It's not St. Patrick's Day, but there's something lucky about Leap Day for the Boston Celtics. Feb. 29 comes around only once every four years, but it's been 36 years since the Celtics had to suffer through a defeat on Leap Day. Their 102-98 loss to the New York Knicks on Feb. 29, 1984, snapped a five-game Leap Day win streak for Boston that dated back to the start of the NBA.

After not playing on Feb. 29 for two decades, Boston started a new streak in 2004 and has won four Feb. 29 games in a row, a streak the Celtics will look to maintain when they host the Houston Rockets on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC and the ESPN App).

Boston's active Leap Day win streak is the longest in the NBA and it's one shy of the record the Celtics already share with the Philadelphia 76ers, who won five straight from 1976 to 1992. The Rockets have lost two consecutive Feb. 29 games.

With Boston's Jayson Tatum on a tear -- he's averaging 35.4 points on 57.5% shooting in his past five games -- it's possible we might see another Leap Day record fall. On Feb. 29, 1964, Oscar Robertson dropped 43 points for the Cincinnati Royals in a 117-114 victory over the 76ers. Not surprisingly, Robertson had a triple-double in that game, though his 10 rebounds paled in comparison to teammate Jerry Lucas, who pulled down 40 boards.

Robertson is one of only five players to score 40-plus on Leap Day, along with Hakeem Olajuwon (42 in 1996), Karl Malone (41 in 1988), Mike Newlin (40 in 1980) and Paul Arizin (40 in 1952). For those interested in a little more numerical symmetry, the Elias Sports Bureau says there have been eight players to score exactly 29 points on Feb. 29, most recently Derrick Rose and Rodney Stuckey in 2012.

Robertson also ranks among the all-time leading scorers on Leap Day, with 87 points in three games. He trails only Kevin Garnett (90 points in four games), Kobe Bryant (97 in four) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (102 in four) in total points scored on Feb. 29. However, they all trail Jason Kidd in terms of games played on the extra day on the calendar. The Hall of Fame point guard is the only player in NBA history to play five Leap Day games, playing three times for the Dallas Mavericks (1996, 2008, 2012) and once each for the Phoenix Suns (2000) and New Jersey Nets (2004).

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Behind Kidd is a group of 15 players who've played four times on Leap Day -- a group Carmelo Anthony will join when the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. Anthony would have had a chance to tie Kidd if not for the NBA's schedule-makers, who gave the Knicks an off day on Feb. 29, 2016.

Fellow 2003 draftee LeBron James could return to action Saturday when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Memphis Grizzlies. If so, it would be the third time in his career he's played on Feb. 29. In 2008, he scored 30 points in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he dropped 33 on the Indiana Pacers in 2016. The Lakers most recently played on Feb. 29 in 2012, when Bryant scored 31 to lead them to a 105-94 win over the Timberwolves. However, James missed Thursday's game against the Warriors with a sore left groin, so he's no guarantee to play Saturday. If he doesn't, NBA fans will have to wait until Feb. 29, 2024, to see if a 39-year-old James returns to the Leap Day stage.

World number one Novak Djokovic won the Dubai Tennis Championships for the first time since 2013 with a straight-set win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The 32-year-old Serb, who extends his winning streak to 21 matches, clinched his fifth Dubai title with a 6-3 6-4 win over the Greek second seed.

After a tight start, Djokovic broke for 5-3 with a wonderful cross-court backhand winner and held for the set.

He served out for victory after another decisive break for 5-4 in the second.

Djokovic had been calm on court throughout the week, often meditating in his chair on the changeovers, but roared with emotion as he celebrated winning his 79th career title.

"It was very close even though it was a straight-set win," said Djokovic, who also won the Dubai titles in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

"I was fortunate to hold my serve at the start of the match."

Djokovic has been in fine form in the first two months of the season, winning all of his matches as Serbia triumphed at the inaugural ATP Cup and then claiming a record-extending eighth Australian Open title.

A three-week break from competition after Melbourne had the desired effect for the 16-time Grand Slam champion.

Djokovic did not drop a set in his opening four matches in Dubai and when he was finally tested against France's Gael Monfils in Friday's semi-finals, came back from a set down and fought off three match points in the second-set tie-break.

Once he moved a set and a break up against 21-year-old Tsitsipas, it looked to be another formality.

Tsitsipas, who was aiming for back-to-back titles after winning last week's Marseille Open, looked to be tiring as Djokovic broke for 3-2, only for the Greek to instantly level.

But it proved to be a false dawn as Djokovic refocused to break again and then clinch victory on the first of three championship points with a backhand winner.

"Yesterday I was one shot away from losing the match when three match points down and it could have easily happened I was not here. That is sport - things can turnaround quickly, said Djokovic.

"I have played really well in most of the matches. This is a big win for me."

DUQUOIN, Ill. – For some reason, indoor races featuring the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series tends to create first-time winners.

