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SEVILLE, Spain — Rodrygo Goes fired Real Madrid to Copa del Rey glory with a clinical double in a 2-1 victory over Osasuna in Seville on Saturday, with Brazilian compatriot Vinicius Junior playing a part in both goals.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid earned their 20th Spanish Cup at La Cartuja in their 40th final, ending a nine-year wait to lift the trophy again.

Osasuna, who have never won a major trophy, fought well, but ultimately fell short against the reigning Spanish and European champions, who face Manchester City on Tuesday in the Champions League semifinals.

Madrid have now won all six of the trophies available to them during Ancelotti’s second reign at the club, after the Italian returned in 2021.

Rodrygo fired Madrid ahead inside two minutes after Vinicius’ run down the left, and Ancelotti’s team had the better chances in the first half.

However, Lucas Torro levelled for Osasuna in the 58th minute to give them hope of an upset in their first cup final since 2005, and second ever.

Rodrygo whisked it away, firing home after a rebound fell his way following another Vinicius charge, ensuring Madrid would take the trophy back to the capital.

“They made the difference, Vini unbalanced them and Rodrygo scored the two goals,” said Ancelotti of his Brazilian wingers.

Madrid beat both Atletico Madrid and then rivals Barcelona to reach the final and Ancelotti said it was time to celebrate, but not too heavily ahead of the clash with City. 

“This Copa arrived at an important moment, we came through very tricky ties, it’s a deserved prize against strong opponents,” added the coach.

“This night we will celebrate, a little bit, not too much, and then we will get back to work for Tuesday.”

Osasuna coach Jagoba Arrasate deployed midfielder Jon Moncayola at right-back to try and stop Madrid winger Vinicius.

It didn’t work. Vinicius broke in down the left in the second minute and his dangerous cut-back was missed by Fede Valverde but slammed home by Rodrygo.

The Brazilian, in sparkling form, scored the earliest Copa del Rey final goal since 2006 — a year after Osasuna finished runners-up to Real Betis.

Karim Benzema should have doubled Madrid’s lead, but Sergio Herrera saved brilliantly to deny the forward after another lightning Vinicius break.

Osasuna earned a foothold in the game and came inches from equalising when on loan Barcelona winger Ez Abde broke through on goal but Dani Carvajal cleared his effort off the line.

Vinicius in wars

Madrid continued to push for their second goal — David Alaba struck the crossbar with a free kick and Vinicius went down in the box under pressure from Osasuna defender David Garcia.

His appeals were waved away and Vinicius clashed with Garcia, who attended the 2005 final as a childhood supporter, who ruffled his hair to annoy him further.

Vinicius was booked just before half-time for complaining, and exchanged heated words with Osasuna substitute Chimy Avila as the players walked in at half-time.

Torro drilled Osasuna level from the edge of the box when Abde’s deflected cross fell into his path.

The club’s passionate supporters celebrated wildly, including letting off a flare which needed to be extinguished, and one fan was taken away on a stretcher, although he appeared to be smiling.

Osasuna’s joy did not last long though, with Vinicius making another dangerous burst in down the left — Madrid president Florentino Perez later calling him the best in the world in his position.

Vinicius fed Toni Kroos, whose shot was blocked, but Rodrygo was in the right place at the right time to finish with aplomb and put Madrid’s name on the trophy.

“I’m really happy, we were talking about this in the week, that it was a long time since Madrid had won this competition,” Rodrygo told Spanish television broadcaster La 1.

Osasuna departed with the taste of defeat but their heads held high.

“It’s very difficult to defend against [Vinicius] and on Tuesday I am sure City will suffer too,” said coach Arrasate. 

“It’s not news that Vinicius stood out, Rodrygo scored two as well, we’re talking about two of the best players in the world.

“[Madrid] are champions because they deserve this cup, but we’re proud of the team, and let’s try to do it again.”

NAPLES, Italy — Napoli’s champions returned home Friday after winning their first Serie A title in 33 years, greeted at their training camp by hundreds of jubilant fans following a raucous night of partying in Naples.

