HOUSTON -- As the Golden State Warriors continue their quest toward becoming the first team since the 1960s Boston Celtics to earn five straight trips to the NBA Finals, they have had a problem at times throughout the season finding a consistent level of urgency. That has not been the case through the first two games of their Western Conference semifinals showdown against the Houston Rockets. The Warriors head into Saturday's Game 3 with a 2-0 lead, playing some of their best basketball of the season.

"We respected the Clippers, for sure," Warriors forward Kevin Durant said after Friday's practice. "Definitely don't wanna put it that way. But we respect this team just 'cause we've played 'em before. We went seven games with 'em. So that level of respect and the level of knowledge about this team goes to another level when we play 'em. So yeah, we're more locked in 'cause we know this team can beat us."

The Warriors entered into the Clippers series with respect for the young group and gained even more along the way after a hard-fought six-game series win, but the reality is that the Rockets have had their attention from the beginning. They always understood that a team with James Harden and a healthy Chris Paul had the ability to take them out and it's a huge reason why their focus has been so solid to start the second round.

"More of a sense of urgency right away," Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained. "Obviously, that Clippers series, Game 2 changed the entire series -- 31-point lead, and we blow it and we lose a game. Now it's all different. We did a great job of getting off to the right start in Oakland -- winning two, but playing hard throughout. So we're in a good position, but there's a long way to go, and we know that."

For a team that battled a general malaise throughout much of the regular season, the Warriors have been revitalized by the fact that they are playing a team that took them to seven games a year ago and is confident that it can still win the series despite being down 0-2. The Warriors head into Saturday's game with confidence not only in the fact that they have won back-to-back NBA titles, but also because of the fact they are playing some of their best defense of the season as a group, along with Durant who has dominated offensively throughout the playoffs. The Warriors aren't taking the Rockets lightly and have backed up that mindset on the floor.

"The regular season, playoffs -- that's self-explanatory in terms of how it's been elevated," Warriors guard Stephen Curry explained. "But you talk about the Clippers series; they were a great team and they challenged us. We had stretches where we were dominant, and then they challenged us at times. This first series -- the first two games against Houston, we understood how important it was to take care of home court, considering how bad it had been for a while, and were able to do that. It wasn't pretty at times, but we got two wins and that's all that matters.

"Coming into Game 3, I think the conversation was around that first quarter, first half, where we know how hard they're gonna play and -- y'all know who the pressure's on, but it's gonna be a high-intensity type of environment; we gotta be able to handle that and get off to a great start, and continue to build off that momentum, like I said. So this is a great opportunity for us to have a sense of urgency when it comes to the task at hand."

The NBA has fined Ben Simmons $20,000 and assessed the Philadelphia 76ers guard a flagrant foul 1 upon league office review for an elbow to the groin of Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry in the second quarter of the Sixers' win Thursday night.

Lowry said after the game that Simmons had approached him during the 76ers' 116-95 win to apologize for the incident, which happened when they became tangled after going for a rebound under the basket.

"Yeah, he said it at halftime. Said he didn't mean to," Lowry said. "(Referee) Scott Foster didn't call it on the floor. It's not like I'm going to dwell on it or bitch about it."

While they jostled back-to-back directly under the basket as the ball bounded off the rim, Simmons left his feet before falling onto Lowry's back and landing on the court in a crouch. Lowry then backpedaled for two steps toward the baseline, extending his backside into Simmons' head.

Simmons then extended his left elbow upward, making contact with Lowry's groin area.

Lowry, smacking the court in pain, stayed down for several minutes before resuming play.

"It happened. It's over now," Lowry said. "We got our ass kicked after. It didn't matter."

Information from ESPN's Tim Bontemps and The Associated Press was used in this report.

A look ahead to the BUCS Championships at Bedford Stadium

The BUCS Outdoor Athletics Championships is one of the biggest championships on British soil and it takes its usual place early in the domestic calendar as athletes seek early-season form guides.

Among those set to compete over the bank holiday weekend is Niamh Emerson, with the world junior heptathlon champion and European pentathlon silver medallist warming up for the important Götzis Hypomeeting at the end of the month.

The Loughborough student is entered for the 100m hurdles, shot put, long jump and high jump. In the hurdles, she faces defending champion Megan Marrs, plus Jessica Hunter and Melissa Courtney, while she will be hoping to challenge for the win in the jumps.

Denmark’s European under-23 champion Anna Emilie Møller is entered for the 1500m, 2000m steeplechase and 5000m. The longer event also has Jessica Judd and Louise Small, while sub-10 3000m ‘chaser Aimee Pratt should provide the main opposition over the barriers.

