Losing Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric for the World Cup is a major blow for Wales, says Dan Biggar.

Biggar insisted he has no plans to follow his former Ospreys team-mates in stepping down before France 2023.

The fly-half said: "It is a huge blow for us... two incredibly talented players who have been great servants."

Jones, Biggar and Tipuric had all been named in Warren Gatland's 54-man training squad.

Biggar, 33, hopes to play in his third World Cup this autumn, although he has previously hinted he may quit Wales after the tournament to focus on his Toulon career.

"We will see now for the World Cup preparations and I am sure they will be looking on and laughing at us working hard in the training camps in Switzerland and Turkey," said Biggar.

"I spoke to Tips just before the announcement, he gave me the heads up to be fair because I played with him for a long time. I couldn't quite believe it.

"With Al, there had been a few rumours and bits and pieces [about his retirement]."

He added: "It is just another day in Welsh rugby."

Biggar was talking after his Toulon side comfortably defeated Glasgow 43-19 to lift the European Challenge Cup in Dublin on Friday.

The British and Irish Lions fly-half was forced off after just four minutes having failed a head injury assessment.

"I feel fine," said Biggar.

"It is just one of those things, especially in this day and age any sort of knock you have to come off but it will be fine.

"This was important for us tonight. It was huge for us as a club and the fans.

"We are fully aware we want to be competing for bigger honours but this club has never won this competition before and we have not won any silverware since 2015.

"It was important for us to win something and hopefully this is a good building block."

TAMPERE, Finland -- The United States shut out Denmark 3-0 on Saturday to stay perfect at the ice hockey world championship.

Alex Tuch scored one goal and added two assists as the United States earned its fifth victory in five games.

Cutter Gauthier broke the deadlock midway through the final period on a power play before Tuch doubled the advantage and Rocco Grimaldi finished it off with an empty-net goal.

Goaltender Casey DeSmith stopped 22 shots for the shutout.

The Americans lead Group A with 15 points and have secured a spot in the quarterfinals. The top four teams from the two eight-team groups advance to the knockout stage.

In the Latvian capital of Riga, the Czech Republic beat Norway 2-0 to go top of Group B and earn a spot in the final eight.

Dominik Kubalik scored the opening goal with a slap shot on a power play for the Czechs to lead the scoring table with seven goals.

Later Saturday, Canada is in action against Switzerland in Group B and Latvia plays Kazakhstan. In Group A, it's defending champion Finland against Austria and Sweden versus France.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Parents typically don't want to see their children be miserable. Which makes the Eastern Conference final of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs a very stressful time for Henry and Linda Staal.

"It's tough for them. They've been cheering for all of us all year," Florida Panthers defenseman Marc Staal said.

"Now one of us is going to be very disappointed at the end of this. Or two of us."

Marc, 36, and his brother Eric, a 38-year-old forward, are teammates on the Panthers. Jordan Staal, 34, is the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, whom the Panthers are facing in the conference final.

"In maybe the best- and worst-case scenario, here we are," Eric Staal said.

It's the first time since 1992 that the NHL has had three siblings face each other in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Back then, it was Brent Sutter of the Chicago Blackhawks against brothers Rich and Ron Sutter of the St. Louis Blues.

Now, it's Staals vs. Staal.

"It's a little bit surreal, obviously. Playing as long as we have and now we both get the opportunity to get to the Stanley Cup Final," Marc Staal said. "It'll be a lot of fun. I mean, we spent our whole careers playing against each other and then with each other. Now, the stakes are just a little bit higher."

Eric Staal (Carolina, 2006) and Jordan Staal (Pittsburgh Penguins, 2009) are previous Stanley Cup winners. Marc Staal played for the Cup once, losing with the New York Rangers in 2014.

Different combinations of the Staals have played against each other in the playoffs before this season. Marc's Rangers met Jordan's Penguins in 2008 and then Jordan's Hurricanes in 2020. When Eric was still with the Hurricanes, his bid for a second Stanley Cup in 2009 ended in the conference final against Jordan's Penguins, before Jordan won his first ring in the next round.

Jordan remembers meeting Eric in the postgame handshake line in 2009 -- a meeting they'll have again 14 years later.

"It's not easy. It's never easy ending a brother's season, but somebody's got to win," Jordan said. "I don't want to be the one on the other side of it, so I'm going to do everything I can. It's part of playoff hockey."

