Sports Desk

SACRAMENTO — While the UCLA women’s basketball team has a veteran roster that was in this exact position a season ago, the Bruins have an entirely different vibe during their current postseason run.

The No. 1-seed Bruins (34-1) will face No. 3-seed Duke (27-8) in the Elite Eight on Sunday for the chance to go back to the Final Four a year after UCLA beat Louisiana State to reach the Final Four before immediately suffering a blowout loss to eventual national champion UConn.

This year, they expect something different, in large part because of an upgraded starting lineup.

A tangible difference is the addition of Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gianna Kneepkens. Each was the top scorer on their former squads — Washington State and Utah, respectively — and have taken on drastically different roles as arguably the fourth and fifth pieces of this Bruins team.

Charlisse Leger-Walker hits a reverse layup in front of Minnesota’s Grace Grocholski during the tournament on Friday in Sacramento.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

“It’s huge we have them,” said senior Gabriela Jaquez, who has spent her entire NCAA career with the Bruins. “They’re perfect fits here. Charlisse as a point guard has been great, and then just being a guard out there, a ready shooter, doing whatever we need, and obviously them being able to defend is really great for our team.”

With the Cougars, Leger-Walker averaged double-digit scoring and more than 10 shots per game in every season. With the Bruins, her production has dropped to 8.7 points per game on 7.1 shots.

Where she has improved, though, is a career-high 5.7 assists per contest.

“I look at the talent we have, especially on the offensive end, there are a lot of times where I don’t have to shoot and force some of the shots that I would have to back at Washington State,” she said. “I’ve always been able to facilitate and be that connector, but this is the role I am needed in the most here.”

Kneepkens was the Utes’ top shooting option and Pac-12 freshman of the year. There, she was relied on as the team’s top three-point shooter, and after Alissa Pili left, their top scorer overall.

During her graduate season, she has taken a significant reduction in shots per game, going from 12.3 field goals per game to 9.4.

“I think it tells you what their ‘why’ is, what their purpose is, why they came here,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “It wasn’t to get their own stats. It was to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”

On a night where neither of them did much shooting against Minnesota, though, it was their defensive length that made a significant difference against a physical Golden Gophers team. It was the kind of defense they could not have played a year ago with Londynn Jones, who transferred to USC, in the spot Leger-Walker now occupies and Angela Dugalic starting rather than providing invaluable depth coming off the bench.

UCLA guard Gianna Kneepkens dribbles under pressure from Oklahoma State forward Achol Akot during an NCAA tournament game at Pauley Pavilion on March 23.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Offensively, Leger-Walker’s presence has given the Bruins more options to score from throughout the floor. Known as a three-point threat at Washington State, she needs to be guarded on the perimeter but also not be left to connect to other open players.

“But I think Charlisse, specifically, is one of the best processing point guards I’ve ever been around,” Close said. “Her ability to understand how rotations are happening in the second line, what’s the next play and if she makes one mistake, boy, she’s not making it a second time. … Having Charlisse on our team has freed Kiki [Rice] up in some ways and vice versa. So that’s been really fun to see.”

Rice has played more of a shooting guard role this season with Leger-Walker taking over at point guard, which has opened her up to shoot more and drive to the hoop without facilitating as often.

That freedom has given Rice her best offense season yet.

“[Leger-Walker’s] basketball IQ is insane,” Rice said. “She gets buckets, she defends super well, she does it all for us. She’s selfless, and she kind of knows when to take over. I’m grateful we’ve had her this year.”

Close said that Kneepkens played one of her best defensive games in the win over Minnesota, but that her length playing as a wing has opened up the UCLA defense to guard the perimeter all season.

“It’s just learning to play with great players,” Kneepkens said. “If that’s finding them when they’re open, then I’ll do that. Or if I need to take my shot, I’ll do that too.”

UCLA’s biggest wins have featured dominant performances from Lauren Betts and generally, its other bigs — Sienna Betts and Dugalic — playing at their best.

But the true depth of the Bruins has come from having long guards who can defend and change up what they need to do in any given matchup. They might be the difference going into the toughest parts of the tournament.

“Coming to a program also where you are surrounded by elite players, and at the end of the day we want to win and be a part of a program that can do that,” Leger-Walker said. “Whatever that role is that we have to adjust to throughout the season, I think, we really bought into that.”

Tottenham Hotspur announced on Sunday that their interim head coach has left by mutual consent after 44 days in charge.

Nine head coaches have either been sacked or have left a Premier League club by mutual consent this season. Can you guess all nine?

Two days with no games allowed the Lakers to fully reset as they prepare for the final stretch of the regular season and a playoff run.

They have eight games left, starting with the NBA lottery-bound Washington Wizards at Crypto.com Arena on Monday. The Lakers will play without star guard Luka Doncic because he’s serving his one-game suspension for reaching the league limit of 16 technical fouls.

The Lakers had an early practice Sunday and that gave them a chance to make adjustments with fresh bodies and minds.

“Yeah, for me, I think, based on all of them wanting to come in at 10 a.m. on a Sunday, I think it is as much mental and spiritual and emotional,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after practice. “We didn’t want to have these guys in here long today. But we got a lot done, watched some film and cleaned some stuff up. But there is these two days for us. It’s a great reset for us.”

