Chris Gayle's love for cricket is still going strong. Having taken a break from the game towards the end of 2019, he's back in action with the Chattogram Challengers in the BPL, and he says he will continue playing T20s for a while yet.

"A lot of people still want see Chris Gayle out there in the middle," Gayle said during a media interaction in Dhaka. "I still have that love for the game and that passion for the game as well. And I would love to carry on as long as possible.

"Even in franchise cricket I am still playing a few games here and there around the globe because I still feel I have a lot to offer. The body is feeling good. And I am sure I am getting younger as days go on."

As to how long he might want to carry on, Gayle, who turned 40 in September, joked that he could keep going for five more years.

"Forty-five is a good number. Yeah, we can target 45. Let's target 45, that's a good number."

Gayle hasn't played a Test match since 2014, and in August he played what seemed to be - though it might not have been - his farewell ODI in Port-of-Spain. He wasn't part of West Indies' recent tour of India and isn't playing the ongoing home series against Ireland, but he remains part of their T20I plans in a T20 World Cup year.

He faces competition from the young faces that have recently come into the team, but he hopes he will still be part of the T20 World Cup in Australia at the end of the year.

"It'd be nice. It's open, the door's open for a chance," Gayle said. "We'll see what happens. We have some bright youngsters ahead of you as well. I will leave the options open to hear back from [the selectors]."

World number one Ashleigh Barty lost her first match of the year as she was beaten by qualifier Jennifer Brady at the Brisbane International.

Australia's Barty, who had a first-round bye, lost 6-4 7-6 (7-4) to Brady in the second round.

Barty did not create a break point during the match and won just one point on the American's first serve.

Brady, who beat Maria Sharapova in the first round in Brisbane, will play fifth seed Petra Kvitova next.

Czech Kvitova, who reached the Australian Open final in 2019, breezed past Russia's Liudmila Samsonova 6-3 6-2 in 61 minutes.

Barty was knocked out in the first round in her previous appearance at Brisbane in 2018.

The 23-year-old said she did not feel any extra pressure because of her top ranking.

"It doesn't change the way that I practise. It doesn't change me as a person," Barty said.

"I think that you guys [journalists] enjoy the fact that you get something to write about and you have something to talk about.

"So hopefully I make it interesting for you, but I don't look at it beyond that."

Williams survives scare in Auckland

Serena Williams fought back from a set down to beat fellow American Christina McHale and reach the quarter-finals of the Auckland Classic.

Williams, who reached the doubles semi-finals with Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday, eventually came through 3-6 6-2 6-3.

"I really need to play matches like that to get to my goals," the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion said.

"Tournament time is super important. After losing that first set I'm just glad to be still in the event."

Williams has also put a dress she wore earlier in the week up for auction to raise money for the bushfire relief fund in Australia.

She will face Laura Siegemund next after the German beat 15-year-old Coco Gauff 5-7 6-2 6-3.

American Gauff jokingly told off her father and coach, Corey, for swearing during an on court during a change of ends.

Kiwi coach has double reason to celebrate
By JAMES ROBERTS – Squash Mad Reporter

Jarrod Van Driel, a renowned squash coach based in Auckland, New Zealand, is currently enjoying a double dose of success for his Squash Academy.

Jarrod, who runs the Double Dot Squash Academy in Auckland, has been coaching for more than 10 years after starting at a young age, and is highly regarded in his native New Zealand, having been awarded both Squash New Zealand Coach of the Year and Squash Auckland Coach of the Year in past years.

The first part of Jarrod’s double success involves receiving a package from the other side of the world which contains an array of squash collectables and memorabilia he won during a recent charity squash auction. The second element of success concerns one of his young Academy Ambassadors, who has travelled in the opposite direction to the UK in order to compete in 2 high profile junior squash tournaments, and who has performed well.

Jarrod’s spending spree saw him secure 4 out of the 5 lots available via the latest World Squash Day Auction, which took place in November last year raising funds for the PSA Foundation to contribute towards its many global squash community projects.

The World Squash Day Auctions have taken place since 2016, raising funds for many good causes, including Unicef, the Sumner Malik Fund and the Bronglais Hospital Chemotherapy Unit, the chosen charity of legendary squash coach, the late John Batty.