Is it based mainly on the fact that the tracks are usually on the smallish side, which produces tight racing where the variables for trouble are more prevalent?  Is it because passing opportunities are more inopportune on such close quarters?  Is it because most indoor races occur early in the year when most teams have yet to hit their stride, thus opening the door for several different teams and drivers to thrive?  Or is just pure happenstance?

The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle of all those theories, as it’s never easy to win a USAC National Midget race. One thing for certain is that over the first four years of the Shamrock Classic, four first-time USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget winners have emerged in Shane Golobic (2016), Justin Grant (2017), Logan Seavey (2018) and Cannon McIntosh (2019), all of whom are talented wheelmen who have earned their victories at the Southern Illinois Center in DuQuoin, Ill., where the series returns March 7 for the fifth edition of the event.

While Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Ind., has produced the most first-time winners in USAC National Midget competition over the years with 21 different drivers reaching victory lane for the first time, by sheer percentage, the most often spot you’ll witness a first-time winner is at an indoor facility.

Twenty-seven drivers have won their first USAC National Midget feature event indoors, which have come at nine different venues.  Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., has hosted the most with 11, followed by Southern Illinois Center (four), Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (three), Cincinnati Gardens (two), Louisville’s Freedom Hall (two), Chicago’s Rosemont Horizon (two), Chicago’s Int’l Amphitheatre (one), Seattle’s Kingdome (one) and the Mecca in Milwaukee (one).

The first race in USAC’s history took place 64 years ago indoors in Fort Wayne, Ind., and obviously, the event found a new USAC Midget winner in Gene Hartley.  The most recent indoor USAC Midget race produced the same result with Cannon McIntosh becoming the 27th different indoor winner with the series in just 148 indoor points race opportunities, meaning that nearly one out every five times USAC National Midgets race indoors, there’s a new winner.

Thus far, the Shamrock Classic is batting 1.000 in the new winner department.  There’s several names out there set to keep the streak alive coming up, namely Buddy Kofoid, who is driving the same Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports No. 67 that Logan Seavey raced to a Shamrock win in 2018.  His teammate Daison Pursley has been fast in the early going of the 2020 season as has 2019 series Rookie of the Year and Ocala third-place finisher Andrew Layser.

Like Kofoid, Cole Bodine is set to pilot a car for a team (Clauson-Marshall Racing) and number (No. 39BC) that has been to Shamrock Classic victory lane once before, in 2017 with Justin Grant. Robert Dalby, the reigning USAC Western States Midget champ, is looking for a breakthrough National win as is five-time Western States Midget titlist Ronnie Gardner.

Indoor midget racing has forever been unpredictable, and unpredictability has been the theme since the dawn of the Shamrock Classic in 2016. You can predict that to be the motto once again on March 7.

MARRAKESH, Morocco – Antonio Felix da Costa dominated Saturday’s Formula E Marrakesh E-Prix, earning his first victory for the DS Techeetah after starting from the pole.

Da Costa took the lead at the start of the event at Circuit Int’l Automobile Moulay El Hassan, followed closely by BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver Max Guenther in second and Mercedes-Benz EQ’s Nyck de Vries in third.

Starting from 11th, reigning Formula E champion and DS Techeetah driver Jean-Eric Vergne moved up the order to seventh. At the same time, de Vries dropped from third to the back while serving a drive-through penalty for being overpowered while regenerating energy.

Moving into third, TAG Heuer Porsche’s Andre Lotterer moved up into third with 28 minutes left on the clock. With da Costa still leading the way, Guenther followed close behind in second.

Still climbing up the order, Vergne moved into third, slipping past his former teammate Andre Lotterer, who moved down the order to fourth. Despite missing the first practice session, the reigning champion was in a potentially facing a podium finish after starting outside the top-10.

Battling hard for the lead, Guenther and da Costa once again found themselves engaged in close-combat, wheel-to-wheel racing. Reminiscent of the race in Santiago a few weeks before, the pair went side by side through the turn 11.

With 19 minutes remaining, Guenther slipped into the lead before da Costa went through the Attack Mode activation zone, reclaiming his lead with the added 35kW.

Further down the order, Rokit Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara and Porsche’s Andre Lotterer battled for fourth and fifth, both in Attack Mode.

Still climbing his way up the order, Vergne went after Guenther for second, passing the German driver on the inside of turn one and moving into second behind his teammate da Costa with six minutes and one lap left of the race. Gunther, now down in third, sat ahead of Lotterer in fourth, while the two German drivers jostled for a place on the podium.

Despite starting from the back of the grid, Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver and championship leader Mitch Evans had managed to climb 18 places by the final moments of the race. The Kiwi driver failed to set a time in qualifying, but more than made up for the rough start with a sensational, clean drive through the pack.

With the two DS Techeetah’s up front, Vergne fended off a number of attacks from Guenther in third, costing him precious energy, before letting the BMW driver past. Still well ahead, da Costa took the checkered flag, claiming DS Techeetah’s first win in the 2019/20 season.