Doncic got his 16th technical foul of the season Friday night during a win over the Brooklyn Nets after an exchange with Ziaire Williams, when both were given double technical fouls in the third quarter of that game.

For Doncic, who earns $45.9 million per season, the suspension will cost him about $264,000.

If he gets two more technical fouls between now and the end of the regular season, he will be automatically suspended for an additional game.

Doncic is eligible to return for the Lakers on Tuesday night when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I mean, he’s disappointed,” Redick said of Doncic. “He wants to be there for his teammates, and again, I’ve talked about this all year, like he plays. He’s not a guy that takes games off. He can be banged up and he’s gonna play. He was like that when I was his teammate in Dallas. For tomorrow, we’ve gotten, I think, some great contributions from guys that haven’t necessarily been in the nine-man rotation when we’ve been fully healthy.”

Redick spoke about how Bronny James, Jarred Vanderbilt and Maxi Kleber have all had “good moments” when they were called on for duty.

And with Doncic out, Redick said it will take a group effort to beat the Wizards.

“But we’re gonna need everybody tomorrow,” Redick said.

The Wizards have the third-worst record in the NBA at 17-56. They are second to last in the league in points allowed, giving up 124 per game.

Still, this is all about the Lakers and how they get ready for the playoffs during the final few games of the season .

Half of the eight games are against teams with records below .500.

The Lakers will face a Cavaliers team that’s making a push for better positioning in the Eastern Conference. They will twice face an Oklahoma City team that has the best record in the league and a Suns team that has a 3-1 record against the Lakers.

“That’s the thing I’ve talked about all year is you need great effort and you need great execution,” Redick said. “I think the effort part has been there very consistently for weeks now. Sometimes when the games are stacked together and travel and all that, there can be some small details, execution-wise, that can have slippage, and I think for us, especially on the defensive end, we can do some things better. But I mean, look, the last 16 games we are where we are because we’ve been really good on both ends.”

Etc.

Redick said guard Marcus Smart (right ankle contusion) and forward Adou Thiero (left knee soreness) are in “that day-to-day camp” with their injuries.

“So we’re just kind of waiting for them to feel like they’re good enough to go,” Redick said.

SACRAMENTO — When the confetti dropped after the final buzzer, the UCLA women’s basketball team was dancing.

Lauren Betts and Charlisse Leger-Walker looked at each other as Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching” played, then Gabriela Jaquez, from across the court, locked eyes and raced to join them in time.

It was time, once again, for the Bruins to celebrate by performing their dance routine. This time, No. 1 UCLA also answered a key question during its Final Four-clinching 70-58 win over No. 3 Duke.

Yes, the Bruins (35-1), barely challenged all season and always dancing and smiling, could actually deal with adversity after all.

UCLA earned its second straight Final Four berth despite trailing at halftime for the second time all season and coming from behind to win while down in the second half for the first time.

They will face the winner of Monday’s game between No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Michigan.

“That was definitely adversity,” said Gianna Kneepkens, who scored seven points. “We regrouped, and the way we were talking to each other gives me so much confidence.”

UCLA trailed Duke 39-31 at the half after missing all four three-point attempts and committing 12 turnovers.

UCLA center Lauren Betts drives to the basket over Duke forward Toby Fournier in the first half of the Bruins’ win in the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA tournament Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

“We really didn’t execute our game plan very well,” UCLA coach Cori Close said of the first half. “We didn’t control rebounds. We weren’t the aggressors in creating catches. We didn’t go strong to the rim and execute our stuff.”

But they turned on the aggression early in the third quarter, taking deeper shots and forcing three jump-balls and four turnovers as the Bruins rallied from a deficit in the second half for the first time all season. UCLA outscored Duke 20-8 in the third quarter.

“We were really reactive in that first half and let the game come to us,” said Leger-Walker, who finished with five points and six assists. “We let them dictate what was going on out there. It’s not how we’ve played in the season, when we’ve been up and feeling good. So, you know, we could feel that coming into halftime, and we all kind of took a breath, reset, and a lot of that was on the defensive side.”

Betts was also activated late, with 15 of her 23 points and eight of her 10 rebounds coming in the second half while she matched a season high five blocks.

“I was pretty mad,” Betts said of her emotions at halftime. “I just didn’t like how that first half happened. I know that I could have been a lot more aggressive. I think going into a game like this, sometimes you just take yourself out of your head and you realize, oh, this is the Elite Eight and my season is on the line. So I’ve got to wake up a little bit. Going into the locker room, I was just pretty certain that I wanted to win this game.”

Angela Dugalic shot four of eight with four rebounds and two steals in the second half and was the catalyst for many big moments, including a buzzer-beating floater to end the third quarter and a lead-extending layup and free throw off an offensive rebound to create separation in the fourth. She finished with 15 points off the bench.

Dugalic and the other veterans led a halftime conversation before Close came into the locker room.

“When Cori came in, she was super steady, and I think that gave us a sense of calm,” Dugalic said. “We still were pretty neutral. We understood that the first half wasn’t a good representation of how we want to play basketball. But Cori came in and what she said right now is, like, ‘How do we stick back to our values and stay neutral, focus on next-play speed?’”

