With the Lakers down 1-0 in the Western Conference semifinals, Luka Doncic has not yet ramped up to on-court contact drills while recovering from an injured left hamstring that had an inital eight-week timeline for his return.
Doncic, speaking to reporters for the first time since he hobbled off the court at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center on April 2, said Wednesday he has improved enough to begin running but he has not progressed to on-court contact drills. After suffering a left hamstring injury earlier this season, Doncic said the latest Grade 2 strain to the same area is unlike any he’s experienced because of its severity.
But it has not stopped him from trying to come back as soon as possible.
“I’m just doing everything I can,” Doncic said. “Every day I’m doing stuff I’m supposed to do. Obviously recovery, now I’m working … just going day by day, and I feel better every day.”
Soon after his injury, Doncic went to Spain and received platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections with hopes to help his recovery. He stayed for roughly two weeks because he needed to wait four days between each injection. He received four in total.
Without their leading scorer, the Lakers fought through a six-game, first-round series against the Houston Rockets, playing four of those games without Austin Reaves, who was also injured in the same game as Doncic. The fourth-seeded Lakers lost 108-90 to the defending champion Thunder in Game 1 of the conference semifinals on Tuesday.
Doncic had dutifully cheered from the bench during the playoff games, offering as much advice to his teammates as he can.
“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said of the injury. “I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is. All I want to do is play basketball, especially at this time. It’s the best time to play basketball. It’s very frustrating seeing what my team is doing, I’m very proud of them. It’s been very tough just to see and watch them play.”
Ted Turner, the brash media mogul who created CNN and revolutionized how Americans watched television, and who wielded his media empire and wealth to pursue liberal global causes and land conservation, has died. He was 87.
In 2018, he revealed he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a neurodegenerative disease, which had been progressing in recent years.
Turner’s outsized public persona — some called him the “Mouth from the South” for his free-wheeling trash talk — matched the Georgian’s influence on news, politics, sports and entertainment in the late 20th century. Turner repeatedly shook up established industries by invading quickly and expanding options for consumers, while railing against monolithic competitors who were less daring or nimble than his maverick Turner Broadcasting System.
Turner created the cable stations TBS and Turner Classic Movies; he owned the Atlanta Braves baseball team, the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and revitalized professional wrestling with World Championship Wrestling.
Turner was one of the first adopters of cable and satellite broadcasting technology, and for many rural Americans living beyond the tower signals of major cities, he was the first person to bring them interesting TV.
The media baron constantly generated headlines. He had a Clark Gable pencil mustache, raced sailboats, cavorted with the late communist leader Fidel Castro in Cuba, and at one point married Academy Award-winning actress and activist Jane Fonda. His wealth enabled him to become one of the largest private landowners and wealthiest philanthropists in the U.S.
July 1990 image of Ted Turner with Jane Fonda.
(Tony Duffy/Getty Images)
His crowning cultural achievement was the creation of the Cable News Network in 1980, which created the model for today’s cable news titans. The 24-hour news channel was not widely expected to be a success. All-night broadcasting had not been proven as a business model in an industry dominated nationally by corporate monoliths like ABC, NBC and CBS, where news programming was something that happened on a set schedule. And CNN’s headquarters weren’t in media centers like New York or Los Angeles, but Atlanta.
But Turner believed that “over-the-air networks would decline as audiences turned to videos and other outlets for entertainment on demand,” wrote the late journalist Daniel Schorr in a 2001 memoir.
“The network future belonged to whoever would deliver what was happening now — live news and live sports. That was why he wanted to be the first to deliver all news, all sports, all the time,” wrote Schorr, whom Turner courted to join CNN.
Within two years, CNN had more than 9 million subscribers. By the 2000s, Turner’s once far-flung idea for an around-the-clock news service had become so successful that it had attracted imitators like MSNBC (now called MS NOW) and Fox News.
“We not only became profitable, but also changed the nature of news — from watching something that happened to watching it as it happened,” Turner said of CNN in 2004. “If we needed more money for [broadcasting from] Kosovo or Baghdad, we’d find it. If we had to bust the budget, we busted the budget. We put journalism first, and that’s how we built CNN into something the world wanted to watch.”
Fox Corp. Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch, who was both a rival and friend of Turner, said his “vision for 24-hour cable news transformed the media industry and gave viewers everywhere a front seat to witness history unfold. His impact as a trailblazer has left an indelible mark on our cultural landscape.”
Turner recognized the value of global distribution long before his rivals, launching CNN’s international business in the mid-1980s. He bought his first western property, The Bar-None Ranch in Montana, and would eventually become one of the nation’s largest individual landowners with nearly 2 million acres, which provide habitat for threatened species and his beloved American bison.
“Ted’s entrepreneurial spirit, creative ambition and willingness to take risks changed the media industry forever,” David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, said Wednesday in a note to employees. “He believed deeply in the power of ideas, in doing things differently and in building platforms that could inform, inspire and connect people around the world.”
Robert Edward Turner III was born in Cincinnati on Nov. 19, 1938, and raised in Georgia. A mischievous child — who later became a mischievous adult despite attending the Georgia Military Academy — he had a tough childhood at the hands of his alcoholic father, Ed.
“Ninety percent of the arguments I had with Ed were over his beating Ted too hard,” Ted’s mother, Florence Turner, recalled later.
“My dad ran an old-fashioned household and he insisted that pretty much everything had to be his way,” Ted Turner said in a 2008 memoir. “My father and I had a complex relationship but I loved him.”
The younger Turner attended Brown University but dropped out before graduating. His savings had run out, his father had stopped financially supporting his tuition, and in his final days on campus, he was suspended for bringing a woman to his dorm room, according to his memoir.
He soon joined his father’s expanding billboard advertising company, Turner Advertising, where he had been working off and on for years since childhood.
He inherited the business at the age of 24 after his father died by suicide. By then, Turner had already had years of experience , and he worked furiously to reverse his father’s recent sale of part of the company to a competitor and paid down its daunting debt, an act that presaged the empire-building to come.
While growing the business, Turner also pursued his passion for competitive sailing, which is how he met his first wife, Judy Nye, in college. It’s also how their marriage ended. Turner intentionally hit his wife’s boat during a 1963 race to keep her from passing him, and the pair, who had two children, split immediately afterward.
It was to be the first of three divorces. . “My problem is I love every woman I meet,” Turner has said. He would go on to win the America’s Cup in 1977 while expanding his father’s company into a modern multimedia conglomerate.
Leveraging the billboard business, Turner started buying local radio stations across the South in the late 1960s. In 1970, he bought the Channel 17 television station in Atlanta, competing with local network affiliates by airing old movies whose rights were affordable and picking up programming dropped by the less nimble competition. He didn’t like putting news on prime time back then — too negative — and soon picked up broadcast rights for the Braves, Hawks and other local sports.
Oct. 1998 photo of former President Jimmy Carter, right, and Atlanta Braves team owner Ted Turner, during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series in Atlanta.