World junior 200m silver medallist Charlie Dobson heads the sprints line-up, as Oliver Bromby and Adam Thomas lead the 100m runners.

European under-23 silver medallist Khai Riley-La Borde defends his 110m hurdles title. The 400m sees two of Britain’s bronze medallists in the relay at last year’s World U20s go head-to-head in the shape of Alex Haydock-Wilson and Joseph Brier. Alex Knibbs, another of the quartet, goes in the 400m hurdles, against world junior finalist Alastair Chalmers.

Following his 78m javelin PB in February, GB No.1 Harry Hughes highlights the throws, while Jac Palmer goes in the hammer.

Multiple GB senior Kirsten McAslan is entered for both the 400m and 400m hurdles. Mari Smith and Isabelle Boffey headline the 800m races, while Amy Holder in the discus and Katie Head in the hammer are key names to watch for in the women’s throws.

Click here to download the event timetable.

Keep an eye on our Facebook page for a BUCS live stream of the action.

Meanwhile, Jon Hopkins will defend his Welsh 5km title in Cardiff on Sunday, with the women’s race likely to see Caryl Jones and Elinor Kirk contest the title along with in-form Clara Evans.

Hopkins will be joined by Ieuan Thomas who was the runner-up 12 months ago. His pedigree includes a third place finish at the Armagh 5km International in 2014.

The Welsh 5km Championships will again take place within the Cardiff 5k – Race For Victory, taking runners around the Whitchurch and Llandaff North areas of the Welsh Capital.

British number one Johanna Konta is through to the first clay-court final of her career after defeating Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets at the Morocco Open.

Konta, 27, beat Australian Tomljanovic 6-2 7-6 (9-7) in one hour and 31 minutes in Rabat.

Prior to this week, world number 47 Konta had never won two consecutive WTA main draw matches on clay.

She will play Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari in Saturday's final.

The match will mark seventh seed Konta's first final since June 2018, when she lost to Australia's Ashleigh Barty in Nottingham.

Konta broke twice to take an early 4-1 lead in the first set, and while the fourth seed Tomljanovic broke back, Konta restored her double-break before serving out the set.

Both players held their serves throughout the second set before Konta wrapped up the win on her second match point in the tie-break.

Wales back Gavin Henson is one of nine players to leave Dragons.

The 37-year-old only featured three times last season after suffering a knee injury and his departure from Rodney Parade could signal the end of his Welsh regional rugby career.

Other departures are Cardiff Blues-bound Wales back Hallam Amos, fly-half Jason Tovey, scrum-half Rhodri Davies, prop Dan Suter and wing George Gasson.

South Africans Rynard Landman, Zane Kirchner and Jarryd Sage also leave.

Henson is out of contract after signing on a two-year deal from Bristol in 2017.

He has also played for Swansea, Ospreys, Saracens, Toulon, Cardiff Blues, London Welsh and Bath.

The 2005 British and Irish Lions tourist has won 33 caps for Wales, helping them to the Grand Slam triumphs of 2005 and 2008.

Tovey, who last season became the first player to score 1,000 points for Dragons, leaves after completing a third spell at the region.

"We thank all the players for their hard work and professionalism during their time at Dragons," interim head coach Ceri Jones said.

"They leave with our best wishes and we wish them well in their future endeavours."

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The ARCA Menards Series championship battle has heated up going into Saturday’s General Tire Music City 200 presented by Inspectra Thermal Solutions at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.

Leader Michael Self, driving for the powerhouse Venturini Motorsports organization, would seem to be the overwhelming favorite, but he has just a slim five-point lead over runner-up Travis Braden entering the season’s fifth race.

Self’s season got off to a rough start when he was involved in a lap three crash at Daytona. The resultant damage left him 31st at the finish and in a deep hole in the standings.

He won the next time out at Five Flags, but was penalized 25 points for a post-race technical violation. He won again at Salem in the season’s third race, moving within just five points of the lead heading into last Friday’s race at Talladega.

Self finished fifth, two positions ahead of Braden, and heads into the Nashville event leading the ARCA standings for the first time in his career.

“It’s pretty awesome that we’ve bounced back from where we were after Daytona, to now leading the points heading in to race five, but it’s also a little stressful, because I know that everyone else can just as easily do the same thing,” said Self. “I’m definitely trying to enjoy it for now, and not overthink it, because we have a lot of racing left to do.”

Self comes to the ARCA Menards Series with eight career wins in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, five of which came on short tracks.

When Self made the transition to ARCA through partial schedules in 2017 and 2018, he ran mainly on superspeedways – defined as tracks longer than one mile – and his success on the big tracks earned him a reputation as a superspeedway specialist.

While he certainly enjoys racing on the big tracks, Self is hoping his streak of success on the bullrings gets him consideration as a well-rounded competitor that can challenge for wins on all types of tracks and contend for the series title.

“Winning at Pensacola and Salem were huge confidence builders for me,” Self says. “Those weren’t tracks that I had looked at and thought that I could capitalize at, but we were able to, which surprised me, but also gave me so much confidence in the team around me and the cars that are coming out of Venturini Motorsports.

“Nashville is another one of those tracks that I don’t have highlighted as a place that I really look forward to or feel like I just love, but after the success we had at Five Flags and Salem I’m definitely excited to see what we can do.”

Conversely, Braden could be seen as an unlikely contender for the series championship.

It’s certainly not his credentials, he’s a two-time ARCA/CRA Super Series late model champion. And it’s not the credentials of his crew chief, Dan Glauz, who was an integral member of Tim Steele’s championship seasons in the 1990s.

Braden’s Don Fike-owned team, RFMS Racing, is based in the heart of the Midwest racing scene in Brownsburg, Ind., just west of Indianapolis.

Fike has built a solid core led by Glauz and Braden, but they are “the little team that could” in comparison to the Venturini organization.

Braden is one of three full-time employees. Not only does he drive the car, he works on them throughout the week putting his degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering from West Virginia University to good use.

The fact that their smaller team is able to compete with what is arguably the series’ powerhouse organization is a source of pride for the Wheeling, W.Va. native.

“Everyone looks at us a smaller team, up against the powerhouses,” Braden said. “There’s always a factor in the size and budget of a race team, but I feel we’re really getting close to being able to do what those teams do. A lot has grown at RFMS Racing over the past 18 months, and I don’t think we’ve even begun to show our true capabilities yet this season.

“I think you’ll see a lot of eyes open up here over the next few weeks of racing,” Braden added. “It’s nice to be in such great position in the standings to capitalize on it, too.”

Braden is a short track specialist. Not only did he earn those two late model championships on the short tracks of the Midwest, he earned his first ARCA Menards Series win in his first series start at Lucas Oil Raceway just outside of Indy in 2015.

With that said, Braden would like to use that experience, as well as his previous experience at Nashville, to retake the points lead from Self with a strong run on the fairgrounds oval.

“I spent a lot of time at the short track level, specifically in this region, compared to most of our competition,” Braden said. “It pays big dividends when I can show up with that experience at these tracks.

“If we can get on a roll on the short tracks, I think it will be really hard to stop us.”

DOVER, Del. – Brett Moffitt made sure there was no doubt who the fastest driver in NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series qualifying was Friday afternoon at Dover Int’l Speedway.

Moffitt rocketed around the one-mile, high-banked concrete oval in 22.303 seconds (161.413 mph) with the No. 24 ISM Connect Chevrolet Silverado to earn his first pole in his 42nd career Truck Series start.

Not only was Friday Moffitt’s first time topping qualifying in the Truck Series, it was his first pole in any of NASCAR’s three national divisions – something the Iowa native was particularly proud to get off his back.

“It feels good to get this; it’s been a long time coming,” said Moffitt, who was two tenths of a second fastest than his nearest competitor in time trials. “Qualifying was actually our weak point in practice on Thursday, because we were really loose, but Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) and everyone at GMS did a great job of getting this thing tuned up for us.”

Friday’s Truck Series qualifying session also marked the return of single-vehicle qualifying in all three of NASCAR’s national series, a format that the defending Truck Series champion said he already enjoys.

“I love this new style of qualifying, because it really puts a lot of pressure on the teams and drivers to go out and hit it right the first time,” Moffitt noted. “We’ve proven that we’ve had really fast race trucks all year long, but now it’s time to go out and deliver.”

Joining Moffitt on the front row for Friday evening’s JEGS 200 will be former GMS Racing Johnny Sauter, who has won the last two Dover Truck Series races and is back with Sandusky, Ohio-based ThorSport Racing this season.

Sauter was fastest in practice on Thursday and lapped the one-mile Dover oval in 22.511 seconds (159.922 mph) with the No. 13 Tenda Heal Ford F-150 on his qualifying run.

Sheldon Creed and series point leader Stewart Friesen will share the second row of the grid, with ThorSport teammates Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger following in fifth and sixth.

Canadian rookie Raphael Lessard, Brennan Poole, Harrison Burton and Tyler Ankrum made up the balance of the top 10 in qualifying.

Of note, Crafton will drop to the rear for the start of Friday’s race due to an engine change.

The JEGS 200 is scheduled to take the green flag at 5 p.m. ET.