LET'S FORGET FOR a minute that Drake is a brand ambassador for the Raptors who is paid to cheer and do whatever he can -- outside of neck rubs on the sideline -- to provoke opposing teams. Or that he and Draymond Green went to dinner just the night before the Golden State Warriors beat the Toronto Raptors to even up the NBA Finals at 1-1.

None of that mattered in the closing seconds of Sunday night's second quarter, when referee Tony Brothers whistled Green for a foul on Pascal Siakam -- the man Green had publicly sworn to stop after his spicy 32-point Game 1 -- and Drake started to gloat.

Green thought he was playing tough defense on Siakam as he dribbled near half court. He very nearly came away with a steal as the young Raptor turned to his left, leaving the ball exposed. But Brothers blew his whistle. And Green was angry. He yelled at the top of his lungs, then swung his fist and twirled in protest.

Drake was right there in his face, mimicking his reactions. For those who have watched Green for years, it looked like a recipe for disaster. Things were going to escalate. You could almost feel the technical foul coming. Historically, all it has taken is a little spark for him to ignite and burn everything down, including himself.

Green turned toward Drake. Then back toward Brothers. Then he turned away and took a breath. Warriors coach Steve Kerr came out to protest for him (to no avail). Siakam stepped to the free throw line and hit one of two. On the next possession, Siakam fouled Stephen Curry with four seconds left. Curry hit both in the final seconds of the quarter, sending the Warriors to the locker room having cut a 12-point deficit to five.

Green's foul was one play, which led to, at most, a three-point swing. But to those who have followed Green along his highly flammable path from unheralded second-round pick to three-time NBA champion, it was monumental.

In a big moment, with the Warriors needing a big play to get back into the game -- and the Finals -- with Drake in his face and the guy he'd called out in his sights, Draymond Green did not combust.

"It's all about, 'Is [the fire] working for me or is it working against me?'" Green says. "When I'm channeling it to work for me, I think I'm one of the baddest motherf---ers on the planet. When it gets the best of me, I'm not so good."

EVIDENCE OF THIS type of self-control has been happening with greater frequency for the past couple of months, if not yet in the crucible of the Finals. Green hasn't picked up a technical foul since April 30, in Game 2 of the Warriors series against Houston. It was later rescinded by the league.

He's also dropped more than 25 pounds after a midseason intervention from Golden State general manager Bob Myers.

"Bob said, 'If we're going to win a championship, you have to get in shape,'" Green says. "I was like, 'Oh, I know. I'm fat as hell right now. Give me two weeks. It will probably take 10 days, but give me two weeks for sure and I'll be good.

"'My birthday is March 4, so I want to enjoy my birthday, but right after, on March 10, my diet starts.'"

Green cut out all his vices. Chips, red wine, fast food. All gone. He ate exactly what his chef told him to. He lived in the training room, lifting weights and doing extra cardio. And then when he got the weight off, he decided to stick with the diet.

"When I went on this diet, it's like a sense of control, and it's confidence because you feel like you're conquering something," Green says. "You're defeating something every day.

"Having that control, it carries over to other areas in your life. We all love to eat. We all enjoy the things that we enjoy. If I can conquer that and not do that, why can't I conquer my emotions, too? Well, maybe I can f---ing conquer my emotions! Maybe I can conquer anything else! And so I think honestly that has really helped put me in a different state."

It has showed through the playoffs. Green has had arguably his best stretch as a Warrior, putting up six triple-doubles across the team's 18 playoff games -- coming just one assist shy on Sunday of recording a fourth in a row.

And it's gone even deeper than that: For Green, real control is understanding why he so often lost his composure and went past the edge.

It's been a constant challenge for him and anyone who has coached or played with him over the years. He's had countless blowups with Golden State coach Steve Kerr in their five years together. Last fall he famously blew up at Kevin Durant over his impending free agency during a game against the Clippers -- a tirade so intense, the Warriors even had to suspend Green.

At the time, Green tried to explain it away, saying he gets in all his friends' faces from time to time. But out of the spotlight, Durant wasn't buying it. He told Green he's seen him argue with friends and it never rose to that level.

Green now says he realized Durant had a point. He had been out of control.

"Absolutely," he says. "I thought about it, and it goes back to, 'Is this [losing control] working for me or against me?'"

For Myers, this is where the real change in Green is evident. "It shows a lot for him to be able to acknowledge and say, 'Yeah, Kevin's right in that comment,'" Myers says.

At Michigan State, the staff used to call Green's mom, Mary Babers-Green, when he'd get argumentative and difficult.