Waving blue-and-white flags, singing songs and honking horns, ecstatic fans went wild at the sight of the players’ white bus returning to the team’s training centre in Castel Volturno, northwest of Naples. 

The returning heroes who brought Napoli its third Scudetto in its history Thursday night arrived by plane from Udine at the nearby Grazzanise Air Base, where fans wearing “Champions of Italy” T-shirts were similarly on hand to greet them. 

The boisterous celebrations are set to run into the weekend, at least until Napoli’s next home fixture against Fiorentina on Sunday evening.

Naples had been abuzz all day, still giddy with joy after nearly all-night celebrations for Napoli’s first Serie A title in over three decades. 

“It was the most beautiful night”, enthused Francesca Raucci, who said her head finally hit the pillow at 4am.

“It was a unique emotion, there was a flood of people, they were hugging each other, dancing.”

Throughout the night, Naples’ narrow streets were filled with the sounds of cheering, chants, firecrackers and flares, cars and scooters honking their horns, their passengers waving flags and banners.

Amid the celebrations, however, hundreds of people were injured and one man died of gunshot wounds in what Mayor Gaetano Manfredi said was “a settling of scores” unrelated to the festivities. 

Napoli’s 1-1 draw at Udinese Thursday evening had secured the Scudetto for Luciano Spalletti’s side, their first since the era of Diego Maradona, who led the team to victory in 1987 and 1990.

Fans had prepared for weeks to celebrate, as Napoli built up an increasingly unbeatable lead against nearest-placed rivals Lazio.

Blue flags and bunting adorned every possible surface of the city centre, as did images of Maradona and star striker Victor Osimhen, whose goal on Thursday pushed southern Italy’s biggest club over the line.

Emanuele Canzano, 42, was among those who did not get much sleep, but on Friday morning set off for work happily in his Napoli jersey.

His newborn son also went to sleep in Napoli pyjamas. 

“We waited 33 years, he only waited ten days!” Canzano said, laughing.

Garbage collectors were busy cleaning up debris Friday morning, and one street vendor in a cowboy hat continued to try to drum up business, shouting “Flags, jerseys, scarves — Go Napoli!”

King Diego

Napoli’s victory made the front pages of all Italy’s major newspapers Friday, while the local Il Mattino ran a bumper special edition under the headline: “Naples Sings”.

“Under the sign of King Diego” read another of its headlines, demonstrating the enduring love for the Argentine great in this city.

Maradona, who died in 2020 at the age of 60, led Napoli to their first two titles earning the eternal adoration of the club’s fans.

Many of those celebrating — including coach Spalletti — described how Maradona was watching over the team.

Retired midfielder Alemao, who helped win the title with Napoli in 1990, said he was sad his friend was not alive to celebrate this week.

Seeing Napoli win “would have made him really happy — it would have completed his party”, the 61-year-old Brazilian told AFP in an interview in his hometown of Lavras in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

Back in Naples, local Giuseppe Posticlione was headed to work amid streets littered with bottles and other reminders of the party. 

“After 33 years it was magnificent,” the 46-year-old said of the victory. 

“Sunday at the stadium will be great, and we’ll be there.”

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — The dreaded word “boring” has been reappearing in the vocabulary of Formula One, after a season dominated so far by defending champions Red Bull, so it is perhaps timely that the championship arrives in Miami this week.

Last year’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix encapsulated the buzz around the sport in the United States with celebrities and socialites keen to be seen with mojitos in hand watching the stars of Netflix’s “Drive to Survive”.

The impact of the reality show on F1’s growth in the US has been well documented and this season sees three Grand Prix races in the country with Las Vegas added to the calendar alongside the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

But Americans are used to sports where rules and structures are put in place to stop the same teams dominating, with parity one of the great appeals of the NFL in particular, and the current domination of Red Bull represents an obvious risk to the country’s embrace of F1.

The four races in 2023 have all been won by Red Bull with two victories apiece for world champion and current championship leader Max Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez.

After last week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which saw Perez on top of the podium ahead of his Dutch teammate, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff provided a warning about the races becoming “boring”.

