INGLEWOOD, Calif. − Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon positioned himself to be the villain in the eyes of the Los Angeles Clippers’ home crowd Saturday night.

Gordon secured a 101-99 victory for the Nuggets with a putback dunk with .01 seconds left on the clock. Gordon had an opportunity to collect the rebound before the clock expired after Nikola Jokić’s 3-pointer fell short of the basket.

“Joker shot an airball and we weren’t expecting that,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “(Christian) Braun cut to the middle of the floor and James (Harden) and Norman (Powell) were in between trying to check with him and Gordon made a hell of a play. It is what it is.’

Gordon began running toward the tunnel as he celebrated, but was called back by teammates to stay on the court as officials reviewed the play.

The Clippers rallied from a 22-point deficit in the second half and even briefly held a one-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“It was tough, but I’m glad we fought and we didn’t lay down being down 20 in the fourth quarter,” Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said. “We kept fighting and rallied back. That’s the NBA. They made a great play.”

Powell was pivotal to the team’s comeback attempt, scoring nine points in the final period while going 3-for-3 from long range.

The matchup also featured a scuffle that led to six players receiving technical fouls after things got heated in the final seconds of the first half.

Braun and Harden exchanged words before a brief scuffle began. Braun was initially called for a personal foul. The two were seen earlier in the game getting chippy with one another.

Officials assigned techs to Harden, Powell and Kris Dunn of the Clippers after a review. Jokic, Gordon and Braun of Denver also received techs.

‘After the altercation, we went to the video review, and looking at all the angles, we felt everyone involved had an equitable role in the altercation,’ crew chief Zach Zarba said in a pool report after the game. ‘Due to that, they were all given equitable penalties.’

Gordon received consistent boos from Clippers fans throughout the second half when he touched the ball because Gordon’s hand made contact with Powell’s face.

In the moments after the scrum broke out, Gordon’s actions were shown on the Halo board at the Intuit Dome. Fans chanted, ‘Kick him out.’

The officials stated after the review that nobody would be ejected from the game, as nobody was seen on the replay throwing an intentional closed-fisted punch.

“They were aggressive, the way they were supposed to be, being down 2-1 (in the series),” Lue said of the Nuggets’ play in Game 4. “We didn’t meet that intensity until the fourth quarter. That’s just a lesson for us. We just have to stay the course and do what we have to do.”

Nuggets dealing with injuries

The Nuggets had a pair of players who were considered game-time decisions before the start of Game 4.

Michael Porter Jr. and Russell Westbrook are dealing with injuries.

Porter came out of the Nuggets’ locker room with the team and participated in the layup line. While he didn’t have a hoodie on like his teammates, he did have his game jersey on. There was a taped pad visible on his left shoulder.

Porter finished with 17 points, four rebounds and two assists in 42 minutes of play.

Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook did not play in Game 4 after he was initially a game-time decision. Westbrook was a limited participant in Game 3 on Thursday after being injured during pregame warmups. 

The former Clipper scored three points, and had a rebound and an assist in nine minutes of play. He shot 1-for-5 from the field (all attempts from the 3-point line).

Second-round opponent set

The winner of this series knows who’s next.

The Oklahoma City Thunder closed out their first-round series Saturday, sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies. The Thunder will meet the winner of the Nuggets-Clippers series in the second round.

Clippers-Nuggets next game

The Clippers will travel to play the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver for Game 5. The game is scheduled to air on TNT at 10 p.m. ET on April 29.

PHOENIX − While Eugenio Suarez sat behind the dais and reveled in his historic evening Saturday, his manager sat alone in his office stewing about the game’s outcome.

It was that kind of night with Suarez becoming the 19th player in Major League Baseball history to hit four home runs in a game … and the Arizona Diamondbacks becoming the second team since 1900 to have a player hit four homers and still lose, 8-7 to Atlanta in 10 innings in front of 43,043 fans at Chase Field.

“What a game, what a spectacular game …’’ Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It was one of those magical nights. It’s hard to describe. Not a lot of people have done it. Not a lot of people have done it, you can go all of the way back to Little League.’’

Well, Suarez, 33, can go back to high school, little league and T-ball growing up in Venezuela, and never, ever, did he hit four home runs in a game.

“This is special, I want to glorify God with this game today,’’ said Suarez, who twice has hit three homers in a game. “It’s a gift. I don’t take it for granted. I feel so good for myself. I never thought this would happen.

“I always say that God, has my back. Everything that I do, I do for him. And he took care of me tonight.’’

Suarez, who entered the game hitting .167, began in the second inning by hitting a 418-foot homer into the left-center field seats off Atlanta starter Grant Holmes on a 93.8-mph fastball.

He faced him again in the fourth inning, and hit one nearly in the same location, 411 feet into left-center on a 94.6-mph fastball.

Holmes tried to fool him with an 84.5-mph slider in the sixth inning, but this one went even further, 443 feet into center field.

