Latest - New Zealand basketballer Steven Adams last minute heroics weren't enough to help Oklahoma City Thunder advance past the first round of the NBA play-offs, as they lost the seventh and final game of their Western Conference playoff series to the Houston Rockets 104 to 102.
Photo: AFP or licensors
Down by one with 40 seconds to play Adams secured a turnover which the Thunder were unable to convert and then with 20 seconds left Adams pulled down a defensive rebound but again the Thunder were unable to covert it to points.
It's the fourth year in a row the Thunder have been eliminateda this stage of the playoffs.
Adams finished with ten points and nine rebounds.
The Rockets now play the LA Lakers in the Western Conference semi-finals.
Daniell posts big win at US Open
New Zealand's Marcus Daniell and his Austrian partner Philipp Oswald have stunned the 7th seeds to reach the second round of the men's doubles at the US Tennis Open in New York.
Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Playing their first match together in more than six months Daniell and Oswald have won 6-3 7-6 (5).
The US Open doubles draw has been reduced from 64 teams to 32 due to Covid-19 and Daniell and Oswald are now through to the last 16 where they will play Americans Christopher Eubanks and MacKenzie McDonald.
New Zealand's top ranked doubles player Michael Venus and his Australian partner John Peers will start their campaign tomorrow against Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Nicholas Monroe.
New trophy for North v South rugby match unveiled
Two trophies of different eras and origins will be up for grabs in Saturday's North-South rugby match in Wellington.
The new Te Matau a Māui trophy (left) and the Loving Cup (right). Photo: Supplied: NZ Rugby
The new Te Matau a Māui, a carved rimu fish hook on a kauri base, will be presented to the winning team alongside the recently discovered Loving Cup, a trophy first presented to the 1924 All Blacks nearly a century ago.
Designed and carved by Ngāi Tahu father and son, John and Dave Burke, Te Matau a Māui celebrates the Māori creation story of New Zealand's two main islands, the North Island - Te Ika a Māui - and the South Island - Te Waka a Māui.
The trophy was created after a New Zealand Rugby search for the Loving Cup initially failed to find a piece of silverware first contested during the North v South match in 1932.
But while the new trophy was being carved the Loving Cup was rediscovered in the bowels of Eden Park after being lost for 88 years after historian Ian St George went public with his search for the old cup.
Te Matau a Māui features three pieces of pounamu depicting the North Island, South Island and Stewart Island, which is seen as the anchor of Māui's canoe.
A graphic design includes the historical black and white colours of the North and South teams, while a taura (rope) features a rugby ball shaped toggle with the date 1897, the year the North v South match was first played.
-RNZ
Penalty costs Alaphilippe yellow jersey as Van Aert wins stage five
Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe lost the overall lead in the Tour de France to Briton Adam Yates after being handed a 20-second penalty for illegal feeding at the end of stage five, won by Belgian Wouth van Aert.
Adam Yates takes up the Tour leader's yellow jersey after Stage 5. Photo: Photosport
Van Aert was fastest in the sprint at the end of the 183km ride from Gap that featured no breakaway, an almost unprecedented scenario in normal racing conditions in the modern era.
Dutchman Cees Bol was second and Sam Bennett took third place to become the first Irishman to wear the green jersey for the points classification since Sean Kelly 31 years ago.
Alaphilippe finished safe in the bunch but snatched a bottle about 17km from the line, breaking Tour rules which state that feeding is illegal within 20km of the finish.
Yates leads Slovenian Primoz Roglic by three seconds in the standings after Alaphilippe dropped to 16th overall.
-Reuters
England hope to have 20,000 fans at Twickenham for Barbarians clash
England rugby's rescheduled match against the Barbarians will be played on Oct. 25 with 20,000 supporters set to attend the game at Twickenham pending approval from British health authorities.
The match, originally scheduled to take place on June 21 was postponed amid the COVID-19 pandemic and will be played before England travel to Italy for their rearranged final game in the Six Nations.
"This game will be an important start to the autumn for us. We're excited to represent England. We'll train and prepare well and are looking forward to being back at Twickenham Stadium," England head coach Eddie Jones said in a statement.
Photo: Photosport
RFU CEO Bill Sweeney said the body was working closely with government and the local authority on the return of fans to Twickenham, which has a total capacity of 82,000.
Sweeney said that a test event will be held to put into practice their operational plans and demonstrate that Twickenham is well prepared.
Jones' England face on Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Oct. 31 in a rescheduled Six Nations clash.
-Reuters
"Virtual London Marathon" sells out as 45,000 sign up to run alone
More than 45,000 people have signed up to run the first "virtual" London Marathon in October after the actual race, already postponed from April, was cancelled last month due to the risk of coronavirus spread.
A multi-lap elite race, headlined by Kenyan world record holders Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei, will take place on a closed course in a central London park on Oct. 4 but, along with the rest of the world's major races, the mass participation event was called off.
In an attempt to give disappointed runners an alternative target, and to help ease the impact on charities who benefit from millions of pounds of sponsorship, athletes were given the chance to run the 26.2 mile distance on their own on a course of their choice.
For 20 pounds they will be given their race number, a t-shirt and a finisher's medal and can record their time on an app -- with the only proviso being that they complete the distance within 24 hours.
After the initial allocation to runners registered for the original race, 20,000 further slots went on general sale, of which 51% were taken by female athletes, with entries coming from 81 countries for what will be the 40th edition of the race.
-Reuters