(PAT SULLIVAN/AP)
The Braves were a ratings hit, and when the team flailed and went up for sale, Turner’s company became its owner in 1976. The team continued to flail but Turner boosted its profile with gimmicks such as sewing “Channel 17” on the back of a pitcher’s jersey and dressing up as the team’s batboy and manager, to the league’s disdain. Turner bought the Hawks shortly after.
Facing entrenched local network affiliates, Turner expanded his independent station’s reach across the South and then the U.S. by embracing the new technologies of cable and satellite broadcasting. Channel 17 became nationally known as the “SuperStation,” with call letters WTBS, later shortened to TBS.
The quirky Atlanta station’s local broadcasts of old movies and sports games had become national broadcasts.
Still hungry for more, Turner finally turned his attention to news programming. He launched CNN in 1980 in a desperate bid to create a national 24-hour news channel before the broadcast titans ABC, NBC and CBS — and their gargantuan budgets — could beat him to it.
“The 24/7 genre started with Ted Turner,” veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour said Wednesday on CNN. “He was the original, and he made us all proud, and he made us all hopeful, and he made us all strive for his vision of a better world.”
There were some lean early years. But the nascent channel fended off an attempt by ABC to create a competitor, and critics could see the value of an ever-present news channel, even if quality was a little thin at times.
“Non-viewers of CNN are missing a lot. There are so many reasons to watch,” Los Angeles Times critic Howard Rosenberg wrote in 1986, hailing the 6-year-old channel as an “institution.” “It’s not always good, but it’s always there.”
In 1986, CNN was the only broadcaster running live coverage when the Challenger shuttle liftoff ended in disaster. In 1991, the network gave Americans a live and uninterrupted look at the invasion of Iraq. American officials held news conferences knowing that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was watching them on CNN.
Americans had seen images of war before, but not broadcast nonstop into their homes.
“CNN seeks to be a stethoscope attached to the hypothetical heart of the war, and to present us with its hypothetical pulse,” the French theorist Jean Baudrillard wrote, critiquing the conflict as a media spectacle. Media scholars began to wonder whether a “CNN effect” was influencing government policy. Officials found that they now had to respond much more quickly to crises unfolding on live television.
Turner was not adversarial to communist countries of the era and even tried his own version of the Olympics, called the Goodwill Games, a bit of private-sector peace-craft that brought the Soviet Union and the U.S. out of their respective Olympic boycotts and back into direct competition in the 1989s. All on television, of course.
Turner also saw professional wrestling as part of his sports portfolio, at one point trying to pit his World Championship Wrestling program against competitor Vince McMahon’s wrestling empire, then called the World Wrestling Federation. Turner similarly tried to take a bite out of MTV with the Cable Music Channel, with a promise “to stay away from the excessive, violent or degrading clips to women that MTV is so fond of putting on.”
Moralism was a Turner hallmark. Turner had started his life as a conservative — Turner had met his second wife, Jane Smith, at a 1964 fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater — and turned toward more liberal-leaning causes, such as world peace, nuclear nonproliferation and fighting climate change, later in life.
At the 1990 American Humanist Assn.’s annual convention, Turner presented his “Ten Voluntary Initiatives” — his atheistic version of the Ten Commandments — which included pledges to world peace, environmentalism, nonviolence and “to have no more than two children, or no more than my nation suggests.” He would become a major private donor to the United Nations, pledging $1 billion and launching the United Nations Foundation nonprofit.
In 1991, a year marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the first U.S. war against Iraq and the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Time magazine named Turner its “Man of the Year” for his “visionary” creation of CNN, which covered those events live. He also married Fonda that year (the ceremony was reported by CNN) and his Braves narrowly lost the World Series.
Time’s honorific was also a nice bit of corporate synergy. The magazine’s parent company, Time Warner, owned about 20% of Turner Broadcasting System stock.
Turner launched the Cartoon Network in 1992, which helped introduce his then-newly acquired Hanna-Barbera characters — including Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo — to a new generation of viewers.
Adversaries thought that Turner’s ventures could be reckless and impulsive. Far-seeing accomplishments in national broadcasting and the creation of CNN were also paired with several expensive misadventures, including a failed attempt to buy CBS.
Turner had to unwind a purchase of the MGM film studio less than a year after buying it, though he held onto one valuable asset: The studio’s film library, which became the foundation of the Turner Classic Movies channel and, later, jewels in the Burbank-based Warner Bros. studio vault.
In 1996, Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner to form the world’s largest media company, marking the beginning of the end of Turner’s apex in corporate media. Time Warner’s 2000 merger with budding internet giant AOL, then the largest-ever corporate merger, ended in disaster. Turner, who had not been a key player in the negotiations and had made no secret of his disdain for that deal, was fired as an executive.
“Ted Turner was one of the rare leaders who truly changed the trajectory of an industry,” Versant Media Chief Executive Mark Lazarus, a former Turner underling, said in a statement. “I saw firsthand his willingness to take risks and his belief that media could be something bigger and more impactful.”
CNN Worldwide Chairman Mark Thompson added: “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand.”
Turner resigned from the AOL Time Warner board in 2003, and in 2007, announced he had sold his company shares. In his later days, one of his best-known ventures was his Ted’s Montana Grill restaurant chain. His philanthropy and land conservation efforts and protection of the American bison became guide posts during his retirement years.
While CNN maintains influence in the U.S. and abroad, its TV ratings have declined in recent years — a casualty of changing consumer behavior, the rise of social media, derision from President Trump — and several ownership changes.
During the past decade, CNN has had three different corporate owners. The company is poised to be sold again, this time to billionaire David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance. That proposed merger would bring CNN under the same roof as CBS News.
“I’ve often considered and joked about what I might want written on my tombstone,” Turner said in a 2008 memoir. “At one point, when I felt like I could get out of the way of the press, ‘You Can’t Interview Me Here’ was a leading candidate. … These days, I’m leaning toward, ‘I Have Nothing More to Say.’”
Turner is survived by his five children — Laura Turner Seydel (Rutherford), Robert Edward “Teddy” Turner IV (Blair), Rhett Turner, Beau Turner, Jennie Turner Garlington (Peek) — 14 grandchildren and a great granddaughter. The family plans a private and public service at a later date.
Pearce is a former Times reporter. Times Staff Writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.
Over his two spells in charge this season, 74-year-old O’Neill has averaged more Premiership points per game than any of his peers.
He has been more successful than Celtic could have hoped for when they brought him out of retirement after Brendan Rodgers’ acrimonious departure, and again following Wilfried Nancy’s ill-fated eight-game spell.
There is at least an arguable case that had he been in charge since Rodgers left, Celtic would be strong favourites to win the league by now.
On that basis, has O’Neill done enough to return as manager next season? Is his future contingent on winning the Premiership? Should Celtic look to the future? Does O’Neill want to keep managing in such a harsh environment at 74?
