Giannis Antetokounmpo was on the left block, his back to the basket. He had the ball with 2:28 to go in the match, and he looked left to survey the court. The Hornets, whose buoyant play to that point had the 19,149-strong Spectrum Center crowd pumped, were just three down following a P.J. Washington dunk, and he needed to manufacture points to keep them at bay. Seeing tight coverage, he decided to go for the best option: himself. He dribbled once to get closer to the paint, and then made a quick pirouette to the baseline to set up an arching fadeaway. The nine-footer, launched high to clear the outstretched arms of Miles Bridges, was money. It hit the bottom of the net, giving the Bucks some much-needed cushion against the hosts.

PRIOR to the opening of the new season of the Philippine Basketball Association on March 8, the league will complete some unfinished business from last season with the awarding of the top individual awards, including the coveted most valuable player award.

PALAYAN CITY, NUEVA ECIJA -- Jan Paul Morales of Standard Insurance-Navy claimed his second straight stage victory even as teammate George Oconer has firmed his hold of the solo lead after Stage Seven of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 10th anniversary race on Sunday.

BOSTON -- Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 41 points, and James Harden found redemption from a poor shooting night with two free throws with 24.3 seconds left as the Houston Rockets capped a season sweep of the host Boston Celtics with a 111-110 overtime win Saturday.

THE Philippine Football Federation U15 Boys National Championship came to a close on Friday at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite, with National Capital Region FA emerging on top.

IT was a successful showing for Filipino fighters Honorio “The Rock” Banario and Denice “The Menace Fairtex” Zamboanga at ONE Championship’s “King of the Jungle” event in Singapore on Friday after fashioning out decision victories against their respective opponents.

DUBAI -- World number one Novak Djokovic eased past Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 to lift his fifth Dubai Tennis Championships title on Saturday, extending his unbeaten start to the 2020 season.

BACOLOD CITY -- Raul Miñoza fired a tournament-best 54 points to power Del Monte Golf Club (GC) to the Founders division title at the closed of the 34^th Philippine Airlines Senior Interclub golf team championships.

If there was a match that underscored both the benefits and follies of the Rockets’ total embrace of small ball, it was theirs yesterday’s against the Celtics. True to form, head coach Mike D’Antoni relied heavily on his starters, with none taller than 6’7”. And of the four reserves who saw action, only Jeff Green cleared the ceiling, and barely at an inch higher. Yet, it wasn’t as if they lacked height to compete; in fact, they wound up forcing the hosts to go their way as well. When the final buzzer sounded, not a single stalwart who saw action topped 6’8”.

WHEN the volleyball tournament of Season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines finally fires off on the rescheduled date of March 3, one conspicuous facet of the offering will be more exposure for the men’s competition.

INTERSCHOOL esports in the country is getting a big boost with an agreement that looks to engage more than one thousand teams from over 200 schools with the opportunity to train, compete, be coached, win scholarships and eventually become medal-winning esports athletes.

THE NATIONAL Chess Federation of the Philippines has tapped GM Darwin Laylo to replace GM Julio Catalino “Ino” Sadorra in the national team competing in the 44^th World Chess Olympiad set August 5 to 18 in Moscow, Russia.