LONDON -- Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has said he does not want to sign a midfield alternative to Jorginho but would like to make Mateo Kovacic's loan from Real Madrid permanent.

Since the January sale of Cesc Fabregas, the coach said Kovacic is the only other player in his squad capable of filling in at the base of midfield.

"You know very well that, in that position, we have some problems because we have only Jorginho," Sarri, whose side face West Ham at home on Monday, told a news conference.

"In my opinion, Kovacic could become a very good central midfielder.

"Of course he is not a defensive midfielder but, as you know, in that position I prefer a very technical player. For us it's very important for us to have big quality in that position. Big quality not for the last pass, but big quality in terms of moving the ball."

Asked whether he would like to see Chelsea sign someone else to play the role, Sarri said: "No, I want to try with Kovacic. He is only on loan, of course. I'd like very much that Kovacic will stay with us."

Sarri praised former Chelsea academy player Declan Rice, who has starred at the base of West Ham's midfield and made his first England appearance last month.

"I think he's a very good player, very good in the defensive phase because he's very able to recover the ball," Sarri said.

"He usually plays very close to the defensive line and, in the first match against West Ham, he was really a very big problem for us."

Chelsea face three matches in six days, with games against West Ham and Liverpool either side of a trip to Slavia Prague in the Europa League quarterfinals, and Sarri said he felt the Premier League could have been more flexible with their scheduling of fixtures.

"I am not able to understand the decision of the Premier League because we have to go to Prague as an English team," he said. "So I'm not able to understand why we have to play on Monday. It's very strange.

"I think they could have done more for the English teams in Europe. In Serie A, teams play on Friday. Teams involved in the Europa League away from home, they can ask to play their next Serie A match on Monday.

"So we need to have very strong players. But the Premier League was able to sell in the best way possible the Premier League [TV rights], so in England we are lucky.

"We can buy the best players in the world, and so we have to accept we have to play every three days."

LONDON -- Kevin De Bruyne has rubbished any suggestions that Tottenham's new stadium gives them a better chance against Manchester City when they meet in the Champions League.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino claimed his side "can achieve more" in their new 62,000-seat home but De Bruyne said they would still be the same dangerous opponent, even if they were playing at Wembley.

"I don't care about the stadium, I care about the team we play," the Belgium midfielder told reporters.

"Everybody talks about the stadium like it's something special -- everybody has a stadium, everybody has supporters. They'll be up for it.

"I don't think there will be any difference. They'll probably be a little bit more excited but in the end it's a stadium with supporters. If they go to Wembley with 80,000 or there with 62,000, it's going to be the same. It'll be a tough game but I think we'll be all right."

City have the chance to reach the Champions League semifinals for just the second time in their history after going out at this stage last season, also to an English opponent in Liverpool.

Last year, Liverpool won the first leg 3-0 in front of a fervent home crowd but De Bruyne doesn't believe there will be any comparisons to Tuesday night's game.

"It's a different team, different year, different players," he added. "Last year we had a great season, We didn't make it beyond the quarterfinals and that's it.

"Cup games are different. If you're not at your best then it doesn't really matter, just try and see the game out. You can't play 70 games at your top level. I think we did really well."

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola believes Spurs have a small advantage as his side have played twice since their opponents' last game, as City chase an unprecedented Quadruple.

"Of course," he said when asked if Tottenham have an advantage because of their extra time off. "But to fight for everything you have to have calmness.

"If they have six days, congratulations. Maybe one day we will have six days and our opponent will have two or three. It's the fixtures.

"If we will be out of that competition, we will have maybe more days. It's what it is, so that is the challenge."

LONDON, England -- Pep Guardiola insists that winning the Quadruple will be "almost impossible" after he suffered another injury setback as Manchester City reached the FA Cup final.

Kyle Walker was taken off at half-time in the 1-0 victory over Brighton while the City boss revealed that Sergio Aguero, who missed the game through injury, has not trained since last Sunday.

"I will announce something to you, it is almost impossible to win the Quadruple, almost," Guardiola told a news conference.

"Put it in the headlines, guys. It is almost impossible to win the Quadruple. Surviving in that stage of the competitions is already a miracle. [No club has gone to April 17 still in contention] that is why it is incredible what these players have done last season when you achieve 100 points. Neither Liverpool nor Manchester City can repeat that. The year after, when you have the tendency to be arrogant or a little more presumptuous or think you are something that really you are not. And still, we are there. That's why it's incredible what these players have done before.

"Every game we lose players but that is normal when you play a lot of games. We are going to try until the end, every game."

City struggled to a 1-0 win with Gabriel Jesus's fourth-minute header from Kevin De Bruyne's dangerous cross the defining moment.

But while it wasn't as impressive of a victory as recent performances, Guardiola insisted it is ridiculous to expect his side to play well in every match.

"Do you believe we can play 60 games in a season and win 5-0 and have a good performance in every game?" he added. "Which team can do that? Even the teams for Trebles in other countries.

"I don't remember, I didn't see, but I think when Sir Alex Ferguson won the Treble, in that case not all the games were fantastic and winning 4-0 or 5-0.

"Normally semifinals and finals are games like this. You can analyse how many chances we create, but people expect from how good we are that we have to score I don't know how many goals. In this game, in this job, it doesn't work in that way."

Brighton boss Chris Hughton praised his players for running City close and said defender Walker should have been sent off for a red card.

The England international was shown a yellow card for brushing his head against Brighton winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh and the decision was backed by the Video Assistant Referee.

"In my opinion, it was a red card," Hughton said. "We ask players to be honest and Ali doesn't make a big meal of it. We certainly would have seen in the past players going down clutching their head and rolling on the floor.

"There will have been numerous circumstances where that action would get somebody a red card and the action was sufficient to warrant it.

"Everyone is pushing for [VAR]. I am one that has been converted a little bit, although I am not sure how far it is going to take things. It's even more disappointing that it was a VAR.

"Ali did the correct thing. We can't want the game to be a better game and take simulation out of the game and expect your players to be any different.

"It's not Ali's responsibility to make the right decision. That is down to the officials."

Nick Miller recaps a topsy-turvy weekend, with Premier League and FA Cup semifinal action serving up another football feast.

Jump to: Klopp's Hendo love | Arsenal's travelling woes | Subbed to the Wolves | Team of the Week | Deulo delight | Deeney's Jimenez smackdown | Brighton back to business | How disappointing are Burnley?

Expectation-quasher of the weekend

How seriously should we take Pep Guardiola's assertion that it's "almost impossible" to win the Quadruple?

Naturally, Guardiola's proclamation after Manchester City reached the FA Cup final by beating Brighton 1-0 was an attempt to temper expectations: Only a fool would stride out into a press conference and say this unprecedented clean sweep was theirs for the taking.

"Surviving in that stage of the competitions is already a miracle," he said. But of course it is entirely possible.

The natural inclination is to say City will lose at least one of the three remaining tournaments, but which one? They have a game in hand on Liverpool in the league, are clear favourites to beat Watford in the FA Cup final, and have to face an ailing Tottenham in the Champions League, followed by either Juventus or Ajax.

Some of those tasks will be harder than others, but if you consider each individually, you'd back City to win them all.

Manchester United fans: It's probably best to mentally prepare yourself for the very strong possibility that City would do it.

Under appreciated player of the weekend

You don't always see what Jordan Henderson does when he is on the pitch. But at the same time, you certainly notice when he's not. For long spells of Liverpool's late 3-1 win over Southampton on Friday night, they looked like a side without direction, neutrons nervously bouncing all over the place without a nucleus to form around.

Then he came off the bench, and almost straight away things looked better. Lots of people still don't think much of Henderson, but one pretty important person does.

"If I had to write a book about Hendo, it would be 500 pages," said Jurgen Klopp after the game. "The most difficult job in the last 500 years of football was to replace Steven Gerrard ... [he] has dealt with that outstandingly well.

"He deserves all the praise but he doesn't get too much."

There will probably be more important players than him in Liverpool's title run-in, but don't underestimate the contribution of the player under-appreciated by many, but not the man who matters.

Growing problem of the day

Arsenal were so extraordinarily bad in their 1-0 defeat to Everton it was difficult to peg them as the same team that has shown such positive signs in recent weeks. This was yet another terrible performance away from home, their run on the road stretching to just one win in nine, and that was against Huddersfield.

This is a problem that has followed Unai Emery around in the last few years. It was Paris Saint-Germain's away form that cost them the Ligue 1 title in 2016-17. They won all 17 of their games at the Parc des Princes, but lost five away which gave Monaco the chance to swoop.

Furthermore, in his final season at Sevilla, his side's away record read: played 19, won 0, drew 9, lost 10. They only scored 13 goals on the road and were second-bottom of the away league table.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly why this is happening, but Emery must figure it out very soon and fix it, if he wants this Arsenal team to progress further.

Bad substitution of the day

It's always a little dangerous to apply post-hoc logic to games, to judge only the result rather than the process. But did Nuno Espirito Santo's substitutions cost Wolves in their 3-2 FA Cup semifinal loss to Watford?

In an understandable attempt to hold on in the closing stages, Nuno removed Diogo Jota and Joao Moutinho, bringing on another central defender and making his side more defensive. But the problem with a side's shape becoming defensive is the mentality also becomes negative, which invites the opposition to attack when they really needed no encouragement to do so.

Shoring up a backline isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's also handy if you have a forward outlet, and for most of the game Jota was that outlet, his directness and tenacity terrifying the Watford backline all day. Without him, extra-time was always going to be a slog.

Sure, we wouldn't be talking about any of this had Leander Dendoncker not clumsily lunged into Troy Deeney in the 94th minute. But even if Nuno's changes didn't significantly hinder Wolves, they certainly didn't help them.

Team of the Week

Goal of the weekend

Gerard Deulofeu must be an exceedingly frustrating player to support, if only because he tries absolutely implausible things far too often.

But then, one of them comes off, like his absurd flick/lob/curler/chip to spark Watford's revival against Wolves, and you forget all the times he shanks those efforts into the stands.

Slap down of the weekend

"I'm glad he put that mask on -- he could wear it out now as well, now he's a loser. So, enjoy the mask -- we got the victory."

Troy Deeney's "proper football man" schtick can get a little tiresome, and you get the sense that every interview is a potential audition for a post-career life as a "tell-it-like-it-is" pundit.

But after learning that Raul Jimenez had donned a Mexican wrestling mask to celebrate a goal only to see his Wolves side lose, we'll probably allow him this moment of satisfaction.

Platform of the weekend

Brighton are not yet safe from relegation, but perhaps their performance in the FA Cup semifinal defeat to Manchester City will provide some encouragement for the remaining Premier League campaign.

When Gabriel Jesus put Manchester City ahead after just four minutes, you feared the worst for the Seagulls, but they performed well after that and could have forced extra-time.

"On Monday morning, we have to get our Premier League heads on," said Chris Hughton, the implication being that their FA Cup run has been a distraction.

Now the league is all they have to concentrate on, so hopefully for them they can use this to get the points they need for survival.

Papered cracks of the weekend

With their 3-1 win over Bournemouth, Burnley should now be safe from relegation, barring an absolute catastrophe in the closing weeks of the season. But that shouldn't distract from the fact this has been a poor season for Sean Dyche's side.

They can blame the Europa League campaign if they like, and it's undoubtedly not ideal to be playing competitive football in July, but they were out of Europe by August.

They have undoubtedly improved a lot since Christmas, but this season has been a terrible disappointment after they finished seventh last term.

JuJu Smith-Schuster is clapping back.

After another social media slight from former teammate Antonio Brown, the Steelers wideout used Twitter to respond on Sunday.

Crazy how big that ego got to be to take shots at people who show you love! Smh

— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) April 7, 2019

Brown, now an Oakland Raider, got Smith-Schuster's attention with a scathing comment in response to a Steelers fan tagging Brown to a post highlighting Smith-Schuster's team MVP award:

Emotion: boy fumbled the whole post season in the biggest game of year ! Everyone went blind to busy making guys famous not enough reality these days ! ?? by the way check the list https://t.co/2SWWT8k0jx

— Antonio Brown (@AB84) April 7, 2019

The tweet from Brown was citing Smith-Schuster's crucial Week 16 fumble against New Orleans in the final minute that allowed the Saints to hang on for a 31-28 win and dealt a huge blow to the Steelers' playoff hopes.

