MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson returned to action against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, making his season debut following left ankle surgery.

Robinson finished with six points and five rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench in the Knicks' 114-113 victory.

"The first game back, for the amount of time he's been out, I thought it was really, really good." Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We've been seeing it in practice, too. So this is the next step."

But as the 7-foot Robinson returned, New York dealt with the extended loss of reserve Ariel Hukporti. The Knicks announced Friday that the 6-11 rookie out of Germany underwent surgery to address a left knee meniscus tear sustained in Wednesday's win over Philadelphia.

Robinson, in his seventh season, averaged 5.6 points and 8.5 rebounds in 31 games in 2023-24 before he was lost for good in the second round of the playoffs. He has shot 70% from the floor in his career.

Thibodeau said before the game that Robinson "brings a different dimension to our team." Thibodeau expects rebounding and defense to be ahead of Robinson's offense as he returns after missing the first 58 games of the season.

"Short stints for a while to see where he is. Been out a long time," Thibodeau said, adding: "Obviously, games are a lot different than practice. He's a vet, so I think he understands who he is. Just playing to your strengths. Go as hard as you can."

Hukporti played 16 minutes in the win over the 76ers -- his first start of the season -- shooting 4-of-5 from the field for eight points. He also grabbed a pair of rebounds. For the season, Hukporti is averaging 2.1 points and 2.0 rebounds in 25 games.

He will be reevaluated in four to six weeks.

Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs is out indefinitely due to a trochlea injury in his left knee, the team announced Friday.

Suggs left a Jan. 3 game with back spasms and since then has made only one appearance -- in a Jan. 25 win over the Detroit Pistons. It was during his ramp-up to return to play that he experienced discomfort and had further testing.

Suggs is expected to make a full recovery. Known for his defense, Suggs is averaging career highs of 16.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in his fourth year.

The Magic (29-32) have lost three of their past four games and entered Friday seventh in the Eastern Conference. Orlando has three more games remaining on its seven-game homestand that continues Sunday against the Toronto Raptors.

LOS ANGELES -- Lakers guard Austin Reaves exited Friday night's 106-102 win against the LA Clippers in the first quarter with right calf soreness and did not return.

Reaves will undergo an MRI on the calf Saturday, sources told ESPN.

The fourth-year veteran subbed out with 2:58 remaining in the first quarter with the Lakers trailing 21-13 and went straight to the locker room. He finished with six points on 2-for-4 shooting.

"He was experiencing some tightness in the calf, some soreness," Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the game. "Was held out as a precaution."

Reaves had been enjoying some of the best basketball of his career, averaging 23.5 points, 6.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 11 games in February entering Friday. L.A. went 9-2 in those games.

The Lakers already came into the night down one starter in Rui Hachimura, who was ruled out because of a left knee strain he suffered Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lakers coach JJ Redick said Hachimura had an MRI on Friday, but did not provide a timeline for the forward to return to game action.

"We're optimistic this is not a serious injury," Redick said. "It's still not quite clear on when he will be available to play. But we're optimistic."

Dorian Finney-Smith started the Clippers game in Hachimura's place. Gabe Vincent started the second half on Friday with Reaves out.

Luka Doncic (31 points, five assists, three steals) and LeBron James (28 points, 13 rebounds) led the way Friday night, with the Lakers' bench outscoring the Clippers' reserves 29-14.

The Lakers have won 15 of their past 18 games to surge to No. 4 in the Western Conference standings, just a half game behind the No. 3 Memphis Grizzlies and a game back of the No. 2 Denver Nuggets.

"We're in a good place, but we're not comfortable at all," James said. "We haven't played our best game we're capable of playing, honestly. We have a couple injuries and things of that nature that we need to attend to as well. And that's always very important to be able to keep it going in this league to have that type of luck, too. So, we'll see what happens."

BOSTON -- Less than five minutes had passed in Friday night's final regular-season showdown between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers and the Celtics, and the game already felt over.

Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson already had burned his second timeout, the Celtics already had made seven 3-pointers and Boston led 25-3, appearing well on its way to a massive statement win.

"We got punched in the mouth," Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell said later. "What are we going to do about it? How are we going to respond?"

As it turned out, the Cavaliers responded rather splendidly. And it was thanks in large part to Mitchell, the six-time All-Star who finished with 41 points and five assists in 35 minutes in what eventually became a 123-116 Cavaliers victory at a sold-out and stunned TD Garden.

"I think they trust each other," Atkinson said. "They trust the message and they trust each other."

Entering Friday, the Cavaliers hadn't lost since falling to these same Celtics on Feb. 4 in Cleveland, a game that came less than 48 hours before the trade deadline. In response to Boston largely controlling that contest en route to a 112-105 victory, the Cavaliers went out and acquired De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks for Caris LeVert and Georges Niang.

The move was designed to give Cleveland another big wing to throw at the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. But by the time Hunter entered Friday's game, at the 7:11 mark of the first quarter, it looked like his minutes might only come in mop-up duty.

That quickly changed as the first quarter played out. Cleveland cut its deficit to 12 by the end of the quarter. And from there, it kept plugging away at Boston's lead thanks to multiple sustained runs led by Mitchell and a hot shooting night across the board. The Cavaliers finished 17-for-39 from 3-point range, with eight players hitting at least one from deep.

"It means we got grit," said Evan Mobley, who struggled for much of the game but finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds overall, including 11 and 8, respectively, in the fourth quarter. "No matter how down we get, we're going to keep fighting, we're going to keep going all the way to the end of the game, and tonight we kept fighting and they let us back in the game a few times."

The win erased any sliver of hope Boston (42-18) had of chasing down Cleveland (49-10) for the top seed in the East. The Cavaliers moved eight games up in the loss column with 23 to play and evened the season series at 2-2.

It also raised the specter of the Celtics' repeated issue of letting teams back into games.

And while Atkinson repeatedly pointed out that Boston was missing both Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Jrue Holiday (finger), while Cleveland was fully healthy, the depth of the Cavaliers undoubtedly played a factor.

Cleveland used 10 players, with each seeing at least 12 minutes of action. Boston essentially played only seven, was outscored 33-6 in bench points (Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet were minus-34 and minus-26, respectively) and was extraordinarily reliant on Tatum (46 points on 19-for-37 shooting, 16 rebounds, 9 assists) and Brown (37 points on 13-for-24 shooting).

"That was one of the most incredible shotmaking performances I've seen," Atkinson said of Tatum's performance.

Added Tatum: "Just being aggressive in a good rhythm. I think obviously the start of the game on defense ignited our offense and how we were playing. We did a really good job of what we were trying to do, and the actions and the spacing and we were trying to attack. And guys on both ends tonight were making shots. I think in the second half, they made a run in that third quarter, getting some offensive rebounds. They took more shots than we did, so that just kind of gave them some life. And in the moments that we needed to get a stop, we didn't, and that was tough."

As a result, Cleveland came away with a victory that instilled further confidence in a young, ascendant team a week after it throttled another potential playoff foe, the New York Knicks, at home.

And as both teams walked out of the Garden on Friday night, they already were thinking about what feels like a fated showdown in the Eastern Conference semifinals come late May.

"For sure," Darius Garland said when asked if it was meaningful that the Cavaliers had evened the season series, and how they did so, Friday night.

"It is 0-0. Hopefully, we'll be back here in the summertime, and we'll see it again for seven [more]."

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- As much as Shohei Ohtani relished the opposite-field home run he crushed Friday night in his first at-bat this spring, the reigning National League MVP left the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels feeling even better about how his surgically repaired left shoulder withstood its biggest test yet.

"Regardless of the results, I think the biggest takeaway was being able to go through my three at-bats without any issues," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "Physically, it felt really good."

Ohtani's first-inning homer off countryman Yusei Kikuchi electrified the crowd at Camelback Ranch that packed the stands to see the 30-year-old in his first action since the Dodgers won the World Series. He spent the winter rehabilitating after arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder suffered diving into second base during Game 2.

The hope for Ohtani to be at full strength before the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs kick off the Major League Baseball season March 18 in his home country of Japan grew closer to reality Friday. When Ohtani ascended the dugout steps at 6:08 p.m. local time, fans greeted him with a cheer and watched him take three practice swings before stepping into the batter's box accompanied by a louder ovation.

He started the at-bat from Kikuchi, who graduated from the same high school as Ohtani, by staring at a 95 mph fastball for a strike. Ohtani took a curveball for a ball, swung through another for a strike, stared at one more low and didn't bite on an outside fastball before taking a 94 mph fastball into the Dodgers' bullpen in left field.

"Obviously he's fine," Kikuchi said. "After that first home run he was able to hit that far, yeah, I'm sure he's going to be able to put up the same numbers this year."

Those numbers in 2024 -- .310/.390/.646 with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases -- helped Ohtani win his third MVP. While the first two came in years when he served as designated hitter and starting pitcher, Ohtani did not pitch last year following Tommy John surgery.

The shoulder injury complicated a rehab that already was difficult after a second elbow reconstruction. In-game swings were a significant mile marker for Ohtani, and he said he felt "no discomfort," a comforting feeling for him and everyone else in the clubhouse of the team hoping to be the first club this century to win back-to-back World Series.

"You would assume there'd be some residual soreness or pain or lack of strength," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, "but he's put in a lot of work, so it's good to hear."

Batting leadoff and playing DH, Ohtani popped out to shortstop in his second at-bat against Kikuchi and struck out against Chase Silseth before exiting the game following the fifth inning. Ohtani said between in-game action and simulating live arms against the Trajekt pitching robot, he would like to have 50 at-bats before the opener in Japan. For now, he said, his swing is in a good place.

"It's a constant feedback between how I feel and how the swing actually looks," Ohtani said. "So today was pretty good. I felt like it was pretty consistent with what I felt. So as I'm doing my rehab as well, I'm going to continue to do that."

The rehab on Ohtani's elbow, in the meantime, will continue, as he targets returning to a big league mound sometime in May. Ohtani will sit out the Dodgers' game Saturday, Roberts said, and is expected to be back in the lineup Sunday when a split-squad Chicago White Sox team will try to figure out what the Angels couldn't: how to keep Ohtani in check.

"He does not cease to amaze," Roberts said. "I was telling [Dodgers free agent signing Michael] Conforto, every time Shohei gets up to bat, you've got to watch because something special could happen. And obviously there was a lot of anticipation for this night, and for him to homer his first at-bat off Kikuchi was pretty special."

Newcastle consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"They've clearly got a very good group of young players coming through. We could have been better but it's what cup rugby is about.

"They got into the game and we couldn't shake them off. We had to go back to basics and the driving maul to win the game.

"We never got more than a score in front and it kept them in the game but a win's a win."

Bath assistant coach Andy Robinson told BBC Radio Bristol:

"It was a really pleasing second half and we knew with the players coming on we could dominate and that's what we did.

"We played a good power game, found the field position through penalties and put the power on in their 22.

"We wanted to give some of the senior guys game time because they haven't played for four weeks and we're delighted how they played with the younger players."

Zebre: Geronimo Prisciantelli; Scott Gregory, Fetuli Paea, Damiano Mazza, Simone Gesi; Giacomo Da Re, Gonzalo Garcia; Muhamed Hasa, Luca Bigi (capt), Ion Neculai Rusiate Nasove, Leonard Krumov, Giacomo Ferrari, Bautista Stavile, Giovanni Licata.

Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Luca Rizzoli, Juan Pitinari, Matteo Canali Davide Ruggeri, Alessandro Fusco, Giovanni Montemauri, Jacopo Trulla.

Sin-bin: Fusco 71

Dragons: Huw Anderson; Rio Dyer, Joe Westwood, Aneurin Owen (capt), Ashton Hewitt; Will Reed, Dane Blacker; Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Brodie Coghlan, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, George Nott, Ryan Woodman, Taine Basham, Shane Lewis-Hughes.

Replacements: James Benjamin, Owain James, Paula Latu, Steve Cummins, Barny Langton-Cryer, Che Hope, Harri Ford, Scott Williams.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

Assistant referees: Filipo Russo & Lorenzo Negro (FIR)

TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU).