HOUSTON -- Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry couldn't help but crack a smile in the aftermath of a 126-121 Game 3 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets that he would like to forget. The former MVP was frustrated with the way he played -- shooting just 7-of-23 from the field Saturday night -- but even he struggled to wrap his head around how so many things didn't go his way on both ends of the floor.

"It just wasn't my night," Curry said.

The most embarrassing moment from arguably his worst game of the season came with the Warriors trailing by five points and only 19.2 seconds to play. Curry found himself all alone on the way to an easy basket after a terrific screen from Warriors forward Draymond Green on Rockets guard Austin Rivers and a nifty behind-the-back move to get by Rockets all-everything guard James Harden. The basket would have cut the lead to three and given the Warriors some hope in the waning moments of overtime. But instead of going up for an uncontested layup, Curry went up for a right-handed dunk.

He missed.

A sold-out crowd inside Toyota Center reveled in his misfortune, cheering wildly as a stunned Warriors squad was so shell-shocked by the miss that it decided not to foul the Rockets to lengthen the game.

"That was pretty self-explanatory right there," Curry explained, as the hint of an embarrassed smile crossed his face.

Why didn't he just lay it in?

"Because I was feeling pretty good," Curry said. "Had a nice head of steam and probably a little bit of frustration too around how the rest of the night went, but not my finest moment."

The missed dunk only contributed to a performance that Curry -- who did not register a field goal in the fourth quarter or overtime -- would love to forget. With 1:49 left in overtime, he missed another open, driving layup that would have cut the Rockets' lead back to one. In total, Curry missed six different chances at the rim, a stunning stat for one of the best scorers in the game.

"He just had a tough night," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I mean, everybody -- doesn't matter how good you are, you're gonna have some bad games, and just a tough night for him. Just didn't happen."

Curry tallied 17 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds, and the Rockets reduced their series deficit to 2-1.

Curry dislocated the middle finger on his left hand during the first quarter of Game 2, an injury that has forced him to tape his middle finger and ring finger together and is still causing him pain. But Curry did not want to blame his poor outing on his ailing finger.

"I just got to make those," Curry said of his misses from short range. "I'm out there playing. Got to produce, and it just didn't happen tonight."

Curry is now 18-for-52 from the field in this series, including only 8-for-32 from beyond the arc. Yet he and his teammates remain confident he will be able to break out of his funk soon.

"We know what Steph is capable of," Green said. "You grow to expect that. You don't really expect to have a guy to have an off night like he did. Nonetheless, we need Steph to continue to be Steph. Continue to shoot the basketball, no matter if he's struggling or not. When he's on the floor, he opens a lot of things for everybody else. Still have an impact that way. We know his shot will start falling."

About 20 minutes after the game ended, the media was allowed to enter the Warriors locker room, and there was Curry, still in full uniform, riding a stationary bike while scrolling through his phone, as his teammates showered and changed around him. The proud guard didn't wear a look of despondence after his rough night; he was just left to wonder what might have been if he knocked down a few more shots the same way he has done throughout his career.

"It just happens sometimes," Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala said of Curry's close-range misses. "We're all human. We all will have situations that normally don't happen to us, so not worried about that at all. He's fine. He is who he is -- same way Kevin says, 'I'm Kevin Durant,' he's Steph Curry. I don't worry about it -- he'll be fine. He'll continue to draw that much attention and continue to make amazing plays. And like I said, we're all human, we all make mistakes."

HOUSTON -- One of the enigmas that demonstrates the historic greatness of the Golden State Warriors is when their star players have a slump. It is both concerning for the Warriors and frightening for opponents.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have not been themselves in the high-stakes Western Conference semifinal series with the Houston Rockets. They're shooting just 37 percent overall and 27 percent on 3-pointers, the weapon that earned them their Splash Brothers nickname.

In Saturday's 126-121 Game 3 loss, Curry and Thompson combined to miss 26 of 39 shots. In the final minutes, those misses included Curry blowing an uncontested layup and a dunk -- as an aside, Curry is now 1-of-4 on dunks this season, including one in which he almost seriously hurt himself -- and Thompson badly missed the type of clean 15-footer that any high school starter should make.

And yet, it still took 41 points from James Harden -- including a fortunate non-call on the game-clinching basket where Harden easily could've been hit with an offensive foul, probably leaving the Warriors to be the ones stewing over the forthcoming last-two-minutes report -- plus overtime for the Rockets to win a game.

This is just how tremendous of a mountain the Warriors are to climb. Even as Thompson and Curry are mired in a slump, the Warriors are still so difficult to overcome. That's why the concept is scary for opponents. Even when you hold the Warriors duo down, you sometimes barely survive.

Curry and Thompson have missed at least two-thirds of their 3-pointers for four consecutive games, the worst such streak of their playoff careers, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. They had just four made 3-pointers Saturday on 15 attempts, one of the lowest collective outputs of their now lengthy playoff careers.

In Game 3, Curry was just 2-of-9 in the restricted area and didn't score in the fourth quarter or overtime. Those seven close-in misses were the most in his career.

Thompson had a flurry in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points that helped the Warriors erase what was a 13-point Rockets lead and force overtime, but he was also scoreless in OT.

The Rockets are working hard at overcoming the Warriors. They've started matching Golden State's small-ball lineups, playing without a true center so they can switch on screens and limit the Warriors' airspace. Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers are exhausting themselves fighting through contact to challenge shots.

The Rockets, of course, know most of Golden State's pet plays, and they scrap to try to blow them up, even if it doesn't always work.

"For the most part, we pretty much got every shot we wanted," said Curry, who admitted his failed dunk attempt came while trying to get out frustration. "The difference between winning and losing a playoff game is very thin, no matter who you're playing."

In addition to the shooting woes, Curry has been in a mental fog during the series. He has repeatedly committed fouls that have gotten him into foul trouble and messed with Golden State's rotation, which is thin to begin with. Curry has ended up with five fouls in each of the three games, and he should have fouled out of Game 1 -- twice, according to the league -- in the final two minutes.

The Rockets have something to do with it; they are purposely putting him in switch situations where he has to handle a bigger man and has been caught repeatedly making positioning fouls. But some of his risk-taking just hasn't been smart.

He has had a few major defensive gaffes, including a breakout on a switch in the fourth quarter Saturday in which he lost Rivers and gave up a vital 3-pointer.

"It wasn't my night," Curry said. "I'll be thinking about [mistakes] tonight; I'll go to sleep and turn the page."

After the game, Curry rode a stationary bike in the middle of the visitors locker room at the Toyota Center for nearly 20 minutes and scanned his phone. He pedaled in silence as teammates showered, dressed, grabbed a catered meal and headed for the bus.

The track records tell us it's only a matter of time before this slump ends for Curry and Thompson. Maybe this low moment will be a nice narrative for Game 4. It has happened before. And the deeper this Splash Brothers recession gets, the more you come to expect it.

So do they.

"It sucks that we lost, but we have an opportunity on Monday to take a commanding lead," Thompson said. "And we will if we do what we're supposed to do."

MILWAUKEE -- Ryan Braun knew the best night of his career at the plate wouldn't mean much if the Milwaukee Brewers didn't win.

Braun made sure they did with his career-high sixth hit, a two-run single with one out in the 18th that lifted the Brewers to a 4-3 comeback victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night in the longest game in Miller Park history.

"That's a game you badly want to win because if you do win it, it feels like you won two or three games," Braun said. "If you lose, it feels like you lost 10."

Braun stood on first base with his hands raised above his head as Yasmani Grandal slid across home plate with the winning run, ending the game that lasted 5 hours, 22 minutes. A jubilant bunch of Brewers ran out to greet Braun, who was the only Milwaukee player to have multiple hits.