Smith-Schuster also tweeted a quote from author Mark Twain:

Smh pic.twitter.com/jkmA3oWWRS

— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) April 7, 2019

Brown took a perceived shot at Smith-Schuster last week when he tweeted that players who haven't been paid shouldn't be trusted. Smith-Schuster -- who is still on his rookie contract while Brown is on his third extension -- had expressed his support for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger shortly before then.

Despite scoring 15 touchdowns in 2018, Brown's relationship with Roethlisberger deteriorated late in the season. Issues with the team coupled with the desire for a new deal prompted the Steelers to trade Brown to Oakland in exchange for third- and fifth-round picks.

Whispers of Brown's unhappiness with the team MVP voting surfaced late in the season, and Brown's tweet echoes those suspicions. Steelers players vote for the award, which Brown had won four times in nine years.

Smith-Schuster led the Steelers in receptions (111) and yards (1,426) last season.

Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN in a recent interview that the presence of Smith-Schuster wasn't a factor in Brown's desire to be traded, but rather the need for a new start.

TAMPA, Fla. -- At this time last year, Chloe Jackson was not on the Baylor women's basketball team. Today, she is its national championship savior and most outstanding player.

Jackson hit a driving layup with 3.9 seconds remaining, lifting Baylor to an 82-81 win over Notre Dame on Sunday night.

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey joins Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt as the only coaches in women's Division I history with three or more national titles. As the final buzzer sounded, Mulkey broke down in tears as she received a full embrace from her entire staff.

Mulkey and the Lady Bears would not have raised the trophy without Jackson, who saved her best basketball for the Women's Final Four. Jackson hit a driving layup against Oregon with less than a minute remaining to get Baylor to the national championship game. The graduate transfer from LSU was sensational the entire game against Notre Dame, scoring a team-high 26 points as the key difference-maker on both teams.

But the Lady Bears, whose motto this season was "Together to Tampa," had to sweat out their third national championship after losing team leader Lauren Cox.

Cox left the game with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter. She had her left foot stepped on, and her leg bent awkwardly inward. She fell to the court clutching her knee and stayed down for several minutes before she was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Baylor led 62-50 at the time, and though Cox had only eight points, she had been integral to the Lady Bears' offense.

Before she exited, Baylor had scored 25 points on 11 of 14 field goals when Cox got a touch at the free throw line.

But without Cox, the team's entire complexion changed. Notre Dame, which has been a second-half team throughout the tournament, looked emboldened and far more aggressive. The Fighting Irish went on a 13-5 run, with eight points from Arike Ogunbowale to close the gap to three early in the fourth quarter.

Then Notre Dame's Marina Mabrey got going from the 3-point line, hitting three straight to help tie the game at 74 with 5:18 to play. After trading buckets and free throws, Jackson hit a jumper with 33.8 seconds left to put Baylor ahead. But Jessica Shepard was fouled and hit both her free throws, tying the game at 80.

That's when Baylor called Jackson's number again. On what appeared to be a nearly identical play to the one that beat Oregon, Jackson drove inside off a screen from DiDi Richards for the layup. But Notre Dame still had time, and Ogunbowale -- who won the national championship with a buzzer-beater against Mississippi State a year ago -- was fouled with 1.9 seconds remaining.

Ogunbowale missed the first free throw, and that ended up being the difference in the game.

By that time, Cox had made her way back to the sideline on crutches; she hugged Kalani Brown in the celebration.

That Notre Dame came back to make it a game shouldn't be a surprise, considering that's what the Irish had done during the tournament. In the first half, the Lady Bears dominated the Irish at their own game. Notre Dame led the nation in points in the paint (50.3 per game) and transition points (25.7 per game) going into Sunday. But in the first half, Notre Dame had eight points in the paint and just two points in transition on 1-of-3 shooting. Baylor had 30 points in the paint and 10 in transition.

Beyond that, the Bears used their guards to help put space between themselves and the Irish.

"We had to do it for LC. She got us here; we had to finish the job for her," Jackson said.