Duke forward Delaney Thomas, left, tries to draw a foul against UCLA forward Angela Dugalic during the first half Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Duke (27-9) scored 18 points off the Bruins’ 18 turnovers, tied for the most UCLA has committed all season. Twelve of them came in the first half. But UCLA turned it around in the second half with 18 points off 13 Duke turnovers.

The Blue Devils entered the game limiting opponents to 26.8% from three-point range, ranking 15th nationally, and aggressively challenged the Bruins’ offense. UCLA responded by becoming one dimensional, solely trying to get the ball to Betts in the post.

But Gabriela Jaquez, who finished with nine points and five rebounds, hit a three-pointer early in the third quarter to get UCLA back within five, and Duke missed six consecutive shots while the Bruins narrowed the gap. Toby Fournier (10 points) also committed her third foul early in the quarter, forcing the Blue Devils’ center off the floor.

Both offenses stalled for a period in the third quarter, but consecutive Duke turnovers led to a Leger-Walker fast-break layup and a Kneepkens three-pointer for UCLA’s first lead since the opening seconds of the game.

Duke didn’t score for 5:40 during the third quarter until Taina Mair (team-high 21 points) made a free throw with 32 seconds remaining. The eight Blue Devils’ points were tied for the fewest they’ve scored in a quarter this season.

“You can only learn from moments like this, which is a really positive thing,” said Leger-Walker, with one piece of the NCAA tournament net tied to her Final Four hat. “Definitely not something we want to have as a pattern, though.”

The Bruins held the ball with the clock running down, and Leger-Walker dribbled it to around the top of the three-point line and stopped. Her teammates surrounded her and the group huddled around each other as time expired.

“I just said, ‘I love you guys,’” Betts said of the moment. “That was it. I said, ‘I love you guys.’”

They’ll dance on down to Phoenix next, looking not to avenge the Final Four defeat to UConn a year ago, but ready to prove they have grown to be a championship team.

“Now we really know what it takes to build a rally too,” Rice said.

UCLA center Lauren Betts holds up a piece of the net after the Bruins’ win over Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament Sunday.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

HOUSTON — Isaac Paredes hit a tiebreaking two-RBI double with two outs in the eighth inning to help the Houston Astros to a 9-7 win over the Angels on Sunday despite a disappointing major league debut from starter Tatsuya Imai.

There were two outs in the eighth when the Angels intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez to give Houston runners at first and third. Alvarez stole second before Paredes hit a line drive off Drew Pomeranz (0-1) to put Houston on top 8-6.

Jose Altuve followed with a double to push the lead to 9-6.

Imai gave up three hits and four runs with four walks and four strikeouts in 2⅔ innings.

The Astros (2-2) are banking on him to have a big year after signing the right-hander to a three-year, $54-million contract following a stellar career in Japan where he was a three-time All-Star in eight seasons with the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions.

The Angels (2-2) had two on with one out in the ninth when Bryan King took over for Bryan Abreu. Nolan Schanuel hit an RBI single to cut the lead to two, but King struck out the next two batters for his first save.

Jorge Soler drove in three runs and Zach Neto hit a two-run homer for the Angels as they split the season-opening series.

The score was tied with one on and one out in the fourth inning when Neto made it 6-4 with his shot to the seats in left field.

Christian Walker’s two-RBI double with two outs in the fifth inning tied it 6-6.

Christian Vázquez drove in two runs with a single in Houston’s four-run second inning to give the Astros an early lead.

There was one out in the third when Imai walked Neto before he moved to third on a single by Mike Trout. Schanuel walked to load the bases and Soler cleared them with his double to the corner in left field to get the Angels within one.

Jo Adell’s two-out RBI single tied it at 4-4 and chased Imai.

Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz yielded four hits and six runs with five walks in four innings.

Nine years on, Flynn is anxiously watching on as a fan, having left the world of football for a new job in media and marketing in the Newport office of CDM Media, his city centre base just across the River Usk within spying distance of his old club.

Christian Fuchs’ team are two points above the relegation zone after Saturday’s crucial 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town and, with six games to go, Flynn hopes there will be no need for a repeat of his final-day rescue act.

“I hope Christian can keep them up because there will be a big after-effect if things go wrong,” said the 45-year-old, who was born in the city and played for County before managing them from 2017 to 2021.

“My son is in the academy at Newport and if we go down… that could go. That would be catastrophic in terms of how we’re going to bring young players through.

“I think football in the city will drop. It would hit hospitality around match days. It’s going to leave a bad aftertaste.

“If they go down, I think it could be a long, long road back. If they get back.”

Flynn, though, is optimistic about their survival hopes. After all, they’re not 11 points adrift of safety as his 2017 side were after he accepted what looked an impossible survival mission by replacing the sacked Graham Westley as boss.

SACRAMENTO — The team that can’t stop dancing won’t stop dancing.

The top-seeded UCLA women’s basketball team beat Duke 70-58 in the Elite Eight. It wasn’t balletic, but beautiful.

Sunday’s game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento wasn’t a fun, free-flowing joy ride that so many of the Bruins’ wins have been this season.

It was a rattling, teeth-gritting, heart-thumping roller-coaster ride — weeeeee!

The Bruins weren’t having fun, exactly. They were having the time of their lives.

And in the end, they shoved their way to the front of the stage — and back to the Final Four.

Now the TikTok countdown is on before final exams in Phoenix, where redemption and legacy and a rematch await with either winner of the No. 1 Texas vs. No. 2 Michigan tussle in the Fort Worth Regional final.

And any questions — ahem, mine — about how the barely-battled-tested boogie-down Bruins respond to a significant stress test were answered.

The Bruins are built for this.

They’re not just talented. And they’re not just talented dancers (and postgame, Lauren Betts, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gabriela Jaquez reprised the routine that went viral when they did it with the UCLA Dance Team during halftime of a men’s game this season).

They’re tough. And they’re locked in.

And unlike last season, when their program’s Final Four debut ended in a 85-51 national semifinal blowout loss to eventual champion Connecticut, they’re ready for what comes next.

They let us know in the second half Sunday.

Duke came floating in, still buzzing from Friday’s buzzer-beater in the Sweet 16. That slow-motion-in-real-time three-pointer by Ashlon Jackson that rolled around and around the rim as though the basketball gods needed just a little more time to determine UCLA’s opponent Sunday.

UCLA’s Lauren Betts, left, Gabriela Jaquez celebrate after the Bruins defeated Duke on Sunday to advance to the Final Four.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

It was to be Duke, who proved a dangerous No. 3 seed. The Bruins weren’t prepared for the Blue Devils to be so prepared for them, trailing at the break for just the second time this season. The first time was in November against Texas, when the Bruins — now a program-record 35-1 — suffered their only loss this season.

Still their only loss.

Even a fool could read the determination on the Bruins’ faces as they roared back from a 39-31 halftime deficit; they’d come so far together, but they so badly wanted to go further.

No one was ready to get off the ride, not least the six seniors who played the entirety of the second half, seizing momentum and the moment and hitting the Blue Devils (27-9) with a white-knuckled flurry of activity.

“Compliment them,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said, “for turning up their defensive intensity.”

There were 50-50 balls in name only, because UCLA seemed to be winning 100% of them.

UCLA players were ripping away passes. They were diving all over the floor and were all over the boards. They ratcheted up the intensity so much it spread into the stands, where the largely pro-Bruins crowd of 9,627 cheered deliriously.

Shots started falling. Turnovers stopped cascading. UCLA found its rhythm.

And UCLA’s 6-foot-7 star center Betts did what she does, with 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in the second half, of which she played all 20 minutes.

“I was just pretty mad,” she said. “You know, my senior season is on the line, so I kind of got to wake up a little bit.”

Angela Dugalic continued to be the matchup nightmare she has been all March; the 6-4 sixth woman scored 15 timely points to take some pressure off Betts.

UCLA coach Cori Close watches play during the Bruins’ win over Duke on Sunday.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

“I’m just so proud of her,” Betts said. “The confidence and her poise … you could get in your head in moments when we’re down … but she did all the right things and what we needed at the time.”

It was an entertaining Elite Eight clash that was brought to you by two coaches who staged, like up-and-coming chefs, under two of the greatest leaders the sports world has known.

UCLA coach Cori Close and Lawson committed to making sure we won’t lose John Wooden’s and Pat Summitt’s recipes — never mind all the seismic, disorienting shifts happening in college sports.

A former Tennessee star, Lawson brings Summitt’s brand crackling intensity to Duke, a mindset that she’s said calls for supreme confidence, chasing excellence and holding oneself to an all-around standard of success.

UCLA’s bench was uplifted all season by Close’s warm intentionality, learned from years of mentorship from Wooden. The main ingredients, she’ll tell you, requiring a dollop of growth, gratitude, of giving and not taking.

“[Our] team culture is not this nebulous thing or phrases on a wall,” Close said. “It’s a group of people that are willing to be committed to the hard, right behaviors over and over again. I cannot tell you how many times throughout that game we referred to our values, who we are, what our identity was, what we had to get back to.

“… I’m just really humbled and thankful to be a part of a team and staff that cares about things from the inside out. What you saw on the court is a reflection and a byproduct of what’s happened on the inside.”

Braylon Mullins sank a desperation three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to give Connecticut an astonishing 73-72 victory over top-seeded Duke on Sunday, earning the Huskies a spot in the Final Four after they rallied from a 19-point first-half deficit.

The Blue Devils led by three before UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left. With Duke playing keep-away to prevent the Huskies from fouling, Cayden Boozer’s pass near midcourt was deflected, and after UConn came up with the ball, Demary made a shot from well behind the three-point line.

It’s the second straight season to end in a huge collapse for Duke, which was the top overall seed in this year’s tournament. The Blue Devils led by six with 1:14 remaining before falling to Houston in last year’s national semifinals.

UConn missed 18 of its first 19 attempts from three-point range and finished five for 23. The fifth will be remembered in Connecticut for generations.

llinois will face UConn and Michigan will take on Arizona next Saturday, with the winners squaring off two nights later for the national title.

The Arizona-Michigan game is a matchup of top seeds. UConn is seeded second and will play No. 3 seed Illinois.

Arizona is the early favorite to take the title next Monday night in Indianapolis, listed at 19-10 odds by BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by the Wolverines — coming off a 95-62 drubbing of Tennessee on Sunday — at 2-1.