Right now these are unanswered questions, at least outside the walls of Celtic Park.
“I feel a sense of renaissance, coming back and working with young people, it’s really, really terrific,” O’Neill told talkSPORT on Tuesday when asked about the future.
“We’ll have to see see how we stand at the end of the season, and that’s nearly upon us now. “
While grateful to O’Neill, who was already a legendary figure, some Celtic supporters feel a fresh face in the dugout is needed.
Paul John Dykes, from A Celtic State of Mind podcast, believes O’Neill “should go and chill out and just enjoy retirement” at the end of the season.
“Martin O’Neill has been dreadfully let down by the Celtic board,” Dykes told the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast.
“There’s no way he came to Celtic in January, one week into a January transfer window, on the promise of four loanees and an out-of-contract player to win the double. No chance.
“So regardless of what happens, Martin O’Neill’s legacy is intact.”
Reaching an agreement with Chansiri was never going to be easy.
During the administration process, the Thai was offered a number of offers on his debt, which were either outright refused, ignored or not taken in good faith.
“The EFL had to take into account the intransigent soul shown by Mr Chansiri and his reluctance to engage with offers made by the bidder,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport.
It was only last week that things fell into place.
Chansiri was made an offer which would see him receive payments, in effect, to about 25p in the pound.
But he would not receive a penny now – it would all be based upon the club’s future success.
“We’re probably talking about promotion first of all back to the Championship, and in due course to the Premier League. He could then get his 25%,” Maguire says.
The EFL said the offer must remain on the table for a short period of time to show it was credible and serious.
A response to the offer had to be received by midday on Tuesday. Chansiri decided to accept, but replied too late – minutes after the deadline.
Chansiri – subject to any challenge – might now be left with nothing.
Having agreed to cancel Wednesday’s 15-point deduction, the EFL board made a few other stipulations.
Football creditors and HMRC had to be paid in full, while all other non-secured creditors – local businesses – had to get their 25p straight away.
Had the EFL been less flexible, those companies faced receiving a much lower return.
“The EFL probably took the view that as HMRC are being paid 100%, football creditors are being paid 100% and other unsecured creditors are being paid 25%, other stakeholders were being treated appropriately,” Maguire added.
“Therefore there was a clear case for having no penalty.”
Arise had to make a firm commitment to invest in the decaying stadium immediately.
In his speech on the pitch on Saturday, Storch promised there would be both running water, and hot water, in the toilets.
That might seem like a joke, but anyone who has attended Hillsborough in recent seasons would know it was anything but.
Arise did not hang about. An outstanding charge of about £7m owed on a loan Chansiri had taken out against Hillsborough was cleared on Wednesday.
But if Fuchs is considering his next managerial move, he is certainly playing his cards close to his chest. In fact, he says work has already begun on preparations to improve upon County’s position of 20th, after a season mostly spent in and around the relegation zone.
“That’s the goal, right? We’ve definitely got to review the whole season, not only the period when I was here, but from the very beginning, to see what mistakes have been made, definitely,” he said.
“But then also, you have those two games that finished the season [that has put the club] in a good place and to push forward.
“We cannot just sit around and see what will happen next season, we need to push forward and need to better the team, need to use that momentum that we just created to push forward.”
Whatever happens in the next campaign, it will certainly be a new-look County squad, with as many as 17 players either out of contract or returning to parent clubs after loan deals.
For Fuchs, keeping key players like Kamwa – who scored vital goals in the final two games of the season – and captain Matt Baker, will be vital. Not to mention stalwarts such as Courtney Baker-Richardson and Cameron Evans.
Loan stars Sven Sprangler, Ryan Delaney, Harrison Biggins and Ben Lloyd have also played their part.
When asked when the recruitment strategy starts for the new season, Fuchs said: “It’s immediately, yes. All that has started already but I’m also looking forward now to a few days off my phone. You cannot really turn it off all the time, but I’m actually really looking forward to after a couple of days.
“To go through those ups and downs – and too many downs for my taste – then at the end to come out on top has just been incredible.
“I like to be in the background and do my job and be humble, but it also felt good, to be honest.”
Most County fans will be hoping that feel-good factor continues next season, with Fuchs in charge.
Football Australia has urged the Victorian government to reverse a ban on World Cup matches being shown on big screens at Melbourne’s Federation Square.
Australia supporters have gathered there to watch tournament matches since 2006.
However, the Melbourne Arts Precinct, which manages the venue, said behaviour in previous years had been “unacceptable and damaging”.
Video of fans celebrating went viral during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as Australia advanced to the last 16, but there were incidents involving people being injured by flares and projectiles.
Supporters also stormed barricades during the 2023 Women’s World Cup semi-final between Australia and England, leading to the screening of the Matildas’ third-place play-off being cancelled at the square.
“After careful consideration, we’ve made the decision not to show the World Cup on Fed Square’s Big Screen this year,” said Melbourne Arts Precinct director and CEO Katrina Sedgwick on Wednesday.
“This is due to the behaviour of a small number of people at previous screenings which was simply unacceptable and damaging to Fed Square.”
Former captain Michael Vaughan says it is “ridiculous” England are yet to appoint their new national selector.
The process to name the successor to Luke Wright, who announced he was stepping down on 22 January and left after the T20 World Cup concluded in March, has reached the final stages, with interviews for the position held this week.
There have already been four rounds of action in the County Championship and England are set to name their squad for the first Test against New Zealand in two weeks’ time.
“It’s ridiculous how they’re announcing a selector so late,” Vaughan said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.
“I wanted the selector there on 1 April, going out, having a look, gathering information.
“Luke Wright quit at the back end of Australia. We knew didn’t we?
With domestic football in Iran suspended because of the ongoing conflict, Nazon is following an individual training programme to prepare for the World Cup.
The Haiti squad have become heroes for leading the nation back to football’s grandest stage, where they will make just their second appearance at the finals.
Nazon acknowledges that the players are now “part of the country’s history” but insists they will play without “extra pressure”, starting with their opener against Scotland.
“We are ambassadors of our country and we know we have a responsibility,” he says. “We know the young people also see us as examples.
“But we don’t have to put extra pressure on ourselves and, when we play for our country, it’s more a mission and we do it with passion and with love.”
On loan at St Mirren from Belgian club Sint-Truiden for the second half of the 2018-19 season, Nazon “had a story” in Scotland. It was short-lived, though.
The forward played 12 games, scoring twice, but said he was “not ready for this kind of aggression and fight” in Scottish football, while the weather also played a part.
“I remember one game we had sun, snow and rain,” he recalls. “After this, I was like, OK, I’m done.”
Weather is unlikely to be an issue for Nazon this summer in North America. The striker, a friend of Scotland defender Dominic Hyam – with whom he played at Coventry – did, however, voice concerns about inflated ticket prices for the upcoming World Cup matches.
“There is only one thing that starts to go in my brain – it’s the ticket prices,” he says. “Hopefully this is not going to affect the crowd and people coming to the stadium, because we want this atmosphere.
“We want this energy around us. I’m looking forward to seeing Scottish people and Haitian people in the stadiums. This is going to be important.”
The US, Canada and Mexico will co-host the World Cup between 11 June and 19 July.
Iran are scheduled to play two games in Los Angeles, against New Zealand on 15 June and Belgium on 21 June, and then Egypt in Seattle on 26 June.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said last week that no-one with ties to the IRGC would be admitted to the country.
“We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is Fifa – not Mr Trump or America,” Taj said.
“If they accept hosting us, then they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.
“Because if they do, then naturally it could create the same kind of situation that happened in Canada, where there was a possibility we might have to return.
“So there must be this kind of guarantee so that we can go with peace of mind.”
The US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran in February.
Iran was the only Fifa federation among the 211 member countries that did not have representation at the Fifa congress in Vancouver.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said Iran will be going to the US and playing as scheduled – despite Iran’s request in March for its matches to be moved to Mexico.
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS TUESDAY’S RESULTS QUARTERFINALS
DIVISION 1 Mira Costa d. Tesoro, 25-18, 25-19, 25-23 Huntington Beach d. Corona del Mar, 3-0 Loyola d. Newport Harbor, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22 Redondo Union d. Santa Margarita, 3-2
DIVISION 2 Orange Lutheran d. Fountain Valley, 25-20, 25-14, 25-16 St. Margaret’s d. San Clemente, 3-0 Camarillo d. Yorba Linda, 3-1 Edison d. Arcadia, 3-1
WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE
CITY SECTION (Matches at 7 p.m. unless noted) QUARTERFINALS
OPEN DIVISION #8 Carson at #1 Granada Hills #5 LA Marshall at #4 Venice #6 Wilmington Banning at #3 Chatsworth #7 Eagle Rock at #2 Palisades
Note:Second round Divisions I-V May 7; Quarterfinals Divisions I-II May 7; Quarterfinals Divisions III-V May 11; Semifinals Open Division-Division I May 12; Semifinals Divisions II-V May 13; Finals All Divisions May 15-16.
SOUTHERN SECTION (Matches at 6 p.m. unless noted) QUARTERFINALS
DIVISION 3 Valencia at Palos Verdes St. John Bosco at Eastvale Roosevelt, Thursday Servite at Santa Ana Foothill Windward at Crescenta Valley
DIVISION 4 Chino Hills at Village Christian Royal at Temple City Northwood at Sunny Hills San Marino at Crossroads
DIVISION 5 Dos Pueblos at El Dorado Bishop Diego at Brea Olinda Bellflower at Flintridge Prep Western Christian at St. Anthony
DIVISION 6 Beverly Hills at Temecula Valley Culver City at Firebaugh Capistrano Valley Christian at Garden Grove Pasadena Poly at Santa Ana Calvary Chapel
DIVISION 7 La Sierra Academy at Rialto Foothill Tech at Cerritos Valley Christian Oakwood at Knight Tustin at Indio
DIVISION 8 Santa Rosa Academy at Temescal Canyon Eastside vs. CAMS at Lindsey Middle School Burbank Providence at West Valley Glendale Adventist at Palmdale Aerospace
DIVISION 9 Tarbut V’Torah at Webb Le Lycée at YULA Vasquez at Cantwell-Sacred Heart Avalon at Downey Calvary Chapel, Thursday
Note:Semifinals All Divisions May 9; Finals All Divisions May 15-16.
Of the six British singles players who began the year in the top 100, Cameron Norrie is the only one to have avoided injury or illness, and he has returned impressively to the world’s top 20 in recent weeks.
Raducanu, 23, had been due to return at the Italian Open in Rome this week but withdrew after her media commitments on Tuesday with post-viral symptoms. Kartal is currently on track to reappear during the grass-court season, but the back injury the 24-year-old suffered during her run to the Indian Wells fourth round in March has cost her the entire clay swing.
Francesca Jones had a month out after a glute injury at the Australian Open and Draper’s comeback from his serious arm injury has been checked by a knee problem, while Fearnley came through qualifying in Rome after a seven-week absence.
British number three Katie Boulter, who tumbled out of the top 100 last year as she battled foot and hip injuries, says it can be hard to step away even if players have information to suggest their bodies are at breaking point.
Fitness trackers, which offer performance analysts a wealth of data, will be allowed on a trial basis at this year’s remaining three Grand Slams, as they have been for a while now on the men’s and women’s tours.
But Boulter, who has climbed back into the top 60, told BBC Sport: “I think it’s impossible as a tennis player to be like, ‘I’m going to take the week off because my wearable [device] says that I’m in red’.
“Financially, there might be people that don’t have that luxury to stop a week out of their schedule and not play – the majority of us are still trying to make a living.
“I’ve played through many injuries, I’ve also stopped through many injuries. Ultimately you have to make the best judgement call you can.
“It’s good to have that information, but it doesn’t necessarily marry up sometimes.”
The LTA has refreshed its entire physiotherapy staff over the past 18 months and believes it now has the right expertise to support the modern player. The next task is to consider how best to upgrade its recovery facilities.
British players have a lot more resources at their disposal than many other nationalities. An LTA physio was sent to Miami in March as Kartal started to realise the extent of her back problem, but the emphasis is also on players building their own support network.
Iran’s football chief says the country’s preparations for the World Cup remain on track, but its participation will depend on a guarantee of respect for the Iranian armed forces by tournament cohosts the United States.
The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) will seek reassurance from FIFA that the US will not insult the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the World Cup, FFIRI President Mehdi Taj said on Tuesday.
“[The] Americans, if they guarantee not to insult our military institutions and the IRGC, we’ll go,” Taj told state broadcaster IRIB.
“If they give such a guarantee that an incident like Canada doesn’t happen and they definitely assure it, we will go,” he added.
The delegation members, including Taj, turned back upon arrival at Toronto’s Pearson airport despite holding valid visas, citing what was described as the “unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials”.
“They [delegation] returned to Turkiye on the first available flight due to the unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials at the airport and the insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian nation’s armed forces,” the FFIRI said in a statement following the incident.
In 2024, Canada listed Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organisation, and statements from the Canadian government indicated that Taj was denied entry due to his alleged ties with the IRGC.
“IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country,” the Canadian government said.
The US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28.
At least 3,468 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health. More than 26,500 people have been injured, including at least 4,000 women and 1,621 children.
Iranian forces retaliated, launching attacks on Middle East countries where US troops are deployed, as well as Israel.
‘Our host is FIFA, not Mr Trump’
Taj, who was speaking in Tehran, will meet FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom at the organisation’s headquarters in Zurich this month.
During the meeting, Taj said he will seek guarantees that the Iranian team and accompanying officials would not face entry restrictions or “disrespect”, particularly towards Iran’s state institutions.
