Considering the outstanding play of four-time All-Star Damian Lillard, fans can be forgiven for forgetting that the Blazers are no one-man team. True, he was the single biggest reason the Blazers upended the Thunder in the first round; he thoroughly outplayed former league Most Valuable Player Russell Westbrook throughout the five-game series. That said, the capacity of the conference third seeds to go deep in the postseason depends as much on the rest of their roster as on its acknowledged leader. In their current set-to against the Nuggets, for instance, the conscious effort to send multiple defenders his way compels the rest of the black and red to step up.

THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses enter the Final Four of women’s volleyball in Season 81 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines as the number-two seed after edging defending champions De La Salle Lady Spikers in four sets, 25-14, 25-23, 23-25 and 25-19, in their one-game playoff for the second spot on Wednesday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

KEVIN DURANT led a balanced attack with 29 points Tuesday night as the Golden State Warriors went up 2-0 in their Western Conference semifinal series against the Houston Rockets with a 115-109 win in Oakland, California.

THE Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok went 1-0 up in their best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup finals series with the defending champions San Miguel Beermen following a gutsy 99-94 victory in Game One on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

KAYA FC-ILOILO got its AFC Cup Group H campaign back on the winning track with a dominant 5-1 victory on Tuesday over visiting Lao Toyota FC of Laos at the Panaad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod City.

THE Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) has elevated the Philippines’ bid to host the 2020 Asian BMX Championships to the continental body’s management committee meeting set later this year.

THE National Capital Region Football Association (NCRFA) over the weekend launched its Summer Youth League at the British School Manila.

AFTER successfully holding its first conference in its inaugural season, The Nationals -- the Philippines’ first and only franchise-based Esports League -- is looking to build on the gains it had as it ushered in its second conference.

GM Vugar Gashimov is an Azerbaijani player who was no. 1 player of Azerbaijan for a time and among the top players of the world circa 2008-2011. Born July 24, 1986 in Baku, Gashimov represented his country in the chess olympiads of 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 and almost single-handedly revived the Modern Benoni for Black, utilizing it even in crucial games at a time when the general consensus was that it gave too many concessions to White. What’s more, he was willing to use the original move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 move order and defend Black’s cause in the most dangerous White attacks, namely the Taimanov Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+) and the Modern Main Line (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.h3 0–0 9.Bd3).

The Bucks rightly approached Game Two of their conference semifinal-round set-to against the Celtics with confidence. It didn’t matter that they were routed in the opener, with Al Horford, in particular, looking every bit like kryptonite to the Superman that was Giannis Antetokounmpo. As far as they were concerned, they remained the series favorites for reasons beyond their reliance on the leading Most Valuable Player candidate. Above all else, they boasted of cohesion that propelled an inside-out system and made them better as a collective -- and ultimately superior to their opponents.

THE season-opening PBA Philippine Cup hits the championship phase beginning today with familiar foes San Miguel Beermen and Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok getting their best-of-seven series going with Game One at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

THE ELIMINATION round of the women’s volleyball tournament of Season 81 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines goes into overdrive today with the defending champions De La Salle Lady Spikers and University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses disputing the second seed in a one-game playoff at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.