Michigan is a 1½-point favorite in its semifinal.

There is little prospect of VAR being removed from the Premier League, or having its remit reduced.

In 2024, 19 out of 20 top-flight clubs voted to keep VAR, with only Wolves voting against, having proposed the poll themselves.

In order for VAR to be scrapped, 14 out of the 20 Premier League clubs would have to vote against it following a new proposal for abolition by a club.

The independent key match incident (KMI) review panel estimates there has been an accuracy rate of 96-97% for refereeing decisions made in Premier League matches since the introduction of VAR, while time delays caused by VAR have dropped by 25% in the past two seasons.

This year an FA Cup tie between Aston Villa and Newcastle United, which did not have VAR, featured three significant refereeing errors, leading it to being labelled the best advert yet for the technology.

The Premier League said: “VAR delivers more correct decisions.

“In recent seasons, there have been around 100 correct VAR overturns per season – instances where goals would otherwise have been incorrectly awarded or disallowed, or red cards or penalties missed or wrongly given.

“The league applies a high threshold for VAR intervention, with the referee’s call taking precedence. As a result, VAR is less intrusive in the Premier League than in other European leagues, including the Champions League, where VAR intervenes almost twice as often.”

But the FSA believes the results of its survey should be listened to and acted upon.

“Supporters naturally raise their concerns and they fall on deaf ears far too much,” Concannon says.

“That’s really disappointing, especially when all we hear is that the fans are the lifeblood of the game.

“Don’t just ignore what supporters are telling you in great numbers – that the enjoyment of football isn’t there any more in comparison to what it used to be.”

MILWAUKEE — Bennedict Mathurin scored 28 points, John Collins had 22 and Kawhi Leonard finished with 20 as the Clippers got past the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks 127-113 on Sunday for their fifth consecutive win.

Darius Garland added 15 points and 11 assists and Derrick Jones Jr. 13 points for the Clippers, who made 45 of 77 shots (58.4%).

Gary Trent Jr. had a season-high 36 points to pace Milwaukee, which had only eight players available. Taurean Prince added 18 points and AJ Green scored 15 for the Bucks, who have lost 10 of their last 12 games.

The Bucks stayed close early, trailing 29-25 after one quarter with Trent scoring 11 points, including sinking three of five from three-point range.

The Clippers began to pull away in the second, holding a 57-46 lead at the half after leading by as many as 16. Leonard had 15 first-half points.

Brook Lopez, a member of the Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship team, was honored with a video tribute in his first visit back to Milwaukee. He was whistled for a technical foul as the teams were headed to the locker room at halftime.

The Clippers outscored Milwaukee 39-28 in the third and extended its lead to as many as 24 points in the fourth before the Bucks pulled within 11 in the late stages.

Sloppy play hurt Milwaukee, which committed 22 turnovers leading to 33 Clippers points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out a seventh consecutive game for Milwaukee with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The two-time MVP has played in a career-low 36 games this season.

The Bucks also were missing Kevin Porter Jr. (right knee), Bobby Portis (left wrist sprain), Kyle Kuzma (Achilles tendinopathy), Ryan Rollins (left hip flexor), Myles Turner (right knee), Gary Harris (personal reasons) and Thanasis Antetokounmpo (left calf).

Green and Ousmane Dieng fouled out in the fourth, leaving the Bucks with six available players to finish the game.

Up next for the Clippers: vs. the Portland Trail Blazers at Intuit Dome on Tuesday.

Bayern Munich are wary of Saudi Pro League clubs targeting Harry Kane, Bernardo Silva is set to leave Manchester City and Inter Miami start talks with Manchester United‘s Casemiro.

Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness is wary of the Saudi Pro League trying to tempt England striker Harry Kane as the German club continue talks with the 32-year-old over a new deal beyond summer 2027. (Kicker – in German), external

Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva, 31, has told Manchester City that he will be leaving the club when his contract runs out in the summer. (Caught Offside), external

Aston Villa, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Liverpool are monitoring Crystal Palace‘s 25-year-old French defender Maxence Lacroix. (Teamtalk), external

Liverpool and Newcastle United are interested in Portuguese club Sporting’s 28-year-old Colombia striker Luis Suarez. (Correio da Manha – in Portuguese), external

Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay is not talking to Saudi Pro League clubs as the 29-year-old’s focus remains in Italy with Napoli. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Barcelona will offer 37-year-old Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, whose contract at the club runs out in the summer, a new one-year deal which includes a significant pay cut and more performance-related bonuses. (Sport – in Spanish), external

Juventus are looking at the prospect of adding Lewandowski and 27-year-old France forward Randal Kolo Muani, who is on loan at Tottenham from Paris St-Germain, to their ranks. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external

Chelsea and France defender Malo Gusto, 22, says Liam Rosenior is a “top manager” despite criticism following their recent poor form. (ESPN), external

Inter Miami have started talks with Brazil midfielder Casemiro’s camp about signing the 34-year-old, who will leave Manchester United in the summer, but the Major League soccer side face competition from other teams in Europe and Saudi Arabia. (Fabrizio Romano), external

HOUSTON — Carlos Correa and Isaac Paredes each drove in two runs and sparked an eight-run sixth inning for the Houston Astros in an 11-9 victory over the Angels on Saturday night.