Suarez didn’t think he’d even have another plate appearance, but with the D-backs suddenly down 7-6 in the ninth inning after their bullpen blew a 6-4 lead, he stepped to the plate with the crowd on their feet hoping to see history.

Considering this magical night, and with Suarez’s confidence brimming, did Lovullo feel he was about to witness history, too, with a fourth homer?

“No, I didn’t,’’ Lovullo said. “I thought there’s no way he’s going to be going deep. When does that happen? It’s like a fairytale.’’

Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias started him with a changeup for Strike 1. He threw a slider for Ball 1. He came back with a fastball that Suarez swung though. Now, with a 1-2 count, Iglesias suddenly lost command, throwing a sinker and a slider that weren’t even close to the plate. Igelsias had no choice on a 3-2 pitch but to throw a strike, and fired his best fastball of the night.

Suarez swung at the 97.2-mph pitch, and sent it 383 feet away into the left-field seats, tying the game, and sending the fans into hysteria as he danced around the bases, pointing his fingers to the heavens.

“It’s tough against Iglesias because for me he’s one of the best relievers in the league,’’ Suarez said. “I never thought that I was going to hit a homer against him, but I did it.’’

Said Lovullo: “I kept shaking my head. I couldn’t believe it. … It’s pretty remarkable. So no, I was not thinking he was going to hit a fourth home run. I was kind of begging that he would, and when it left his bat, the dugout erupted.’’

Suarez became only the third player in history to homer in his first four plate appearance in a game, joining Carlos Delgado and Mike Cameron.

It was also the first four-homer game since former Diamondbacks slugger J.D. Martinez accomplished the feat Sept. 4, 2017, which was just three months after Scooter Gennett hit four homers for the Cincinnati Reds.

In that Reds game, the cleanup hitter happened to be Suarez, who watched his teammate go 5-for-5 with four homers and 10 RBI after having hit only three homers all season.

“At some point in the dugout,’’ Suarez said, “that came to my mind. I was there and that was awesome to see Scooter hit four homers for us in Cincinnati. I always think about how it’s got to feel really good to hit four home runs in a game.

“And today, that dream came true.’’

The only trouble was that the Cinderella slipper was shattered when the Diamondbacks managed to lose the game, joining Atlanta in 1986 in infamy when Bob Horner hit four homers in an 11-8 loss to the Montreal Expos.

“I mean that’s unbelievable what the guy did,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “To hit four homers, my God. And he was all over all of them, too. You just kind of feel like after a couple, it’s like, well, he’s due to make an out. I mean, hats off to him, man. He didn’t miss them.

“We’re just lucky that we were able to overcome that great performance that he had.”

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

Understanding he would need to outwork Houston’s athletic defenders, with Jimmy Butler sidelined for the night, Stephen Curry was undeniable.

Curry overcame a two-point first quarter to will the Golden State Warriors past the Rockets, 104-93, to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series against Houston.

No player logged more minutes Saturday night than Curry, 37, whose 40:59 of game time was nearly seven minutes more than the closest Golden State player, Draymond Green.

Curry dropped 36 points on an efficient 12-of-23 (52.2%) day that included a 5-of-13 showing (38.5%) from 3-point range. He also collected seven rebounds and dished out nine assists, willing the undermanned Warriors to the crucial Game 3 victory.

Although Curry is widely known to be one of the most well-conditioned players in the NBA, Golden State’s reliance on him raises the question of sustainability. As it was, before Butler’s injury, the Warriors were heavily dependent on the duo to manufacture their offense. Saturday night showed how precarious the formula can be.

When Curry took his first breather late in the first quarter, the Warriors failed to score a single point and missed all eight of their attempts in that span. Typically, those would be minutes when Butler would be asked to take on more offensive responsibilities. That led to coach Steve Kerr altering his rotation and playing Curry more minutes than he normally would.

Eventually, Curry and Golden State would settle, though it wouldn’t be easy.

Houston harassed Curry throughout the game, holding him and face guarding him, making him fight through contact on screens and making him sprint all over the court just to find tiny spaces from which to operate. It looked exhausting, but Curry’s conditioning and savvy allowed him to carry Golden State’s offense.

It helped that role players stepped up; as Curry drew more and more defensive attention, especially late in the game, Curry entrusted his teammates with open looks. Gary Payton II recorded a postseason career high with 16 points, including a massive stretch in the fourth in which he scored nine consecutive points and 11 in the period. In fact, during that span with the nine consecutive points, it was Curry who assisted three of the four field goals Payton converted.

Buddy Hield added 17 points off the bench and Green’s defense helped seal the game.

Now, attention turns to the rest of the series, and — potentially — beyond.

Butler, who’s nursing a “pelvis and deep gluteal muscle contusion” suffered Wednesday, had been listed as questionable and was a game-time decision. But after going through a pre-game workout, the Warriors opted to rule him out. That he was a game-time decision suggests that his return may be imminent, as soon as the next game.

Golden State, at the risk of burning Curry out, may need Butler back as soon as possible.

