The rivalry between Real Salt Lake and the Los Angeles Galaxy is generally spirited, but both teams will be tasked with generating renewed energy when they meet Sunday at Carson, Calif.

Both teams are winding down a busy stretch of the schedule with their third matches in nine days. Putting together the lineups will be carefully calculated.

“There’s going to be a balance to that,” said Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni, a former player with the Galaxy. “A lot of it has to do with how the guys who started last week recover. Maybe I go against what I typically do. We’ll look at all the factors … and make the best decisions for the group for Sunday.”

Real Salt Lake (5-2-1, 16 points) lost 2-0 to visiting Inter Miami on Wednesday after a two-game stretch of scoring seven total goals in a pair of victories.

Real Salt Lake will look to get rookie forward Sergi Solans rolling; he has five goals this season.

The Galaxy (2-4-3, 9 points) have allowed two goals in each of their past two games in going 0-1-1 in those road outings. That included Wednesday’s 2-1 setback at the Columbus Crew.

“We have to be able to move faster, anticipate more, and be cleaner under pressure in certain situations,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said.

The teams are longtime rivals, with the Galaxy owning 22 wins, Real Salt Lake winning 18 matchups and the teams playing to 13 draws.

Last year, Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna had two goals in a five-minute stretch in a 2-0 victory. Recently, he has scored in two of the team’s last three matches.

The Galaxy will have lineup adjustments, so it’s unclear if teenager Ruben Ramos Jr. will receive his second consecutive start.

With so many matches in a short span, Vanney said that factored into decisions regarding playing time throughout the week. How some players have recovered since the mid-week game will determine lineups for Sunday.

“It’s a combination of things and choosing our lineup,” Vanney said. “Sometimes it’s not always exactly how I want to draw it up, it’s what we have.”

Joseph Paintsil could see an increased role, but Vanney is mindful that he’s coming off a hamstring injury. Injured defender Jakob Glesnes (calf), who has been out since mid-March, fits into that category as well.

“They don’t have a lot of training time because the games are also coming fast so unfortunately, we have to use the games to build up their fitness and their durability,” Vanney said.

L.A.’s Gabriel Pec will look to build off his performance in the Columbus game when he recorded his first goal of the season.

The Galaxy will be without forward Joao Klauss, who had foot surgery Friday stemming from an injury last weekend.

Real Salt Lake will play on the road for the first time in more than a month — since a March 22 draw at San Diego.

As part of the match’s festivities, a statue for former L.A. Galaxy star Cobi Jones will be unveiled outside the stadium.

–Field Level Media

Guards Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper helped the San Antonio Spurs overcome the absence of Victor Wembanyama and regain the upper hand in their Western Conference first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The young duo may face the tall task of playing without the 7-foot-4 superstar once again on Sunday afternoon when the Spurs and Blazers reconvene in Portland for Game 4. San Antonio holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Castle scored 33 points, and the rookie Harper added career bests of 27 points and 10 rebounds on Friday, helping the Spurs overcome a 15-point deficit in the third quarter en route to a 120-108 victory over the Blazers.

Luke Kornet collected 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks while starting in place of Wembanyama, who remained on the sideline wearing a white T-shirt and multi-colored cardigan. The NBA Defensive Player of the Year and finalist for the NBA MVP award resides in concussion protocol after sustaining a head injury in the second quarter of San Antonio’s 106-103 loss in Game 2 on Tuesday.

“Obviously, there’s a lot that goes into that, but he’s doing well and progressing,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of sitting Wembanyama in Game 3. Johnson declined to speculate on the towering Frenchman’s status for Sunday’s game.

San Antonio has put itself in position to push Portland to the brink of elimination due in large part to its spirited play in the second half of Game 3. The Spurs outscored the Trail Blazers by a 61-43 margin after halftime.

“I think our defense and our rebounding,” said Castle, when asked about what changed in the second half. “We made an emphasis on that before the game, but we weren’t really doing it the first half that well. We fixed it by not allowing them to get offensive rebounds and get out on the run.”

Portland acting coach Tiago Splitter had a different take on what changed in the third and fourth quarters.

“We weren’t as involved,” he said. “(The Spurs were the more) physical team in the second half. They played better. Made shots. I think Harper and Castle were unbelievable. Played a very good game, getting to the line, shooting 3s, being physical on defense, rebounding, pushing (Donovan Clingan) around, all of them, they were more physical than us. Rebounding 50/50 balls. That was the game, and they were just better.”

Jrue Holiday scored 29 points, and Scoot Henderson added 21 to pace the Trail Blazers. The duo combined to make 10 of 19 attempts from 3-point range.

In the third quarter, Holiday drained a pull-up 3-pointer and added a steal that led to a pair of free throws by Jerami Grant to boost the Blazers’ lead to 82-67. It slowly went south for Portland from there, however.

“Losses like this (tick) you off … if you feel like you had the game, you know, obviously they were down a great player, you know, but it was a great team,” backup center Robert Williams III said. “They came out with the W. Yeah, these are the ones, you know, you kind of lose sleep over.”

–Field Level Media

Alexey Miranchuk deposited a terrific free-kick goal, Tristan Muyumba powered in the eventual game-winner and visiting Atlanta United snapped a four-match losing streak with a 2-1 win over Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon.

In a game light on shots on target, goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos recorded one save for Atlanta (2-7-1, 7 points), which ended an 0-4-1 rut and won for the first time since March 14.

Emilio Aristizabal had his first MLS goal for Toronto FC (3-3-4, 13 points), but they could not equalize and lost for the first time since February 28, a seven-match span.

Atlanta’s Ajani Fortune drew a foul early in the second half to set up a close-range free kick that produced the opening goal. Miranchuk sent a left-footed shot over the Toronto wall and tucked it just under the crossbar in the top-left corner in the 48th minute.

It was the Russian’s team-high fifth goal of the season.

The Five Stripes’ second scoring sequence in the 67th minute was critical, as the two-goal cushion lasted only four minutes.

On the attack, Cooper Sanchez sent a ball ahead for former U.S. national Fafa Picault, who tapped a side-heel pass behind him for Muyumba. The defender uncorked a one-time shot past Toronto goalie Luka Gavran to make it 2-0.

Aristizabal answered by heading in a cross from Kobe Franklin to bring Toronto back within a goal.

Toronto FC fans thought the game was level when Jules-Anthony Vilsaint knocked in a loose ball in the 85th minute, but the flag went up for offsides.

The last play of the match was a Toronto corner kick, but Jonathan Osorio’s offering sailed long and out of bounds and the match reached full time. The Reds fell despite dominating possession (68.2%) and taking eight corner kicks.

–Field Level Media