Trailing 6-4, the Astros tied it on a single by Correa and a throwing error by Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe. Houston took a lead on a single from Christian Walker.

The Astros tagged Angels reliever Walbert Ureña (0-1) for six runs on four hits in one inning.

Houston blew it open off a two-run single by Yainer Diaz and a two-run double off the right field wall from Jake Meyers to make it 11-6. The eight runs is the most scored in the sixth inning by Houston since scoring 10 against the Dodgers on July 4.

An Angels bullpen that had registered 7⅔ innings of scoreless baseball to start the season gave up eight runs between Ureña and Joey Lucchesi in the sixth inning alone.

Houston trailed 6-0 in the fifth, but a two-run double by Paredes chased Angels starter Reid Detmers.

Detmers, who was making his first regular-season start since Sept. 27, 2024, gave up three runs on six hits and struck out nine in 4⅔ innings.

Kai-Wei Teng (1-0) made his Astros debut in the fifth inning. Teng was acquired from the San Francisco Giants in January. He gave up no runs on one hit, struck out two and walked one in 2⅓ innings to register his first win.

Oswald Peraza and Jorge Soler homered in back-to-back innings to make it 3-0. Nolan Schanuel hit a three-run homer in the ninth to make it 11-9. The Angels have eight homers as a team, which tops the majors.

Cristian Javier gave up six runs on four hits, striking out one and walking four in 4⅔ innings.

Freeze frame. There’s Dodgers catcher Will Smith’s follow-through as he watches the ball he just crushed travel toward the wall Saturday.

Now, split screen. Pull up an image of the bobblehead the Dodgers gave out before the game, commemorating Smith’s Game 7 World Series-winning home run. It’s a mirror image.

On his bobblehead night and 31st birthday, Smith delivered a two-run home run in the eighth inning as the Dodgers swept their season-opening series against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 3-2 victory Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

Cue an aerial shot of the Hollywood sign.

“When you talk about big hits, clutch, Will’s right at the top of the list,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Roberts originally planned to sit Smith. The catcher played in the first two games of the series, and an off day on Sunday would have given him two straight days of rest early in a grueling season.

“We always talk about stuff,” Smith said. “He was going to give me the day off, I just kind of dropped the bobblehead card [for Saturday] and he let me in there.”

A key edit to the script.

Roberts made a few tweaks to the lineup ahead of the Dodgers facing a left-handed starter for the first time this season. Against Eduardo Rodriguez, Roberts swapped first baseman Freddie Freeman and Smith in the batting order; Smith hit fourth and Freeman fifth.

Santiago Espinal also made his Dodgers debut, starting at third base. Roberts said it wouldn’t be a platoon between Espinal and Max Muncy at third, but he wasn’t sure exactly how the playing-time split would play out.

For the first five innings, no one on the Dodgers did much on offense, except for Freeman.

Freeman went hitless in the first two games of the series despite making hard contact. But he had three hits in four at-bats Saturday, including a double in the sixth inning that drove in the Dodgers’ first run.

“Definitely nice to get off the barrel on the first one and hit a flare up the middle,” Freeman said. “And obviously once you get one, you can just kind of rest easy. And then they played the shift on my third hit, and that was nice, because then I was able to stay on the fastball and hit it to left field down the line.”

That hit cut the Diamondbacks’ lead to one run, thanks to a strong showing from the Dodgers’ pitching staff.

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers during the first inning against the Diamondbacks on Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Tyler Glasnow turned in a quality start. Holding the Diamondbacks to two runs over six innings, Glasnow used his curveball as his putaway pitch against right-handed hitters, and two-strike sinkers kept left-handed batters off balance, especially deeper into his start. Glasnow recorded six strikeouts.

The Dodgers’ bullpen continued its scoreless streak for the series, as Alex Vesia, Will Klein and Edwin Díaz shut down the Diamondbacks through the last three innings.

For the second straight night, Díaz entered to a live rendition of Timmy Trumpet’s “Narco,” performed by trumpet player Tatiana Tate.

“When Edwin comes in the game, that means something good’s happening for the Dodgers,” Freeman said. “So I’m a fan.”

Although the Dodgers’ offense was quieter than in their other wins of the series, their lineup again proved to be pesky. In all three games, they fell behind 2-0. In all three, they won.

Dodgers catcher Will Smith, left, celebrates with Tesocar Hernández after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday, Mookie Betts drew a walk. Then Smith worked a 2-2 count, fouling off three fastballs before he was right on time for one at the top of the strike zone.

“We never feel like we’re out of it,” Smith said. “We keep taking good at-bats, keep believing in each other, keep believing that someone’s going to come up with a big hit.”

On Saturday, it was destined to be Smith.

“Birthday and bobblehead day,” Glasnow said, “It was a magical night.”

Roll credits.

Injury updates

Dodgers utility players Tommy Edman (right ankle surgery recovery) and Kiké Hernández (left elbow surgery recovery) took early batting practice on the field Saturday afternoon.

Roberts has said he expected Edman, on the 10-day injured list, will be an option by at least the end of May. Hernández will be eligible to be activated off the 60-day IL around the same time.