“It was not a thriller. No overtaking, even with a big pace difference, made it not great entertainment.... we need to look at how we can avoid a boring race,” he said.

Mercedes and Ferrari are struggling to match the Red Bull cars, forming a chasing pack along with Aston Martin.

“We see a pattern. There are two Red Bulls, and then there are six cars, and a long way off is the third division. That has been the pattern the first four races and we have to shake that up somehow,” said Wolff.

Free to compete

The Red Bull supremacy does, however, contain its own competition with Perez so far free to compete with Verstappen with “team orders” yet to rear their head and just six points separating the pair.

“They both want to win, which is why they’re employed by the team,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. 

“And I think that it’s down to what they do on the track. They were free to race today and, all year so far, they’ve been free.”

Horner said that will remain the case, certainly until much later in the campaign.

“Yes, until the team’s interests, if you’re competing against a competitor, becomes bigger than the drivers’ interests. But, as it is at the moment, they’re free to race,” he said.

Verstappen won last year’s race in Miami, after a thrilling battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc but there were complaints about the surface on the new track built around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

Organisers have resurfaced the entire track and hope that the new material will encourage overtaking, but the layout of the track remains the same, including the tight chicane area.

There are other alterations, in response to some of the teething problems from the maiden Grand Prix at the venue.

Most noticeably, some real “water features” have been added to the “Marina” area that received plenty of social media mocking for it’s fake scene of yachts parked on blue plastic.

Another change is to the paddock area which was packed last year with VIP guests often getting in the way of team staff and mechanics.

The new set-up sees the paddock moved into the stadium on to the football field itself where fans will be able to view the going-ons from the stand.

On the track, the Miami fans will have a local favourite to cheer for this time with rookie American Logan Sargeant of Williams, born and raised in South Florida, searching for his first points.

BARCELONA — Jordi Alba struck a late winner for Barcelona in a 1-0 win over 10-man Osasuna on Tuesday to move the Catalans a step closer to their first La Liga title since 2019.

Xavi Hernandez’s side climbed 14 points clear of second place Real Madrid, who lost 2-0 at Real Sociedad.

The visitors had debutant Jorge Herrando sent off in the first half for a professional foul on Pedri, as they sat deep and tried to frustrate hosts Barcelona.

Visiting goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez kept the leaders at bay in the second half but eventually substitute Alba, who has had reduced minutes this season, sliced home a volley to snatch a late victory.

“We’re going to wait and see, but it’s a giant step forward,” said Xavi.

“We suffered too much. We missed some very clear chances, the kind where you can just push it in.

“And then came Jordi’s goal, which sometimes makes it better to win like that.”

Osasuna coach Jagoba Arrasate rotated heavily to rest players ahead of the Copa del Rey final against Madrid on Saturday, while Barca started with the same side which crushed Real Betis at the weekend.

The Catalans failed to carve out many clear opportunities in the first half against their defensive opponents.

The best chance fell to Pedri after left-back Alejandro Balde found him a few yards out from goal but he did not connect with the ball well, scuffing a shot wide.

Osasuna were reduced to 10 men before the half hour mark when Herrando pulled down Pedri as he ran in on goal.

Xavi brought on Ansu Fati after 35 minutes for Gavi, who appeared to take a knock, and the forward came close at the start of the second half but Fernandez denied him.

String of saves

Frenkie de Jong should have sent Barcelona ahead but fired straight at the goalkeeper from six yards out when Pedri found him.

Barcelona’s frustration grew when Fernandez saved from Fati again and substitute Ousmane Dembele sent a shot wide from close range.

La Liga’s top scorer Robert Lewandowski had another quiet night at the office. When the Polish forward did find the net it was ruled out for offside.

Eventually the breakthrough came with five minutes to go, with substitute Alba volleying home his second goal of the season after De Jong headed the ball into his path, sparking vigorous celebrations.

If Barcelona earn two more points from their last five games, they will be champions.

