PHILADELPHIA --James Harden drained a 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining in overtime to fuel the host Philadelphia 76ers to a back-and-forth 116-115 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday, leveling their Eastern Conference semifinal series at two wins apiece. Harden collected 42 points, nine assists and eight rebounds while Joel Embiid recorded 34 points and 13 boards for the third-seeded 76ers, who snapped a two-game skid. Game 5 is Tuesday in Boston.
Harden made 16 of 23 shots from the floor -- including 6 of 9 from 3-point range -- to bounce back from a pair of disastrous shooting performances in Games 2 and 3. He sank just 5 of 28 shots from the floor and 2 of 13 from beyond the arc in the previous two games. Boston's Jayson Tatum overcame missing his first eight shots from the floor to finish with 24 points, 18 rebounds and six assists. Jaylen Brown had 23 points, Marcus Smart added 21 points and seven assists and Malcolm Brogdon contributed 19 with eight rebounds off the bench for the second-seeded Celtics. Embiid sank a pair of free throws to give Philadelphia a 113-112 lead with 56 second left in overtime before Tatum answered by sinking a 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining.
Harden countered by converting from the corner with 19 seconds left before Smart's 3-pointer was deemed to be released after the buzzer. Smart converted a three-point play to give Boston a 112-109 lead with 3:31 remaining in overtime. Embiid sank a mid-range jumper, however the potential go-ahead basket was negated after he was whistled for a charge against Smart with 1:49 left, which the Sixers unsuccessfully challenged. Earlier P.J. Tucker converted a three-point play to forge a tie at 105-105 before being whistled for a foul on Smart, who made both free-throw attempts with 51.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Harden sank a mid-range floater to level the contest with 16.1 seconds to play, and Smart's open 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the front rim. The 76ers led by as much as 16 late in the third quarter, and Embiid converted a slick pass from Harden to give Philadelphia a 96-88 lead with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Boston made a stand, however, as Smart drained two 3-pointers to highlight his team's 17-4 run before Harden made a basket and Tucker converted a three-point play to forge a tie.
BRIGHTON, England-- Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Alexis MacAllister fired the winner from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time to snatch a 1-0 win for his side over Manchester United in a pulsating Premier League clash on Thursday.
The defeat leaves Erik ten Hag's side in fourth place on 63 points, four ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool but with a game in hand over their Merseyside rivals, while Brighton move up to sixth on 55 points. The victory was some measure of revenge for Brighton, who lost to Manchester United on penalties in their FA Cup semi-final 11 days ago. The home side dominated possession and could have gone ahead as early as the fourth minute when Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma snapped up a loose pass from Victor Lindelof, but he fired his shot straight into the face of David De Gea. Mitoma was a threat throughout, creating several chances for himself before teeing up Danny Welbeck to fire high and wide from the edge of the box early in the second half as United struggled to pass the ball out of defence. After getting booked in the first half, United midfielder Casemiro was lucky not to pick up his second yellow card as he hacked down MacAllister on the edge of the box in the in the second half.
Tempers flared in the 68th minute as United winger Antony, angry at not being awarded a free kick, was penalised for a tackle on MacAllister before getting into a confrontation with Lewis Dunk that earned both players a yellow card. Brighton continued to press forward looking for a winner, with substitute Solly March and MacAllister both forcing superb saves from De Gea as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes. United looked set to secure a draw, but there was late drama when Luke Shaw was found to have handled the ball in the box after a VAR review, and MacAllister blasted home the spot kick nine minutes into stoppage time to secure the win. "Really happy and delighted for the performance and result," Brighton coach Roberto de Zerbi told Sky Sports.
"There is a God of football - we deserved to win the (FA Cup) semi-final but lost on penalties, but today we won with a penalty." United defender Shaw took responsilibity for his mistake, calling it a "silly error that cost us a point", but said his side were still on course to qualify for next season's Champions League. "Teams around us are picking up points, (but) we still have a game in hand and it is in our hands," he told Sky Sports.
BAKU-- Sergio Perez beat team mate and championship leader Max Verstappen to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday and continue Red Bull's Formula One domination with a double successin Baku. Helped by a safety car period that fell in his favour after Verstappen had pitted, the Mexican made the most of his good fortune to takea sixth career victory andbecome the first driver to win the grand prix for a second time. Perez is now six points behind Verstappen with two wins each after four rounds and another challenge in Miami only a week away. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who started on pole position for the third year in a row in Baku, finished a distant third for his team's first podium appearance of the year with George Russell claiming the fastest lap for Mercedes. "Well done guys, we dominated this weekend," said Perez who also won the Saturday sprint. "I think it was very close between us, we pushed to the maximum today, we both clipped the wall a few times," added the Mexican. "The way Max pushed me today was really hard but we managed to keep in control." Predictions of chaos and carnage, with the race the first sprint weekend of the year, failed to materialise on an afternoon short of thrills, spills or many overtakes. "For me it was the loneliest race ever," said Leclerc, who made a clean start to lead into the first corner and held off Verstappen until the drag reduction system (DRS) was activated on lap three. The champion then scythed past at the start of the next lap and pulled away, with Perez slotting into second two laps later with equal ease. Everything changed on lap 11 when Nyck de Vries clipped the wall and broke his AlphaTauri's front left suspension, leaving the car stranded at turn 16. The safety car was deployed but Verstappen had already pitted while Perez stayed out, the Mexican then effectively gaining a free stop when he came in with the field slowed. "Checo (Perez) got a little lucky with the safety car there but it’s a long season and very good points today. Great team result," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Verstappen at the finish. "It is what it is. We wouldn’t know the safety car could come out there. Good team result," replied the Dutch driver. Ferrari and Aston Martin also benefited from the timing of the safety car, and Leclerc was back in second when racing resumed at the start of lap 14. Verstappen passed the Monegasque again with ease while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso overtook Ferrari's Carlos Sainz at turn six to go fourth -- a position he stayed in to the finish. The Red Bulls then showed their true pace, turning the race into a two-car contest with Verstappen, in second, already more than 10 seconds clear of Leclerc by the half distance. "They are in another league once it comes to the race," said Leclerc. Perez kept out of Verstappen's DRS range, however, stretching out a lead of 2.5 seconds by lap 30 and finishing with a 2.1 second advantage. Sainz finished fifth with seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton sixth for Mercedes and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll seventh. Russell was eighth ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda collecting the final point. There were worrying scenes on the final lap with Alpine's Esteban Ocon pitting for his sole stop and sending mechanics and photographers preparing for the finish scattering out of his way.
MANCHESTER- - Manchester City's Erling Haaland scored his record-breaking 35th Premier League goal of the season to help secure a 3-0 victory against West Ham United that sent his side back to the top of the table on Wednesday. The Norwegian killed off a stubborn West Ham resistance when he dinked a delicate chip into the net after 70 minutes to break the record for the amount of goals in a single season in the Premier League. Treble-chasing City, who began the night in second place after Arsenal's defeat of Chelsea on Tuesday, had twice been denied by the woodwork as they were frustrated by relegation-threatened West Ham in the first half. But Nathan Ake made the breakthrough five minutes after the interval with a header from a free kick. Haaland then eased the tension around the Etihad Stadium as he latched on to Jack Grealish's through ball to beat Lukasz Fabianski and move past the 34 goals of Andy Cole and Alan Shearer with five games still to play. With the points secured, substitute Phil Foden then made it 3-0 with a superbly-struck volley in the 85th minute. City, chasing a fifth title in six seasons under Pep Guardiola, have 79 points from 33 games with Arsenal on 78, having played a game more. They will move four clear if they beat Leeds United at home on Saturday. West Ham remain in trouble in 15th place, four points above the relegation zone. David Moyes's side would have expected a siege and were not disappointed as they spent virtually the entire first half deep in their own half repelling wave after wave of City attacks. City swarmed forward with Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez forcing routine early saves by Fabianski and Haaland heading a Grealish cross over the bar at full stretch. West Ham, hampered by the absence of England midfielder Declan Rice because of sickness, defended valiantly with Angelo Ogbonna a colossus as he headed away numerous crosses. City might have feared the worst when they were twice being denied by the woodwork, first when Grealish's snap shot hit the outside of the upright and minutes later when Rodri's shot hit the post and span agonisingly across the face of goal. Guardiola was left scratching his bald head as City failed to turn their 80% possession into a goal and things could have been worse had Jarrod Bowen's shot not been blocked by Ederson after a rare West Ham forward foray. West Ham finally cracked four minutes after the interval, conceding a goal that would have infuriated Moyes. Having resisted so well, they were undone by a simple old routine -- a Mahrez free kick delivered towards the far post and Dutch defender Ake rising unchallenged to head past Fabianski. West Ham still looked capable of adding a twist to the script until Grealish released Haaland to nonchalantly take his haul in a stupendous first season to 51 in all competitions. Foden then put the icing on the cake with the 1,000th goal in Guardiola's City reign.
LONDON-- Tottenham Hotspur rallied from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Manchester United in a thrilling Premier League clash on Thursday that left the visitors cementing fourth spot. The point left United six points clear of fifth-placed Spurs with two games in hand and all but puts paid to the London side's hopes of Champions League football next season.
Jadon Sancho put United ahead after seven minutes when he cut in from the left and struck a low right-foot shot into the far corner past three defenders and goalkeeper Fraser Forster. Rashford made it 2-0 just before halftime when he ran onto a long ball from Bruno Fernandes, outpaced Eric Dier and fired past Forster after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg lost possession.
Tottenham fullback Pedro Porro got the hosts back in the game when he hooked a shot past keeper David De Gea in the 56th minute after a Harry Kane effort was blocked. The goal lifted Spurs and they created several more chances before Son Heung-min swept home a Kane cross in the 79th minute to rescue a point under interim head coach Ryan Mason.