As Marc said, the stakes are higher now for the Staal family. The brothers are nearing the ends of their NHL journeys. Eric just completed his 18th regular season and is on his fourth team in three seasons. Marc just completed his 16th season.

"I was told at 18 years old by [former Hurricane] Ron Francis that this is going to go fast," Eric said. "Enjoy every moment. I remember those words because it really has gone fast. I've witnessed and been through a lot of ups, a lot of downs, but the joy of the game has always been burning inside me. Sometimes it didn't always look that way. But I'm where I am at this point for a reason."

With the stakes high and a competitive series between the Panthers and Hurricanes -- one that already produced a quadruple-overtime Game 1 -- Henry and Linda Staal won't watch the games in person.

"My dad and mom are very excited but very wary as well," Jordan said. "I think they'll be hiding from you guys in the basement until the series is done."

Their brother Jared Staal, a 32-year-old assistant coach with Florida's AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers, is expected to attend the series.

"He's 100 percent pro-Panthers," Eric Staal joked.

And their folks?

"I think my parents are pro-Panthers, too," he said. "They just won't tell you that."

HENRY STAAL HAD a patch of land near the driveway at his house in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He flooded it one winter so his four boys could skate.

They skated ... and skated ... and skated some more. He couldn't get them off the ice.

So he expanded that patch of ice into a full homemade rink. There were flood lights on the sides that illuminated the ice at night. Chicken wire spanned the top of the boards in an attempt to keep pucks inside the rink. Alas, as the Staal brothers got older and stronger, more and more pucks would fly into his neighbors' turnips.

The 2-on-2 games the brothers played were spirited, loud and frequently brutal.

"We've definitely had some moments where the sticks went flying. Where there were some stitches and some fights," Eric said. "There were some days where mom had to tell everyone 'enough' and send us to our rooms. But we always figured it out after that."

On the ice, it was Marc and Jordan vs. Eric and Jared during the brothers' daily series of 2-on-2 games on their outdoor rink. Off the ice, Marc roomed with Eric across the hall from Jordan and Jarred.

"We're competitive in everything we do. It doesn't matter what," Marc said. "Playing darts, playing golf, going fishing, whatever."

Who handles losing the worst?

"Probably Eric. He probably takes it the worst."

Eric said those competitive games were the spark that led to this current moment: Three established NHL players, battling for the chance to raise the Stanley Cup.

"We weren't totally forced or made to do it by our parents," he said. "We just went out there because we loved it and just loved competing with each other and loved the game itself."

Over the years, those battles moved from the makeshift rink to NHL ice. The Hurricanes drafted Eric second overall in 2003. Marc was taken 12th overall by the Rangers in 2005. Jordan was taken second overall by the Penguins in 2006. Jared was selected 49th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2008. He only appeared in two NHL games, with Carolina in 2012-13.

Eric, Marc and Jordan have played against each other in the regular season throughout their careers.

"I think once we get into those games, it all just kind of becomes a blur and next thing you know, you might be just kind of standing in front of your brother and stuff like that," Jordan said. "It doesn't really change how I'm going to do things out there. I'm sure the same for them."

Marc said the brothers don't engage in much trash talk, or really any talk, on the ice. They just know they're lining up against a familiar face.

"When your brother's on the ice, you know he's on the ice," he said. "When you're battling in front of the net, you know it's him in front of the net, you know what I mean? It's always a lot of fun. This series will be no different."

But the series is a little different than most matchups. Not just because it's the conference final, but because it involves Eric, Jordan and Raleigh, North Carolina.

A HURRICANES FAN held up a sign during Game 1 of the conference final on Thursday night that read: "ALL THE STAALS UNDER ONE ROOF, BUT THIS IS JORDO'S HOUSE"

Jordan Staal has played 11 seasons with the Hurricanes, totaling 742 games. He was the team's co-captain in 2017-18 and has served as its captain from 2019-20 through this season.

"This is a family here to me now," Jordan said.

There are two other formers Hurricanes captains involved in this series. Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour wore the 'C' from 2005 to 2010, captaining the franchise's only Stanley Cup winner. His successor was Eric Staal, who played 909 games with the franchise over 12 seasons.

It was an awkward time. The Hurricanes were about to go nine seasons without a playoff appearance. Brind'Amour was playing what would be his last NHL season. GM Jim Rutherford said it was time to hand the captaincy "to the guy who is going to lead this team on for the several years."

Brind'Amour had the chance to veto the change in captaincy. He didn't.

"When they made that transition, he just said it was one of those things," Eric said of Brind'Amour. "That I should embrace it and we'll get through it together. And we did.

"Our relationship was very close. Rod is one of those people that has a true care for you individually. And for me, as a young guy, I was honestly trying to learn as much as I could from a guy like him."

Eric and Jordan were teammates until the elder Staal was traded to the Rangers in 2016 -- joining Marc in New York -- and then signed a free agent deal with the Minnesota Wild the following offseason.

Their photos line the walls of the Hurricanes' press level. Eric celebrating a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes. Jordan celebrating many years of playoff success, if not a championship, in Raleigh.

"Jordan came here when I was here and we went through a lot together. He's earned the right to see the change that's occurred here and the transformation of where they are," Eric said. "They've had a great season, they've had a great run, they've played really well and he's a big part of that. I'm proud of him for that."

Marc and Eric knew there was a real possibility that they could meet Jordan and the Hurricanes in the playoffs when the Panthers were making their late-season push. "We could have played them in the first round. And then we were watching them go through the other side [of the bracket], so we knew it was a possibility once we faced Toronto," Marc said.

On the eve of Game 1, there were a few messages bouncing between the brothers on their text chain. "We were texting about the parameters of the series. A little bit how we're going to do things," Jordan said.

In the playoffs, players do more bonding with their teammates, staying together as a group. The Staals established that there would be no fraternizing with the enemy during the series.

There weren't any good luck wishes. The text chain has gone silent for the foreseeable future.

"I probably won't see them a ton outside of the rink, which is just fine with me. No texting on game days," Jordan said. "All of us are just excited to be here and be part of it."

The stakes are high. One or more of Henry and Linda's boys will be emotionally crushed in the near future. But years later, there will be memories of an unusual moment in NHL sibling rivalry and a surreal one for three brothers.

"It's stuff we'll never forget. It's memories we'll always have," Jordan said. "We're blessed to be where we're at as a family. It's just a really cool thing.

"I haven't played a playoff series against a bro for a while. We'll kiss and make up after."

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- At last year's PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Michael Block finally figured out he belonged in the field.

Playing a couple of holes behind a marquee group that included Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas at Southern Hills Country Club, Block posted a 3-over 73 in the second round with hundreds of fans watching.

"It was ten deep on every hole I played," Block said. "I shot 73 with everyone there. My [general manager] even said, 'That was you not being a club pro anymore.' So it was a big moment for me. I've kind of lived off that ever since."

Block, 46, is still a club pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, a daily-fee course in Mission Viejo, California. But Block has proved in the first two rounds of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, that he's also one heck of a player.

While some of the best players in the world, including Tom Kim, Cameron Young, Sungjae Im and Sam Burns, are headed home after missing the cut, Block is sticking around to play the final two rounds this weekend. He is tied for 10th at even par after carding 70 in each of the first two rounds.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Block is only the second club pro to be in the top 20 of the PGA Championship after 36 holes in the past 20 years.

"I'm extremely comfortable," Block said. "To be honest, a couple of my friends in Orange County [California] are Beau Hossler and Patrick Cantlay. I've played a lot of golf with them now [and] they've become my friends. I understand where they're ranked in the world. I understand how my game doesn't quite get up to them, but I'm pretty darn close, and I can compete with them."

On Friday, Block was pretty close to grabbing at least a share of the lead. He birdied three of his first five holes and also No. 1, his 10th hole of the round, to move to 3 under, just 1 stroke behind the leaders. But then he had a bogey on No. 4 and a very untimely swing on the par-3 fifth. He shanked his tee shot and wound up with a double-bogey 5.

"I don't know," Block said. "I had the same swing I've had all week. It was a nice little 8-iron, front left pin. I love hitting baby draw with my 8-iron. I've done it well all week, and all of a sudden we've all been there, done that, and we look up, and I'm like, 'Oh, my goodness.' The ball was just going off, somehow hit the tree, almost killed somebody, and then comes off and goes in the deep rough. I was actually fortunate enough to make a double bogey after that."

Block has had an impressive career in minor circuits. He is the reigning PGA of America Professional Player of the Year. He tied for second at the 2023 PGA Professional Championship, which earned him a spot in the Oak Hill field. He set a course record at Arroyo Trabuco with a 59 in 2019. On April 17, he won the Stroke Play Classic at his home course and took home $1,600. He collected another $500 for finishing runner-up at the Pro-Pro Scramble at San Juan Hills Golf Club in California a week earlier.

Block says he rarely hits more than a bucket of balls a week. He spends most of his time giving instruction at $125 for a 45-minute session and $500 for a nine-hole playing lesson. Wherever Block finishes on Sunday, he stands to earn a nice payday.

It is his fifth appearance in the PGA Championship. He also played in the 2007 and 2018 U.S. Opens. He didn't make the cut in any of his previous starts in majors. He had made the cut in four of 24 PGA Tour starts, earning about $38,038.

Block's form has been good this year. In January, he carded a 7-under 65 in the first round of the American Express (he was in the field for winning the Southern California PGA section championship for the third time). The next week, Block beat both of the tour pros he was paired with during the first two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open (he went 74-73).

"I've been gaining that confidence from those finishes in those rounds where I'm like, why not?" Block said. "Why not come here and compete? Why not here at Oak Hill, make the cut? I'm not afraid of them anymore, to be honest."

The best finish by a PGA club pro who advanced through the PGA Professional Championship was a tie for 11th by Lonnie Nielsen in 1986 and Tommy Aycock in 1974. Block might become the first one to finish in the top 10 in the past 40 years.

"As weird as it sounds, I'm going to compete," Block said. "I promise you that."

Like it says on his TaylorMade golf balls: Why not?

Foreign flavor

Americans have won each of the last seven PGA Championships. The last non-American player to win it was Australia's Jason Day in 2015. But there's a distinct foreign flavor to Oak Hill's leaderboard after 36 holes.

Canada's Corey Conners and Norway's Viktor Hovland, along with Scottie Scheffler, are tied for the lead at 5 under. England's Callum Tarren is tied for sixth at 2 under, and fellow Englishman Justin Rose is tied for eighth at 1 under. Austria's Sepp Straka is tied for 10th at even par.

No player representing England has won the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes, who won the first two tournaments in 1916 and 1919.

"I think historically I've won typically on harder golf courses than not, so I think it fits my profile from that point of view," Rose said. "Yeah, this is right up there. It feels a little bit of a hybrid kind of PGA-U.S. Open this week. Looking forward to the test, I think."

How far is too far back?

During the PGA Championship stroke-play era since 1958, according to Elias Sports Bureau, 63 of the 65 eventual champions were in the top 20 on the leaderboard after 36 holes. The exceptions were Collin Morikawa, who won at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in 2020 (tied for 25th) and Padraig Harrington at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, in 2008 (tied for 26th).

Each of the winners of the six major championships played at Oak Hill Country Club was in the top three after the second round: Jason Dufner (first, 2013 PGA Championship), Shaun Micheel (tied for first, 2003 PGA Championship), Curtis Strange (first, 1989 U.S. Open), Jack Nicklaus (tied for second, 1980 PGA Championship), Lee Trevino (second, 1968 U.S. Open) and Cary Middlecoff (tied for third, 1956 U.S. Open).

That might be bad news for several of the top players in the world, including Adam Scott (tied for 30th, 2 over), Hideki Matsuyama (tied for 35th, 3 over), Max Homa (tied for 35th, 3 over), Xander Schauffele (tied for 48th, 4 over), Cameron Smith (tied for 48th, 4 over), Jon Rahm (tied for 48th, 4 over), Tony Finau (tied for 59th, 5 over) and Justin Thomas (tied for 59th, 5 over).

"It was a grind again," said Thomas, the defending champion. "It was a fight. Just got off to a poor start."

Headed home

Most of the big-name players who were in danger of missing the cut, including Thomas, Rahm and Jordan Spieth, rallied and moved above the line on Friday. There were a few notable exceptions, including Rickie Fowler (6 over), Billy Horschel (6 over), Matt Fitzpatrick (6 over), Tom Kite (8 over), Jason Day (8 over), Cameron Young (9 over), Sungjae Im (13 over) and Sam Burns (14 over).

LIV Golf League star Talor Gooch finished 10 over and also missed the cut. He came into the week ranked No. 63 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Gooch, a two-time winner in the LIV Golf League, needed a good week to crack the top 60 by Monday or June 6 to qualify for the U.S. Open.

Gooch earned a spot in the season-ending Tour Championship in 2022, which would have been enough to get him in the U.S. Open field in the past. But the United States Golf Association changed the language of that exemption this year to include players who were both qualified and eligible for the Tour Championship. Gooch wasn't eligible to play after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suspended him for playing in LIV Golf events without a release. He isn't receiving points in LIV Golf League tournaments, so he'll miss the field for next month's U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Oh, Canada

It's about a three-hour drive from Rochester to Toronto, so there have been quite a few Canadian fans in the galleries this week. They've had plenty of reason to cheer so far. Not only is Conners tied for the lead, but Taylor Pendrith is tied for eighth at 1 under, and Adam Svensson is tied for 11th at even par. Adam Hadwin is tied for 35th at 3 over.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, only three Canadian players have finished in the top 10 of the PGA Championship: Graham DeLaet (tie for seventh, 2017), Mike Weir (three times) and Nick Welock (tie for ninth, 1936). Weir is the only Canadian man to win a major, at the 2003 Masters.

Moving day has been gooood for the ?? Corey Conners he is one of Day ✌️ co-leaders for the PGA Championship. Let's get hyped up for our fellow ?? with two days left to play. pic.twitter.com/UqAxTAPhCf

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) May 19, 2023

"It's been a pretty special week so far," Conners said. "I think being so close to Canada there's a lot of Canadian fans out here. They're cheering me on. That definitely feels good.

"Yeah, it's pretty exciting. Really close with both Taylor and Adam [Svensson]. It's fun to be part of the group of Canadian golfers right now. I think whether it's myself or one of them or the others, someone is making some noise every week. It's fun to be a part of."

BOSTON -- Over the past two postseasons, the Boston Celtics have repeatedly responded well after losses. They have also repeatedly struggled in close late-game situations.

In control for significant portions of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat on Friday night, the Celtics appeared poised to even this series at a game apiece, but another collapse has them staring at an 0-2 deficit.

Game 3 is Sunday night in Miami.

"At the end of the day, we have a real, real decision to make," Celtics forward Grant Williams said. "And that decision is going to be, are we going to come back and really set the tone for the rest of this year and really make a statement, or are we going to come out and lay down?

"And I don't think this team is built for laying down."

Whether or not the Celtics are ready to lie down, they find themselves in a massive hole after Jimmy Butler and the Heat once again took them apart in the closing moments of the game.

In the fourth quarter of Game 1 on Wednesday night, the Heat held Boston scoreless for over four minutes and forced three turnovers -- including two traveling violations by Jayson Tatum -- inside the final three minutes.

In Game 2, after Williams had a dunk with 3 minutes, 52 seconds remaining, the Celtics didn't make a field goal for the rest of the night, missing their final four shots and committing two turnovers. They essentially had a third turnover on a backcourt violation against Al Horford and saw Tatum nearly lose the ball multiple times late in the contest.

That allowed Miami to close with a 24-9 run over the final 6 minutes, 37 seconds. Butler scored nine of his 27 points in the fourth, and Bam Adebayo -- who had 22 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists -- had eight points, eight rebounds and four assists in the quarter, including a pair of huge offensive rebounds.

"This is a series of discipline and mindset," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, "and there were times throughout the game where we weren't the more disciplined team."

For the Celtics, it is a familiar refrain. Against the Heat in Game 7 of last year's conference finals, Boston nearly coughed up a double-digit lead late. The Celtics have repeatedly struggled in these situations at plenty of other points over the past couple of seasons, as well.

Not surprisingly, there was no shortage of answers for what went wrong after this one.

"We just got to stay poised," said Jaylen Brown, who had 16 points on 7-for-23 shooting. "I think we get sped up at times. Two, we just play basketball. In those moments we got to come alive. It seems like we let the game slip away from us when we are in those situations."

Tatum, who had 34 points but committed five turnovers and missed all three shots he took in the fourth quarter, said, "We got to execute better. We have had double-digit leads in both games and a turnover has changed the momentum or offensive rebounds led to a 3 has changed the momentum. So those plays right when we're up 12, when we could go up 15, 16 ... they go on an 8-0 run and now it's at four, and now the momentum has shifted.

"So we've been up and we got to do a better job of making those, I would call them winning plays, in those situations."

There were times, as Tatum pointed out, that it appeared the outcome would be different. Boston went on extended runs in both the first and second halves to build double-digit leads on multiple occasions. Mazzulla made several notable adjustments that worked well, from plugging Grant Williams into the rotation to going away from a two-big lineup by starting Derrick White over Robert Williams III in the second half.

But Boston struggled to hit shots, going 10-for-30 from 3-point range. The Celtics are 29-30 in the regular season and playoffs when they shoot under 40% from long range, compared with 36-2 when they shoot 40% or better.

Combine that with another bout of struggles late in a close game, and the Celtics are now 11-4 over the past two playoffs when playing after a loss. Friday's defeat snapped a streak of 16 consecutive games in which a team that lost Game 1 at home had won Game 2.

Now trailing in the series, Boston heads to Miami knowing it will have to win four of the next five games -- three of which are in Miami -- to return to the NBA Finals for a second straight year.

"Just got to come out fighting," Brown said. "Both of these two games they have been able to come out on top, but who is to say we can't come out on top in the next two games? We just got to come ready to play basketball.

"We can't lose our confidence. It's the first to four. ... It should make for a better story."

BOSTON -- Miami Heat star forward Jimmy Butler has spent his life overcoming people who have slighted him, so it should come as no surprise that in the heart of a hard-fought 111-105 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night, Butler made forward Grant WIlliams pay for talking trash to him.

The pivotal sequence of the game came midway through the fourth quarter after Williams drained a 3-pointer to give the Celtics a 96-87 lead with 6:37 left. On his way back down the floor, Williams began jawing with Butler, who proceeded to smile and then responded by hitting his next shot and getting fouled by Williams for a three-point play.

After the basket, Butler immediately got head-to-head with Williams as the pair exchanged words and were each assessed a technical foul. From that point, the Heat closed the game on a 24-9 run and left Boston with a stunning 2-0 lead in the series. Butler admitted that the exchange got him rolling down the stretch.

"Yes, it did," Butler said. "But that's just competition at its finest. He hit a big shot, started talking to me. I like that. I'm all for that. It makes me key in a lot more. It pushes that will that I have to win a lot more. It makes me smile. It does. When people talk to me, I'm like, OK, I know I'm a decent player, if you want to talk to me out of everybody that you can talk to. But it's just competition. I do respect him, though. He's a big part of what they try to do. He switches. He can shoot the ball. I just don't know if I'm the best person to talk to."

Butler, who scored nine of his team-high 27 points following Williams' initial words, once again showed why he has been arguably the best player in the postseason by making clutch plays down the stretch. After the game, his teammates were surprised that Williams pushed their star player to that point, but they were glad he did.

"I knew it was going to be good for us," Heat guard Caleb Martin said. "Knowing Jimmy, at that point in the game, you get him going, we'll take mad Jimmy any time. I knew that you could kind of see it in his eyes that he was ready to go after that."

For his part, Williams defended his response to Butler, noting he wasn't going to back down from anybody on the floor.

"I think he said something and I just responded," Williams said. "I'm a competitor and I'm gonna battle. He got the best of me tonight, and at the end of the day it's out of respect, because I'm not gonna run away from it. My mom always taught me, and my dad as well, you get your ass kicked and you don't come back home until you come battle again. You either come back before you die or you come back and get a win, and I'm not willing to die in this finals. I'm ready to f---ing get a win. I'm ready to come back and come into Game 3 with a better mentality, and I know this team is as well.

"So at the end of the day, tonight is tonight. We've got to focus in and let this s--- hurt, but at the end of the day we've gotta come in tomorrow and really focus on what's next."

Williams said that he expected this type of performance from Butler whether he gave him extra motivation or not.

"You expect to beat the best no matter if I lit him up tonight or not he is going to do that," Williams said. "For me it's a matter of understanding, yeah, sure, you did 'poke a bear.' And how are you going to respond? Because for me, he made some tough shots. It's a battle. And I am going to keep battling. He's gonna have to make every single tough shot the rest of the series. I am not going to turn and look otherwise, because I respect him as a motherf---ing player."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra just shrugged when asked about the showdown between Butler and Williams.

"Look, I love that gnarly version of Jimmy, but you get that regardless," Spoelstra said. "I just think people now are paying a lot more attention to him now that we've won some games in the postseason the last few years. Jimmy is just a real competitor."

Aside from the moment with Williams, what Butler and Spoelstra agree on is a mantra that has defined the No. 8-seeded Heat's run through the postseason -- no matter what challenges they face the group always feels like it will find a way to win.

"We see it every day in practice," Butler said. "On off-days, guys are constantly working on their game. Guys are constantly studying film. Guys just want to win. At the end of the day, that's all anybody wants on this roster. If you ask them to do something, as long as it's for winning, they are going to do it. Nobody on this roster is dumb. So they can tell whenever it's about winning and whenever you're telling them something, because the end goal is winning."

Spoelstra echoed a similar sentiment.

"Feels like this has just been our existence all year long," Spoelstra said. "I guess nobody is really paying attention. But we're in -- every single game, it felt like for weeks on end, every game was ending on the last-second shot, whether we're shooting it or the other team is shooting it.

"So you develop some grit from that. Whether that turns into confidence or not, sometimes you don't have the confidence. But at least you have that experience of going through stuff and you understand how tough it is."

ESPN's Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.

Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina will face Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in her first WTA 1,000 final at the Italian Open in Rome.

Amid rain delays, Kazakhstan's Rybakina then defeated Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4.

She becomes only the third player in the Open era to reach the final of the Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami and Rome in the same season.

Monica Seles achieved the feat in 1991, before Maria Sharapova followed suit in 2012.

Victory in Saturday's final would give Rybakina a top-four seeding at the French Open, which starts at Roland Garros on 28 May.

Against Ostapenko, the seventh seed started quickly, racing into a 4-1 lead before eventually taking the first set on her fourth set point.

The tables turned at the start of the second set with Ostapenko taking a 4-1 lead before multiple rain delays interrupted her flow, allowing Rybakina to win five successive games to wrap up the match.

Earlier, Kalinina, seeded number 30, had served for the match at 5-3 in the second set but Kudermetova won 16 points in a row to force a deciding set.

Kalinina, who is ranked 47 in the world and has never won a WTA Tour title, had beaten Beatriz Haddad Maia in a gruelling battle, lasting three hours and 41 minutes, to reach only her second semi-final.

The Ukrainian raced to a 4-0 lead in the third set to secure the win against Kudermetova, who missed out on the Madrid Open final to world number one Iga Swiatek.

Kalinina dedicated her victory to the people of Ukraine, stating her a bomb had recently exploded near a tennis academy that her parents run.

"It's really important to win every match, because of what Ukraine goes through," she said.

"I really hope that I give a tiny, small light, maybe some positive emotions for my country."

She did not shake hands with Kudermetova at the net, adding: "It is no secret why I did not shake, because this country attacked Ukraine."

Swiatek was forced to retire from her quarter-final match against Rybakina in Rome on Wednesday after picking up a thigh strain.

The Polish player has won the previous two Italian Opens and was on a 14-match winning streak in Rome.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been charged with a second doping offence over "irregularities in her athlete biological passport".

Her additional charge is separate to the one she is already suspended for.

Halep said on Instagram she feels "helpless facing such harassment" and denies the charges, suggesting she has been "a victim of a contamination".

The athlete biological passport programme collects and compares biological data to spot discrepancies over time that suggest possible doping.

Former world number one Halep's suspension last year was imposed after she tested positive for roxadustat, an anti-anaemia drug which stimulates the production of red blood cells in the body.

She criticised the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which is responsible for testing within the sport, for its handling of her case, arguing that there had been unnecessary delays in the process.

"I have lived the worst nightmare I have ever gone through in my life," she said.

"Not only has my name been soiled in the worst possible way, but I am facing a constant determination from the ITIA, for a reason that I cannot understand, to prove my guilt while I haven't ever thought of taking an illicit substance."

Halep added that she hopes to have the chance to prove her innocence at a hearing scheduled for the end of May.

The ITIA said it was continuing discussions with an independent tribunal team and with Halep's representatives to get the matter resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible, although did not indicate how long that would take.

Nicole Sapstead, the ITIA's senior director for anti-doping, said: "We understand that today's announcement adds complexity to an already high-profile situation.

"From the outset of this process - and indeed any other at the ITIA - we have remained committed to engaging with Ms Halep in an empathetic, efficient and timely manner."

In April, Halep spoke for the first time since her suspension, saying she was frustrated with the time it was taking for the case to be resolved but the ITIA said "the process is ongoing".

The investigations into failed tests by the ITIA are often a complex process, even more so when a player denies taking a substance knowingly.

It is not uncommon for these cases to take several months to be resolved.

In such cases, a player can produce evidence to either disprove or explain the failed test, which Halep claimed she had done.

This would bring further investigation and testing by the ITIA, leading to the process being further extended.

Halep, who was ranked ninth when the ban came into force, is one of the highest-profile tennis players to fail a drugs test, and the most prominent since Russian five-time major champion Maria Sharapova was banned in 2016.