World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz took a surprising defeat to 32nd-seeded American Sebastian Korda, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in third-round action of the Miami Open on Sunday in Miami Gardens Fla.

Korda, who was 1-4 all-time against Alcaraz with the win coming in 2022 before the Spaniard won his first grand slam, was sensational on his serve, smashing 12 aces while committing no double faults. He had more winners than Alcaraz (33-30), won more service points (63% to 62%) and saved three of five break points while Alcaraz saved two of five.

“It was a lot of tense moments, for sure. But I think today the ultimate thing was belief, going back to just believing, committing in every shot. Luckily, I got it done at the end,” Korda said in his news conference.

It appeared Korda could be headed for a straight-set win when he led 5-3 in the second set, but Alcaraz won the ensuing four games, including his only breaks of the match, to force a third set.

Korda got the decisive break at 3-3 in the final set and finished off the match in his next two service games.

“(Sebastian) was incredible today,” Alcaraz said. “Played such a great game. A lot of tight, tight moments that I just didn’t make the most of it. I think he was better on those points, on those moments. I would say that was the key of the match.”

Alcaraz, who started the calendar year with 12 straight wins, is 5-2 since and failed to make the Round of 16 at Miami for the second straight year.

Of the eight third-round matches contested Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, the other seeded competitor to fall was No. 14 Karen Khachanov of Russia, who fell 6-3, 7-6 (2) to Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce.

Khachanov had more than double as many unforced errors (26) as winners (12), facing eight break points and saving four of them. Landaluce, 20, is through to the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time. He’ll face the 21-year-old Korda next for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Along with Korda, two other seeded Americans took care of business Sunday. No. 6 Taylor Fritz disposed of fellow American Reilly Opelka 6-3, 6-4 in 63 minutes, and No. 22 Tommy Paul outlasted Belgium’s Raphael Collignon for a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) win in 140 minutes.

Czech No. 21 seed Jiri Lehecka (6-3, 7-6 (6) over Ethan Quinn), No. 24 Valentin Vacherot of Poland (7-6 (5), 6-4 over Italy’s Matteo Berrettini), French 28th-seed Arthur Fils (6-0, 6-1 over Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas) and No. 29 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina (7-5, 6-4 over Spain’s Rafael Jodar) each advanced into the fourth round with straight-set victories.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Clippers will welcome an old friend back into town Monday when former head coach Doc Rivers and his current team, the Milwaukee Bucks, make a visit to Inglewood, Calif.

As the Clippers try to nail down a favorable spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament, the Bucks are making a last-gasp effort to become play-in eligible with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

Los Angeles (35-36) is heading home after ending a four-game losing streak with a 138-131 overtime victory on the road against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. Darius Garland stepped up in his best game for the Clippers, scoring 41 points with 11 assists.

Garland, who has played in nine games for Los Angeles, including seven starts, is averaging 21.4 points with 7.0 assists for his new team after arriving in a trade-deadline deal from the Cleveland Cavaliers. James Harden was traded to Cleveland in the transaction.

Even with his production, Garland was just as pleased to see teammate Kawhi Leonard deliver 34 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range.

“Yeah, it was pretty cool to see him go to work,” Garland said of Leonard, who scored 13 points in the third quarter when the Clippers outscored the Mavericks 37-27 as they rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit. “I just wanted him to get some catch-and-shoot opportunities, and he got a couple to get us going. Overall, it was a good team win.”

Los Angeles shot 56.7% from the floor and went 21 of 42 from 3-point range, including 9 of 19 in the second half and 4 of 6 in the decisive overtime period. Leonard scored seven points in OT.

The Bucks (29-41) lost six of seven games before pulling off a 108-105 road victory over the postseason-eligible Phoenix Suns on Saturday. Ryan Rollins scored 26 points with 10 rebounds, including four points in the final 23.8 seconds to seal the victory.

The Bucks, who are 7 1/2 games out of the final play-in spot, not only were playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) for the third consecutive game, they also lost Kyle Kuzma in the third quarter because of right Achilles tendon tightness. Kuzma finished with 20 points before departing.