“I’d be shocked if [Hernández] wasn’t ready when that time is up,” Roberts said. “Taking grounders, the way he’s moving, the way he’s throwing, catching, the swing, ball coming off the bat. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was in the lineup tonight.”

Lahore Qalandars were penalised for ball tampering during their Pakistan Super League defeat by Karachi Kings.

Prior to the final over, Kings, who needed 14 to win, were awarded five penalty runs after the umpires deemed a Qalandars player had broken rules by “unfairly changing the condition of the ball”.

It is understood the offence was initially seen by the TV umpire before the on-field umpires gave the punishment. The ball was also changed at the request of the batting side.

Kings, now needing only nine from six balls, completed victory with three balls to spare.

Asked afterwards about incident, Qalandars captain and Pakistan international Shaheen Afridi said: “I don’t know about this.

“We will see if it is that in the camera. We will discuss.”

Cricket’s laws do not allow players to alter the condition of the ball, other than when shining it.

Law 41.3.2 states “it is an offence for any player to take any action which changes the condition of the ball”.

The PSL’s playing conditions say the umpires will then report the matter to match referee who will take “action as is considered appropriate against the players concerned”.

David Warner, who was banned by Cricket Australia for 12 months for his part in the Australia ball-tampering scandal in 2018, was captaining Karachi during the match.

The PSL and the Pakistan Cricket Board have been approached for comment.

A look at The Times’ top 25 high school baseball rankings for the Southland after the sixth week of the season:

Rk. School (Rec.); Comment; ranking last week

1. ORANGE LUTHERAN (7-1): Gary Morse had 16-strikeout performance; 4

2. ST. JOHN BOSCO (9-2): Three-game series with Orange Lutheran this week; 1

3. NORCO (10-1): Three-game series with King; 5

4. CORONA (9-1): Two home runs from Anthony Murphy; 3

5. SHERMAN OAKS NOTRE DAME (12-1): 12-game winning streak ends; 2

6. HARVARD-WESTLAKE (10-4): Two home runs in North Carolina for Jake Kim; 6

7. HUNTINGTON BEACH (8-2-1): Dane Cunningham is hitting .458; 7

8. LA MIRADA (11-3): Three-game sweep of Gahr; 17

9. SIERRA CANYON (12-3): 5-2 record in Mission League 9

10. ROYAL (11-1): Dustin Dunwoody is 5-0 with 50 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings and 0.00 ERA; 10

11. AQUINAS (6-2): 13 hits in eight games for Johnny Tena; 11

12. BISHOP ALEMANY (9-4): Warriors finally at full strength; 13

13. AYALA (10-1): Big series with Bonita this week; 18

14. CYPRESS (9-3): 2-0 start in tough Crestview League; 16

15. OAKS CHRISTIAN (10-3): Dane Disney, Carson Sheffer eah have 18 hits; 14

16. SOUTH HILLS (12-2): Took two of three from San Dimas; 15

17. SERVITE (9-4): Took two of three games from Santa Margarita; 24

18. SANTA MARGARITA (12-4): Three-game series with Mater Dei; 12

19. THOUSAND OAKS (12-1): Jake Ange hit two grand slams vs. Calabasas; 20

20. NEWPORT HARBOR (12-2): Big Sunset League series vs. Los Alamitos; 21

21. GANESHA (8-0): Wins over Foothill, Mission Viejo; NR

22. SOUTH TORRANCE (11-1): Headed to San Diego for tournament; 22

23 CORONA SANTIAGO (10-5): Put up strong fight vs. Corona; 25

24. EL DORADO (8-6): Hosting National Classic this week 19

25. GAHR (5-7): Tough schedule taking toll; 8

Rich Gonzalez, the meet director for the Arcadia Invitational, remembers when LeBron James showed up at Pauley Pavilion in 2003 to play in a high school basketball tournament, filling the venue.

Now he’s pulled off the track equivalent with the announcement that 2024 Olympian Quincy Wilson, from Bullis School in Potomac, Md., is coming on April 11 to compete at the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High.

Wilson competed at the 2024 Olympic Games as a 16-year-old running a leg in the qualifying for the 4×400 relay and earning a gold medal when the team won in the finals. The 400 meters is his specialty, and he’s scheduled to run in that event along with the school’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. That means he’ll get to face Servite, which has California’s best 400-meter relay team. It also means no one is going to leave the meet early since the final event is the 4×400 relay. Loyola, Servite and Long Beach Poly will be challenging Bullis.

Another star committed is from the girls ranks, Natalie Dumas from Eastern Regional High in Voorhees Township, N.J. She’s coming to try to break the national record in the 300 intermediate hurdles held by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

Wilson is committed to Maryland and Dumas to Arkansas.

The meet begins at 5 p.m. on April 11. Tickets will go on sale this week.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

It’s an hour before Monroe High’s baseball team takes infield practice. In the dugout dressed in his uniform, Miguel Gonzalez has his scissors out giving a free haircut to a teammate.

“Ten out of 10,” infielder Alexander Hernandez said when describing Gonzalez’s barber skills.

His pitching skills aren’t bad either. He struck out 12 in six innings in his season debut. He’s 5-0 with a 0.69 ERA. He’s a four-year varsity player for the surprising Vikings, who are 13-1 to start this season under second-year coach Eddie Alcantar.

