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Pelicans turning to Zion to end 4-game skid vs. Rockets

NBA: New Orleans Pelicans at Toronto RaptorsMar 27, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) scores against the Toronto Raptors in the first half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Interim New Orleans coach James Borrego wants to see an aggressive, attack-minded Zion Williamson from the opening tip, when the Pelicans seek to end a four-game skid with a victory against the visiting Houston Rockets on Sunday.

Williamson took the game by the scruff of the neck in the third quarter of New Orleans’ 119-106 road loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday. He scored 12 points in nine minutes during the period.

He was less impactful, but still solid, in the first half as Toronto built a match-winning lead.

Borrego’s desire to involve Williamson more early came with the Pelicans (25-50) missing key contributors Trey Murphy III (ankle) and Dejounte Murray (Achilles) against the Raptors.

Murphy is averaging a team-best 21.7 points per game this season; Williamson is just behind him with 21.4 points per game.

Murray is averaging 17.2 points and 6.5 assists in 12 games after missing more than a year with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

“We do need to get him (Williamson) off to quicker starts,” Borrego said. “We do need that aggression, especially when Trey’s out, and Dejounte. Having those two guys out — they generate a lot of offense for us, obviously. But I thought Z brought it (Friday). … We got him going more in that second quarter, third quarter. We’ve just got to get him going a little bit earlier. I’ll look for him to get off to a good start on Sunday.”

Whenever Williamson is in the thick of the action, New Orleans looks like a far more dangerous outfit.

“It turns our team,” Borrego said. “It creates so many advantages for us. When he’s downhill, and they’re bringing two or three people to the ball, it generates a lot of open threes for us, and open paint opportunities.”

Borrego knows that finishing the season strongly will come down to more than just firing Williamson up, noting areas to improve on what he saw in Toronto and the day before against the Detroit Pistons.

“We couldn’t get enough stops to get out in transition,” he said. “The last two games, the ball’s sticking too much. … We’ve got to get back home, back to a playing style we’ve been moving towards. The ball’s got to move — bottom line. We’ve got to get stops; we’ve got to become more physical.”

Houston (44-29) ended a two-game skid with a 119-109 win over the host Memphis Grizzlies.

The Rockets saw their 11-point lead scaled right back to three in the fourth period before closing strongly.

“I thought the effort was there from the start,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “It felt more energized out there.”

Kevin Durant may have recently overtaken Michael Jordan in fifth position on the all-time scoring list, but it was his crisp passing that stood out in Memphis.

Durant finished with 25 points and 10 assists. Two nights earlier, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he had 30 points and eight assists.

“The more I sacrifice my shots for my teammates, the better I am, and the better we are as a team,” he said. “I try to pick and choose my spots. I know I can shoot every time I touch the ball, but I try to play in the flow of the game and try to involve my teammates as much as I can, and they do the same for me.”

–Field Level Media

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New blood: Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar, Joao Fonseca all reach French QFs

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 31, 2026 Spain's Rafael Jodar in action during his fourth round match against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta.Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros, Paris, France – May 31, 2026 Spain’s Rafael Jodar in action during his fourth round match against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.

With Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic eliminated in earlier rounds, there’s room for a youth movement at the French Open.

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany is the new favorite and advanced to the quarterfinals handily Sunday, but he was flanked by Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar and Joao Fonseca as all three youngsters extended their Grand Slam dreams with impressive victories in Paris.

Mensik, Jodar and Fonseca — the 26th, 27th and 28th seeds — are aged 20, 19 and 19, respectively.

Two days after stunning Djokovic, Brazilian phenom Fonseca felled Norwegian 15th seed Casper Ruud 7-5, 7-6 (8), 5-7, 6-2 in the fourth round. Ruud is a clay-court specialist and two-time finalist at Roland Garros.

“It was tough. Casper plays good here,” Fonseca said in his on-court interview. “He’s a very experienced guy and he knows how to play here in this amazing court. He has two finals, so it was tough in the beginning, but I played really good in the important moments in the first and second set. I was very happy because of that.”

Fonseca and Ruud had matching totals of 51 winners and 52 unforced errors, but Fonseca saved 7 of 9 break points while managing to break Ruud four times.

Neither Fonseca nor Mensik had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal before Sunday, and now one of them is guaranteed to make their semifinal debut as they’re set to square off in the next round. Mensik, from the Czech Republic, also won in upset fashion as he outlasted Russian 11th seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 2-6, 6-3.

Mensik finished with a 69-45 edge in winners and survived committing 65 unforced errors to Rublev’s 36 in the three-hour, 45-minute affair.

Earlier in the day, Spanish rising star Jodar rallied from two sets down to oust veteran countryman Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

Carreno Busta lost the first three games of the match, but steadied and won the final five of the first set to stun the youngster. He carried that momentum in the second set, sprinted to a 4-0 lead and hung on to take a two-set edge.