Madrid beaten

Former Madrid winger Takefusa Kubo and Ander Barrenetxea netted the goals for Real Sociedad against Los Blancos, tightening their grip on fourth spot and Champions League qualification.

Madrid defender Dani Carvajal was sent off after an hour for a second yellow card to make matters worse for Los Blancos, who face Osasuna in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday.

“It’s not the best way to prepare for games,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

“A defeat always hurts, it lowers your dynamic, the good feelings, so it’s not the best way to prepare for what’s to come.

“In the players’ heads obviously is more, the Copa final, the Champions League semifinals, that has an effect. 

“When you don’t have good concentration, you end up giving away gifts.”

The Italian played a makeshift side because of injuries and suspensions, and he also left striker Karim Benzema behind in the Madrid capital ahead of Saturday’s cup finale.

Kubo struck at the start of the second half for the hosts after Eder Militao gave the ball away in a dangerous area. 

Carvajal was dismissed for a foul on Real Sociedad forward Mikel Oyarzabal, giving Madrid an uphill struggle.

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois did well to parry a deflected Barrenetxea strike, but he could not keep out the forward’s next effort, surprising the Belgian at his near post.

Real Sociedad are eight points clear of fifth-place Villarreal, who have played one fewer game.

Bottom-of-the-table Elche were relegated after a 2-1 defeat at Almeria.

NEW YORK — James Harden scored 45 points as the Philadelphia 76ers stunned the Boston Celtics in the NBA play-offs on Monday before Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets took a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Phoenix Suns. 

In a pulsating Eastern Conference duel in Boston, Harden produced a vintage performance — including a pivotal go-ahead three-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining — to leave the TD Garden in stunned silence as the Sixers snatched a 119-115 game one victory.

The Sixers’ win was achieved without their best player, injured talisman Joel Embiid, who watched from the bench after failing to recover from a knee injury.

“We’re just a resilient team,” Harden said. “Even without Joel, we’ve got the confidence to come here and win games. 

“We’ve been doing it all year long, that’s a good one for us.”

Harden’s points haul came from 17-of-30 shooting and included seven three-pointers.

“He was awesome,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “Kept his cool, knew when to attack, knew when to give it up.”

Tyrese Maxey provided offensive support with 26 points while Tobias Harris added 18 and De’Anthony Melton 17.

The Celtics were led by 39 points from Jayson Tatum while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 23 points and Malcolm Brogdon 20.

With Boston exploiting the absence of Embiid to score freely in the paint, the Celtics jumped out to lead by 12 in the second quarter.

But Harden and Maxey’s scoring ensured that the Sixers remained in touch coming down the stretch with only a handful of points separating the two teams in the closing stages.

A loose pass from Brogdon with 32 seconds left on the clock handed Maxey an easy uncontested layup to put Philadelphia 114-113 up, before Tatum hit back with two free throws to give Boston a slender 115-114 advantage.

But with the clock running down, Harden advanced up the court and took his time before nervelessly sinking a sublime three-pointer from 25 feet to give Philadelphia a 117-115 lead with just seconds remaining. 

Rivers said Harden’s ice-cool three-pointer at the death was a rebuttal to critics who have long accused the 33-year-old former NBA Most Valuable Player of folding under pressure.

“I thought he had just the perfect mindset tonight,” Rivers said. “I’m so happy for him because it just tells you what he can do on a given night. 

“It’s amazing — the guy’s a Hall-of-Famer and all you hear is the other stuff about him. He’s fantastic.”

Game two of the best-of-seven series takes place in Boston on Wednesday.

Suns eclipsed

In Monday’s other playoff game, Denver’s reigning two-time NBA MVP Jokic finished with 39 points as the Nuggets staged a fourth-quarter rally to eclipse the Phoenix Suns 97-87 and take a 2-0 series lead.

Devin Booker finished with 35 points for Phoenix while Kevin Durant added 24, but the Suns were unable to respond as Denver pulled away to outscore the visitors 27-14 in the fourth quarter.

