"I was terrified to be anywhere near a rugby pitch or a rugby ball."

Following a second neck injury in February 2024, the thought of playing again was a huge ask for England wing Claudia MacDonald, who had already considered retirement.

A comeback that seemed nearly impossible, when MacDonald barely left her house after being told not to go in a car, is now at an unimageable point.

The 29-year-old picked up the player-of-the-match award after scoring two tries in a convincing win over Scotland in the Women's Six Nations.

She has not just come back on the biggest stage, but is thriving and pushing for a starting spot against France in Saturday's Grand Slam decider at Allianz Stadium.

"I'm just loving every second of being back," a beaming MacDonald told the BBC. "We're just surrounded by so many talents - amazing, incredible rugby players.

"It's a privilege to put the shirt on. To be picked out today, player of the match? It makes me a bit emotional to be honest.

"The best is yet to come. Look at the skill we have throughout the squad. People say we need to be beaten but we beat each other up in training and push each other so hard."

Having only returned in Exeter's Premiership Women's Rugby defeat by eventual champions Gloucester-Hartpury last December, John Mitchell decided to select MacDonald in his Six Nations squad.

After more than 12 months away from the Red Roses, she scored on her return against Italy in round one, but had to wait until the game against Scotland in Leicester to get a second shot.

Jess Breach's form in MacDonald's absence has made getting back into the side difficult, with the Saracens wing scoring four tries in last year's Six Nations.

A brilliant take in the air and some nifty footwork helped MacDonald break through the Scotland defence early in the game, but her final pass failed to find full-back Ellie Kildunne.

However, her electric start continued throughout the game as she again showed her balanced running to slice through and this time round the final defender for England's fourth try.

The Exeter Chief, who can also play at scrum-half, then grabbed another try in the second half, showing her punchy and deceptively quick running style to race clear down the left wing.

Having said she had to "learn to trust her body again", MacDonald is back in the form that saw her start England's World Cup semi-final win over Canada in 2022.

"Coming back from a double neck injury is all about whether you are going to be brave," former England captain Katy Daley-McLean told the BBC.

"Can you still be brave and play in that same way? For me Claudia doesn't look like she has been away.

"She looks fitter and stronger and really powerful. We know she is a balanced runner but she had some smart touches off the ball as well."

The Edmonton Oilers on Saturday signed defenseman Ty Emberson to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $1.3 million.

The Oilers, who will take on the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, inserted 24-year-old Emberson into the lineup for 76 games this season, recording two goals and 13 point. He averaged 15:07 of ice time for the defending Western Conference champions.

Emberson has turned into a reliable force on Edmonton's penalty-kill unit, and figures to maintain that role vs. the Kings. Emberson led all Edmonton defensemen in total short-handed time on ice (149:32) this season, while ranking second in hits (125).

The Kings will host Game 1 on Monday night at 10 p.m. ET at Crypto.com Arena.

Union Berlin and VfB Stuttgart made history on Saturday as the first Bundesliga game to feature eight goals before halftime.

The score was 4-4 at the interval, and the game finished that way after a much quieter second half.

Four previous Bundesliga games had featured seven goals in the first half, the most recent being Eintracht Frankfurt's 6-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in May 2019.

Andrej Ilic scored twice for Berlin, while Stuttgart had four different scorers.

While most of the goals came from set-pieces, Union defender Leopold Querfeld made his mark with a powerful shot into the top-right corner from 37 yards out.

It wasn't a day for the goalkeepers as Union's goals came from just five shots on target all game. Stuttgart had six shots on target.

Stuttgart are 11th after a setback to its faint hopes of qualifying for European competition next season and Union are 13th after a draw which ensured they cannot be relegated this season.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Benjamin Cremaschi scored on a diving header in the 30th minute and Inter Miami beat the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Saturday.

The matchup between the lone remaining teams in Major League Soccer drew 60,614 fans to Huntington Bank Field, a single-game record for a Crew home game and the largest non-NFL event in stadium history.

The match was moved from Columbus to the home of the NFL's Cleveland Browns due to the popularity of Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi.

It is the second time this season and ninth since Messi joined MLS in 2023 that Inter Miami has had a road crowd of at least 60,000.

Inter Miami improved to 5-0-3 while Columbus dropped to 5-1-3.

Oscar Ustari made three diving saves in the second half to keep the shutout intact.

Miami took the lead in the 30th minute when Miami midfielder Marcelo Weigandt sent a crossing pass into the center of the box. Columbus defender Malte Amundsen was step for step with Cremaschi, but the 20-year-old midfielder was able to get to it in time and put it past goalkeeper Patrick Schulte for his first goal of the season.

The goal was also the first in 277 minutes scored by a Miami player other than Messi.

Messi had a chance to make it 2-0 during stoppage time in the first half, but was just wide to the left of the net with a blast from the top of the box.

The 37-year-old appeared to be moving gingerly toward the end of the game, but Miami coach Javier Mascherano said afterward he was not aware of any issue.

Fellow forward Luis Suárez was replaced by Telasco Segovia midway through the second half, with Mascherano acknowledging he had one eye on Thursday's Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal first leg at the Vancouver Whitecaps.

"We decided to sub out Luis because I thought we needed to refresh," Mashcerano said in his postgame news conference. "Luis has been playing many minutes, and we wanted to have the ball more so we decided to involve Telasco Segovia and leave Messi loose

"The idea was to do what we had to at that moment but also thinking about the fact that we have a game on Thursday."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick lauded Barcelona's "unbelievable" comeback against Celta Vigo as the "best feeling" after Raphinha's stoppage time penalty sealed a vital 4-3 win for the LaLiga leaders.

A Borja Iglesias hat trick had earlier cancelled out Ferran Torres' opener and given Celta a surprise 3-1 lead at the Olympic Stadium with just 30 minutes to play.

However, quick fire goals from Dani Olmo and Raphinha levelled the match, with the Brazilian's 98th-minute penalty then sealing a victory that took Barça seven points clear of Real Madrid, who host Athletic Club on Sunday, with six games to go.

"After 3-1, it was unbelievable how we came back," Flick said in the post-game news conference. "It was not easy. I feel proud that we won the three points today. It was a very important victory.

"This is the attitude, the mentality. It's really great to see. It was tough. We tried everything to get the points and we did it. It was great."

It's the third time this season Barça have recovered from a two-goal deficit in the second half to win a match. They also came back to beat Benfica 5-4 in the Champions League in January and Atlético Madrid 4-2 in LaLiga in March.

Flick suggested his team may not have been capable of such feats prior to Christmas, praising the never-say-die attitude which still has them alive in three competitions heading into the final stretch of the campaign.

"Today is one of the big comebacks," he added. "It was very important because we know it's now the end of the season, one match less, three points more. It's the best feeling.

"It's good to see the team never gives up. In November we have this situation, head down, negative energy. Now it's different. We have positive energy. We go on."

Flick was especially happy with the response his team showed to some woeful defending, with all three goals conceded avoidable to some extent.

Inside two minute of Iglesias competing his treble, though, Olmo had made it 3-2, with Raphinha heading in a cross form Lamine Yamal, who had started the game on the bench, to level the scores four minutes later.

It looked like Barça would go on to win the game at that point, but they had to wait until the eighth minute of added time to seal it when a penalty was awarded after a VAR review for a foul on Olmo.

"When we conceded the [third] goal, Pedri grabs the ball and is going for the next kick off," Flick said. "And it was a good start from there because [Olmo scored quickly].

"For me, it's very important that we show we're here, we're fighting until the end of the match. It's really good. I love this mentality.

"Maybe some situations were not perfect. We pressed good, were brave against this Celta team, a really good team, and we have three points in the end."

Barça's win was tempered by an injury to Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker was taken off in the 77th minute after appearing to hurt his hamstring.

"We have to wait until tomorrow," Flick said when asked for an update on Lewandowski. "In my experience, [it's always best to] wait and see what happens."

Barça can ill-afford to lose Lewandoewski, who's scored 40 goals this season, for any length of time as the fixtures come thick and fast.

They host Mallorca in LaLiga on Tuesday and then face Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final next Saturday. They then meet Inter Milan over two legs in the Champions League semifinal, with a trip to Real Valladolid sandwiched in the middle, before a potentially title-deciding Clásico against Madrid in the league on May 11.

United States star Trinity Rodman has been ruled out indefinitely by the Washington Spirit as she continues to deal with an ongoing back injury.

"Trinity is taking time away from team activities to manage her back," the Spirit said in a statement to ESPN on Saturday. "We look forward to her returning when she's healthy."

Rodman, 22, has been battling back issues for several years and last month said that she didn't think it would ever be "100 percent" healthy.

"It's kind of an issue of it's not one specific thing, it's just the way that my back's structured," she said. "And it's more so management than like a curable fix.

"I don't think my back will ever be the way it was my rookie year, which is unfortunate," she added.

Rodman's agent Mike Senkowski told The Washington Post on Saturday that she was "taking time away from team activities at the moment to meet with [Spirit] doctor in London," adding that "she will return as soon as she's healthy."

Two weeks ago, Rodman make a scoring return to the USWNT against Brazil in her first appearance since the 2024 Olympics. In Paris, she scored three goals as part of the self-proclaimed "Triple Espresso" forward line alongside Sophia (Smith) Wilson and Mallory Swanson to lead the USWNT to the gold medal.

Rodman was forced to leave a Spirit NWSL game in a wheelchair in September after a recurrence of the back injury. While she returned for the end of the season, she acknowledged that she was hindered by the back problem in the Spirit's NWSL championship loss to the Orlando Pride in November.

Washington next play at the Orlando Pride on Saturday. The USWNT's next action is scheduled to come in two friendlies against China and Jamaica on May 31 and June 3, respectively.

Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson has been named the National Basketball Coaches Association's Coach of the Year.

Atkinson took over a Cavaliers team that reached the second round of the postseason last year and led them to a 16-win improvement and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland's 64-18 record marks the first time the team has won 60 or more games since 2009-10 and the first ever without LeBron James on the roster.

"Kenny Atkinson has long been respected by his peers as an innovative and humble servant to the game," Indiana Pacers coach and NBCA president Rick Carlisle said in a statement. "Congratulations to Kenny on a historic season along with this prestigious recognition by his peers."

Other coaches receiving votes (in alphabetical order) for the honor were J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons), Mark Daigneault (Thunder), Michael Malone (Nuggets) and Ime Udoka (Rockets).

Bickerstaff, who was replaced in Cleveland by Atkinson, led the Pistons to their first playoff appearance since 2019, more than tripling their win total from last season (14) to this season (44).

Daigneault's Thunder romped through the regular season, going 68-14 for the league's best record and finishing 16 games ahead of the second-place Rockets in the Western Conference.

Led by Udoka, those Rockets were a surprise this season. While the expectations were higher entering the season, Houston finishing second in the loaded West seemed unlikely. However, the Rockets are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

Malone earned votes for Coach of the Year but was fired with three games to go in the regular season. His departure was part of an unexpectedly timed housecleaning done by Nuggets vice chairman Josh Kroenke. The winningest coach in franchise history, Malone guided the team to an eventual fourth seed in the West.

BOSTON -- Though Celtics All-Star swingman Jaylen Brown declined to go into specifics about the bone bruise in his right knee, the 2024 Finals MVP said after practice Saturday that he felt good and wouldn't be on a minutes restriction heading into Sunday's playoff opener against the Orlando Magic.

Brown's knee is perhaps the Celtics' biggest question mark heading into the postseason opener against the seventh-seeded Magic on Sunday at TD Garden in Boston. Brown missed the final three games of the regular season and, as ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported, received pain injections in his knee to promote healing.

But Brown was a full participant at practice this week and was the last Celtics player to leave the court after the team's Saturday session.

"He looks good," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. "He was able to do everything, no limitations. He's been great, physically, mentally, really preparing himself, ready to go. So [I] love the week that he had."

Asked about the injections, Brown said, "I'm not here to talk about my knee, guys. It is what it is. I'm focused on Orlando."

Brown averaged 22.2 points per game this season for the Celtics, second on the team behind fellow All-Star Jayson Tatum's 26.8.

The 61-win Celtics, the second-seeded team in the East behind the Cleveland, are trying to be the first team to repeat as champions since the 2017 and 2018 Golden State Warriors.

Even though they have a league-high 18 championships, the Celtics have not repeated since the 1960s, when they won eight straight with star center Bill Russell anchoring the middle.

Brown said he and his teammates understand the expectations.

"Of course we know what we're trying to accomplish, but I think our mindset is just what's in front of us, not looking down the line, not overlooking nobody," Brown said. "Our goal is [Game 1]. That's the focus. Nothing else. Not next week, not six weeks, not 10 years from now. Just Sunday."