"We had 11 hits and one guy had six of them," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "That should say everything about how crazy this game was."

The Mets took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 18th on Jeff McNeil's run-scoring single off Taylor Williams (1-1), who was Milwaukee's eighth and final pitcher. McNeil was thrown out at second base for the third out after trying to stretch his hit to a double.

Eric Thames then drew a leadoff walk from Chris Flexen (0-2), who got Mike Moustakas to fly out to center. But Flexen, just recalled from Triple-A Syracuse earlier in the day, walked Grandal and Travis Shaw to load the bases for Braun. The Brewers' longest-tenured player hit a sharp grounder past first baseman Pete Alonso and into right field, scoring the tying and winning runs.

"I thought I had a chance to make a play," Alonso said. "The corners were in, so I didn't have much of a reaction time."

Manager Mickey Calloway praised the overall performance of his staff after the Mets (16-17) fell below .500 for the first time this season.

"We threw the ball great," Calloway said. "There at the end, we didn't throw the ball over the plate. You give free passes, you're going to be beat."

Miller Park, which opened in 2001, had two previous 17-inning games, in 2003 and 2015. Both teams used eight pitchers and all of their position players in this one.

Alonso had tied the game in the ninth with a first-pitch, leadoff home run off Brewers reliever Junior Guerra.

"This one really doesn't sit well," Alonso said. "This is a really tough pill to swallow. It was really unfortunate to come up on the short end of this one."

But both teams struggled offensively in the extra innings. The Brewers had a chance to end it in the 17th when Braun led off with a double off Flexen but was stranded.

The Brewers slugger also doubled off Robert Gsellman, the seventh Mets pitcher, with one out in the 14th.

Williams allowed one run and three hits with three strikeouts in four innings to earn the win.

Much earlier in the night, the Brewers got a strong outing from Gio Gonzalez, who made his second start after signing as a free agent on April 27. Gonzalez retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced. He gave up three hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings, didn't walk a batter and struck out seven.

NL MVP Christian Yelich didn't start for a sixth consecutive game due to lower back discomfort but came on as pinch hitter to lead off the 10th and lined out to center on the first pitch from Seth Lugo.

The Mets got a run in the second on Amed Rosario's run-scoring triple.

The Brewers tied it in the third on Lorenzo Cain's run-scoring single off Zack Wheeler, then took the lead on Moustakas' double, which scored Cain.

Wheeler allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings, and had 10 strikeouts while tying a season high with 111 pitches.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mets: Placed LHP Luis Avilan on the 10-day injured list with left elbow soreness. Avilan left Friday night's game in the eighth. "We're going to get him to New York and have him evaluated there," Callaway said. Flexen took Avilan's spot. ... INF Jed Lowrie, who has been on the injured list since opening day with a left knee capsule strain, started for Syracuse on Saturday on a rehab assignment. He went hitless in four at-bats.

Brewers: Yelich took batting practice for a second consecutive day. "The guys who have been playing have done a really nice job filling in, but we want (Yelich) in the lineup, for sure," manager Craig Counsell said.

EXTRA INNINGS

The Brewers played their first extra-inning game of the season, while the Mets played their third. It marked the Brewers' longest game in innings since May 1, 1991, when Milwaukee defeated the Chicago White Sox 10-9 in 19 innings.

STREAK ENDS

The Brewers failed to hit a home run at home for the first time this season. The streak of home runs in 19 consecutive home games ranks as the second-longest streak ever to start a season, trailing only the Toronto Blue Jays, who hit home runs in 21 consecutive games to start the 2000 season.

UP NEXT

Mets: Jason Vargas (1-1, 5.75 ERA) pitched a season-high 5 1/3 innings against Cincinnati on Tuesday. Is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two career starts against the Brewers.

Brewers: Zach Davies (3-0, 1.38) will make his seventh start. He is 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA in six career starts against the Mets, including 0-2 with a 9.72 ERA in two starts last season.

Fantastic French women dethrone England whilst English men regain title on home soil
By JULIE O’HARE – Edgbaston Priory Club

A dramatic final day of the European Team Championships at Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham witnessed a remarkable victory by France’s women’s team while England regained the men’s trophy.

England were hot favourites for the women’s title, having beaten France in the last five finals and won the title on all but one occasion in the event’s 41-year history. Their sole defeat came in the 2010 semi-final to – and in – France, where the Netherlands went on to win the final.

Camille Serme put France ahead as she beat Sarah-Jane Perry in four games but Laura Massaro also won in four against Coline Aumard to take the match to a decider. Melissa Alves came flying out of the block, taking the first two games 11-1, 11-3 against England’s much higher ranked Victoria Lust.

Lust fought back to take the third, and again from 1-7 down in the fourth to level at 8-all. But it was Alves who took the next two points, and on her second match ball the impossible happened, a front court winner from Alves, a no let for Lust, and to French disbelief and delight they had finally become women’s European Team Champions.

“We thought it was possible,” said a delighted French manager, Philippe Signoret.

“Melissa can play very well and she was on fire in the first two games. This squad has a great history, I’ve known them since they were seven, so to see them do this is fantastic for them, and for France. And in England, too!”

Camille Serme was ecstatic: “We’ve been trying to win this for so long now, it feels great. Thanks to England for pushing us over the years, we’re delighted to finally win one.”

In the men’s final England faced third seed Spain, who had beaten defending champions France in the semis. England had beaten Spain 4-0 in the pool stages, but Spanish number one Borja Golan missed that match and immediately made amends as he beat Declan James in the opening match, James unable to properly compete in the fifth after an injury.

James Willstrop put England level with a straight-games win over yesterday’s Spanish hero Iker Pajares. Daryl Selby put England ahead with a five-game win over Bernat Jaume, which left England needing one game from the final match and Spain needing a three-nil win and points countback.

Tom Richards was always ahead against Edmon Lopez, and finished the match as he took the game 11-9, Lopez diving in vain into the back corner.

“I’m really proud to have been able to captain this team to the title,” said Captain Selby. “It’s been a long time since the event was held at home, so to do it here with the support of the crowd makes it even more special.

“It’s been a great event, superbly organised, and we’re all grateful for that and the support of the referees, volunteers, ESF, Edgbaston Priory Club and all the England Squash support staff.”

The day started with the women’s 3rd/4th match which saw Belgium’s Nele and Tinne Gilis take them to victory over Scotland for a second Bronze medal in a row.

“Very happy,” said Belgian manager Ronnie Vlassacks. “Not only with the Bronze medal, but to see how we’re closing the gap to England and France. With Nele and Tinne still so young and having a few years to improve, we hope what they’re doing will help us get some more young players to strengthen the depth of the team.”

The Scottish men went one better as they beat France in the men’s 3rd/4th, after narrowly losing to the former champions in the pool stages.

Elsewhere:

Across the four days over 700 local schoolchildren attended coaching clinics at the glass court venue, and enjoyed watching some of the matches.

Finland’s Men return to Division One after a three year absence, led by Olli Tuominen playing in his 22nd ETC in a row. Also promoted were the Czech Republic who beat Finland in the final.

The Finnish women beat Czech Rep to go back to Division One for first time since 2010, before losing to also promoted Germany in the final.

Pictures courtesy of : Edgbaston Priory Club

MONTEREY, Calif. – Ernie Francis Jr. stole the show during Saturday’s Trans-Am Series event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguan Seca.

Francis drove to a dominant 28.854-second win over the Burtin Racing duo of Lawrence Loshak and Tomy Drissi. After 66 Trans-Am races, 48 podiums and 38 race wins, newly turned 21-year-old Francis finally got to sip the victory champagne in a glorious moment on the top step of the podium.

“It was a great weekend for us as a team here at WeatherTech Raceway,” said Francis. “To sweep the weekend by winning qualifying and leading every lap of the race, it really builds morale for the team. We had a so many small gremlins that kept us from the podium this season, and to come all this way and finish where we did gives us hope to contend for the championship again.”

Starting from the dirty side of the track on pole, Francis’ wheels spun and allowed points leader Loshak to get the jump on the young Floridian driver going into turn one. Francis quickly recovered to reclaim his first-place position before crossing the stripe, commanding the race from green to checkered for his first win of the season and breaking Loshak’s two-race winning streak.

“The start of the race was incredible,” said Loshak. “We had a great start and we took first. I thought it would be like Sebring and then I turned, and the car didn’t. I fell back, losing position but as gas fell off I started to gain speed and the steering came back. We definitely had bullseyes on our back this weekend. I am surprised at the pace the all the guys brought this weekend. It’s hard to be on top and it’s even harder to stay there. We just didn’t have a lot for Ernie this weekend, but while we didn’t win the race we won the weekend, still on top of the championship.”

Losing momentum, Loshak dropped to fourth as Chris Dyson and Drissi passed him. Meanwhile, Dyson, who built a 10-second gap between himself and third-place Drissi, started experiencing mechanical issues after he set his fastest lap of the race. The mechanical gremlins caused Dyson to pit, forcing him to give up his second place position. The CD Racing squad worked to get Dyson back on track, but the setback cost Dyson a possible podium as he was six laps down.

“We had a tough day today,” said Dyson. “It’s a shame when mechanical things take you out of contention but that’s the difference between racing and other sports, you win as team and you lose as a team. The car was absolutely flying today. We had the speed to challenge Ernie but didn’t get the chance because a belt came off the water pump drive. We are going to be working our tails off leading up to Lime Rock. We’ve proven to have the speed to contend up front, as we’ve done all season, so we’re going to shake this race off and come back strong next round.”

With Dyson out, Drissi and Loshak diced for second and third. Racing door-to-door entering the Kink at the top of the notorious Corkscrew turn, Loshak overtook Drissi for second. Loshak then wheeled his gold No. 3 Penzoil/Elavon/GoShare Chevrolet Camaro into a healthy lead over his teammate, and ultimately finished where he started the race in second.

Drissi’s blue Godzilla: King of Monsters Chevrolet Camaro crossed the line in third, his second podium of the 2019 season.

“I love this track. It’s an absolute blast to drive,” said Drissi. “I had some good battles with Lawrence but just didn’t have enough in the end to contend up front.”

In the first of two integrated events with the National Championship, the Trans-Am West Coast Championship also competed on the 11-turn, 2.28-mile WeatherTech Raceway circuit. TA class points-leader Simon Gregg clicked off another victory after also winning last weekend’s TA West Coast race at Auto Club Speedway, chalking his win tally to two. Michael Fine took second with California-native Michelle Nagai taking third.

“I’m so proud of the team,” said Gregg.  “I felt like I had a good race and we had dramatic finish, finishing the race on a flat tire. The Derhaag Motorsports group have worked so hard to give me a good car for this trip to the west coast.”

Dirk Leuenberger in the Lux Performance Doge Viper drove a near perfect race to take the checkered in the SGT West Coast class.

“It was great to be part of Trans-Am history here at WeatherTech Raceway,” commented Leuenberger.  “After 50 years of Trans-Am racing here, I can say I won at Laguna, and on my first visit to the track at that.”

After three years of grinding, Mitch Marvosh in the Wolf Entertainment Chevrolet Corvette, claimed his first Trans-Am career win in the West Coast GT class. Roger Eagleton took second in the FiveStarPropMgmt/EnergyRealEst Ford Mustang with Beau Border in the APEX Race Parts CorteX Racing Ford Mustang finishing third.

“It’s about time I won something in Trans-Am,” said Marvosh. “I feel great to pick one up for the team. We’ve been at it for a few years and finally got a win. We took first on the start and never looked back.”

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Tanner Gray wasn’t leaving South Boston without a trophy.