“We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system – especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” he said.
“This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again.”
The Iranian team is going full-speed ahead with its preparations for the World Cup, and football officials have outlined the team’s training and preparations for the tournament, which include camps at home and in neighbouring Turkiye before travelling to the US.
The squad will depart for Turkiye on Monday for their final leg of preparations before travelling to the US in June.
Team Melli will kick off their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, before taking on Belgium at the same stadium on June 21 and facing Egypt in their final group match in Seattle on June 26.
Taj insisted Iran had earned the right to play in the World Cup as one of the first teams to have qualified for the tournament.
“We are going to the World Cup because we qualified,” the Iranian official said. “Our host is FIFA, not Mr Trump or America.”
Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and Zach Neto hit home runs, Ryan Zeferjahn worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning and the Angels held on for a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
Zeferjahn hit a batter and walked two in the ninth before retiring Edgar Quero on a groundout for his first save this season and his third in 10 career opportunities. The right-hander struck out rookie home run leader Munetaka Murakami — tied with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge at 14 — with a runner on first to get the final out in the eighth.
Trout hit his 11th homer of the season and the 415th of his career with one out in the first off Erick Fedde (0-4) after Chicago scored two runs off Sam Aldegheri in the top half.
Neto homered for the first time since April 10, a tiebreaking two-out shot in the fifth for his sixth of the season. Trout walked for the second time before scoring from first on a double by Nolan Schanuel to make it 4-2 and chase Fedde. Trout reached base four times with a single in the eighth.
Neto ended an 0-for-23 slump with a third-inning single before getting picked off.
Chase Meidroth hit his second homer leading off the seventh against Sam Bachman to get Chicago within 4-3. Both Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas extended their on-base streaks to 18 games for the Sox.
José Fermin (1-1) pitched a scoreless fifth for the win. Aldegheri gave up two runs on four hits in four innings in his sixth career start.
Fedde yielded four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
The top four hitters in the Angels’ lineup drove in a run for the first time since June 18, 2021, against the Tigers.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL, SOFTBALL SCORES Tuesday’s Results
BASEBALL
CITY SECTION El Camino Real 1, Granada Hills 0 Rise Kohyang 16, CNDLC 15 San Fernando 6, Granada Hills Kennedy 2 Santee 10, LA Jordan 4 University Prep Value 5, Smidt Tech 4
SOUTHERN SECTION AAE 4, University Prep 3 Anaheim 7, Placentia Valencia 6 Arlington 3, Bishop Amat 2 Artesia 8, Garden Grove Santiago 1 Ayala 8, Mira Costa 3 Bethel Christian 18, Packinghouse Christian 1 Bishop Montgomery 3, Redondo Union 2 Bloomington 10, Arroyo Valley 0 Brentwood 10, Shalhevet 0 Buena Park 3, Segerstrom 2 California 7, Whittier Christian 6 Calvary Baptist 27, Crossroads Christian 0 Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary 6, Alhambra 4 Carter 5, Eisenhower 4 Chaminade 1, St. Francis 0 Charter Oak 8, West Covina 7 Chino 6, Montclair 5 Chino Hills 5, Rancho Cucamonga 2 Citrus Valley 2, Arrowhead Christian 1 Coastal Christian 5, Valley Christian Academy 3 Compton 14, Dominguez 3 Compton Centennial 5, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 3 Covina 7, Hacienda Heights Wilson 0 Don Lugo 12, Diamond Ranch 1 Eastvale Roosevelt 7, Apple Valley 2 Elsinore 8, San Jacinto 0 El Modena 4, Anaheim Canyon 1 Estancia 15, Bolsa Grande 4 Etiwanda 3, Upland 1 Fontana 10, Rim of the World 3 Garden Grove 6, Santa Ana 0 Glenn 11, San Gabriel 0 Grand Terrace 4, Kaiser 0 Hesperia Christian 15, Excelsior Charter 14 Huntington Beach 3, Gahr 2 Indio 6, Coachella Valley 5 Katella 4, Fullerton 1 Laguna Hills 8, Ocean View 6 Lakeside 9, Indian Springs 5 La Serna 3, Laguna Beach 2 Lennox Academy 10, HMSA 9 Loara 5, Heritage Christian 4 Long Beach Cabrillo 5, Long Beach Jordan 1 Long Beach Wilson 6, Long Beach Poly 3 Los Osos 5, Damien 0 Maranatha 9, Valencia 3 Mary Star of the Sea 10, Glendale 4 Millikan 8, Lakewood 0 Mission Viejo 4, Aliso Niguel 1 Newbury Park 6, Oxnard 4 Ontario 4, Chaffey 1 Orange 2, Irvine 1 Orange County Pacifica Christian 3, Costa Mesa 1 Orange Lutheran 6, Mater Dei 5 Oxnard Pacifica 6, Channel Islands 1 Rowland 8, Northview 5 Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 2, Tustin 0 Santa Fe 9, La Salle 3 Santa Monica 6, St. Monica 4 Servite 1, Cypress 0 Shadow Hills 2, Xavier Prep 1 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 7, Loyola 1 Sierra Canyon 6, Alemany 5 Silver Valley 3, Lucerne Valley 2 Southlands Christian 9, Avalon 2 St. Anthony 6, Paramount 1 Summit 7, Hesperia 0 Tahquitz 10, Colton 1 Temescal Canyon 3, West Valley 2 Thacher 13, Dunn 7 Trabuco Hills 6, Capistrano Valley Christian 2 Trinity Classical Academy 3, Desert Christian 0 Troy 4, South Pasadena 3 United Christian Academy 14, Anza Hamilton 8 Vasquez 12, Faith Baptist 0 Webb 9, Fairmont Prep 3 Western 8, Whitney 3 Westminster 8, Godinez 2 Whittier 8, Los Amigos 1 Woodcrest Christian 16, Los Altos 1 Yucaipa 10, La Quinta 2
INTERSECTIONAL Cathedral 14, Sotomayor 3 CIMSA 10, Public Safety Academy 0 SLOCA 19, Shandon 2
SOFTBALL
CITY SECTION Animo Robinson d. AHSA, forfeit Smidt Tech 17, Alliance Bloomfield 7