But Jodar would not face a break point in the final three sets. He won 38 of 47 (80.9%) of his first serves in that span. In the deciding set, the No. 27 seed broke the veteran at love in the fourth game and eventually won on his fifth match point of the eighth game.

“It’s difficult because he has a great backhand,” Jodar said after the match. “When we’re playing cross with the backhand, it’s difficult to change because he’s playing deep in the court. I tried not to rush the shots and not make a lot of unforced errors. I think that was the key in the first two sets, so I tried to change that.”

Jodar won his ATP-leading 19th match on clay this season.

He and Zverev will meet for the first time on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals, after Zverev cruised past Dutchman Jesper de Jong 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.

Zverev has become the heavy favorite to win his first Grand Slam title. He lost two years ago to Carlos Alcaraz in the finals in Paris.

He fell behind de Jong 3-0 in the first set, but broke in the fifth game and held steady to send it to a tiebreaker. Zverev again fell behind 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but reeled off seven consecutive points to take all of the momentum into the rest of the match.

“In the beginning, it was a bit difficult,” Zverev said. “I didn’t start off strong and he started off really fast and really well. But once I found my rhythm, I felt very comfortable on the court and that’s the most important thing for me. I feel like my game is there, now it’s about showing it on the match court.”

Zverev struck 43 winners and committed only 26 errors.

–Field Level Media

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Emma Clarke homer powers Tennessee past Texas Tech in WCWS

May 30, 2026; Oklahoma City, OK, USA;  Tennessee Lady Volunteers infielder Emma Clarke (13) hits a walk-off home run in the ninth inning beating the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the NCAA Women’s College World Series at Devon Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn ImagesMay 30, 2026; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers infielder Emma Clarke (13) hits a walk-off home run in the ninth inning beating the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the NCAA Women’s College World Series at Devon Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

Emma Clarke’s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning ended a deadlock and gave Tennessee a walk-off 2-1 win over Texas Tech Saturday in a winner’s bracket game at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

Clarke, who had been 0-for-3 when she stepped up to bat lead-off in the ninth, lifted pitcher Kaitlyn Terry’s hanger to deep left, making short work of any late inning dramatics.

Tennessee (49-10) also got a solo home run from Taelyn Holley against Nijaree Canady in the fifth inning.

The two dingers proved enough for starting pitcher Karlyn Pickens and reliever Sage Mardjetko, who combined to surrender one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and five walks over nine innings.

Texas Tech (58-8) got on the board to tie things up in the seventh when Taylor Pannell led the inning off with a single, advanced to second on a walk, stole third base and then finally reached home when Desirae Spearman hit a sacrifice fly to center. Tennessee center fielder Sophia Knight made a strong throw home and Pannell was initially ruled out before the play was challenged and overturned when replays showed catcher Elsa Morrison missed the tag.

But that was it for scoring for the Red Raiders, who could only manage just one extra-base hit, a double by Mia Williams.

Tennessee advances to the semifinals of the tournament. The Red Raiders will now face UCLA (53-9) in an elimination game Sunday.

–Field Level Media

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Rain washes out qualifying, Denny Hamlin to start on Nashville pole

May 30, 2026; Lebanon, Tennessee, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin (11) will start from the pole tomorrow at Nashville Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn ImagesMay 30, 2026; Lebanon, Tennessee, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin (11) will start from the pole tomorrow at Nashville Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

LEBANON, Tenn. — Intermittent light rain showers forced the cancellation of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Qualifying at Nashville Superspeedway, resulting in Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin starting from pole position in Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400 (7 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Championship points leader Tyler Reddick will start his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota alongside Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota on the front row as Toyota hopes to earn its first ever series win at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.

Last week’s Charlotte race winner Daniel Suarez will start third in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet with JGR’s Christopher Bell (No. 20 Toyota) and two-time and reigning series champion Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet) rounding out the top five on the 38-car grid.

Defending race winner, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, will start his No. 12 Ford seventh.

Bell, who was fastest in the practice session, said he didn’t expect the cancelled time trials to make a big difference in either the run of the 400-miler or ultimately the outcome of the race. Especially with the field getting some time on track with practice.

“Well, it’s good for me today, because I have a good metric, so I’m okay with that,’ Bell said smiling of the formulation NASCAR used to set the field in lieu of qualifying.

His competitors were not overly concerned with the cancellation of qualifying, either — instead just glad to turn some laps and dial in their cars.

“They put a lot of resin down in both corners, more than they’ve done in the past and we’re really curious how the cars are going to drive,” said Roush Fenway Keselowski owner-driver Brad Keselowski. “So it’s semi-important (to qualify) although we’ve been racing here for the last three or four years, so we all have a pretty good feel for it.”

–Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

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