Damian Lillard drops 61 to lead Portland past Dallas, keep playoff hopes alive

 Damian Lillard wasn’t going to lose on Tuesday night.

He more than made sure of that.

Lillard put up a career-tying 61 points — marking yet another 50-point game this season — to lead the Portland Trail Blazers past the Dallas Mavericks 134-131 at Walt Disney World, keeping their postseason hopes alive in the process.

“It ain’t nothing I want more,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes after the game. “I told you when I first came here, I ain’t come here to waste my time. They gave us a chance to get in like we asked for, and that’s what we’re here to do … our work ain’t done yet, but we’re fighting for it.”

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Zero positives out of 346 NBA players tested in Orlando bubble

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association said Monday that coronavirus tests of 346 players at the league's bubble campus in Orlando, Florida, since July 13 have yielded zero positive result, according to iSports basketball API.

When the league announced its initial batch of tests in the bubble on July 13, it said that two of 322 players tested came back positive.

Also Monday, the NBA announced the rosters for all 22 teams participating in the season's resumption at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, part of the Walt Disney World Resort.

As per iSports data, NBA games are set to resume July 30 after being halted in mid-March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Each of the teams participating in the restart will play three intersquad scrimmages from July 22 to July 28.

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Manchester United prepare to announce three signings for the future

Manchester United hope to confirm the additions of three teenagers from abroad.

According to the iSports football API, the Red Devils are hopeful of signing Marc Jurado, Alvaro Fernandez and Isak Hansen-Aaroen.

United have already confirmed the signing of Joe Hugill from Sunderland and Radek Vitek from Sigma Olomouc.

The report claims United are waiting on international clearance for Jurado, Fernandez and Hansen-Aaroen. The latter became Tromso’s youngest-ever player at the age of 15 years and 319 days earlier this month, as per iSports football API.

A source told: “Hopefully they’ll be sorted soon and we can get them confirmed.”

Although we have yet to see any first-team additions, I find it encouraging that United are signing youngsters from Spain’s two giants (Barcelona & Real Madrid, as well as them being players who were recently offered new deals to stay put. That means they decided to move on and join United.

These are talented boys who are coming to Manchester to further develop their careers. With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the wheel they can see a route into the first-team, and the club is very much built on believing in young players.

You never know which youngster will be next to break into the first team. For instance, we didn’t know much about Brandon Williams before his emergence this season.

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Southampton finalise 8-figure signing after agreeing £35K-a-week deal

Southampton have agreed the signing of Mohammed Salisu from Real Valladolid after finalising personal terms, Football Insider can reveal.

The Premier League club will pay the £10.9m (€12m) release clause in the Ghanian centre-back’s contract， according to iSports API football data.

A Southampton contract has told Football Insider the club have also agreed a long-term deal with Salisu worth £35,000-a-year.

He is expected to join the club in the coming days although he cannot be formally registered until a work permit is obtained.

Salisu is a left-footed centre-back who stands at 6ft 3ins and has been a mainstay of the Valladolid team this season.

As per iSports football API, he started 30 of their 38 La Liga matches after graduating from their B team.

French club Rennes had been the main competition for the Ghanaian defender but Salisu made it clear he wants to play in the Premier League with Southampton.

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has prioritised strengthening his side’s central defence this summer.

Southampton have carved out some impressive results either side of the lockdown and climbed to 11th in the Premier League table following their 2-0 win over Bournemouth yesterday.

But Hasenhuttl’s side have conceded 59 goals in their 37 league matches, and have moved to rectify that ahead of the official opening of the window next week.

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Man City 'close' to signing Bournemouth's Nathan Ake

Manchester City are close to agreeing a deal for Bournemouth centre-back Nathan Aké.

As per iSports football API, the 25-year-old is expected to becoming Pep Guardiola’s first signing of the summer transfer window, according to The Guardian.

Guardiola is believed to be keen on strengthening his defence after a poor showing this season, and has been linked with a move for Aké repeatedly in the past.

The report states that City will pay a fee in the region of £35m for the former Chelsea defender.

Bournemouth’s relegation to the Championship was all but sealed following the 2-0 defeat to Southampton on Sunday, and will now find it almost impossible to keep hold of the Dutch international, according to iSports API football data.

Aké arrived at the Vitality Stadium for £20m in 2017 and has made 121 appearances for Eddie Howe’s side.

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Barcelona offer Coutinho in swap deal for Guendouzi

FC Barcelona are offering Philippe Coutinho in a swap deal for Matteo Guendouzi, with both club hierarchies seemingly keen on the idea.

French outlet Foot Mercato claim Barcelona are discussing a swap deal with Arsenal between Philippe Coutinho and Matteo Guendouzi. The two clubs are talking about the deal ‘in a concrete way’, according to the report from iSports football API.

Coutinho is keen on a return to England, whilst Guendouzi is an outcast in Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side. A mixture of off-field behavioural problems, the on-field incident with Neal Maupay and his inability to make amends leave him out of the squad completely.

Edu Gaspar is reportedly a big fan of Coutinho, and Arsenal established contact with his advisers over a move many months ago. Meanwhile, the Barcelona hierarchy are long-term admirers of Guendouzi, so it seems like a decent match.

Guendouzi himself is still unsure of his next step, and he’s prioritising the ‘sporting project’ of any potential new club.

Some Arsenal fans have already shown hesitance to the deal as well. The idea of losing a young talent for a player entering his prime may have short-term benefits, but it could also look like bad business a few years down the line.

According to iSports football API, Coutinho scored nine goals and assisted eight in 34 games this season. That’s certainly a big upgrade on any current Arsenal midfielder’s output. We know he can produce those kinds of numbers in the Premier League too.

For now, it’s just a rumour. Most of the recent reports lean more towards a loan move for Coutinho, if Arsenal even hold an interest at all. But it’s an interesting one to consider.

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Tammy Abraham has put contract talks with Chelsea on hold

Transfer expert Ian McGarry has claimed that Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has put contract talks on hold, until he gets a clarity on his situation from manager Frank Lampard.

Abraham, a product of the Chelsea youth academy, has had to wait for long to break into the first-team. As per iSports football API, after several loan spells away at Bristol City, Swansea City and Aston Villa, the Englishman got his big break in 2019/20.

And he grasped it with both hands, establishing himself as the club’s lead striker in the first half of the season. However, injuries and dip in form since the turn of the year have seen Abraham lose his starting spot to Olivier Giroud.



With the Frenchman signing a new one-year contract and Chelsea also recruiting Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, Abraham now finds himself questioning his standing at the club. And, as a result, he has put contract talks on hold, claims McGarry.

Although Abraham activated an extra year on his current five-year deal owing to appearances and goals scored recently, this is certainly an interesting development, as per iSports API football data.

Given Giroud’s current form, he deserves to be in the starting XI. And when Werner arrives, he is going to assume the first-choice role. So, how Lampard handes the Abraham situation remains to be seen.

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