Category Sports News

Kevin Durant moved past the great Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA all-time scoring list but his 30 points could not guide the Houston Rockets to a win against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Durant, 37, has 31,435 points in his career and is now seventh on the all-time list. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers leads the way with 42,601.

The Trail Blazers triumphed 111-105 at Moda Center in Portland.

Chamberlain, who died in 1999, is the only player to score 100 points in an NBA game and was a two-time champion with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Lakers.

“You see the numbers. You just can’t comprehend somebody putting up 50 a game with 25 rebounds,” Durant said before Friday’s game.

“You want to compete with that and try to match that as much as you can.

“It’s amazing just being in the top 10 with him, but to have the opportunity to pass him up, it’s pretty sweet.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo blocked a shot by James and stole the ball from him on consecutive possessions in the final minute as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Lakers 105-101 in LA to claim a fifth win in seven games.

Stephen Curry finished with 27 points and a season-high 10 assists as the Golden State Warriors triumphed 137-103 at home against the Sacramento Kings.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka reached the final of the Brisbane International for the third year in a row with a 6-3 6-4 win against Karolina Muchova.

Sabalenka is aiming to win a third Australian Open title in four years later this month and continued her preparations with a dominant victory to set up a final against Marta Kostyuk, who beat fourth seed Jessica Pegula 6-0 6-3.

A French Open runner-up in 2023, Czech Muchova had won her previous three matches against Sabalenka.

But Muchova had no answer to the Belarusian’s power at the Queensland Tennis Centre and, although three match points slipped away, Sabalenka sealed victory when a Muchova shot sailed long.

“She is such a great player and I always enjoy battles against her.”

Sabalenka has not lost a set in four meetings with Ukrainian Kostyuk, the world number 26. The final takes place on Sunday.

“The stories have been written in the stars, it seems. Literally.”

While scathing of the effort of many of his own players, even Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche acknowledged something is stirring at Wrexham as they knocked his Premier League side out of the FA Cup.

In front of co-owner Ryan Reynolds, the Red Dragons’ class of 2025-26 etched themselves into cup folklore by taking their top-flight scalp at the Stok Cae Ras on penalties.

And with drama befitting their modern-day Hollywood association.

For a club with FA Cup upsets stitched into its fabric, this win was up there with the most climactic – and the hero of the iconic win over Arsenal in 1992, Mickey Thomas, watched on.

Before the match, manager Phil Parkinson admitted he had wished to take on a Premier League team ever since the club’s journey up from the fifth tier began five years ago.

“We highlighted to the lads some of the great moments in this club’s history in the FA Cup and could we make our own bit of history tonight. We’ve certainly done that,” Parkinson said.

They did, and then some – beating top-flight opposition for the first time since 1999 to progress into round four.

But Wrexham are getting used to writing their own scripts.

“It’s not just about the money, the fame and the people involved who have been amazing in the whole story, but to keep that edge and keep pushing as they’re doing is tremendous,” Dyche said.

From “colossus” Arthur Okonkwo’s spot-kick heroics to Ollie Rathbone’s continued rip-roaring return from injury, and first club goals for both Liberato Cacace and Dom Hyam thrown into the mix, Parkinson said there were “stories everywhere” on a truly wild night in north Wales.

“It’s a magical night. It’s just a classic FA Cup game,” said goalscorer Cacace, who was making his first start for Wrexham in more than two months.

It ensured co-owner Reynolds – accompanied by his mother who witnessed the glory of the world’s oldest national football competition in full view – was not left disappointed.

“I’m sure he’ll (Reynolds) be delighted to feel the emotion again inside the Stok Cae Ras,” said Parkinson.

And there’s more to come.

Wrexham sit just one point adrift of the Championship’s top six, having won four successive matches in the second tier for the first time in their history.

The likes of Lewis Brunt, Andy Cannon, Danny Ward, Kieffer Moore and Issa Kabore are all edging ever closer to returning from injury to bolster Parkinson’s ranks.

As for Forest, it’s back to the drawing board.

While Wrexham made the most of their FA Cup opportunity, Dyche lambasted some of his players for “not making the most of the platform”.

“We built up to the game, there was a serious edge to it, we told them about Wrexham – and we were miles off,” Dyche said.

“Then we had three important players who came on and showed their hand and the whole thing changed and we looked like a Premier League outfit.

“The only positive – if there is one out of that first half – is it shows why I’m picking the team I am.”

Forest’s focus now will be Premier League survival while Wrexham’s will be to join them there next season.

Sean Dyche has called for some of his Nottingham Forest players to “have a look in the mirror” after an “unacceptable” first-half performance in their FA Cup loss at Wrexham.

Forest were the first Premier League side in third-round action and the first casualty at the hands of lower league opposition.

Having made eight changes from Tuesday’s Premier League win at West Ham, Dyche watched in fury as his side trailed their Championship opponents 2-0 at the break.

They fought back to make it 3-3 and force extra-time at Stok Cae Ras, but were beaten 4-3 in the penalty shootout after Igor Jesus and Omari Hutchinson had their spot-kicks saved by home keeper Arthur Okonkwo.

“The first half was completely unacceptable,” Dyche told TNT Sports.

“I let the players know and there are certain individuals that certainly know and they have to look in the mirror.

“But the strangeness of football, some players that came on in the second half were a credit and we went on and looked like a Premier League side.

“You can’t do that in the first half, it’s completely unacceptable. It’s unacceptable to me, but I said you have to look in the mirror because that’s unacceptable to the badge as well.

“They all knock on the door and say, ‘why aren’t I playing?’. Well the evidence is quite honestly there for some, not for all.”

While Dyche praised those who came off the bench – including two-goal Callum Hudson-Odoi – for acting as a “catalyst” for their second-half comeback, he continued to berate his side’s efforts in a poor first 45 minutes.

“I could have taken all of them off [at half-time],” he added. “The tempo, the mentality to take the game on was lacking so badly in the first half.

“Slow, methodical, we have done a lot of work on that. There was basically no intent, no real desire to make a difference. Second half, the changes were terrific.

The three goals at Wrexham meant Forest have now conceded 46 in all competitions this season, with bottom club Wolves the only side to have let in more among Premier League clubs – and only one more at that.

But with his side 17th in the league – seven points clear of the bottom three – Dyche’s focus will now be solely on keeping Forest in the top flight after an evening to forget in north Wales.

“Forest were nowhere near good enough in the first half,” former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“If they had played the whole game like they did the second they would have won convincingly, but full credit must go to Wrexham.

“Forest back to the drawing board and the task of trying to stay in the Premier League.”

Speaking on TNT Sports, ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman added: “The story tonight is Wrexham and the journey they have been on with the new owners. Nottingham Forest played their part in this story.

“The first 45 minutes, they may as well have not turned up. That is really disappointing because Sean Dyche trusted some of those players to do a job for him and they didn’t.