Jokic’s 39-point haul included 26 after half-time as the Nuggets took control of a low-scoring contest that saw Phoenix lead by eight points in the third quarter.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope delivered a crucial cameo for Denver with a flurry of three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, helping to take the game away from Phoenix as the clock ran down.

A gloomy night for Phoenix was compounded by an injury to veteran Chris Paul, who limped to the locker room near the end of the third quarter after appearing to injure his groin.

“Both teams didn’t shoot well, it was a low-scoring game 87-97, it was a tough, rough game — but we won the game and that’s the most important thing,” Jokic said.

The victory came as Jokic prepares to discover on Tuesday whether he has won the NBA’s regular season MVP award for a third straight year.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Jokic had delivered an MVP-calibre performance to drag Denver over the line.

“Nikola’s an MVP for a reason. He can take over a game. He can beat you in a lot of ways. I love an aggressive Nikola Jokic,” Malone said.

The Denver coach said Jokic however was only focused on ending the Nuggets’ wait for a first NBA Championship.

“I know what motivates Nikola Jokic, myself, and the rest of the guys in that locker room — it’s not the MVP,” Malone said.

The series now heads back to Arizona for game three on Friday.

AMMAN — Jordan Motorsport has announced details of the forthcoming Jordan Rally, round three of the 2023 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), which takes place on May 18-20, according to  the Jordan Rally Media Service.

One of the most famous motorsport events in the Middle East and three-times a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), the Jordan Rally is one of the most challenging events in the region and the 2023 event will be no exception. Officials have again laid on 12 special stages and 205.22km competitive kilometres in a total route of 588.88km.

After the pre-event press conference and ceremonial start on May 18, attention switches to the competitive action in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas of the Hashemite Kingdom over the weekend. 

On May 19 three timed tests will be used in the morning and the afternoon and are centred around the Jordan Valley area to the north of the Dead Sea. As was the case in 2022, action gets underway with a run through the 9.71km of the Yakrut stage (first car — 9:27am) that carves its way across winding off-road trails to the left of the main desert link road between Amman and the Dead Sea hotel area. 

Rally officials have then again laid on a mammoth stage of 40.79km (first car — 10:49am) that runs along the Jordan River valley close to the frontier with the West Bank. This stage can be affected by inclement weather conditions and has seen competitors have their fair share of drama over the years. 

The loop is completed by a run through an 11.34km stage (first car – 11:52am) close to the historic Baptism Site. The three specials are then repeated from 1:21pm, 2:43pm and 3:46pm, respectively, after a return to the Dead Sea for a lunchtime regroup and service.

The first of two passes through the Bahath stage (12.69km) gets the action underway on May 20 from 10:22am. Competitors then tackle an 11.08km stage at Suwayma (first car – 11:08am) and the 17km of Ma’in 1 (first car – 11:49am) to the north and east of the Dead Sea hotel area, before returning to the service park before midday.

The three specials will then be repeated from 1:37pm, 2:09pm and 3:04pm in the afternoon, while the podium finish is scheduled for 5:30pm at the service park overlooking the Dead Sea. 

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah currently holds a 20-point advantage in the Drivers’ Championship after finishing second in Oman and first on his home event in February. His closest challengers are Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri and Qatari veteran Nasser Khalifa Al Atya, who are both tied for second place with 34 points. 

Thefiri has a 15-point cushion over fellow countryman Yousef Al Dhafiri in the FIA MERC2 Championship. Jordanian driver Shadi Shaban is third. 

The closing date for entries is on Tuesday.

Support for this year’s event comes from Zain Jordan, Hala and Bliss FM.

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, Spain — Reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia held off a frantic late counter-attack by Brad Binder in Jerez on Sunday to win the Spanish Grand Prix and take the lead in the MotoGP standings.

Italian Bagnaia, on a factory Ducati, overtook South African Binder, on a KTM, with four laps to go and resisted a fightback. 

Australian Jack Miller, who led for the first half of the race, was third on another KTM.

Bagnaia struggled in practice on Friday and had to go through the qualifying repechage to earn a chance to compete for a place on the first four rows on the starting grid.