Indeed, Jarrod is no stranger to these auctions, having secured many lots in previous Auctions, including multiple squash balls, SquashTV camera lens covers, numerous items of clothing and rackets, all signed by a vast array of PSA World Tour stars, past and present. His current haul includes the 2019 Auction’s star lot, a World Squash Day official shirt signed by competitors at the 2019/20 season opening events at Nantes and San Francisco.

Jarrod has stated his intention to eventually display his ever growing squash memorabilia collection for all to come and see in some form of squash museum. From that perspective, he is already looking forward to the next World Squash Day Auction, which is set to take place later this year, with pledges of signed items already having been received from many PSA World Tour stars.

His Double Dot Squash Academy has already made quite an impact on the New Zealand squash scene. Their core services are around coaching, competitions, and their shop. They provide squash services for all ages and levels.

They have a comprehensive squash programme framework and pathways in place, directed by a coaching method based on “evolving total body movement and the mind,” and core values of attitude, enjoyment and work ethic.

They also run an in-school squash programme which is delivered to help introduce more kids to the sport and promote the enjoyment of squash.

The Academy currently predominately delivers services at two Auckland based clubs: Browns Bay Racquets Club and Herne Bay Ponsonby Rackets Club. They also support other clubs in growing and retaining strong player numbers and levels, developing club programmes and services, and helping clubs to provide their members high value and opportunities.

The Academy also runs a programme for selected players who are highly committed to their squash improvement and aim to reach the top level of play. These Academy players train most days of the week in individual and group sessions, as well as through fitness and solo based sessions, with holiday camps in the off season.

Throughout the year, the Academy travels as a group to various national tournaments throughout New Zealand to compete, as well as to support each other.

Through its team of coaches, ambassadors, support staff and athletes, the Academy works hard to promote its brand throughout New Zealand and internationally. They keep everyone up to date with the latest news from Double Dot Squash through their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages.

As for one of the Double Dot Ambassador’s recent foray in the UK juniors scene, her name is Anabel Romero and she competed at both the Scottish Junior Open in Edinburgh and British Junior Open in Birmingham in the GU13 category.

Anabel was seeded 5/8 in the Scottish Junior Open and finished a creditable 5th overall, notching some good victories over higher ranked players. In the British, she was unseeded and again managed some great performances to finish 20th overall.

As a Double Dot Squash Ambassador, the Academy sponsors her and supports her at tournaments, helping to build a social media presence and various other opportunities and support. Double Dot currently has six Ambassadors in total, with more likely to be added in the future.

We at Squash Mad took the opportunity of Anabel’s presence in the UK to ask her a few questions about her experiences over here. The questions were asked whilst she was still competing at the BJO …

SM: How have you found competing in the SJO and BJO and are you happy with your performances? What have you learned squash wise?

AR: It has been a real eye opener to see so many girls playing at a high level! It is not easy coming from New Zealand because we are so isolated and not many good players come to our tournaments, so getting to play amongst the best in the world is really exciting and motivating to me.

My performances have been good, but I don’t feel I have played my best squash yet, and I know it’s getting a bit late for that, but that’s fine. I can only try my best and let the good or bad results come.

What have I learned squash wise? To be honest, I don’t know. It has been so many new things that I feel are starting to sink in. It has been an overwhelming learning experience on so many levels. If I had to say one thing it would be that I need to believe in myself always. My goal for these tournaments was to test how good I am compared to the best in the world. I have learned, so far, that there is a lot of work to do, but that it’s not out of my reach.

SM: What do you think of the squash facilities you have visited whilst in the UK?

AR: Incredible! Different to the ones we have in NZ. I think that my squash club (SquashGym) is the best one in NZ, but it is only that, a squash club. In Edinburgh, I got to play at Oriam, a high performance, multi-sport venue with multi-sport indoor courts (basketball, volleyball, badminton, indoor football, etc), an indoor football stadium, an indoor football practice pitch, a fully equipped gym, physios, medical doctors and everything else that supports the development of high performance athletes.

In Birmingham, I got to play at Edgbaston Priory Club. My dad keeps reminding me that it has about 30 tennis courts with multiple surfaces like synthetic grass, natural grass, clay, hard court and even an indoor facility for playing during the winter. I haven’t seen what else it has got, but adding the 10 squash courts, the restaurant, the very posh changing rooms and club house, it makes for a great facility to play at.

I also noticed that neither of these fantastic places has squash doubles courts though, and SquashGym has two, so shall we call it a tie?!

SM: Have you found any time to visit any places away from squash clubs whilst over here? If so, where and what has impressed you the most?