The fact that Gonzalez is still playing might come as the biggest surprise if you knew all the responsibilities he faces as an 18-year-old.

Alcantar was getting worried last January when Gonzalez didn’t show up for winter workouts.

“I have a rule if you don’t show up for practice, you don’t play,” Alcantar said.

They finally met and Gonzalez revealed he’s been too busy working as a barber. And then came the big news: He’s going to become a father in July.

The Monroe High baseball team is off to an 13-1 start.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

It’s a delicate balancing act between work, school, baseball and the seriousness of being a parent as a teenager.

“I’ve been able to figure scheduling little by little,” Gonzalez said. “I do sleep. Maybe five hours.”

Gonzalez said he worked seven days a week as a barber during the summer. He’s been saving for his future while also making sure he did not have to ask his parents for money. He works weekends and sometimes has to leave practice after an hour for work.

As far as baseball, he added a slider this season, picked up some velocity and tries to throw three pitches for strikes.

Against Eagle Rock, he struck out 10 and gave up two hits in a 3-1 win. Against Arleta, he struck out 10 in six innings during a 6-1 victory with one walk. Against Westchester, he got two outs — both strikeouts — in a 3-1 win. Against Vaughn, he gave up two hits in six innings of a 2-0 victory..

Monroe, which used to be a City Section powerhouse in the 1970s when Denny Holt was head coach, also has received a strong season from junior Luis Martinez, who has 21 hits and is batting .500.

Pitcher Miguel Gonzalez has helped Monroe to an 13-1 start with a 5-0 record and 0.69 ERA.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

He said his parents have been supportive: “They have told me it’s a really big responsibility.”

After high school, he plans to go to an occupational school to learn more about being a barber. He’d love to continue playing baseball, but that will depend on his development and his priorities. So far, his balancing act is keeping him levelheaded and determined.

He’s been working since he was 5 when he helped his father in landscaping. He switched to cutting hair and loves it. His clients swear by him.

“He’s a good kid,” Alcantar said.

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has called Portsmouth winger Millenic Alli into his squad for Tuesday’s friendly against North Macedonia in Dublin [19:45 BST].

The 26-year-old earns his first call-up to the senior squad and took part in training at Abbotstown on Sunday.

Alli began his career in England playing non-league before signing for Exeter City in 2024, catching the eye of Luton Town who spent £1.5 million to bring him to Kenilworth Road.

The Dubliner scored four goals in the final six games of last season, but the Hatters would suffer relegation to League One.

Despite falling out of favour, Alli was picked up on loan by Portsmouth and he has started all 14 games since his arrival at Fratton Park.

He has scored once in the Championship club’s bid to beat the drop and his performances have caught the attention of Hallgrimsson who brings him into the squad with others unavailable for Tuesday.

Midfielder Jack Taylor has left the squad for family reasons, while Sammie Szmodics has returned to Derby County to continue his recovery from a concussion sustained in Thursday’s World Cup play-off semi-final defeat on penalties by the Czech Republic.

That defeat in Prague saw the Republic of Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for this summer’s World Cup come to an end, while North Macedonia were beaten in their semi-final by Denmark, leaving both nations to face each other in a friendly.

Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard maintained his advantage to claim victory in the Volta a Catalunya.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider led by one minute and 22 seconds going into Sunday’s seventh and final stage stage which took in seven circuits of the Montjuic climb in Barcelona, where the Tour de France will begin in July.

Australian Brady Gilmore took the stage win for the NSN team in a sprint finish, edging out Dorian Godon and Remco Evenepoel but Vingegaard, a two-time Tour de France victor, finished safely in the peloton to secure the overall win

Frenchman Lenny Martinez was second for Bahrain Victorious with German Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider Florian Lipowitz third one minute and 30 seconds back.

Vingegaard, who was riding in the event for the first time, had set himself up for victory with wins in stages five and six in the Pyrenees Mountains.

It follows his victory in the Paris-Nice race as the 29-year-old prepares to bid for a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double.

On the latest episode of The Chequered Flag Podcast, 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill thinks that if Max Verstappen is not enjoying the sport any more following regulation changes then perhaps he needs to take a break.

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said his side “were a bit wasteful at times” during their 28-12 United Rugby Championship victory over Zebre in Parma.

Despite the home side being reduced to 14 men after Simone Gesi’s straight red card just before the half-hour mark, it was a tight and tense match.

The bonus-point win moves Murphy’s side up to third position in the URC table as they return to winning ways ahead of their Challenge Cup fixture against Ospreys at the Affidea Stadium.

“We expected it to be really physical over here and that is what we got,” Murphy said.

“I suppose the red card early in the game gave us a bit more of an advantage and I thought from our point of view, we have to look after the ball better as we were a bit wasteful at times.

“But very happy to get four tries. Coming over here is always very difficult.”

Player of the Match Werner Kok, who scored the bonus-point try, believed that the turning point in the game was the start of the second half.

Ulster scored three tries after the restart with Rob Herring, Zac Ward and Kok all able to cross the line.

“We stopped playing when they went down to 14 and we tried to regroup again and the boys stuck together and played as a team,” Kok said.

“I think the energy from the kick-off [in the second half] was the turning point. The boys stuck in there and that was the turning point for me.”