“Very long weekend,” he said. “I was a bit in trouble on Friday. I needed time to be used to this bike on this track.”

The race was quickly halted on Sunday after Fabio Quartararo, Miguel Oliveira and pre-race championship leader Marco Bezzecchi all crashed on the opening lap. 

It was also punctuated by penalties with both Bagnaia and Miller among those forced to give up a place mid-race. 

Binder and Bagnaia were both attempting to bounce back after two bad results on the Americas and the South African edged the sprint the evening before.

On Sunday, Binder could not hold off the Italian.

“It was fantastic to finish the main race again today the last two I messed up,” Binder said.

“It was nice to be out front and lead. I kept seeing a little gap. I thought ‘OK I’ve done the job. I just need to be sure I don’t mess up the edge of my rear tyre’ and I think I cooked it with three laps to go.

“Hats off to Pecco. He pushed me the whole way and got me in the end.”

Bagnaia, who crashed out in the United States and Argentina, overtook compatriot Bezzecchi in the standings. 

Miller said he was surprised by the face over the final laps.

“I don’t know why, but we started putting in really fast laps towards the end but we weren’t closing. so the others were doing it too,” he said.

Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) was fourth ahead of fellow Spaniard Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), who was on pole but started badly and was never in a position to fight for victory.

LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Butler conjured another magical performance as the Miami Heat sent the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks sensationally crashing out of the NBA play-offs on Wednesday with a nerve-jangling overtime victory.

Butler, who scored 56 points in a dazzling game four win on Monday, once again led Miami's offence with 42 points as the eighth-seeded Heat won 128-126 to seal a 4-1 series triumph.

It is only the sixth time in NBA history that an eighth-seeded team has eliminated a No. 1 seed from the play-offs.

The Bucks — who finished the regular season on top of the Eastern Conference with the best record in the NBA — were left ruing another fourth-quarter collapse as Miami celebrated before a shocked Milwaukee home crowd at the Fiserv Forum.

Milwaukee, who had blown a double-digit lead in Monday's game four loss in Miami, were ahead by 16 points early in the fourth quarter on Wednesday.

But with a victory beckoning that would have kept the series alive, the Bucks' fragility was exposed once more as Miami chipped away at the lead.

The Heat outscored Milwaukee 32-16 in the fourth quarter, with Butler grabbing a jaw-dropping alley-oop to tie the game at 118-118 with just 0.5 seconds left that forced overtime.

"We were resilient, we were down late — it's seemed to be that way a lot during this series — but we stayed with it, got some stops, made some huge buckets," said Butler.

The Miami star said his remarkable streak of form had been inspired by his teammates.

"Whatever it takes to win — it could be 40 [points], it could be 50, I gotta be able to do it all," Butler said.

Miami teammate Gabe Vincent, whose sublime pass set up Butler's game-tying shot at the end of regulation, said the Miami plan had been simple: "Just get the ball to Jimmy...get the ball to Buckets and let him do what he do."

Milwaukee's disintegration in the closing stages was underscored by a desperate attempt to level at the end of overtime when Grayson Allen failed to get a shot off as the buzzer sounded.

Milwaukee's off night was also reflected in their dismal free-throw shooting, where they shot just 28-of-45 from the foul line. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo made only 10-of-23 free throws.

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer refused to point the finger, however.

"There's a ton of disappointment when your season ends, no matter how it happens," Budenholzer said. "It's a hard feeling, it's a disappointing feeling. But I believe and trust those guys. We've all got to be better."

Knicks advance, Grizzlies win 

Miami will now face the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-95 to complete a 4-1 series victory earlier Wednesday.

Jalen Brunson scored 23 points and RJ Barrett 21 as the Knicks produced a clinical wire-to-wire victory on the road to book their place in the next round.

The win was New York's first play-off series victory since 2013.

Needing a win to stay alive on their home court, Cleveland were left chasing the game after the Knicks surged into a 33-26 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Cavs were never able to overcome that deficit as New York closed out a composed win.

In the Western Conference, meanwhile, Ja Morant led a superb second-half rally as the Memphis Grizzlies kept their playoff campaign alive with a 116-99 victory over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Morant led a devastating 19-2 run to close the third quarter that effectively sealed victory for the Grizzlies, who led 94-76 heading into the fourth.

Morant finished with 31 points and 10 assists on 13-of-26 shooting while Desmond Bane led the Memphis scoring with 33 points as Memphis cut the Lakers' series lead to 3-2.

Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 31 points, but James had a night to forget, shooting just 5-of-17 for 15 points.

"It's not about what AD and myself are doing, it's about how we can win basketball games," James said afterward. "And tonight I was shit — I'll be better in game six."

In Wednesday's other Western Conference game, the Golden State Warriors battled to a 123-116 win over the Sacramento Kings that leaves the NBA champions just one win away from clinching their series.

The Warriors can book their place in the next round with a victory in game six on their home court in San Francisco on Friday.

Stephen Curry scored 31 points while Klay Thompson added 25, including five three-pointers. Andrew Wiggins added 25 points.

LONDON — Tottenham face Manchester United on Thursday in the caretaker charge of their third manager of the season, with open revolt among the fanbase and a risk of losing the club's greatest ever goalscorer.

A season to forget hit a new low on Sunday as Newcastle scored five times in the first 21 minutes of a 6-1 win that cost interim head coach Cristian Stellini his job.

Tottenham sit sixth in the Premier League, but have lost 10 of their last 22 games after a bright start to sink hopes of a return to the Champions League next season.

Stellini had only been in charge for four matches and his appointment was symptomatic of a club lacking in leadership on and off the field.

The Italian had been a long-serving assistant under Antonio Conte and was a baffling choice to step up once the former Chelsea boss' time in charge became untenable after publicly berating his players for throwing away a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 at bottom-of-the-table Southampton last month.

The Spurs squad have offered to reimburse the match tickets of travelling fans to St. James' Park after a performance that chairman Daniel Levy branded "wholly unacceptable".

But it is Levy who is now receiving the bulk of the backlash from supporters for years of poor decision-making in the four years since the club reached its first Champions League final.

Levy can point to successes off the field in the club's state-of-the-art new stadium and training ground.

But he has overseen a 15-year trophy drought and every game at the glistening 63,000 capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is now greeted with chants of "Daniel Levy, get out of our club!"

Former midfielder Ryan Mason has been ushered in to act as a temporary figurehead for the final six games of the season, just as he was two years ago when Tottenham sacked Jose Mourinho without having a replacement lined up.

Kane's future uncertain 

Mourinho replaced the beloved Mauricio Pochettino, who was dismissed just months after reaching the Champions League final and years of overachievement given the budget afforded to the Argentine as money poured into building the £1.2 billion stadium ($1.5 billion).

To rub salt into Spurs fans' wounds, Pochettino now looks set to take over at rivals Chelsea just Levy embarks on another new manager search.

He will do so without a sporting director after Fabio Paratici resigned earlier this week when his appeal against a 30-month global ban, handed down by the Italian football federation for his role in a false accounting scandal at former club Juventus, failed.

But the most painful blow of all could be to come should Harry Kane, who turns 30 in July, decide he cannot afford to waste his few remaining prime years at his boyhood club.

Kane's goal to beat Manchester City in February and pass the legendary Jimmy Greaves as Spurs' all-time leading scorer in the process has been the highlight of a disappointing campaign.

Even surrounded by mediocrity, the England captain has scored 26 goals this season.

Kane previously tried to force an exit to Manchester City two years ago. Levy stood in his way back then, but the striker has more bargaining power now with only one year left on his contract amid interest from Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

Sunday's shellacking painted a bleak future for Spurs even without losing their star striker.

Newcastle look set to secure a top-four finish in their first full season under the ownership of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

More investment is expected to flood in to make the Magpies regular challengers for trophies, pushing Tottenham further down the food chain in the process.

Spurs cannot afford to lose Kane if they are to bounce back under a new manager next season.

But Levy, the businessman, may not be able to stomach the prospect of his biggest asset leaving for free in 12 months' time.