AR: Yes! My uncle lives here and he took us for a tour of London on Tuesday. It was amazing! Heaps of cool sites like Buckingham Palace, Pall Mall and even the Lloyd’s building that looks like a robot! Too hard to say what has been my favourite, but they have all been impressive in one way or another.

We thank Anabel and her dad for taking time out from practice and watching the BJO action to answer our questions and hope they have a safe trip back to New Zealand. We also wish her, and all the Double Dot Ambassadors, the best of luck in their future squash endeavours. We at Squash Mad will watch their progress with great interest and provide further reports and updates in the future. We also look forward to being present at, and reporting on, the opening of Jarrod’s future memorabilia museum!

For more information about the Double Dot Squash Academy and the work it does, see their website: https://www.doubledotsquash.com/

You can also follow them on their social media channels, links below:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ddsquash/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ddsquash
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doubledotsquash/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/doubledotsquash

Pictures courtesy of  Double Dot Squash Academy

Jonny Gray could become a British and Irish Lion after his move to Exeter, according to Chiefs boss Rob Baxter.

The Scotland lock, 25, will move to Sandy Park from Glasgow in the summer.

Baxter says playing in the Premiership could see Gray improve enough to be selected for the Lions in 2021.

"One of the reasons he's committed to us is he really wants to put himself in the shop window for further international selection and potentially the Lions," Baxter said.

"We've got to help him develop those parts of his game that will potentially allow him to really feature there.

"One of those is he plays on a regular basis against front-line international locks and back-five forwards.

"The best thing about him playing in the Premiership is he can go from one week playing against Maro Itoje and George Kruis, the next week he could be playing against Courtney Lawes and the following week he could be playing against Joe Launchbury.

"That's how it can go and those are some of the things that can really help you develop and can really put you out there as an absolute front-line back-five forward."

'This is the best place'

Since first being promoted to the Premiership in 2010, Exeter have grown to become one of the big forces in English club rugby.

They have reached each of the last four Premiership finals, winning in 2017 and losing the past two to Saracens.

Exeter had their first-ever home-grown Lion when Jack Nowell was picked to tour New Zealand in 2017 and had three players in the England squad that made last year's World Cup final.

Having spent his entire career at Scotstoun, Gray follows compatriot Stuart Hogg to Devon, after the Scotland and Lions full-back joined the current Premiership leaders last summer.

"I had a couple of conversations with him and he was telling me how excited he was to come down here," two-time Lion Hogg told BBC Sport before Exeter's Champions Cup trip to Gray's Glasgow on Saturday.

"I'm having some fun, learning a lot and ultimately want to be in the position to be the best I can possibly be, and I said to Jonny that this is the best place for me and he's decided to jump on board as well."

The winless Melbourne Renegades have not given up on their BBL title defence just yet, with stand-in captain Dan Christian believing that the fifth spot in the revamped finals series is still within reach with just seven games left.

The Renegades have lost their first seven matches to sit last on the BBL table. Every other side has won at least three matches so far this season. They face the BBL leaders, the Melbourne Stars, in the second local derby of the season on Friday night at Marvel Stadium.

Christian, who will stand in as captain while Aaron Finch is in India with the Australia one-day side, was adamant the Renegades season is still alive despite the desperate situation.

"We probably think that six wins might be able squeeze into that 5th spot," Christian said. "Hopefully a few results go your way and a good net run-rate. We certainly haven't given up the season at all. If we can scratch our way towards the back end of the season you never know."

He was at a loss to explain the Renegades woeful season-to-date.

"We've been talking about it a lot," Christian said. "Unfortunately it's been one or two overs each game that just haven't quite gone the right way. We've been doing lots and lots of good things.

"It's been tough. But that's the nature of T20. You've got those one or two overs here and there where things, unfortunately, don't go your way. We'd love to be winning of course. But all we can do is keep training well and keep trying to do things right on the field and hopefully turn things around."

He refused to blame the coaching disruption just prior to the tournament as a reason for their form slump. Michael Klinger was appointed less than a month out from the BBL season, starting after Andrew McDonald departed to join the Australian team.

"No I don't think that's had an impact at all having Maxy Klinger in," Christian said. "He's done a fantastic job. He's obviously been doing his best. It's been difficult for us as well to not be able to get him that first win given it's his first coaching job. He's been really thorough. It's certainly not as a result of the coaching staff."