He made sure of it in race No. 1 of the WhosYourDriver.org Twin 100s, as he nudged Bristol winner Sam Mayer out of the way in overtime to win his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race.

For Gray, getting that initial checkered flag in NASCAR was the thing. The 2018 NHRA Pro Stock champion has already shown to be a quick study to stock cars and oval tracks.

“It feels really good to get that first win,” Gray said, exhausted after the first twin 100. “I tried to screw it up throughout the race the whole time. I just kept getting loose, chasing it up the race track and made some adjustments there under caution before the green/white/checkered.”

The overtime finish didn’t disappoint, as Gray and eventual second-place finisher Mayer were beating and banging around the entire track.

“We took off and I was hoping I could get a little better jump, hold him tight down there to the bottom,” the DGR-Crosley driver said. “But I missed it a little bit. Tried to follow behind him and got into him, and in (turn) three just moved him, got underneath him, side-by-side going on the frontstretch. After that I’m not too sure what happened to him.”

Gray had come up just .030 seconds short on March 30 at California’s Irwindale Speedway, losing out on a drag race off turn four to Trevor Huddleston. This time, it was Gray who was .32 seconds faster than the runner-up.

Following Gray and Mayer across the finish line was another rookie, Max McLaughlin, in third. Spencer Davis and Ruben Garcia Jr. where fourth and fifth, respectively.

In race two, Nick Sanchez led the field to green by virtue of setting the fastest lap in race one. He led the first 18 laps after Gray was black flagged for jumping the initial start. Then, unfortunately, the rain came.

As a result, NASCAR officials were forced to postpone the remainder of the second WhosYourDriver.org Twin 100 to Sunday.

The finish:

Tanner Gray, Sam Mayer, Max McLaughlin, Spencer Davis, Ruben Garcia Jr., Colin Garrett, Travis Milburn, Chase Cabre, Derek Kraus, Hailie Deegan, Justin Carroll, Drew Dollar, Jason Miles, Nick Sanchez, Ron Jay, Chuck Buchanan Jr.

ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. – Travis Horan outran the rain to win the 20-lap Extreme Stock feature at Lincoln Speedway Saturday evening.

Donnie Broderick shared the front row of the 20-lap feature with polesitter Alex Updegraff. Broderick got out to the early lead as Powell and Horan started to make their way through the field. Powell nearly had Michael Smith beat to the line for third on the first lap after starting sixth but settled for fourth. Powell got by Smith for second on the next lap and got around Broderick for the lead on lap three.

With Powell in the lead, Horan started to go to work on Broderick for second. Horan took the spot from Broderick on lap five. Smith and Broderick went to battle for third with Smith getting loose out of turn four on lap 11. Smith got spun around on the front stretch bringing out the caution.

Powell lead the field to the cone on the restart with nine laps to go. Horan tried the bottom of turns three and four but couldn’t steal the lead from Powell. Don Murphy fell off the pace with a flat tire that left debris on the track bringing out the caution.

Andrew Hogue was up to fourth on the restart and was working on Broderick down the backstretch for third. Updegraff entered the picture and got under Hogue for fourth on lap 13. Two laps latter Updegraff got under Broderick for third in turns one and two.

Powell and Horan had separated from the rest of the field when a smoking Powell pulled into the infield on lap 17. Horan inherited the lead and held onto it until the checkered flag waved. Updegraff held onto second. Broderick crossed the line third. Hogue beat Smith to the stand by inches to finish fourth. Smith rounded out the top five.

While the Extreme Stock field beat the rain, the 410 and 358 sprint car divisions did not.The 410 sprint car feature is slated to be made up May 11 after the completion of the regularly scheduled program. The make-up feature for the 358 sprint cars is scheduled for June 1.

Before the rain came the 410 sprint car heats were won by Robbie Kendall, Cole Young and Scott Fisher. Steve Owings, Jeff Halligan and Tyler Walton won the 358 sprint car heat races.