading into the fourth quarter and extended the lead to 105-90 six minutes later. Devin Booker added 21 points while rookie Ryan Dunn scored 13 in his first career start. Tyus Jones added seven assists.

Doncic started hot with 23 points in the first half but cooled off after halftime. He shot 12 of 25 from the field, including 5 of 13 from 3-point range. Klay Thompson had 19 points, making five 3s.

The Suns led by as many as 13 in the first half but settled for a 63-55 lead at the break.

Clippers survive Jokic’s 41

James Harden had 23 points and 16 assists, Norman Powell scored 26 of his 37 points in the second half and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame Nikola Jokić's 41 points to beat the Denver Nuggets 109-104.

Jokic made a career-high seven 3-pointers but missed a free throw with 20 seconds left that would have tied it. Harden made four from the line in the final 30.5 seconds.

The Clippers trailed 103-100 when Powell hit a 3-pointer. Jamal Murray, who had 22 points, missed a layup and Harden then made two free throws.

After Jokic split a pair from the line, Harden made two more foul shots to make it 107-104 and Jokic missed an off-balance 3-pointer.

Harden was 12 of 13 from the line and several of his 16 assists were to Ivica Zubac, who had 24 points and 15 rebounds.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6 1/3 innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers hit three early homers off Carlos Rodón to beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Saturday night for a 2-0 World Series lead in a game overshadowed by an injury to Shohei Ohtani.

Freddie Freeman, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández went deep for the Dodgers, who watched Ohtani walk off the field with a left shoulder injury at the end of the seventh inning.

After the Yankees closed to 4-2 on Giancarlo Stanton's RBI single in the ninth against Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia relieved with the bases loaded and retired pinch-hitter Jose Trevino on a first-pitch flyout for the save.

Yamamoto allowed Juan Soto's third-inning homer, then retired his last 11 batters and 15 of his final 16.

Soto also singled in the ninth and scored on Stanton's one-out hit off the third-base bag. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Treinen then struck out Anthony Volpe before Vesia relieved.

Ohtani hurt his left shoulder on a feetfirst slide when he was caught stealing second base to end the seventh.

Game 3 is Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Forty-five of 56 teams holding 2-0 World Series leads have gone on to win the title.

New York star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and is hitting .150 with six RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 40 postseason at-bats.

Yamamoto struck out four and walked two with a five-pitch array that included curveballs, splitters, sliders and cutters. He improved to 2-0 in four postseason starts.

A night after Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in Series history to transform a 3-2 deficit with two outs in the 10th inning into a 6-3 win, Edman put the Dodgers ahead with a solo shot in the second.

After Soto tied the score, Mookie Betts singled with two outs in the bottom half and Hernández, in a 3-for-27 slide, homered into the right-center pavilion for a 3-1 lead.

Holger Rune was on the end of an upset as he lost 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Mpetshi Perricard has soared into the top 50 after starting the year ranked at 205, and the Frenchman was on top form against his fellow youngster on Saturday.

He served 17 aces to get the better of Rune and tee up a final against American Ben Shelton.

"It's amazing to be in the final. I played a good match today. It was difficult against Holger, but I found the key to win this match," said Mpetshi Perricard.

"Inside of me there was a lot of emotion, but I tried to calm it down. It's nice to be in the final and I hope to get the win."

Shelton, meanwhile, beat Arthur Fils 6-3 7-6 (11-9).

At the Vienna Open, Jack Draper ensured his place in the top 15 of the ATP rankings and reach the first ATP 500 final of his career by overcoming Lorenzo Musetti 6-2 6-4.

Musetti downed favourite Alexander Zverev to reach the last four, but the Italian was no match for Draper, despite the Briton letting a 4-2 lead slip in the second set.

"I thought the first set was a really high level from my side," said Draper.

"Lorenzo is a really tough competitor. I've known him since I was really young and playing against him is always so difficult. He's had an incredible season.

"The second set was really up and down. There were some long points and definitely some nerves and difficult moments, but I'm really proud of the way I kept on fighting and kept on going. In the end I got it done."

