Sixers fire Brown as coach

Patient and positive, Brett Brown was the perfect coach for the 76ers when they set up a longterm home in the NBA basement.

They’ll be looking for someone else now that they want to be on top.

The 76ers fired Brown, a day after his seventh season ended in a firstround postseason sweep.

The 76ers were 43-30 this season and had woefully underachieved in a year when they were expected to be serious contenders in the Eastern Conference. After the sixth-seeded Sixers were swept by the Celtics, the move was expected.

THUNDER EVEN SERIES WITH ROCKETS » Dennis Schroder scored a career playoff-high 30 points, and the Thunder rallied to beat the Rockets, 117-114, and even the first-round Western Conference playoff series at two wins apiece.

Oklahoma City trailed by 15 points in the third quarter and was down a point heading into the fourth. But the Thunder led the league during the regular season with 17 wins after trailing heading into the final quarter. And they trailed going into the fourth Aug. 22 before winning in overtime.

“I always believe we can turn it around,” Schroder said.

NFL

DOLPHINS WILL ALLOW FANS » Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick says an NFL crowd of 13,000 is enough to be heard.

“I played a lot of games in college with less fans than that,” the Harvard alum said. “We’re excited to have fans out there cheering for us.”

The Dolphins announced plans to allow up to 13,000 masked, socially distancing fans to attend their home opener against the Bills on Sept. 20, and the decision generated plenty of noise around the NFL and beyond.

Bills coach Sean McDermott described as “ridiculous” the lack of league-wide uniformity regarding crowd sizes during the coronavirus pandemic. Denver Broncos coach Vic Fangio disagreed, and said the Dolphins’ announcement signifies progress against the virus.

Golf

MICKELSON CARDS 61 » Just about the only poor shot Phil Mickelson hit in his PGA Tour Champions debut was a wayward iron off the tee. He still turned it into a birdie. It was one of five straight on the back nine for the fivetime major champion, who decided to make his over-50 debut this week after missing the cut at The Northern Trust and getting eliminated from the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs.

Mickelson finished with 11 birdies and shot a 10-under 61 to take a one-shot lead over David McKenzie.

SERENAWILLIAMSMOVES ON» Her yells of “Come on!” filling a stadium devoid of spectators, Serena Williams was pushed to the brink of a stunning loss in her longest match since 2012 before pulling away with a perfect tiebreaker and edging Arantxa Rus, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0), at the Western & Southern Open.

“I had a crowd in my head or something,” Williams said with a laugh. “For me, it was like there was a crowd there.”

Rus is a Dutch qualifier ranked No. 72 whose flat, left-handed strokes from the baseline gave Williams some trouble.