Dan Robinson, coach to British marathoner Hayley Carruthers, shares some tips on how to make your mind your ally

Marathon runners face a number of psychological challenges, from dealing with pre-race anxiety to coping with the physical discomfort that comes with pushing yourself over 26.2 miles.

Running a marathon isn’t easy, and that is part of its ongoing appeal. We can accept that things will get difficult but that resources are available to help us manage this. In turn, this can reduce anxiety and increase confidence that we can perform well on the day.

The ‘RESIST’ project has developed a number of useful strategies to help in managing fatigue and unhelpful emotions both before and during a race.

Self-talk

A great way to positively influence emotions, confidence and performance.

Attentional focus

Excessive focus on physical sensations such as muscular fatigue or breathing can increase perception of effort unnecessarily. Appropriate monitoring of bodily sensations can be used alongside other focusing strategies to decrease perceived effort and reduce the desire to slow down or stop.

Cue your form

Consciously focusing on running technique can actually reduce running economy. However, form cues have proven to be effective. A cue is a simple movement related thought to focus on while running. Which cues work for you will depend on your own preferences, and typical aspects of form you look to influence.

Top five tips to make your mind your ally

1. Accept in advance that the race will be difficult. The challenge is part of your motivation. Embrace it.

2. Reflect on occasions in your training when you have overcome difficult moments. Take confidence from the fact that you have done this before and can do it again on race day.

3. Develop a toolkit of strategies which you can reach into when required. Having a variety of resources available can ease anxiety about your ability to cope mentally.

4. Smile and engage positively with those around, especially the crowd. They will reflect your positivity and bolster your motivation.

5. To quote Ryan Hall, run the mile you’re in. Dismiss thoughts of potential horrors that await and focus on staying tall, running smoothly and relaxing. The steps you are taking are the only ones you can control.

RESIST event

Ahead of the London Marathon, a ‘psychological skills to improve your marathon’ event will be held at St Mary’s University in London on April 12.

The aim of the evening is to give runners an insight into how they can form a more positive relationship with fatigue. Leading sports psychologists Professor Andy Lane and Dr Carla Meijen will outline strategies for coping with the inevitable tough miles that come in any marathon.

There will also be invaluable insight from elite athletes Hayley Carruthers (pictured), who will be on the start line in London, and Jack Gray into how they deal with the mental challenges which pushing yourself hard present.

Preceding the event will be a coached session on the St Mary’s track allowing attendees to engage with fatigue directly before the main discussion. All abilities of runners are welcome, they can do as much or as little of the session as they like and showers will be available in advance of the talk.

Tickets cost £10 and can be booked at eventbrite.co.uk

More information about the RESIST project can be found at resist-stopping.com

KARACHI: Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has not held any international junior event in the country since 2013.

The last international event held for juniors was 5th Roshan Khan Junior Open in 2013. The event was registered with World Squash Federation. It was an Asian Squash Federation’s Super Series event. Former world champion Jansher Khan has termed it the main reason behind the decline of Pakistan squash.

In a statement recently, he suggested to the Prime Minister to hold international junior events in the country to revive the game of squash. Jansher said according to his experience the only way to improve the game of squash in the country was to hold international tournaments for juniors.

The organiser of the last international junior event also feels bad about this situation. Amir Khan while talking to ‘The News’ said the squash authorities are solely focusing on seniors. “This is the reason they are not organising international events for junior. Some international junior events were converted into events for seniors,” said Amir.

For example, he added, the DG Rangers Junior International event and Roshan Khan Junior Open were converted into international events for seniors.

Amir said that now juniors are left to play only national level events where lack of competition is not helping them prepare for competitive squash at international level. Last year Pakistan hosted 19 PSA events but there was not a single event for juniors.

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It’s probably not a stretch to suggest that the Celtics have produced their most encouraging basketball of the season the past two weeks, particularly with two quality wins over an Indiana Pacers team they are likely to play in the opening round of the playoffs.

And, yet, if you’re slightly skeptical about whether this team can bottle up their quality play and carry it into the postseason, it’s understandable. Fans are Charlie Brown and the 2018-19 Celtics are Lucy, repeatedly pulling the good basketball away. Good grief.

Maybe we’re getting duped again but it’s hard to shake the feeling that these Celtics — maybe just maybe — might be peaking at the right time. For the first time all season, this team passes the eye test.