SOUTHERN SECTION Alhambra 26, San Gabriel 5 Alta Loma 5, South Hills 4 Anaheim Canyon 4, Cypress 0 Arlington 7, Orange Vista 4 Arroyo 23, Garey 3 Beaumont 2, Redlands East Valley 0 Bell Gardens 7, Mark Keppel 4 Brea Olinda 7, Sonora 5 Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary 5 Carter 12, Grand Terrace 3 Castaic 14, Canyon Country Canyon 8 Cerritos 9, Artesia 0 Chaffey 16, Ontario 3 Charter Oak 10, West Covina 0 Chino 11, Montclair 4 Citrus Valley 8, Cajon 7 Colton 11, Summit 7 Compton 13, Long Beach Jordan 11 Compton Early College 21, Compton Centennial 6 Costa Mesa 23, Godinez 11 Covina 10, Hacienda Heights Wilson 3 Crean Lutheran 17, Esperanza 7 Don Lugo 11, Diamond Ranch 1 Elsinore 13, West Valley 0 El Toro 11, Beckman 0 Firebaugh 17, Bellflower 16 Fontana 15, Rim of the World 5 Foothill Tech 15, Carpinteria 0 Fountain Valley 19, Corona del Mar 6 Fullerton 9, Segerstrom 1 Garden Grove Pacifica 12, El Modena 7 Gahr 9, La Mirada 7 Gardena Serra 14, St. Bernard 6 Hart 16, West Ranch 0 HMSA 13, Environmental Charter 3 Huntington Beach 20, Newport Harbor 0 Indio 25, Coachella Valley 0 Lakewood 8, Long Beach Wilson 6 La Salle 12, St. Monica 1 Los Alamitos 2, Marina 1 Los Altos 7, Colony 3 Lynwood 24, Dominguez 10 Mater Dei 9, JSerra 5 Millikan 22, Long Beach Cabrillo 0 Mission Viejo 8, Capistrano Valley 2 Moorpark 3, Simi Valley 1 Murrieta Valley 7, Great Oak 6 Northview 10, Rowland 0 Oak Park 10, Grace 3 Oaks Christian 20, Calabasas 0 Orange Lutheran 3, Santa Margarita 0 Paraclete 16, Lakewood St. Joseph 15 Paramount 12, Norwalk 4 Pasadena Poly 30, Westridge 17 Ramona Convent 12, Mary Star of the Sea 2 Rancho Mirage 19, Palm Desert 18 Rialto 9, Jurupa Hills 3 Riverside King 9, Ramona 1 Riverside Notre Dame 4, Bloomington 3 Royal 13, Camarillo 12 San Clemente 14, Tesoro 2 San Gorgonio 15, Arroyo Valley 10 San Jacinto 17, Tahquitz 6 Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 8, Ocean View 5 Schurr 19, Montebello 2 Silver Valley 20, Lucerne Valley 9 St. Anthony 7, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 1 St. Paul 12, Bishop Amat 8 Sunny Hills 19, Troy 1 Thousand Oaks 4, Agoura 3 Torrance 2, South Torrance 0 Tustin 3, Laguna Hills 2 United Christian Academy 13, La Sierra Academy 0 University Prep 15, Victor Valley 5 Valencia 19, Golden Valley 0 Valley Christian 13, Maranatha 0 Vasquez 11, Santa Clarita Christian 1 Ventura 13, Santa Clara 2 Viewpoint 5, Burbank Providence 1 Warren 2, Downey 1 Westlake 9, Newbury Park 3 Whittier Christian 10, Heritage Christian 0 Yorba Linda 3, Villa Park 1 Yucaipa 23, Redlands 0
Three-man forward lines have been a staple tactic throughout the history of football.
But they have arguably never been as popular as they have over the last 15 or so years.
It is a resurgence that is largely down to Barcelona’s success under Pep Guardiola between 2008 and 2012.
Guardiola helped Barcelona win two Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles with a dominant possession-based style.
It was a revolutionary system that relied on both the midfield and front line – operating with a recognised number nine – to be fluid in and out of possession.
Nine‑time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi was usually the most central attacker, though he often dropped deep to either drag defenders out of position and create space for his team-mates, or to create a numerical advantage in midfield.
Either way, the end result was a fluid style of football that was practically impossible to stop and resulted in Barcelona claiming 14 trophies during Guardiola’s time at the helm.
Since then, three-man forward lines have become fairly prominent in Europe, with the likes of Real Madrid and PSG deploying similar tactics in the years that followed.
In the Premier League, however, the forward line that resembled Guardiola’s side most closely was Liverpool’s Champions League and Premier League-winning trio of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.
During their five seasons together at Anfield, Firmino was deployed as the Reds’ central attacker and, similar to Messi, was responsible for dropping between the lines, linking play with the midfielders and ultimately creating space for Mane and Salah to run in behind.
The trio is widely regarded as one of the greatest forward lines in the history of English football, having helped Jurgen Klopp’s side win a haul of major trophies.
Back in 2008, a Wales Under-20s side went deep into the Junior World Championship and hinted at what was coming. Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb, Jonathan Davies and Halfpenny were in that side.
Grand Slams, titles and World Cup semi-finals. For a time, the best team in the world.
One by one, they’ve gone. Halfpenny is the last.
The numbers are strong. Some 101 caps, 801 points – third behind Neil Jenkins and Stephen Jones – but they don’t quite explain him.
He was unassuming, almost bashful, and the last person looking for credit.
Yet the one everyone trusted.
Nobody has a bad word to say about him. In this game, that’s rare.
His former Wales coach Warren Gatland called him the best defensive full-back the game has seen. At his peak, especially with the British & Irish Lions in 2013, he was probably the best full-back. Full stop.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Lakers coach JJ Redick was succinct about what it was like for his group to face the defending NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder during the regular season.
“We sucked against this team,” he said pregame.
The Lakers lost all four regular-season games against the Thunder by double figures, making L.A.’s 108-90 defeat to Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs just another big loss to the talented Thunder.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 27 points and six assists while Rui Hachimura had 18 points, but Austin Reaves had only eight points, shooting three for 16 from the field.
The Lakers doubled teamed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander frequently, limiting him to 18 points and forcing him into seven turnovers.
But the Thunder just turned to Chet Holmgren, who had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, driving to the basket against Lakers guard Austin Reaves, finished with 18 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the field and six assists in Game 1.
(Kyle Phillips / Associated Press)
Game 2 is here Thursday night.
The Lakers didn’t help themselves at the beginning of the fourth quarter, turning the ball over on two of their first three possessions. When Marcus Smart turned the ball over and Alex Caruso waltzed in for a layup, the Lakers went down by 15 points and had to call a timeout with 10 minutes and 41 seconds left to regroup.
The Lakers never did.
They fell into a 19-point hole in the final 12 minutes of play and never fully recovered.
The Lakers lost by almost 30 points per game in their four-game series against the Thunder during the regular season, and one of the games was a 43-point shallacking.
But the Lakers found their groove in the first round against the Houston Rockets and that has fueled their belief in this series against the Thunder.
“We’ve been able to execute, even just going back to the last three games of the regular season,” Redick said. “Again, we kind of had to reset with not a lot of time and build something a little bit new on the fly. I think our guys were able to find their way and find their way from an execution standpoint, and for the most part, did a good job of that on both ends in the Houston series.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves makes one of his three baskets on a layup against Thunder center Chet Holmgren, but Reaves finished with only eight points on three-of-16 shooting from the field in Game 1.
(Kyle Phillips / Associated Press)
“This is a different team and the best team, and it’s going to require more. I think every round that you advance in the playoffs, you need to elevate all of the stuff even more. …That’s our attention to detail, that’s our belief, that’s our poise. We got to be great in all those areas.”
The Lakers talked every practice about the runs the Thunder go on and how they had to limit them.
Well, it happened at the end of the first quarter, when Oklahoma City scored the last five points of the frame, and it happened at the outset of the second quarter, when the Thunder scored the first five points of the frame to open a 10-point lead.
Redick leaped off the bench to call a timeout with 10:36 left in the second to get things back in order for the Lakers.
The Lakers recovered, but they then went down 56-43 in the second quarter and had to recover again.
They did, pulling to within 61-53 at the half.
Note: Lakers reserve forward Jarred Vanderbilt injured his right finger in the second quarter and didn’t return. Vanderbilt tried to block a dunk by Chet Helmgren, but instead hit hand on the backboard and went down in pain.
The UK government says it is in “discussions about supporting potential bids” for the Olympics and Paralympics in the 2040s.
It added that “initial work examining whether the UK could host the Games for the first time since London 2012 will assess key factors such as potential cost, socio-economic benefit and [the] chance of success”.
Ministers say they are also considering whether to support bids to stage golf’s Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup in the 2030s.
The last time the two team competitions were staged in the UK was in 2014 and 2019 respectively, both at Gleneagles in Scotland.
In recent months there has been growing momentum behind a possible attempt to bring the Olympics back to the UK for a fourth time.
Last year London mayor Sadiq Khan said he wanted the city to bid for the 2040 Games.
With Los Angeles in the US and Brisbane, Australia hosting the 2028 and 2032 Games respectively, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is yet to choose cities to stage the events in 2036 and beyond.
In December, the chair of funding agency UK Sport told BBC Sport a bid “has to be an aspiration”, suggesting Liverpool and Manchester could be co-hosts.
In February, a group of political leaders urged the government to ensure any future bid would be based in the north of England, saying there was a “compelling” case for it to host the event.
The Ryder Cup takes place every two years with 24 of the best players from Europe and the USA going head-to-head over three days in matchplay competition. The two continents take it in turns to host the event.
In March, it was revealed that Bolton is bidding to host the Ryder Cup in 2035. If successful it would be the first time in more than 30 years that the event is staged in England.
Last year England Golf urged the government to underwrite its bid to stage the Solheim Cup – a contest between the leading female golfers of Europe and the US – in the country for the first time.
As part of a new ‘sporting events framework’, the government says it will look to make it a criminal offence to resell tickets for specific major sporting events without authorisation such as Euro 2028, claiming it “will make it easier to bid for, secure and deliver major sporting events”.
England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland are hosting Euro 2028, while the UK is the sole bidder to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup.
In November, the government announced legislation to outlaw the sale of tickets to sports events at inflated prices – but it did not apply to football.
It might seem odd to suggest an English club reaching a Champions League final have been in danger of going under the radar – but that has almost been the case for Arsenal this year.
Such has been the immense pressure piled upon Mikel Arteta’s side to end a 22-wait for a Premier League title, their remarkable unbeaten run to the European showpiece in Budapest has arguably not got the credit it deserves.
In truth, while their display at Emirates Stadium was not necessarily vintage, some of Arsenal‘s best performances of the season have come in Europe.
The Gunners remain the only unbeaten team left in the Champions League, defeating teams like Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Sporting along the way.
There has been a desperation to win the league – which, indeed, they could well go on to do as well given Manchester City‘s draw at Everton 24 hours before this semi-final.
But there has been a quiet ruthlessness in Arsenal‘s European games – rarely troubled, rarely in danger of going out.
“I don’t think you can underestimate what we have done in this competition up to this point,” midfielder Declan Rice told Amazon Prime.
“We have every right to celebrate that moment. The most prestigious competition in club football. We are just trying to soak it all in.
“We knew coming into the game what was at stake. If you can’t get up for that, then you can’t get up for any game of football.
“When we went 1-0 up, I knew we were going to win. I could feel something special building.”
The Arsenal supporters welcomed the team bus with flares and chants – the first time that has happened at the stadium – setting the tone and atmosphere for what Arteta described as “an incredible night”.
“We made history again together,” said Arteta. “I cannot be happier, prouder for everybody that’s involved in this football club. The manner that we [were] received outside the stadium was special and unique.
“The atmosphere, our support has created the energy, the way they managed every ball with us… I never felt that in the stadium [before].
“We knew how much it meant to everybody… the boys did an incredible job and after 20 years and a second time in our history, we are back in the Champions League final.”
Welcome back to the Lakers newsletter, where, against all odds, we’re still kicking.
The Lakers defied expectations by winning their first-round series against the Houston Rockets. Most didn’t give them any chance. It felt dicey after a deflating Game 5 loss at home. But the Lakers pulled it off with a headlining performance from their 22-time All-Star and award-worthy supporting performances from the ensemble cast.
Against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, even fewer people are giving the Lakers a chance for an encore performance. But as Kevin Garnett once said: “Anything is possible!”
All things Lakers, all the time.
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Set the tone
Marcus Smart rotated over to the baseline. He came face to face with Houston’s Tari Eason as the 6-foot-8 Rockets forward leapt toward the basket. The 6-3 guard jumped right along with him.
Smart is used to taking on big challenges.
The Lakers brought Smart in for this moment. It’s not just the defensive tenacity to block a forward five inches taller and eight years younger than him, but when the postseason inevitably challenged the Lakers in unforeseen ways, they needed Smart’s leadership. He proves it every time he steps up to take a charge, gets a deflection or just pulls a teammate aside for a quick word.
“Marcus is a true leader,” center Deandre Ayton said. “Besides [Le]Bron [James], Luka [Doncic] and AR [Austin Reaves], Marcus is the other guy with the grit where [if you feel] discombobulated, he tries to be that guy that puts his arm around you and some of the younger guys. Whether it’s coming down to his competitiveness, keeping that same, consistent edge, Marcus tries to keep that level of intensity pretty high and it’s contagious, too.”
With Doncic (hamstring) still sidelined to begin the Western Conference semifinals against the top-seeded Thunder, the Lakers are counting on their supporting players for major performances. Smart’s role will be one of the most taxing; he’ll be the top defender for a team trying to slow down the NBA’s reigning most valuable player.
On his long list of elite matchups, Smart ranked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the top.
“I think we all know that, right?” the former defensive player of the year said. “He does a really good job of getting to the free-throw line. He’s mastered it. … It’s tough, but it can be done, it’s just going to take a lot of effort from everybody and we gotta stay together.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is a front-runner for his second consecutive most valuable player and led the Thunder to a sweep over the Phoenix Suns in the first round. The Thunder easily carved up Phoenix’s ninth-ranked defense, scoring 126.9 points per 100 possessions. Their offensive efficiency was five points better than the next best team in the first round.
The Lakers are coming off their own defensive masterpiece against Houston, holding the Rockets to less than 100 points in four of the six first-round games. Their 78 points allowed in the series-clinching Game 6 were the fewest in a playoff game by a Lakers opponent since May 16, 2012.
The anchors of the defensive performance are two major offseason additions acquired to help the Lakers bounce back from their disappointing first-round series loss to Minnesota last year. Smart and Ayton are quietly starring this postseason.
Ayton’s 11 points per game didn’t accurately reflect the influence he made against the Rockets. His 10.8 rebounds per game, including four games in which he had 10 or more rebounds despite being ejected in the third quarter of Game 4, were even more impressive against a team that dominated the rebounding battle at a historic rate.
A strong performance from Ayton lifts the ceiling on the team more than anyone else, Lakers coach JJ Redick said. An underrated and unexpected part of Smart’s value is his ability to unlock the team’s most important piece.
“I’m just somebody who he respects,” Smart said. “He sees [me] go out there and not only preaching, I’m actually doing what I’m preaching.”
Smart and Ayton barely knew each other before this season. But their paths are parallel: Former postseason mainstays who, in Ayton’s words, “disappeared.” The center who helped Phoenix to the NBA Finals trudged through Portland for two seasons; Smart, the former Boston Celtics stalwart, bounced between Memphis and Washington.
They’re now soaking up the spotlight in L.A.
“We’re both here, we’re both trying to get our names back into the good graces of the basketball gods,” Smart said, “and just show what we still can do.”
Priority No. 1
The Lakers had two keys for their first-round series against the Rockets: boxing out and taking care of the ball.
Now against what Redick estimated was “one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history,” that list has narrowed to one big thing.
Turnovers.
The Lakers, who got swept in the four-game regular-season series by an average of 29.3 points per game, averaged 17.5 turnovers per game against the Thunder during the regular season, three more than their regular-season average. Turnovers nearly undid the Lakers’ first-round series: they averaged 17.7 against the Rockets and gave up 19 points off turnovers per game.
The Thunder are an especially dangerous matchup for a team that can’t take care of the ball; Oklahoma City led the league in points off turnovers with 22 per game during the regular season.
“Whatever moments we felt Houston pressuring, like the maximum amount of pressure they put on us, that’s OKC’s baseline,” Redick said.
The Thunder, even playing without star two-way wing Jalen Williams for much of the season, were the NBA’s most disruptive defense. They’re league-leading defensive rating came with the third-most steals (9.7), sixth-most blocks (5.5) and the second-most turnovers forced (16.7) per game.
“They somehow do all of that without fouling,” Redick said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “which is one of the most remarkable things, I think, in NBA history.”
The Lakers, who attempted the second-most free throws in the league behind Doncic’s top-ranked 10.1 attempts, committed fewer fouls than the Thunder this season: 18.5 fouls per game compared to Oklahoma City’s 19.
On tap
Tuesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m. PDT (Game 1)
Two of the Lakers’ worst losses of the year were in Oklahoma City. If November’s 29-point loss wasn’t painful enough, the injury-plagued disaster on April 2 could be enough for the Lakers to want to sage the whole arena.
Thursday at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m. PDT (Game 2)
The Thunder have had the league’s best home record for each of the last two seasons, including a 34-7 mark this season, but still had two home playoff losses last year. Oklahoma City dropped Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals and the NBA Finals last year, needing to win both series in seven games en route to the championship.
Saturday vs. Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m. (Game 3)
The Thunder lost Game 3 in three of their four playoff series last year. The only exception was their first-round sweep over Memphis.
Monday vs. Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m. (Game 4)
Could this be the final Lakers game of the year?
Status report
Luka Doncic (left hamstring)
After missing the first round, the Lakers’ superstar guard is still sidelined with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. He is not expected to return for the start of the series and has yet to progress to live on-court workouts.
Jalen Williams (left hamstring)
The Thunder’s All-NBA wing will miss at least Game 1 after he suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain on April 22, which kept him out of the Thunder’s last two games. After last year’s breakout season, Williams was plagued by injuries to his wrist and right hamstring that limited him to just 33 regular-season games.
(Second) favorite thing I ate this week
Because I did not take a picture of it, the only evidence I have from my No. 1 meal from Houston is a lingering sweet and spicy tang on my tongue from Rodeo Goat’s Billy F Gibbons burger. It was delicious: candied bacon, caramelized onions, gouda, mango pico, cream cheese and habanero sauce.
Street taco plate from Luchi & Joey’s in Houston.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
A close second was the street taco plate from Luchi & Joey’s, a food stall in downtown Houston’s underground tunnels. The five-taco spread hit the spot while I was hiding from the heavy storm moving through Houston on the day of Game 6. The six-mile tunnel system is lined with restaurants and shops that came in handy during torrential rain. I was safe from the elements while I hunted for lunch then only had to make a one-block scramble through the rain back to my hotel.
Free agent NFL receiver Stefon Diggs has been found not guilty of felony strangulation and not guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery in connection with an alleged dispute with his private chef over money she said he owed her for her services.
Diggs remained stoic in the courtroom as the verdicts were announced, following less that two hours of deliberation by the jury.
Diggs was charged Dec. 30 and pleaded not guilty during his arraignment at Massachusetts’ Dedham District Court on Feb. 13, five days after playing in Super Bowl LX with the New England Patriots.
Diggs did not take the stand during the trial, which started Monday in Norfolk County District Court in Dedham, Mass.
His accuser, Jamila Adams, told the jury that the 11-year NFL veteran “smacked me with an open hand” and wrapped his arm around her neck during an incident that is alleged to have occurred at Diggs’ house on Dec. 2.
“When I went up to block him, he took his arms and came around my neck and he began to choke me,” said Adams, who became emotional during her testimony.
Defense attorney Andrew Kettlewell told jurors there was no evidence of an assault, with no one in the house reporting anything of the kind and no medical records, photos or video that documented any injuries.
Adams said she did not take any photos or video that showed any marks on her body that could be used as evidence because she “was in shock.”
According to Adams, her employment dynamic with Diggs was “complicated.” The two of them have known each other for more than four years, she said, and had previously been in a sexual relationship, although they were not at the time of the alleged assault. As Diggs’ private chef, she lived in his home and prepared him meals and snacks, she said.
In reporting the alleged incident to police Dec. 16, Adams said she and Diggs had a dispute over payment she thought she was owed. Kettlewell told jurors that Adams had sought money from Diggs after reporting the alleged incident, in amounts that increased over time and culminated in her attorney seeking $5.5 million.
“She was furious and she wanted Mr. Diggs to pay in every sense of that word,” Kettlewell said.
Asked Tuesday about the $5.5-million claim, Adams answered at various points, “I can’t speak on that,” “I don’t understand the question” and “I don’t know how to answer the question.”
At times during the trial, Judge Jeanmarie Carroll instructed jurors to disregard parts of Adams’ testimony that the judge said went beyond the scope of the questions.
