SPORTS DIGEST

BASKETBALL

The Los Angeles Clippers are going where their cross-town rivals the Lakers are not with a 122-111 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves guaranteeing a play-off spot. Lebron James, in his first season with the Lakers, will not feature in the play-offs for the first time since 2005 after his side went down to the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week.

Danilo Gallinari scored 25 points and Lou Williams had 20 off the bench as the Clippers became the fifth Western Conference side to secure a berth with their sixth consecutive win.

Luka Doncic had a triple-double – 28 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists – but his Dallas Mavericks fell to the Sacramento Kings 125-121.

It was the seventh of the season for Doncic, the third most triple-doubles by a rookie in NBA history.

The Boston Celtics halted their four-game losing streak with a 116-106 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kyrie Irving did not play, but Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart both had 21 points as the Celtics sit fifth in the Eastern Conference.

James scored 23 points and had 14 assists as the Lakers beat the Washington Wizards 124-106, while Kemba Walker hit 38 in a 125-116 overtime win for the Charlotte Hornets over the San Antonio Spurs. NBA: Charlotte Hornets 125 San Antonio Spurs 116 (OT), Cleveland Cavaliers 106 Boston Celtics 116, Dallas Mavericks 121 Sacramento Kings 125, Denver Nuggets 95 Detroit Pistons 92, LA Lakers 124 Washington Wizards 106, Miami Heat 99 Orlando Magic 104, Milwaukee Bucks 108 Houston Rockets 94, Minnesota Timberwolves 111 LA Clippers 122, New Orleans Pelicans 120 Atlanta Hawks 130, Toronto Raptors 112 Chicago Bulls 103.

CRICKET

3RD ODI (Abu Dhabi)

Australia 266-6 Innings Complete (A J Finch 90, G J Maxwell 71) v Pakistan 186 (A Zampa 4-43). Australia beat Pakistan by 80 runs.

OTHER MATCH (Dubai)

MCC 265 (D W Lawrence 58) & 265-4 (D P Sibley 128, W M H Rhodes 88) v Surrey 520 (O J Pope 251, J L Smith 127). MCC drew with Surrey.

MCC UNIVERSITY MATCHES Fenner’s: Essex 387-5 dec (A N Cook 150 no, A J Wheater 130) & 119-1 (N L J Browne 58 no) v Cambridge MCCU 176.

Derby: Derbyshire 398-5 dec (H R Hosein 138 no, W L Madsen 123) & 95-1 v Leeds/ Bradford MCCU 200.

Emirates Riverside: Durham 399 (W R Smith 179, A Z Lees 74) & 65-1 v Durham MCCU 134 (B A Raine 4-30).

Grace Road: Loughborough MCCU 153 v Leicestershire 463-4 (Ateeq Javid 143, Mohammed Azad 139, N J Dexter 69 no, H E Dearden 56).

Northwood: Middlesex 365-5 dec (S S Eskinazi 125, E J G Morgan 61 no, D J Malan 54) & 136-2 (N R T Gubbins 71 no, J A Simpson 62) v Oxford MCCU 131 (T S Roland-jones 4-45).

Taunton: Somerset 387-4 dec (J C Hildreth 158 no, E J Byrom 58 no) & 253-6 (E J Byrom 59 no, C Overton 52 no) v Cardiff MCCU 118 (L Gregory 4-28).

CYCLING

Britain’s Adam Yates clinched victory in a thrilling conclusion to stage three of the Volta a Catalunya yesterday.

The 179km stage from Sant Feliu de Guixols to Vallter 2000 at Setcases saw Yates (Mitchelton-scott) emerge triumphant from a group of five riders battling on the summit finish after he overtook Irishman Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) on the final corner.

Colombia’s Egan Bernal (Team Sky) ended up second, with Martin third and Bernal’s compatriots Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) fourth and fifth respectively. Belgian Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-soudal) retained first place in the general classification after finishing two minutes 21 seconds behind Yates.

De Gendt’s overall lead is down to 27 seconds, with Yates up to second. Bernal is another three seconds back in third, while Martin is 33 seconds off the lead in fourth, with Quintana 35 seconds adrift and Lopez a further four seconds back. Chris Froome, who is competing in his first Worldtour race of the season and supporting team-mate Bernal, was part of a group that finished almost 27 minutes behind Yates on Wednesday, a day on from the four-time Tour de France winner being caught in a crash.

ICE HOCKEY

Alex Ovechkin scored for the first time in five games as the Washington Capitals saw off the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. The win kept the reigning Stanley Cup champions in pole position in the Eastern Conference, with the Russian’s third-period effort increasing his tally to 49 for the season. TJ Oshie opened the scoring late in the first period, but Dougie Hamilton drew Carolina level with five minutes left in the second. Three goals for the Caps in 13 minutes saw them home.

Ryan Nugent-hopkins scored a firstperiod hat-trick as the Edmonton Oilers cruised to an 8-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Alex Iafallo got the Kings off to a perfect start with a goal after 2:10, but the Oilers hit five in the next 18 minutes. Leon Draisaitl got a brace with a goal in each of the second and third periods for the Oilers.

Elsewhere, Tomas Tatar had a brace for the Montreal Canadiens in their 6-1 demolition of the Florida Panthers, while the Columbus Blue Jackets – chasing Montreal for a play-off place – beat the New York Islanders 4-0.

NHL: Arizona Coyotes 1 Chicago Blackhawks 0, Columbus Blue Jackets 4 New York Islanders 0, Edmonton Oilers 8 Los Angeles Kings 4, Montrealcanadiens 6 Florida Panthers 1, Ottawa Senators 4 Buffalo Sabres 0, Vancouver Canucks 4 Anaheim Ducks 5, Washington Capitals 4 Carolina Hurricanes 1.