"When we thought he was going to have one of those moments where he needed to be reeled back in," Spartans assistant coach Dwayne Stephens says, "she'd drive up [from Saginaw, Michigan, to East Lansing]. We'd sit out in the conference room and she'd say, 'Listen, this is what they need you to do. Stop acting like a so-and-so.' He'd always come out of it. By the time she left, everybody was on the same page."

Historically, the real challenge has been to reel him back in without losing the specialness that makes Green an All-Pro. To meet his fire with fire and somehow do no collateral damage.

"He just plays with that edge and that chip on his shoulder because it seems like he's always been doubted," Stephens says. "And I think he felt like he had to play that way in order to be successful.

"Tom Izzo allows guys to go back at him and challenge him as long as they bring the goods. Draymond needs to be heard and wants to be heard, so in that sense, I think Coach Izzo was a great coach for him."

His high school coach, Bruce Simmons, tried to teach him to channel his emotions into competition.

"His freshman year at Michigan State, he got one minute against Ohio State," Simmons says. "He called and said, 'Coach Bruce, I'm going to transfer. F--- this s---.' And I said, 'Noooo. We don't do that. This is what you're going to do. You're going to go into practice. Marquise Gray, who was a senior, is getting your minutes. Bust his ass. Talk s--- to him. And then when you're doing that, look at Izzo, because Izzo is putting this [guy] on the court instead of you.'"

Not long after, Green started playing well enough to force Izzo's hand.

Simmons still corresponds with Green frequently and tries to counsel him. "The older I've gotten, I've learned to deal logically with situations instead of with emotions," Simmons says. "So I tell him, 'Kid, you made it. You ain't that second-round kid trying to make a team. You made it. You're a big reason why Golden State is winning. So you gotta take that right path when you express yourself."

THIS SPRING, GREEN'S fiancée, Hazel Renee, and mother Babers-Green double-teamed him on a variety of issues: his treatment of teammates, coaches, referees, even his own health.

"They kind of sat him down like, 'Listen, you gotta chill out,'" Stephens says. "He was watching his son [Draymond Jr.] shoot on the hoop and he's flopping and he's like, 'Oh man. Is that what I look like? I had no idea how much energy I was wasting arguing calls and doing all of that crazy stuff.'

"Now he's just playing, he's not complaining and arguing as much. He's being a leader and a voice for his team and watching defensively, knowing what the other team's going to run, calling yourself out, telling people where to go. You see him do that stuff now, this kind of reeling himself back in.

"That talk he had with his mom and fiancée really got him refocused."

Like any diet, this type of self-control is hard to stick to long-term. Green says he likes the way he feels now and wants to stay healthy and in shape as long as he can. Frankly, his future depends on it.

If he became the type of player who brought his team only tantrums and infighting, Golden State might not have returned to the NBA Finals again, let alone having a chance to win. If his November feud with Durant was a preview -- if that was how he was going to age -- why would the Warriors be inclined to extend him this summer?

"I mean, I think all those things come into your mind," Green says. "You always have those thoughts. And if you don't have those thoughts, you read it, you know?"

Just as important as the mental conditioning that Green's diet brought to his game has been Renee, to whom he proposed in January.

"She's a lot like my mom," Green says. "When I'm making decisions now, somewhere in my mind is like, 'Will she approve of it?'"

"That definitely makes a difference, having that peace in life all around. So many times, we forget that everything matters. Everything. It's not just about the game of basketball. Everything in a person's life matters -- whether you're a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or an NBA player. When you find that person who does that for you, it matters. And I feel like I'm at peace in life, right now. So I'm at peace in the game of basketball."

LOS ANGELES -- Gregg Strumpf couldn't help himself. It didn't matter that it was the middle of a playoff game or that the half-inning was in progress or that his son, UCLA second baseman Chase Strumpf, was still celebrating. Gregg had life-changing news to share, so he made his way into the dugout to deliver it.

The Chicago Cubs had drafted Chase in the second round, right around the time he hit the home run that lifted his team to the next round.

"Shout-out to my dad for kinda ruining a moment with my team," Chase said behind a smile, "but it was exciting."

Strumpf's three-run, fourth-inning home run was the difference in UCLA's 6-3 victory over Loyola Marymount on Monday, a win that set up a best-of-three series against Michigan in the Super Regionals next weekend. Seconds before turning on an elevated changeup and sending it over the left-center-field fence at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Strumpf, a junior, was made the 64th overall pick in the MLB draft by the Cubs.

"I'm honored to be picked by them," he said, "but we have more priorities here, still have a job to do here."

