LAS VEGAS -- Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers sees one drastic difference in Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young this season.

"He's earned the trust of his players," Rivers said after the Bucks' practice Friday at T-Mobile Arena in preparation to face the Hawks in the NBA Cup semifinals. "This team likes playing with him. That's obvious. I couldn't say that in the past, but now they love playing with him."

Young, 26, is a three-time All-Star who led the Hawks to the 2021 Eastern Conference finals, but he has frequently been criticized for being a poor defender and often portrayed unfavorably as a teammate.

Young, who is averaging 21.0 points and a league-leading 12.2 assists, indicated Friday that he considers the negative aspects of his reputation to be unfair.

"The narrative about me not being able to do certain things or being too mad or frustrated about certain things is -- I mean, just aren't true," Young said. "I think you're just now being able to see like with the young team we have, just some of the different things we've been doing this year, I think just now you're starting to kind of see it because the results are showing and we're winning now. We're here in this final four of the Cup, and it's a big deal.

"I think that's why you're seeing it and understanding it, but for me I've always been this way."

The Hawks have a young core headlined by All-Star contender Jalen Johnson, rookie No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher and guard Dyson Daniels, who arrived as part of the trade return for Dejounte Murray, a former All-Star whose two-year partnership with Young did not produce any playoff series victories.

After a slow start, Atlanta has won seven of eight games, a run that started with consecutive victories over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who own the NBA's best record.

"When you win, everything else takes care of itself," Young said. "That's kind of what's happening right now."

Rivers said it was apparent from Young's play that the guard has been "really studying the game on both ends of the floor." He specifically credited Young for masking his defensive limitations by figuring out ways to keep himself out of actions when teams target him by communicating and switching.

"When we talk with Trae and we talk about Trae, the word I like to use is evolution," Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. "Every player evolves. They just evolve in different ways. He's been an important part of our young guys' growth and being able to elevate them. ... We know what a talented offensive player is, but I think in his mind being successful as a team, not just Trae, we've all got to do our part defensively. And he's doing that."

PHILADELPHIA -- Joel Embiid left the Philadelphia 76ers' game against the Indiana Pacers shortly before halftime Friday night after being struck in the face going for a defensive rebound.

Embiid was battling Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin when he caught an errant forearm and elbow to the face. Embiid crumpled to the floor as play continued up the court and stayed down near the Philadelphia bench, holding his face.

The team ruled him out early in the second half with "impact to the right side of the face" and said he would undergo further testing.

He had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in 17 minutes before leaving.

Embiid was playing only his sixth game out of 23 for Philadelphia. He has been bothered by swelling in his left knee and also served a three-game suspension for a physical incident with a reporter.

Embiid has had number of facial injuries, including an orbital bone fracture after a collision with Pascal Siakam during the 2022 playoffs against the Toronto Raptors and one in 2018 after colliding with teammate Markelle Fultz. Last season, Embiid revealed he had Bell's Palsy during a first-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks.

Edinburgh: Goosen; Graham, Currie, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe; Thompson, Price; Schoeman, Ashman, Hill, Sykes, Gilchrist (c), Ritchie, Crosbie, Bradbury.

Replacements: Cherry, Venter, Sebastian, Skinner, Dodd, Shiel, Healy, Lang.

Bayonne: Tiberghien; Callandret, Erbinartegaray, Martocq, Spring; Lopez, Germain; Bordelai, Martin, Cotet, Marchois, Poloniati, Capilla, Heguy, Bruni.

Replacements: Van Jaarsveld, Cormenier, Scholtz, Bourdeau, Traversier, Machenaud, Segonds, Megdoud.

Referee: Morne Ferreira

But it was a costly first 40 for the men in red as prop Dian Bleuler failed a HIA after a poorly executed tackle on Jack Goodhue and even more concerning was Ireland international scrum half Craig Casey having to be carried off after taking a blow to his knee in the build-up to the hosts' second try.

The second half was less than five minutes old when Castres were a man down again thanks to wing Geoffrey Palis' deliberate knock on. However, not only did Munster fail take advantage, but their scrum was annihilated to concede a penalty and Fernandez made no mistake with the kick this time to move his side 13-7 up.

Munster's night continued to worsen on the injury front as Peter O'Mahony pulled up lame on his heavily strapped right ankle and left the pitch on 55 minutes, shortly after joined in an early exit by Abrahams who was hit with a no-arms shot by Papalii.

However, it looked as though the tide was turning for the visitors when, after Julien Dumora missed another kick, replacement prop Nicolas Corato became the third man in navy blue to be binned after persistent maul infringements with less than a quarter of an hour to go.

Munster made their man advantage count this time and it was Hodnett again as he burrowed over from close range.

The try survived a TMO review for a potential knock on and Crowley kept his nerve amid the noise from the home support to edge his side in front for the first time at 13-14 with 10 minutes to go.

Prendergast would have been hoping that his team could see out the game for a smash-and-grab win, but another scrum penalty saw them cough up their lead as Le Brun became the third Castres player to place the ball on the tee and he split the poles on 74 minutes.

Munster kept fighting right to the end but the final play ultimately summed up their frustrating night as, with the clock in the red, a penalty was given right on halfway in the middle of the pitch.

Crowley tried to get every inch out of the kick but it was acrobatically kept in by Palis, who launched the ball into the stands to cue celebrations for most inside the stadium.

Munster return to URC action next Friday and visit the Kingspan Stadium to take on Ulster in the first of the festive derbies.

The Vancouver Whitecaps are up for sale, the Major League Soccer team's ownership group announced Friday.

In a release issued by the club, the group said "it is the right time for an owner with the platform, resources and ambition to enhance the club's ability to compete at the highest levels of MLS and steward the club in realizing its significant potential."

The group hired Goldman Sachs to help sell the team and guide the transition.

Greg Kerfoot has been owner of the club since 2002, when it was part of the North American Soccer League. Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and former NBA star Steve Nash joined Kerfoot in 2008, and the Whitecaps became part of MLS in 2011.

The Whitecaps went 13-13-8 during the 2024 regular season before downing the Portland Timbers in a wildcard game. After Vancouver fell to LAFC in the first round of the playoffs, coach Vanni Sartini was fired.

"The Vancouver Whitecaps would not be where they are today without the vision and commitment of this exceptional ownership group," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement.

"The Whitecaps are a terrific club in a world-class city. On behalf of everyone at Major League Soccer, I want to thank them for their tremendous contributions and look forward to working with them to identify new ownership for the club."

LONDON -- Under-pressure Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has said his team's lacklustre form means he is "in a fight" but the Australian backed himself to get the club out of their slump, adding he loves being in "the middle of a storm."

Postecoglou's future as Spurs boss has been called into question following a run of results that has seen the north London club record just one win in their last eight games.

Their struggles have caused a portion of fans to lose faith in Postecoglou's project and some of them were involved in a heated confrontation with the manager following Spurs' defeat at Bournemouth last week.

Spurs have won four away Premier League matches in 2024 and travel to face Southampton on Sunday in desperate need of a convincing victory over the division's bottom-placed club.

St. Mary's was the scene of former Spurs boss Antonio Conte's famous post-match rant in which he branded his players as "selfish" and accused them of not wanting to play under pressure after they let a two-goal lead slip to draw 3-3 with Southampton in March 2023.

Asked on Thursday if he would ever make similar comments about his own team in the way that Conte did, Postecoglou told a news conference: "Look, I don't think it's fair to comment. Antonio, like I said, is a world-class manager and has his own way of doing things, his own reasons for doing that.

"I am here, I am in for the fight. I am in a fight, for sure. For better or worse I am not going anywhere at the moment because everything is still in my power and my responsibility. I still have a real desire to get us through this stage so that people see what is on the other side. My resolve and determination hasn't wavered one little bit.

"I love a fight, I love a scrape, I love being in the middle of a storm when everyone doubts because I know what it is on the other side if you get through it. My job is to get through it."

Postecoglou's patience with some of the performance levels shown by some of the senior players within his injury-depleted squad has seemingly worn thin, with the 59-year-old saying Timo Werner's display in Thursday's 1-1 draw with Rangers "wasn't acceptable."

Earlier on Thursday, Postecoglou said he had no time for worrying about his players' "bruised egos" when he provides them with direct feedback on their performances and reiterated they need to make meaningful contributions on the pitch.

Asked whether those issues tie into the wider problems of Spurs' recent, trophy-less, past, Postecoglou said: "I'm sick of that. That's an excuse for me and that's why even with Cristian Romero's comments [about the Tottenham hierarchy], I just think that's an excuse.

"At the moment I'm here, I take responsibility. These players, we're here. If we think some mythical thing exists in this club that prevents success then change it. What's the point otherwise? Don't come here. I just don't buy into that.

"At the moment we're in a difficult situation because of kind of where we are squad-wise and team-wise. You either embrace this challenge. If you want excuses there are a million of them. There are a million excuses as to why we can't be successful but if that's what your crutch is, particularly in tough moments, then what's the point? Just move on then and go somewhere else."

Postecoglou confirmed that first-choice centre backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will miss Sunday's trip to face Southampton as the severity of their respective muscular injuries continue to be assessed. However, fellow defender Ben Davies could return for the game at St. Mary's.

Mexico Football Federation (FMF) commissioner Juan Carlos Rodríguez resigned from his position during a meeting with Liga MX club owners in which there were discussions to approve a $1.25 billion league investment.

Rodríguez had commented behind the scenes that he would leave his post if Liga MX's teams did not accept the deal from Apollo Global Management, sources told ESPN Mexico.

The FMF announced that Liga MX president Mikel Arriola will also have the role of interim commissioner.

"The Assembly requested the Interim Commissioner to form a committee of 10 teams in January to continue negotiations with the investment fund, with a special emphasis on strengthening the corporate governance, and move forward with the transformation project for our football," the FMF said in a statement.

Initially selected as FMF president in May of 2023 before transitioning to commissioner in an organizational change, Rodríguez lasted just 18 months with the federation.

No formal vote has yet to take place regarding the Liga MX investment that would need unanimous support from all 18 clubs.

Often working individually when it comes to areas such as television rights, marketing, ticketing, and jerseys, Liga MX's teams would need to centralize some of their decision-making in order to accept the deal.

Arriola has previously noted to ESPN in 2023 that he hopes to centralize more assets going forward, such as an aim to do so with TV rights by 2028.

FIFA isn't requiring clubs participating in the 2025 Club World Cup to release players to their national teams while the competition is taking place, according to official competition documents published by world football's governing body.

This could prevent some players from Canada, Mexico and the United States from taking part in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup and could impact the on-field preparations for the 2026 World Cup, which the three countries are co-hosting.

While the numbers may be small, they could comprise some of the top players in the region. Canada could find itself without the services of Inter Milan attacker Tajon Buchanan, Bayern Munich defender Alphonso Davies and FC Porto midfielder Stephen Eustáquio. The U.S. might be missing the Juventus duo of Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, as well as Borussia Dortmund's Gio Reyna.

Depending on how things go over the next six months, the number of players who might be unable to play for the U.S. could extend to Dortmund's Cole Campbell, Monterrey's Brandon Vasquez as well as Gaga Slonina and Caleb Wiley, who are on the books at Chelsea but currently on loan at Barnsley and Strasbourg, respectively.

The documents for the Club World Cup explicitly state in Section 22.5 that "for the duration of the Competition, it is not mandatory for clubs participating in the Competition to release their registered players to the representative teams of the country for which those players are eligible to play." The one exception is for the international window from June 2-10, but this is prior to the start of both competitions, with the Club World Cup and Gold Cup both scheduled begin on June 14 of 2025.

The regulations also stipulate that "each participating club automatically undertakes to ... field their strongest team throughout the competition."

Previously, FIFA had required that clubs release players during international windows or for confederation championships such as the Gold Cup. The impact on Canada, Mexico and the U.S. could be considerable if some clubs put their foot down and don't release players. The Gold Cup is the last official competition that the three countries will participate in prior to the 2026 World Cup, and as such, will be keen to have their full complement of players available in order to maximize their preparations.

FIFA declined to provide a comment beyond what is spelled out in the CWC regulations. Canada Soccer, the U.S. Soccer Federation and the Mexico Football Federation did not immediately provide a comment to ESPN.

"We are incredibly excited about next summer's Gold Cup," a Concacaf spokesperson told ESPN. "As the last official national team competition in our region before the 2026 World Cup, the tournament will provide all participating federations with a great challenge and will be critical to their preparations for World Cup qualification and the FIFA World Cup itself.

"It also presents a great opportunity for fans to engage with the sport at this exciting time for football in the region.

"We are aware of the changes FIFA has made to regulations overseeing the release of players, which may impact a very small number of players who are eligible to play in both tournaments but we know that the Gold Cup will be a tremendous success."

Given that none of Mexico's traditional Big Four of Club America, Cruz Azul, Chivas de Guadalajara and UNAM Pumas are in the Club World Cup, the potential impact appears to be less than that of Canada and the U.S., but El Tri could still find itself without the services of Monterrey's Gerardo Arteaga and Germán Berterame, as well as up-and-coming Seattle Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas.

The Club World Cup has been a key passion of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, even as multiple stakeholders have complained of an increasingly congested calendar. Infantino is keen to see FIFA take more of a role in the club game, and siphon away revenues from the Champions League, even if it means hampering the World Cup on-field preparations of its 2026 co-hosts.

Of late, Shakib's career has been marred by controversy stemming from his role as a Member of Parliament in the now overturned Awami League government in Bangladesh, following protests in which several hundred civilians - mostly university students - were killed in July and August. He has retired from T20Is and eventually withdrew from travelling to Bangladesh (he is based in the USA with his family) for what would have been his farewell Test in Mirpur in October, as protests - for and against him - were staged in Dhaka. He has not played international cricket since then.