“The win today was down to the team. They gave me an amazing car and we are working together to improve. The race was actually much harder than it looked. I had to be very brave and clever when making any moves,” da Costa said. “At one point, I had to let Max get really close and push him into using extra energy, while with the second Attack Mode I was preventing Andre from getting within touching distance. In the end it worked out perfectly. We planned the race very well and all the work back in Paris paid off. Hats off to JEV today who, despite having a tough week, pulled through with a podium finish for the team.”

Despite being depleted of all energy, Gunether made it over the line in second with Vergne close on his tail in third. Sebastien Buemi was scored fourth, followed by Edoardo Mortara in fifth. Championship leader Evans finished sixth.

Borussia Dortmund needed a goal from in-form teenager Jadon Sancho to beat Freiburg 1-0 after a lacklustre performance from the Ruhr valley club.

There were no usual attacking fireworks for Dortmund and, apart from Sancho's 15th-minute goal, chances for the hosts were few and far between.

Erling Haaland didn't start the game because of illness but did come on as a substitute just after the hour.

Freiburg got their share of scoring opportunities in the second half but could not find an equaliser.

Sancho, who has also 14 assists to his name, has now scored for the seventh consecutive league home game and has netted 14 times in the Bundesliga this season.

Dortmund are third on 48 points, level on points with second-placed RB Leipzig, who host Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich fired in three goals in the opening 15 minutes en route to a 6-0 demolition of hosts Hoffenheim on Saturday in a game interrupted for 20 minutes over an offensive banner unfurled by visiting fans.

Bayern moved four points clear at the top of the table but the match was at risk of being cut short when the Munich club's fans displayed the banner insulting Hoffenheim investor Dietmar Hopp in the 79th minute.

The referee ordered the teams into the tunnel and some Bayern players as well as the entire club leadership walked to the stands and urged fans to take it down immediately.

After a 20-minute interruption both teams came back onto the pitch and ran down the clock without playing competitively, ending the game with an ovation for Hopp and with Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge by the billionaire's side in a show of solidarity.

Hopp has been a lightning rod for some German fans, who oppose the way he used his wealth to help Hoffenheim climb through the lower leagues to the Bundesliga with consecutive promotions more than a decade ago.

A similar insulting banner led to a Borussia Dortmund fans' ban in Hoffenheim for two seasons and €50,000 fine earlier this month.

"I am deeply ashamed for the behaviour of these people. That is inexcusable. It is the ugly face of football," Rummenigge told reporters.

"I have apologised to Dietmar Hopp. We have filmed everything and these people will be held accountable."

Yet it had gone so smoothly for the champions, who were without injured top scorer Robert Lewandowski.

His absence was not felt when Serge Gnabry volleyed them ahead in the second minute. Joshua Kimmich doubled the advantage five minutes later and Joshua Zirkzee made it 3-0 with a clever turn and shot.

Philippe Coutinho scored once either side of the break and Leon Goretzka completed the rout in the 62nd but Hoffenheim had long thrown in the towel before the game ended on a sour note following the interruption.

Bayern are on 52 points, four ahead of RB Leipzig, who host Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

Borussia Dortmund are third on goal difference following their nervous 1-0 victory over Freiburg.

March 1: T20 World Cup - England v West Indies, Sydney

Our XI: Danielle Wyatt, Fran Wilson, Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbelle, Natalie Sciver, Heather Knight, Stafanie Taylor, Shakera Selman, Sophie Ecclestone, Afy Fletcher, Sarah Glenn

Captain: Heather Knight

Knight's form makes her the obvious choice for captain. She has now had five 40-plus scores in her last eight T20I innings and that includes three half-centuries and a century.

Vice-captain: Natalie Sciver

Sciver has been Miss Consistency in the tournament so far, with two fifties and a 36 in the three innings. On form and against a demoralised West Indies, you should back her as your vice-captain, or even your captain.

Hot Picks

Sophie Ecclestone: Ecclestone has continued to impress with the ball. She has picked up five wickets so far at an economy rate of 3.5, that last number the best overall at the moment.

Deandra Dottin: Dottin has looked slightly out of sorts since her return from injury. She will be looking to turn it around as well as West Indies' fortunes this game. She has scored 292 runs against England in the format over the years at a strike rate of 121.66.

Stafanie Taylor: We are backing the West Indies captain to come up with the goods. She has scored 69 runs in the two games and picked up four wickets as well and is almost guaranteed to get you some points from somewhere. Her batting average against England in T20Is is 30.53.

Value Picks

Sarah Glenn: Glenn spun a web around Pakistan in the last game, picking up 3 for 15. West Indies score only at 5.60 against spin and that makes Glenn a valuable pick.

Danielle Wyatt: Wyatt found some form against Pakistan but was dismissed for 16, adding to her string of low scores. But she is one of the best in the business, with two hundreds and seven fifties and a career strike rate of 123.43. The last time these two teams faced off, she scored a 55-ball 81.

Points to note

• Consider Taylor as a vice-captain choice as well as she has got points in both games even though West Indies haven't done well.

• In the last T20I game at the Showground Stadium, seven wickets fell to spinners and five to pacers.