Christian did identify that there was a need for the top order to covert their starts into bigger scores. Only one Renegades player, Sam Harper, has passed 70 this season despite six half-centuries being scored. Ironically, they scored just three half-centuries in their entire title-winning season with no player reaching 60.

"Every successful T20 team, whether it's over a season or just in a game, you generally have someone that gets 70-80 in that top order that bats all the way through," Christian said. "Sam Harper did that really well the other night, got 73 and got us to a period where we could start really cashing in at the back end so we were able to do that, so that was nice. But that's really been the first time we've had someone get a score that high this year."

Shaun Marsh will open in Finch's absence with Christian expecting a big score from him soon.

"Shaun Marsh will get to go back to the top, which is nice for him," Christian said. "That's where he's had most of his success. (He's) due to get some. He's been fantastic, hitting the ball really well, but just hasn't been able to get that 80-odd. We're not far away."

The Renegades batsmen are preparing for Pakistan sensation Haris Rauf, who has lit up the BBL with some stunning performances, including a hat-trick against the Sydney Thunder.

"He's been really impressive hasn't he," Christian said. "He's bowling fast, he's swinging the new ball and he's getting some reverse at the end. I came across him in the PSL early last year and it's really exciting to see him come out and do so well.

"He's got a short run-up. He's quite slingy and as the speed guns are saying he's bowling 150kph, so he's obviously a bit of a handful. I'm sure the guys have been looking at footage for those that haven't faced him and hopefully we can get on top of him."

Great Britain are one win away from the ATP Cup semi-finals after Dan Evans produced some of his best tennis to beat Alex de Minaur and level the tie with hosts Australia.

Evans sealed a thrilling 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-2) win in three hours 24 minutes - the longest match of the tournament.

"I got through by the skin of my teeth," the 29-year-old said.

Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury will take on De Minaur and Nick Kyrgios in the decisive doubles in Sydney.

Great Britain had earlier gone behind when a focused Kyrgios beat Cameron Norrie 6-2 6-2 in the opening singles rubber.

They slipped further behind when Evans went 3-0 down in the opening set against 20-year-old De Minaur but the Briton fought back against a player who is ranked 24 places above him at 18th.

The inaugural ATP Cup is a 24-nation knockout team tournament that has been set up by the men's professional tour to kick off the 2020 season.

'Phenomenal' Evans keeps Britain's hopes alive

British number one Evans, who upset world number 11 David Goffin to inspire the turnaround against Belgium in the group stage that kept his team in the tournament, once again showed he has the mettle and the shots to beat higher ranked opponents.

He put behind him a poor start to break back in the fifth game and took the first set on a tie-break when De Minaur netted.

The young Australian, who won three ATP titles last year, kept himself in the match by holding on to an early break to take the second set.

Evans had looked to be in charge of the third when he went 3-0 up but was then pegged back in what became an absorbing final set.

A time violation for Evans on his serve - given when it looked like he had already started his service motion - may have been playing on his mind to allow De Minaur a break back courtesy of a passing shot that was helped by the net cord.

Evans had four match points at 6-5 but a nerveless De Minaur saved them all with three emphatic winners and an ace to eventually force a tie-break.

With Kyrgios encouraging the home crowd to make even more noise with gestures from the bench, it was Evans who seemed to feed off the atmosphere, with a beautiful lob and stinging forehand winner at the net setting the tone as the Briton set up another four match points.

This time he converted without hesitation, wrapping up victory when De Minaur returned wide.

"He was phenomenal," Britain's captain Tim Henman said. "He kept fighting, I'm very, very proud of him."

Britain's fate is now in the hands of doubles specialists Murray and Salisbury, with Australia opting for a late change in their line-up for the decider.

The hosts will be counting on De Minaur and Kyrgios to shake off any weariness from the singles when they play instead of Chris Guccione and John Peers.

DALLAS -- This situation certainly was not what Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle had in mind recently when he emphatically declared that the "post-up just isn't a good play anymore."

Nor was it how the Mavericks wanted to defend All-Star center Nikola Jokic with the game on the line.

The 7-foot, 284-pound Jokic punished the Mavs for defending him one-on-one with a much smaller defender, scoring the winning basket in the Denver Nuggets' 107-106 victory Wednesday after backing down 6-foot-7, 220-pound Dallas forward Dorian Finney-Smith.

"I figured out that I have a mismatch," said Jokic, who finished with 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting. "I just wanted the ball to try to score."

Jokic capitalized on the situation after Dwight Powell and Finney-Smith switched earlier in the possession by re-posting after passing out to point guard Jamal Murray. The only help the Mavs sent was a late swipe by Powell that had no effect as Jokic pivoted from the right block into the middle of the paint and finished with a right-handed layup with 7.9 seconds remaining.

"It's me. It's my responsibility," Carlisle said of Dallas' defensive breakdown on the play. "I'm not going to get into explanations, but we didn't handle it well. That's on me. I've got to do a better job."

Jokic, who was coming off a 47-point performance in the Nuggets' win in Atlanta on Monday, was a dominant force in the second half. He scored 26 of his 33 points against the Mavs after intermission. He had 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the third quarter, the highest-scoring quarter of his career, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Jokic went 4-of-6 from 3-point range, with all the attempts coming in the third quarter, but he did much of his damage from the post. He was 6-of-10 on post-ups, including two buckets over Finney-Smith as the Nuggets rallied in the final two minutes of the game.

"I just wanted to be aggressive," said Jokic, who also had six rebounds and seven assists. "I think I missed a couple easy ones in the first half and I just tried to be aggressive. My teammates were passing me the ball and telling me to shoot. I was just trying to be aggressive and score as much as possible."

The Nuggets held the Mavericks scoreless for the final two minutes, 20 seconds, a continuation of the Mavs' clutch scoring problems. Dallas has the NBA's top-ranked offense -- its offensive rating of 115.3 points per 100 possessions is the best in league history -- but ranks 28th in clutch scoring (91.0 points per 100 possessions in the final five minutes with the score within five points, per NBA.com/stats).

Mavs superstar Luka Doncic finished with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, but he was scoreless in the fourth quarter. For the second time this season, a frustrated Doncic left the arena without speaking to the media.

Doncic missed two shots in the final two minutes -- a step-back 3-pointer and a contested layup off a drive, both with the Mavs protecting a one-point lead. Denver double-teamed Doncic on the final possession, forcing the ball out of his hands, and the Mavs failed to get a shot up before the buzzer.

"Execution, recognition, whatever you want to call it," Carlisle said when asked what went wrong. "Look, you saw what happened. They created a situation where he had to get rid of the ball and we didn't do a good job driving and kicking."

Carlisle's rant against post-ups after a Dec. 26 win over the San Antonio Spurs was in response to a question about ex-player broadcasters -- specifically Chris Webber, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal -- imploring the Mavs to get Kristaps Porzingis the ball on the block more often.

The Mavs have a historically efficient offense despite the 7-foot-3 Porzingis' ineffectiveness as a post-up player, preferring to use him as a 3-point threat to space the floor. Porzingis, who missed his fifth consecutive game due to right knee soreness, averages only 0.57 points per possession and shoots 27.9% on post-ups, according to Synergy data. Both of those figures rank last among the 25 players with at least 75 post-up possessions this season.

Jokic, on the other hand, averages 1.00 points per post-up possession and shoots 53.3% in those situations, both ranking among the best figures for high-volume post players. He's also the NBA's premier passer out of the post, which makes double-teaming him challenging.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Jokic's 11 post-ups against the Mavs were his most in a game this season. The 13 points he scored out of the post tied for his third-most this season.

The final play was a classic case of bully ball, as Jokic used his five-inch, 64-pound advantage to score easily.

"He took his time and scored against a smaller guy in the post," Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. "He's our go-to player, he's an MVP candidate for a reason. At the end of games, the ball will be in his hands to make the right play, and tonight it was to score."

BOSTON -- For more than two decades, there have been two universal truths about the Western Conference playoffs: The Spurs will be there, and teams with losing records will not.

Both of those could change in 2020.

The Spurs might still find a way to extend their NBA-record streak of consecutive playoff appearances to 23 years in a row. They followed a win over the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night with a 129-114 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday to improve their record to 16-20.

"Our themes have been the same for, like, 23 years," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after Wednesday night's victory. "It doesn't change with every game.

"Sometimes we do well, sometimes we don't."

This season, the "don'ts" have happened far more often than the Spurs are used to. More importantly, they've been more frequent than a team in the West can typically afford while still hoping to reach the playoffs. Even after the two blowout wins this week, San Antonio is still four games under .500. Yet the Spurs currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, demonstrating how different this year's Western Conference playoff picture is shaping up.

The last time that a West team made the playoffs with a losing record was 1996-97, the same year Popovich took over as coach for a lottery-bound San Antonio team that went on to draft current Spurs assistant coach Tim Duncan with the top overall pick. That season, the LA Clippers snagged the 8-seed with a 36-46 record and were swept in three games by the top-seeded Utah Jazz.

Since then, the 8-seed in the West has had an average winning percentage of .550, which equals a 45-37 record in an 82-game season. The conference's ninth-best team has averaged 42 wins.

"To see the dynamic of it change, it's just crazy," Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan said. "I've seen the league change so much. To see the Western Conference where it is now, it's just another one of them things. Hopefully we can come out on top."

The overall futility among the contenders for the eighth spot in the West means that plenty of teams that would normally be making vacation plans for mid-to-late April and beginning to gather lucky charms for May's NBA draft lottery are instead still dreaming of making the postseason.

Some of them are playing better of late. In addition to San Antonio's back-to-back wins, the Portland Trail Blazers beat the defending champion Toronto Raptors on a game-winner by Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday night, and the Memphis Grizzlies have won four of their past five games. Still, none of them are even close to .500.

Teams such as the Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves have all seen lengthy absences for top players. De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III have been out in Sacramento, Zion Williamson has yet to debut in New Orleans, and Karl-Anthony Towns hasn't played since Dec. 13 in Minnesota. Those teams seemed completely out of the playoff picture. Now, all three are within four games of the eighth playoff spot.

"There's always a lot of time," Spurs guard Derrick White said. "We didn't overreact to the beginning of the year. "There's still time to, at the end of the year, get to where we want to be."

That hasn't been the case in the past, at least in the West. The same can't be said for their counterparts in the Eastern Conference, who have benefited from a weaker conference that has repeatedly seen worse teams reach the postseason.

Over the past 22 seasons, 12 teams in the East have made the playoffs with losing records, compared to none in the West. Meanwhile, there were three times -- 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2014-15 -- where multiple teams made the postseason with a losing record. This season, by the way, things are on pace for that to happen again.

The average winning percentage of the East's eighth seed over that time period has been .494 -- compared to the West's ninth seed sporting a winning percentage of .513.

All of that has been fuel for the cries of changing the playoff structure to try to get the 16 best teams in the postseason. The league has repeatedly insisted the balance between conferences is cyclical. This season, it appears to be the case.

The fact no team has been able to separate from the pack at the bottom of the West has allowed multiple teams to begin to sort things out. San Antonio looked left for dead two months ago. But now LaMarcus Aldridge is back to playing like an All-Star big, Lonnie Walker IV has been inserted into the rotation ahead of Marco Belinelli, and Dejounte Murray has begun to round into form after missing all of last season because of a torn ACL.

"We've been more consistent defensively helping each other, not making so many mistakes," DeRozan said. "When we do that, when we rely on the defensive end to keep us in games, it's easier to find a rhythm."

The Spurs aren't alone. The Pelicans have won six of their past eight, a run that has coincided with Derrick Favors resuming his normal minutes load, which instantly shored up their defense. Now Williamson's debut is on the horizon, which should bolster New Orleans. The Blazers have gotten solid production from Anthony while they continue to hang around and wait for Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic to deliver some much-needed reinforcement. The Grizzlies have seen their young core of Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Brandon Clarke take immediate strides forward.

Perhaps, down the road, one of those teams will even manage to make it to .500. Until that happens, however, this season marks a new day for the Western Conference.

The question that remains is whether it will be just one -- or both -- of those universal truths that goes away by the time this regular season comes to a close.

A wild brawl erupted during the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League playoffs on Wednesday, after former major league outfielder Alex Romero struck the opposing catcher with his bat after being hit by a pitch.

The incident occurred in the eighth inning, with Caribes de Anzoategui on the way to a 13-2 win over Aguilas del Zulia.

After a benches-clearing brawl in the seventh inning that led to four ejections, Romero, who played for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008 and 2009, was hit by a pitch from Angel Nesbitt.

Romero responded by swinging his bat and striking Caribes catcher Gabriel Lino twice, as both benches emptied again and a wild brawl erupted, including players kicking and punching opponents.

Lino, Nesbitt, shortstop Cesar Valera and catcher Willians Astudillo for the Caribes and Romero from Aguilas were ejected.

Astudillo, who plays for the Minnesota Twins, was Caribes de Anzoátegui's last catcher in the roster. Team captain Niuman Romero had to put on gear and catch the remainder of the game.