BASKETBALL
The Maine Celtics selected guards Kendall Smith and Zak Irvin in the NBA G League Draft on Saturday.
Maine selected Smith with the 29th pick in the first round. He has played 35 games for three teams in the G League, including 25 for Santa Cruz last season. Smith averaged 10.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists for Santa Cruz.
Irvin was taken in the second round with the 40th overall pick. He played three seasons for the Westchester Knicks from 2017-20, averaging 10.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 83 games.
The Celtics open training camp on Tuesday.
SOCCER
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: The defending champion United States will face the Netherlands in the group stage next summer, setting up an early repeat of the 2019 World Cup final.
The draw was made at a ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday.
Four-time champion the United States was drawn in Group E with Vietnam, the Netherlands and a playoff winner still to be determined in a tournament expanded for the first time to 32 teams drawn into eight groups of four.
The U.S. will play all of its group matches in New Zealand in the tournament to be played at 10 stadiums in Australia and New Zealand in July and August 2023. The match against the Netherlands will be at Wellington on July 27. The U.S. beat the Dutch 2-0 in the 2019 final in France.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Nottingham Forest produced a shock to beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Premier League.
The last-place team at the start of the day secured only its second win of the season in the game at the City Ground.
Taiwo Awoniyi struck in the 55th-minute to end Liverpool’s mini-revival, which saw it beat Rangers, Manchester City and West Ham in its previous three games.
• Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his first goal in five months to help Everton beat Crystal Palace 3-0 and snap a three-game losing streak in the Premier League.
• Erling Haaland took his goal total to 22 this season as Manchester City moved to within a point of Premier League leader Arsenal.
The Norway international struck twice in a 3-1 win against Brighton at the Etihad Stadium to continue his remarkable scoring streak.
GOLF
PGA: Rory McIlroy made two eagles that made the rest of his day feel better at the CJ Cup in South Carolina. His 4-under 67 was enough for a one-shot lead and a clear road to return to No. 1 in the world.
McIlroy hit a 6-iron that took the slope and rolled out to 2 feet for eagle on the par-5 fourth. He smashed a 376-yard drive and made his second eagle with a 30-foot putt from the tightly mown grass off the green on the par-5 12th.
The rest of the round was even par, a mix of good birdies and sloppy bogeys, and it added up to a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm, Kurt Kitayama and K.H. Lee.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Ryan Fox and Yannik Paul share a two-stroke lead at the Mallorca Open in Palma, Spain, after both had a flawless third round, while Richard Mansell shot a course-record 61.
Paul had three eagles and three birdies in his 9-under 62, while Fox (65) had six birdies to also rest at 16 under heading into the final day at the Son Muntaner Golf Club.
Overnight leader Dale Whitnell (68) and Marcus Armitage, with his second 8-under 63 of the week, were two shots back.
LPGA: Atthaya Thitikul made five birdies on the back nine and held a one-stroke lead going into the final day of the BMW Ladies Championship in Wonju, South Korea.
The 19-year-old Thai player’s 5-under 67 left her at 15-under 201, with Lydia Ko and Andrea Lee both trailing by a shot.
Thitikul surged into the lead after her terrific run of birdies that included three in a row from No. 13.
The 17-time LPGA Tour winner Ko played a bogey-free 66 to remain in contention.
Lee, the overnight leader, couldn’t match her two identical rounds of 66 as she made three bogeys and five birdies for a 70 on Saturday.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR CUP SERIES: William Byron’s playoff push will start from the ideal spot Sunday. He won the pole in Saturday’s qualifying laps at Homestead-Miami, turning in a lap of 32.454 seconds.
That was 0.049 seconds ahead of fellow playoff entrant Christopher Bell. Another driver still in the playoff, Chase Elliott, will start third.
Among the other drivers still in the playoffs: Ryan Blaney will start 13th, Hamlin 14th, Logano 17th, Briscoe 19th and Chastain 20th.
NASCAR XFINITY: Noah Gragson gave JR Motorsports two drivers in the Xfinity Series championship finale with his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Gragson led 127 of the 200 laps then held off Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger on a late restart to earn his eighth win of the season and the 13th of his Xfinity Series career.
Gragson joins teammate Josh Berry, who won last week at Las Vegas for the Chevrolet team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., as the first two drivers locked into the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 5. The remaining two spots will be determined next week at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.
NASCAR TRUCKS: Chandler Smith, Zane Smith and Ben Rhodes became the final drivers to punch their tickets to the finale next month when Ty Majeski, already in the title race, won at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The drivers rounded out the championship-deciding final four on points. Majeski had claimed the first berth for ThorSport Racing with his first-career Truck Series win in Bristol last month.
FORMULA ONE: With Formula One’s popularity and viewership booming in the United States, ESPN and the global motorsports series announced a new broadcast deal through 2025.
ESPN has broadcast F1 in the U.S. since 2018 and the new deal will keep commercial-free, live telecasts for all races on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC, all owned by the Walt Disney Co. ESPN Deportes will continue as the Spanish-language home of F1 in the U.S.
TENNIS
NAPOLI CUP: Second-seeded Matteo Berrettini will face fourth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti – in a first matchup between the two players – after both won their respective semifinals at the outdoor, hardcourt tournament in Naples, Italy.
Berrettini recovered from a set down and a foot injury to beat American Mackenzie McDonald, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
It was easier for Musetti, who took just 89 minutes to beat Miomir Kecmanović 6-3, 6-4.
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