The team of English brothers Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick began to break away from the pack by shooting 15-under 57 during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Saturday at Avondale, La.

The Fitzpatrick were sparked by Matt’s eagle on the par-5 seventh hole and maintained the momentum during the four-ball format to carry a four-stroke lead into the final round at TPC Louisiana. This is the PGA Tour’s only team event.

The Fitzpatrick team is at 30 under. Davis Thompson/Austin Ackroat (61) and second-round leaders Alex Smalley/Hayden Springer (62) are next at 26 under. The team of Doug Ghim/Jeffrey Kang (61) is at 25 under.

The Fitzpatrick brothers could be headed toward special territory given that last year’s winning score was 28 under from the team of Ben Griffin/Andrew Novak.

The Fitzpatricks posted birdies on eight of the nine holes on the backside. They were without a bogey and had four pars.

They each provided the best score seven times.

Matt Fitzpatrick has been on a roll recently, including winning last week’s RBC Heritage.

Seven teams were in the lead or one shot back by mid-afternoon Saturday.

Then there was the case of Davis Chatfield and Belgium’s Adrien Dumont de Chassart. They were 9 under through 11 holes after Dumont de Chassart ‘s eagle on No. 2, which was the pairing’s 11th hole of the day. But they played the rest of the way at 1 over without another birdie.

Until some of the final groups came in, the day’s best score of 61 belonged to Canada’s A.J. Ewart and South Africa’s Casey Jarvis. That moved them to 22 under and in a tie for 10th place.

–Field Level Media

Jake Fraley hit a two-run homer and Ben Williamson went 3-for-4 with a triple, double and two RBIs to power the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-1 victory over the slumping Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Junior Caminero extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single and Yandy Diaz scored two runs for Tampa Bay, which extended its winning streak to three games.

Shane McClanahan (2-2) picked up the win, allowing three hits over five shutout innings. He walked two and struck out seven and left after throwing 86 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Byron Buxton had two hits for Minnesota, which suffered its fourth straight loss and eighth in the past nine games. Bailey Ober (2-1) allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out three over six innings.

Tampa Bay, which hit four home runs in Friday’s series opening 6-2 victory, took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning Saturday on Fraley’s second homer of the season, a 401-foot drive to right-center, knocking in Diaz, who had been hit by a pitch.

The Rays extended the lead to 5-0 in the seventh. Pinch hitter Jonny DeLuca led off with a double into the left-field corner against reliever Taylor Rogers and scored when Williamson sliced a triple into the gap in left-center. Cedric Mullins then was hit by a pitch — chasing Rogers — and stole second. Nick Fortes lined a single to left off reliever Eric Orze to drive in Williamson. Richie Palacios followed with a sacrifice fly to knock in Mullins.

Tampa Bay added an insurance run in the eighth when Diaz singled and scored on Williamson’s double to the wall in left-center.

Minnesota broke up the shutout in the ninth when Luke Keaschall was hit by a pitch by reliever Trevor Martin, went to second on a groundout by Matt Wallner and scored on a two-out single by Royce Lewis.

–Field Level Media

The two elder statesmen of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James and Marcus Smart, had shouldered the load of a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of that first-round series, performing with the ideal blend of poise and desperation.

In the aftermath of the Lakers’ 112-108 overtime road victory, a win that provided the Lakers a 3-0 series lead and an opportunity to complete the sweep in Game 4 on Sunday, James was asked how he and his teammates mustered the gumption to dig deep and outlast the younger, healthier, and presumably hungrier Rockets.

James answered a question with a question.

“What else are we going to do?” James said. “We don’t have the luxury of thinking about another game. We have to be in the moment.

“I keep harping on it: we are missing some very important pieces to our ballclub. We don’t have the luxury of being passive or being complacent. Our whole mindset is we have to do everything it takes in that particular game, in that particular moment, in that particular possession in order for us to win basketball games because we don’t have a long leash or a lot of room for error.”

Initially left for dead without Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) — the latter is listed as questionable for Game 4 — the Lakers continue to defy the odds in both grand and minute ways. James (29 points, 13 rebounds, six assists) and Smart (21 points, 10 rebounds, five steals) were Herculean throughout Game 3, yet more was required in the waning moments, with the Rockets leading 101-95 and in possession with 30 seconds left.

Smart duped Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. into throwing an ill-advised pass, nabbed the ball, and drew a critical foul on Jae’Sean Tate while attempting a 3-pointer. Smart sank all three free throws to shave the deficit in half, and James followed by forcing a backcourt turnover on the ensuing Houston possession before drilling a trey with 13.6 seconds left to force overtime.

The Lakers coughed up a 15-point lead. Their hot shooting in the first half cooled considerably. But just when the Lakers appeared stuck in the mud, they discovered what was needed to survive. And after creating a second opportunity, the Lakers seized it in the extra period.

“Everything that we needed to do, even when it wasn’t pretty, we just found a way to do it,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We’re playing hard. You have to do that to put yourself in a position to win.

“There are some things that we can execute better, but I thought from the beginning of the game we played with a sense of desperation, and we played like a team that was down (in the series).”

The Rockets were without their leading scorer, Kevin Durant, in Game 3. He is listed as questionable for Game 4 with Durant desperately treating the ankle sprain he sustained late in Game 2. Without Durant, the Rockets started the second-youngest lineup in a playoff game since starters were tracked in 1970-71, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That youth was evident late.

Smith and Reed Sheppard committed baffling turnovers. The Rockets failed to run the correct play after James’ game-tying 3. The Rockets are a whopping plus-63 in field goal attempts in the series, but they’ve shot 28.7% from behind the arc. Houston has squandered its chances.

There is no precedent for a team rallying from an 0-3 series deficit. The Rockets will be challenged to get off the mat facing that history.

“Disappointed with the ending,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Some good things before that … so you’re doing some good things with the opportunity. But now you’ve got to go get one on Sunday.

“Don’t let this one beat you twice.”

–Field Level Media