Steph Cury highlights vs. Rockets

Saturday night against the Rockets, Stephen Curry was masterful, especially in the fourth quarter. Curry expertly managed the additional defensive attention he drew and operated both as a scorer and distributor in the quarter.

Curry even amped up his defensive effort, swatting away a pair of blocks, one of which led to a Warriors fast-break opportunity.

Curry also moved into 10th on the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring list, currently with 4,046 points; Jerry West is in ninth, with 4,457.

Colorado safety Shilo Sanders did not get selected in the NFL draft this week but revealed after the draft Saturday that he has agreed to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent.

Sanders, the middle son of Colorado coach Deion Sanders, held his phone and monitored the final picks of the seven-round draft Saturday hoping he’d get selected, as documented by his livestream on Twitch. But after not getting drafted, he had more freedom to decide which team to join.

Shilo’s younger brother Shedeur, a quarterback, was picked in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns the same day after previously being projected by many draft experts to be a first-round pick.

“Both of y’all, you’re resilient,” Deion Sanders told his sons Saturday.

“They tested us this draft,” Shilo said, as shown on Twitch.

“They tested the whole family,” Deion Sanders said.

“I’m thankful,” Deion Sanders later added. “Tampa’s a wonderful spot.”

Shilo Sanders led the Buffaloes in tackles in 2023 (70) and was their third-leading tackler last year (67) despite missing three games in 2024 with a broken forearm.

Even though he wasn’t projected to be a draft pick, Sanders is known as a hard hitter and ball hawk and is ripe for the NFL at age 25. He started his college career at South Carolina in 2019 before deciding to play for his father at Jackson State in 2021 and 2022 and then Colorado in 2023 and 2024.

Last year, he also rang up two pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, one sack, one forced fumble and a defensive touchdown.

“Turnovers win games,” Sanders wrote on X on April 22. “Somebody’s getting a dawg this week! Believe That.”

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger also praised Sanders’ potential before the draft on social media, noting he brings “56 games of experience and a lot of splash plays from the safety position” and is a “good open field tackler.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

The NASCAR Cup Series is back after a one-week break for Easter and it’s returning to the largest track on the schedule for the first of two visits this season.

Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama will host the Jack Link’s 500 on Sunday, April 27 as part of the NASCAR Cup Series, and it’ll headline a race weekend that also includes the Xfinity Series and ARCA Menards Series.

Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson do not enter as the favorites to win Sunday’s Cup Series event despite splitting wins over the past four NASCAR races. Larson won most recently at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tyler Reddick is the defending champion of this race, and Ryan Blaney has the most favorable odds as a three-time winner at Talladega.

NASCAR set a record the last time it raced here for the YellaWood 500 in October 2024 when 23 cars were involved in a late-race wreck. Nine different drivers have won the past nine NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega. The eventual winner has started in the 10th position or worse in nine of the past 10 Cup Series races at Talladega, according to NASCAR.

Here’s all the information you need to get ready for the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway:

What time does the NASCAR Cup race at Talladega start?

The Jack Link’s 500 starts at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, April 27 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Will there be a live stream of the NASCAR Cup race at Talladega?

The Jack Link’s 500 can be live streamed on Max and the FoxSports app. Viewers can also stream the race on Fubo, which is offering a free trial to new subscribers.

Watch the Jack Link’s 500 with Fubo

How many laps is the NASCAR Cup race at Talladega?

The Jack Link’s 500 is 188 laps around the 2.66-mile oval for a total of 500 miles. The race will feature three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 60 laps; Stage 2: 60 laps; Stage 3: 68 laps.

SCHEDULE: How to watch NASCAR Cup Series races in 2025

Who won the most recent NASCAR Cup races at Talladega?

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won a wild playoff race in overtime on Oct. 6, 2024 despite not being playoff-eligible, narrowly beating Brad Keselowski and William Byron in an exciting three-wide finish. The ending was set up by a 23-car wreck that took out a large portion of the field with five laps to go.

During the 2024 Geico 500 that took place at Talladega Superspeedway one year ago, Tyler Reddick emerged from third place around the final corner of the race and passed race leader Michael McDowell for the win. It was the first time 23XI Racing team owner Michael Jordan was at the track when one of his drivers won a race.

What is the lineup for the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega?

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (38) Zane Smith, Ford
2. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
3. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
4. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford
5. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
6. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford
7. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford
8. (21) Josh Berry, Ford
9. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford
10. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota
11. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota
12. (41) Cole Custer, Ford
13. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
14. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet
15. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford
16. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet
17. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota
18. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
19. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet
20. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota
21. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet
22. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford
23. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota
24. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet
25. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
26. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota
27. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford
28. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet
29. (42) John H. Nemechek, Ford
30. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
31. (62) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet
32. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
33. (51) Cody Ware, Ford
34. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota
35. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet
36. (88) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet
37. (7) Justin Haley, Chevrolet
38. (78) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet
39. (44) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet