Silver: NBA monitoring ‘serious’ issue of tanking

NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed possible solutions for tanking while noting he understands why teams would do it when a “once-in-a-generation player” is about to enter the league. Calling tanking a “serious issue” that has sparked “hundreds” of meetings, Silver said the league has thought about European soccer-style relegation as a potential solution to ensure the worstperforming teams are incentivized to compete. But he said relegation would be “destabilizing” to the NBA.

■ Soccer: The defending champion United States will face Netherlands in the women’s soccer World Cup group stage next summer in New Zealand, setting up an early rematch of the 2019 World Cup final. The four-time champion U.S. was drawn in Group E with Vietnam, the Netherlands and a playoff winner to be determined. The tournament was expanded to 32 teams drawn into eight groups of four.

■ Mixed martial arts: At Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Islam Makhachev reclaimed the UFC lightweight title by submitting Charles Oliveira at 3:16 of the second round via arm triangle choke. The 31-year-old Makhachev (231) halted an 11-fight win streak by the 33-year-old Oliveira (33-9).