Karen Khachanov will be Draper's opponent in the final, after the Russian overcame Alex De Minaur.

The Los Angeles Lakers must continue to make Anthony Davis "the main focal point" of the team after he starred in their win over the Phoenix Suns. 

Those were the words of LeBron James after the Lakers recorded their first 2-0 start to an NBA season with a 123-116 triumph over the Suns on Friday.

Davis finished with 36 points, becoming the third player after Elgin Baylor and Jerry West to notch at least 35 points in consecutive games for the Lakers.

It has been an impressive start for Davis, who, at age 31, and in his sixth season with the Lakers, is looking to take the torch from James as the team's leading man. 

James, who finished the game with 21 points and eight assists, expressed Davis' importance this season, particularly how he can be kept involved effectively for the duration of the game. 

"It's very important that he's the main focal point for us every single night," James said.

"We know what he's going to do defensively, but offensively, we have to find him in multiple places on the floor throughout the whole game.

"And we've done that through two games."

It also marked a memorable game for Los Angeles coach JJ Redick, who became the first Lakers boss to win his first two games since Phil Jackson in 1999.

The Lakers hired Redick in the offseason with the expectation that he would bring knowledge of the game of basketball along with an ability to connect with players.

There were immediate sceptics of the hire, as Redick had never coached professionally, but Davis was quick to praise his coach and the game plan that led to the win.

“The game plan, the schemes that he had on both ends of the floor," Davis said.

"He trusts us, and we trust him as far as what he teaches us and what he wants us to do on the floor, on both ends, and it’s our job to go execute it.

“I think we were very prepared tonight. Like I said, we executed the game plan to a T.

"I’m not going to tell you the game plan because I know Minnesota will probably be watching this and figure out how to try to beat us next time.

"But our game plan was elite, and we executed it and were able to get the win.”

The Los Angeles Lakers must continue to make Anthony Davis "the main focal point" of the team after he starred in their win over the Phoenix Suns. 

Those were the words of LeBron James after the Lakers recorded their first 2-0 start to an NBA season with a 123-116 triumph over the Suns on Friday.

Davis finished with 36 points, becoming the third player after Elgin Baylor and Jerry West to notch at least 35 points in consecutive games for the Lakers.

It has been an impressive start for Davis, who, at age 31, and in his sixth season with the Lakers, is looking to take the torch from James as the team's leading man. 

James, who finished the game with 21 points and eight assists, expressed Davis' importance this season, particularly how he can be kept involved effectively for the duration of the game. 

"It's very important that he's the main focal point for us every single night," James said.

"We know what he's going to do defensively, but offensively, we have to find him in multiple places on the floor throughout the whole game.

"And we've done that through two games."

It also marked a memorable game for Los Angeles coach JJ Redick, who became the first Lakers boss to win his first two games since Phil Jackson in 1999.

The Lakers hired Redick in the offseason with the expectation that he would bring knowledge of the game of basketball along with an ability to connect with players.

There were immediate sceptics of the hire, as Redick had never coached professionally, but Davis was quick to praise his coach and the game plan that led to the win.

“The game plan, the schemes that he had on both ends of the floor," Davis said.

"He trusts us, and we trust him as far as what he teaches us and what he wants us to do on the floor, on both ends, and it’s our job to go execute it.

“I think we were very prepared tonight. Like I said, we executed the game plan to a T.

"I’m not going to tell you the game plan because I know Minnesota will probably be watching this and figure out how to try to beat us next time.

"But our game plan was elite, and we executed it and were able to get the win.”

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both expressed optimism over Ferrari’s start to the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, with the pair particularly encouraged by their long-run pace.

Sainz topped second practice after coming second in FP1, while Leclerc backed him up in fourth after missing FP1 due to Ollie Bearman’s latest outing for the Scuderia.

Bearman, who will join Haas next year, was involved in an incident with the Williams of Alex Albon in the first practice, sustaining damage to the front-left corner of the Ferrari. 

Sainz and Leclerc's display comes a week on from an impressive showing in the United States, with the pair achieving a second one-two this year after doing so in Australia.

If they do so again in Mexico, it will be the first time since Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in the 2008 season that Ferrari have managed three one-two finishes in a single year.

And Sainz is confident of their chances, saying: "We hit the ground running in FP1 with a good car, good set-up, then all FP1 and FP2 we just worked in fine-tuning a couple of things," Sainz said.

“Nothing major, so yeah, I’m quite happy with how everything feels. Especially the long runs feel good.

"I think when it comes to qualifying we’ll have a lot of challenge from our competitors, and over one lap it will be a tight battle.”

Leclerc echoed Sainz’s feelings after taking over from Bearman, with the Monegasque aiming to claim his fourth race win of the season that would surpass his 2022 total. 

“It felt good. It was a bit of a messy FP2 for everybody with the red flag of George [Russell] at the beginning," Leclerc said.

“It was quite a good FP1 to miss on paper because we would have half an hour more in FP2, but at the end it was just not great, because in the FP2 we couldn’t do the maximum laps that we wanted to do.

“But anyway, the feeling is good with the car. For me, even though we did two, three laps, we were still straight away in the pace. The long run seems to be good, so that’s really positive.”

Anthony Davis scored 35 points, Austin Reaves added 26 and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Phoenix Suns 123-116 on Friday night for their first 2-0 start since 2010-11.

LeBron James had 17 of his 21 points in the second half for the Lakers, who trailed by 22 points in the second quarter.

Davis is the 3rd Lakers player with consecutive 35-point games to start a season in franchise history, joining Elgin Baylor in 1962 and Jerry West in 1969.

Kevin Durant led Phoenix (1-1) with 30 points and Devin Booker had 23.

The Lakers were down 61-52 at halftime, then outscored Phoenix 35-24 in the third quarter to take the lead as Davis and James each scored 11 in the period.

Phoenix made 21 of its first 30 shots, including nine straight 3-pointers, before going 21 of 52 the rest of the game. Phoenix was 24 of 39 from the field in the first half, but 9 of 27 in the third quarter.

The Lakers trailed 81-74 with three minutes left in the third before scoring nine straight points to grab the lead. That was part of a 20-6 run during a nearly five-minute span from late in the third to early in the fourth.

Young lifts Hawks over Ball, Hornets

Trae Young scored 38 points and the Atlanta Hawks overcame LaMelo Ball's 34 points and career-best nine 3-pointers to beat the Charlotte Hornets 125-120.

Ball made 9 of 14 3-pointers, surpassing his previous career high of eight.

De'Andre Hunter added 24 points and Dyson Daniels scored 18 for Atlanta, which has won its first two games.

Ball scored 34 points in the Hornets' 110-105 win at Houston on Wednesday to open the regular season. He matched that total with his ninth 3 with 7:31 remaining.

The Hornets were without two starters, including guard Brandon Miller. The team said Miller will be out at least a week because of a strained left glute. Center Mark Williams was held out with a strained tendon in his left foot.

Despite missing two starters, Charlotte showed depth with four players in double figures. Miles Bridges scored 27 points, Tre Mann had 17 and Nick Richards tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds.

With the game tied at 90, Young's 3 gave the lead back to Atlanta. Following a tying 3 by Charlotte's Josh Green, Young answered with a short jumper.

Bulls sink 21 3-pointers to beat Bucks

Coby White scored 35 points, and the hot-shooting Chicago Bulls spoiled Milwaukee’s home opener with a 133-122 victory over the Bucks.

Zach LaVine added 25 points, Nikola Vucevic had 22 and Josh Giddey scored 17 for the Bulls, who shot 21 of 47 from 3-point range.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 38 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Damian Lillard had 28 points, but only went 3 of 12 from deep.

After the first three minutes of the third quarter featured five lead changes, the Bulls broke a 72-all tie and pulled ahead for good by scoring seven straight points.

After Milwaukee's A.J. Green made a pair of 3s in the first minute of the fourth quarter to cut Chicago's lead to 102-101, Patrick Williams answered with a 3 of his own. Williams' basket ignited a 13-1 run, and the Bucks never seriously threatened again.