Kuzma scored 17 points in the first half as Milwaukee scored 42 points in the second quarter as a team and rallied from a 13-point deficit to take a 57-52 lead at halftime.

“I just thought it was a team win; everybody pitched in,” Rivers said. “Kuzma had a fantastic first half and I thought (Rollins) was consistent. It was funny, Ryan started out in the beginning of the game struggling a little bit. We took him out, brought him back in and I thought he played terrifically.”

Rollins is scoring a career-best 16.9 points per game, while also reaching career highs in games played (68) and starts (61).

Monday’s game will be the first between the teams this season. They will also meet March 29 at Milwaukee.

The Bucks have won five of the last six games over the Clippers during the past three seasons, with the only loss coming in their first game at Los Angeles’ new arena last season.

–Field Level Media

Bones Hyland scored 23 points and Jaden McDaniels finished with 19 to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 102-92 win over the host Boston Celtics on Sunday night.

Rudy Gobert added nine points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who won in Boston for the first time since 2005. Minnesota also received 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists from Ayo Dosunmu.

Minnesota outscored Boston 26-15 in the final quarter, even though the Celtics scored the game’s final six points.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 29 points and seven rebounds. Jayson Tatum added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who shot 35.8% from the field (34 of 95). The loss ended Boston’s four-game winning streak.

Nuggets 128, Trail Blazers 112

Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists, Jamal Murray also scored 22 points and host Denver never trailed in a win over Portland.

Peyton Watson returned from a 19-game absence to score 14 points off the bench. Cameron Johnson scored 19 points, Christian Braun had 15, Bruce Brown contributed 13 and Aaron Gordon had 12 as the Nuggets beat the Blazers for the 11th straight time on their home court.

Deni Avdija led Portland with 23 points and 14 assists, while Donovan Clingan hit a career-high four 3-pointers on his way to 18 points. Toumani Camara and Robert Williams III scored 16 each, while Scoot Henderson finished with 13 points.

Kings 126, Nets 122

Malik Monk scored 32 points, Maxime Raynaud paired 22 points with 10 rebounds and Sacramento snapped a two-game losing streak with a win over visiting Brooklyn.

Monk, as a reserve, also had six assists and knocked down 7 of 13 from 3-point range. Devin Carter added 16 off the bench for Sacramento, and Precious Achiuwa posted 14 points and 15 boards.

Ben Saraf contributed 22 points off the bench for the Nets, who suffered their seventh straight loss. Malachi Smith and Ziaire Williams contributed 18 points each, and Nolan Traore 17.

Suns 120, Raptors 98

Devin Booker scored 25 points and Jalen Green added 20 as Phoenix snapped a season-worst five-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Toronto.

Collin Gillespie had 16 points for the Suns, who led wire-to-wire and avenged a 122-115 road loss to the Raptors on March 13. Jordan Goodwin scored 14 points, Ryan Dunn added 12 and Rasheer Fleming chipped in 11.

Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 17 points. RJ Barrett and Ja’Kobe Walter added 13 apiece, Immanuel Quickley had 11 and Gradey Dick scored 10. Forward Brandon Ingram was held to six points on 3-of-10 shooting after averaging 25.8 points over his last five games. Toronto trailed by as many as 31 and lost its second straight following a three-game winning streak.

Knicks 145, Wizards 113

Karl-Anthony Towns posted a 26-point, 16-rebound double-double and seven Knicks scored in double figures as New York rolled to its sixth straight win with a rout of visiting Washington.

The Knicks rebounded from an anemic offensive effort their last time out in a 93-92 win on Friday over Brooklyn, pouncing on the Wizards early en route to 68 first-half points and their second-highest scoring game of the season. New York spread its scoring evenly among a corps of Towns, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges. The Knicks’ trio of Villanova products — Brunson, Hart and Bridges — finished with 23, 16 and 14 points. Hart added six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.

Washington was short-handed due to a spat of injuries and was also down starting forward Justin Champagnie on Sunday for his involvement in an altercation in the Wizards’ loss to Oklahoma City. Jaden Hardy came off the bench to lead the team with a season-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range.

–Field Level Media