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• James not looking to past results ahead of Lakers-Nuggets rematch

  LeBron James believes the media are putting "too much emphasis" on the Los Angeles Lakers' recent history with the Denver Nuggets.

  The Lakers, after their win over the New Orleans Pelicans, will take on the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

  Los Angeles lost to Denver in the 2023 Western Conference Finals, as the Nuggets went on to win the NBA championship.

  The Lakers, meanwhile, defeated the Nuggets en route to winning the championship in 2020.

  James, though, is not looking back at past results as an indicator of how this series might play out.

  "I think you're putting a little bit too much emphasis on it," James said. 

  "This is our first-round matchup. I mean, we're looking forward to the postseason. But I haven't been, like, looking forward to the rematch.

  "The game is played how it's being played, and this is the matchup. So we're looking forward to that challenge.

  "It shouldn't be personal at all. I think you allow yourself to get away from the game plan when you make it too personal.

  "We have a game plan. You go out there and execute it and you live with the results. I'm kind of the last person you should [ask that], I just stay even-keeled.

  "I've been in the postseason way too long in my career to know that you don't get too high off of Game 1 or get too high over whoever the matchup is. You got to just stay even-keeled."

  Lakers coach Darvin Ham did say his team can take lessons from last year's defeat, in particular when focusing on cutting out small errors.

  And James echoed the sentiment.

  "We just got to be better all around," he said. "Obviously, it's a great team that we're playing against. A team that won the championship, so they've been in a lot of big games and know what they want to get to late in games.

  "So we just have to be very disciplined and have our mind into throughout the course of 48 minutes or however long it takes.

  "It's going to be challenging but that's what the postseason is all about. It should be."

• MLB: Webb pitches gem in Giants' shutout of Diamondbacks

  Logan Webb pitched two-hit ball over seven innings and pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores had a two-run double as the San Francisco Giants opened a 10-game homestand with a 5-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

  Webb walked one and struck out five and retired 19 straight batters at one point. He lasted seven innings for the third straight start.

  Tyler Rogers worked one inning and Ryan Walker struck out the side in the ninth.

  The Giants, who won consecutive games for the second time this season, have three games left against Arizona before three each with the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates.  

  LaMonte Wade Jr.’s sacrifice fly in the third inning remained the game’s only run before the Giants broke it open with a four-run eighth.

  Nick Ahmed led off with a double and moved up on an error by second baseman Ketel Marte. After Wade walked and Jorge Soler hit into a fielder’s choice, Flores doubled to left to make it 3-0. Matt Chapman was then walked intentionally and Mike Yastrzemski singled home two more runs one out later.

  Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson was forced to leave following two scoreless innings with a bruised pitching elbow sustained when he was hit by a line drive off Yastrzemski’s bat.

   

  Rangers win after Leiter’s poor debut

  Al Leiter Jr. struggled in his major league debut, but Leody Taveras scored the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning and added an RBI single in the ninth to lift the Texas Rangers to a 9-7 win over the Detroit Tigers.

  With the teams tied at 7, Taveras doubled with one out and moved to third on Marcus Semien’s fielder’s choice and an error by third baseman Gio Urshela before scoring on Corey Seager’s failed fielder’s choice.

  Leiter Jr., the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, allowed seven runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

  Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim homered to help the Rangers win three of four in the series.

  Kerry Carpenter drove in two runs and Javier Baez had a pair of doubles for Detroit, which is 5-9 since opening the season 5-0.  

   

  Carrasco, Gimenez lift Guardians

  Carlos Carrasco earned his first win with Cleveland since 2020 and Andres Gimenez knocked in two runs as the Cleveland Guardians edged the Boston Red Sox, 5-4.

  Ramon Laureano, Josh Naylor and Jose Ramirez each drove in a run as the Guardians improved the AL Central’s best record to 13-6 and moved to 10-3 on the road.

  Carrasco gave up two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings for his first win with Cleveland since Sept. 20, 2020. He pitched for Cleveland from 2009-2020 and spent the past three seasons with the New York Mets.

  Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his fifth save as the Guardians won three games in a series in Boston for the first time since 2000.

• 'Sky's the limit' for Coby White as Bulls tee up Miami rematch

  Dejounte Murray declared "the sky's the limit" for Coby White after his career-best performance guided the Chicago Bulls past the Atlanta Hawks in the Play-In Tournament on Wednesday.

  The Bulls clinched a 131-116 win over Atlanta at a sold-out United Center in their first Play-In game, teeing up a rematch with the Miami Heat – who eliminated them from last year's Play-In Tournament – for Friday.

  White had a career-high 42 points, the second-best tally ever recorded in a Play-In contest, after Jayson Tatum's 50 against the Washington Wizards in 2021, and went 15-of-21 from the field.

  His stunning performance meant Murray's own 30-point showing counted for nothing, with Atlanta always fighting an uphill battle after going 18 points down in the first quarter.

  Asked about White after the game, Murray said: "I root for guys that work hard and are great people.

  "[Bulls forward] DeMar DeRozan's a brother to me and he speaks highly of him. He says he works hard, he's a great guy, he's handled his business, he's a professional on and off the floor. 

  "When I hear those things, I root for guys around the league just to have success. 

  "I think he's always been good. He never really got the opportunity to showcase what he's showcasing now, and the sky's the limit."

  It was something of a breakout performance for White, who averaged just 8.4 points per game in his only previous playoff series, a 4-1 first-round defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022.

  He was also part of the Chicago team beaten by the Heat in last year's Play-In Tournament, and they will get a chance to avenge that loss when they go to Kaseya Center on Friday.

  "I'm just grateful to be where I'm at. That first playoff series I ever had in my career didn't go how I wanted it to go," White said. 

  "Then last year, I played better in the Play-In, but this year, I didn't come into the game saying I was going to put the team on my back. 

  "I just wanted to be aggressive and take what the defense gave me and try to lead."

  DeRozan is glad to have the opportunity to banish the ghosts of last year's loss in Miami, saying: "I remember that plane ride back home vividly, everybody was just frustrated.

  "That feeling sucked. I know for me that was one thing that was on my mind once I realised we were going back to Miami, not to have that same feeling."