Strumpf was one of three UCLA players taken in the first two rounds, along with first baseman Michael Toglia (23rd overall by the Colorado Rockies) and starting pitcher Ryan Garcia (50th by the Texas Rangers).

The Bruins finished the regular season as the No. 1 team in the nation, a ranking they held for 11 consecutive weeks. They owned the highest winning percentage and the lowest ERA in the nation, won every weekend series for the first time in school history and rode a 10-game winning streak into Regionals.

But UCLA lost to LMU on Saturday and was thrust into the loser's bracket and forced to win three straight games in two days. The Bruins accumulated seven home runs during Sunday's doubleheader, then distanced themselves on Strumpf's homer the following night, advancing to Super Regionals for the first time since 2013, the year of the only championship in program history.

Strumpf said he will "remember the game itself" more than what took place while he helped win it.

"Looking back at freshman year, sophomore year and this year, we struggled to get out of Regionals," he said. "Winning this game is huge."

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Sometimes all it takes is a couple of good days to turn a season’s worth of bad luck around.

That’s what happened for four-time ARCA Midwest Tour champion Ty Majeski. After a disappointing 2018 season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Majeski is now looking for his third consecutive ARCA Menards Series win in Friday’s ARCA Menards Series VizCom 200 at Michigan Int’l Speedway.

Majeski is coming off his first career series victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway and followed it with his second consecutive win in the series’ most recent race at Pocono.

Majeski’s 2018 season could only be called a disaster. With high expectations, he joined former ARCA champion Chase Briscoe and former ARCA winner Austin Cindric in a car fielded by Roush Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The trio struggled throughout the year, and Majeski’s average finish was a dismal 24th as he scored just two top-10 finishes in 12 starts. Not only was it a season to forget, it was a season that could have brought his career to an early end.

But the Seymour, Wis., native was determined to keep himself in the seat. Following in Briscoe’s footsteps, he latched on to Chad Bryant Racing. Like Briscoe did before him, he worked in the shop while hoping for an opportunity to race. That opportunity came at Talladega, where he qualified second and finished fourth. That opened the door for added races, and he won the second time out in Charlotte. He followed it with his second straight series win at Pocono.

Those two good days, Majeski hopes, have turned momentum back in his favor.

“It’s been a good couple of weeks that’s for sure. It just goes to show the effort from these Chad Bryant Racing guys,” Majeski said. “They work their tails off in the shop into the early morning hours and back by 7 a.m. to get after it again. Their hard work is paying off and I’m just the lucky guy behind the wheel. We’ll keep riding this momentum as long as we can and look for another opportunity to get into Victory Lane at Michigan.”

Majeski will be making his second appearance with the ARCA Menards Series in the Irish Hills of Michigan in the VizCom 200. He started sixth and finished sixth in 2017 driving cars prepared by his team owner Chad Bryant.

“It’s been almost two years since I’ve been to Michigan, but I’m looking forward to going back,” he said. “It’s a fast place with a lot of speed and finesse. It’s a big place, so there’s ample opportunity to pass. I finished sixth there in 2017 driving for Cunningham Motorsports and think we can do better than that on Friday.”

With only a limited number of starts planned, Majeski knows he has to maximize every opportunity behind the wheel.

“Sure, it’s important to maximize every opportunity,” he said. “In my three races so far with Chad Bryant Racing, I think we’ve done that. Three top-fives and two wins is pretty good. It doesn’t happen though without the hard work of Paul (Andrews) and the No. 22 guys. Right now, I only have three races left, Michigan, Chicago and Kansas and I certainly want to make best of those opportunities. No doubt Chad (Bryant, team owner) is giving me the chance to do that.”

Majeski’s crew chief Paul Andrews is a former Michigan winner, going to victory lane with Geoff Bodine in 1994. A former NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief with Alan Kulwicki in 1992, Andrews will be going for his third consecutive win as a crew chief for the first time in his career. Majeski is no stranger to racking up multiple wins in a row; he won five consecutive ARCA Midwest Tour races in 2017 on his way to his fourth consecutive series championship.

Manchester United are monitoring Leicester midfielder James Maddison but face competition from a number of their Premier League rivals, sources have told ESPN FC.

United have expressed an interest in the 22-year-old, along with Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham, but have not submitted a formal offer.

- When does the transfer window close?

Leicester are under no pressure to sell the England under-21 international, who has only spent one season at the King Power Stadium, and would demand a large fee before allowing him to leave.

Maddison scored seven goals in 33 appearances for Leicester last season following a £20 million move from Norwich 12 months ago.

His performances earned him a call-up to the senior England squad in October but he will represent the U21s at the European Championships this summer. In a warm-up game between the U21s and Gareth Southgate's full squad at St George's Park last week, Maddison was one of the stand-out players.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking at a number of promising British players as part of his Old Trafford rebuild.

Wales winger Dan James, 21, is expected to arrive from Swansea after the international fixtures and there is also interest in Crystal Palace full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 21, and Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff, 21.

Leicester, who are preparing for their first full season under manager Brendan Rodgers, are keen to keep hold of Maddison as well as another prize asset, Harry Maguire.

They were able to price United out of a move for Maguire last summer and are confident of doing the same again with Maddison, who is under contract until 2023.

The attacking midfielder, who was playing League One football for Coventry five years ago, could command a fee of more than £50 million if he is sold this summer.

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Joe Root has urged England "not to panic" after their 14-run defeat at the hands of Pakistan at Trent Bridge.

Root became the first man to register a century in the 2019 tournament but was unable to help his side complete the highest successful run-chase in World Cup history. With Jos Buttler he added 130 for England's fifth wicket but, with only one other man in the top seven reaching 20, Root admitted they left themselves "a little bit too much to do".

But while he accepted England "definitely weren't as good" in the field as they should have been, Root called on his team-mates to "stick to the way we go about things" in the remainder of the tournament. England went into the World Cup as the No. 1-ranked ODI side having not lost a bilateral series at home since 2015.

"The most important thing now for us as a group is not to panic," Root said. "We know what works for us as a formula and as a team, but other sides are allowed to play well. We've got to make sure we learn quickly and bounce back at Cardiff

"In the field we definitely weren't as good as we were in the first game, that's for sure."

Root's call for calm looks pertinent. England did look anxious in the field on Monday. Just as they appeared to suffer a bout of stage-fright in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy in Cardiff in 2017, it seemed the expectation of going into this tournament - and in particular the Pakistan game - as favourites was weighing on their mind. Their fielding was uncharacteristically untidy while there were moments when they appeared tetchy with each other, the opposition and even the crowd.

And given it seems likely that teams will qualify for the semi-finals despite two or even three defeats, the consequences of this result mean that England will have to win at least one of their games against strong-looking New Zealand, Australia and India.

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But while Root accepted Monday's result might spread some tension within the squad, he insisted there were plenty of games left for England to bounce back from the performance and they should stick to the aggressive approach that had served them well in recent times.

"The temptation is to get a little bit tense," Root said. "But one of our great strengths as a side is sticking to the way we go about things and being as smart as possible.

"And the beauty of this format is that I do believe the best four teams over the tournament will qualify for the semi-finals and we've got to make sure we play some good cricket in our remaining games.

"One thing this side doesn't do very often is to make the same mistake twice and I'm sure the guys will make sure it's a very different performance against Bangladesh."

Some of England's problems at Trent Bridge can fairly easily be consigned to history. Jason Roy, for example endured an absolute stinker of a game on Monday. Not only did he drop a relatively simple - and costly - chance (Mohammad Hafeez on 14; he went on to top-score with 84), but he was out cheaply and squandered a review in the process. To rub salt in the wound, he was subsequently fined by the ICC for swearing following another mis-field.

But Roy has been in outstanding form of late. He had passed 50 in each of his previous four ODIs and had scored centuries in two of his most recent six. Only a few days ago, he was being lauded for his exceptionally good fielding in the victory over South Africa. The game remains a great leveller, but there is no particular reason to fret over Roy's form.

Of greater long-term concern is the batting form of Moeen Ali. Since the start of 2018, Moeen has averaged just 16.77 with the bat in 35 ODIs. In those 25 innings - three of them unbeaten - he has not passed 46 and has failed to reached 20 on 18 occasions.

He did, however, bowl very well on Monday. He utilised the cross-wind to gain pleasing drift, finishing with the highly creditable figures of 3 for 50 from his 10 overs; the most economical bowler (who delivered more than three overs) in the match.

It may well prove a performance good enough to keep him in the side. But with Liam Dawson in the squad and in form, England have started to contemplate a change. With their next match to be played at Cardiff, with its unusually short, straight boundaries, there is also a chance England will go into the match against Bangladesh with just one spinner. Dawson made his ODI debut on the ground in 2016, playing as the lone spinner.

But it is that issue of nerves and anxiety that may prove most relevant. England have been building to this tournament for four years. Their success in it is seen as crucial in reviving interest in the game in England and Wales. It is a hefty responsibility to carry and, on Monday, it showed.