Make no mistake, the Celtics have had these encouraging stretches of play throughout the year. Heck, we’re getting deja vu just typing these words out. And, yet, even in those good stretches, this team was prone to maddening lulls and it was hard to know on a night-to-night basis who, outside of Kyrie Irving, was going to deliver a consistent performance.

While still far from perfect, things feel a little different the past few weeks. Brad Stevens (finally) shuffled an underperforming starting lineup, inserting Aron Baynes into a two-big lineup alongside Al Horford. Poof! Boston’s two-month defensive regression reversed almost immediately.

The Horford/Baynes combo has paired with Irving, Marcus Smart, and Jayson Tatum to start four of Boston’s last seven games. In that span, that five-man unit has played 45 minutes together, outscoring opponents by 21 points per 100 possessions in that span.

The Baynes/Horford pairing has played 76 minutes together over those seven games and Boston owns a net rating of plus-17.2 in that span, which includes a sizzling defensive rating of 98.1. More encouraging, the Celtics have deployed that two-big lineup against Indiana and found success in matching the Pacers’ physicality.

A chess match could loom in the postseason but Baynes has helped restore Boston’s defensive identity. The Celtics seemed particularly energized after Friday’s win in Indiana having held the Pacers under the century mark, maybe recognizing that much of Boston’s postseason success will hinge on its ability to ratchet up the defense.

It’s telling that Horford declared after Friday’s win that, “This was one of our better games this season by far.”

Horford continues to quietly be the glue that holds everything together for these Celtics. His on/off splits since the All-Star break are absurd, with Boston owning a team-best plus-9.0 rating in Horford’s 577 minutes of floor time. That number plummets to a team-worst minus-12.5 in the 479 minutes Horford has been off the court.

It happened again Friday night. Boston had a net rating of plus-34.6 in Horford’s 27 minutes, and it dipped to minus-2.2 in the 21 minutes he was on the bench. Only Gordon Hayward (plus-37.9 on, minus-11.0 off had more jarring splits in Friday’s game). 

Hayward, of course, is maybe the biggest difference in these Celtics recently. Since returning from a concussion, Hayward’s stat lines jump off the page. He’s averaging 16.4 points on 58.8 percent shooting to go with 6.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists over 28.8 minutes per game. On Friday night, Hayward didn’t miss on nine attempts and continued to attack the basket with a confidence that escaped him for much of the season.

Even before he harnessed this confidence and aggression, the numbers suggested that Boston was simply a different team when Hayward is something better than average. Consider this: The Celtics are …

* 17-3 when Hayward scores 15 points or more
* 25-3 when Hayward shoots 50 percent or better in a game
* 17-3 when Hayward has a Game Score better than 13

Game Score is a noisy metric that attempts to condense a player’s box score data into one easy to digest number. Here’s all you need to know: Hayward didn’t miss on Friday night and it was only his sixth highest Game Score of the season (20.9). More encouraging: Some of his best Game Scores have come against top competition, including Golden State (30.5) and Philadelphia (23.0). Hayward also had one of his top 5 Game Scores in Miami earlier this week (25.0). 

Hayward so frequently makes the right play when he’s out on the court and, when you pair him with another right-play-maker in Horford, good things consistently happen. It’s unfair to expect that Hayward can be a dominant force every night in the postseason, there’s still going to be times when his body balks or his shot doesn’t fall. But he’s making things easier on himself by attacking the basket and not settling for long jumpers. He’s getting to the free-throw line even more regularly with a renewed confidence and fearlessness to absorb contact.

And it feels as if Stevens is just waiting to crank the knob on his minutes in the postseason. Whether he’s in the current bench role or maybe elevates to a starter role in small-ball lineups deeper into a potential postseason run, it feels like 30+ minutes of Hayward could really make Boston a different team.

Like Hayward, the Celtics simply pass the eye test right now. They’ve less frequently allowed teams to go on runs, they more consistently look for good shots. They don’t crumble at the first hint of adversity anymore.

The Celtics have done all this while still dealing with minor maladies and maybe the biggest challenge for Stevens is simply figuring out how to keep all his guys playing at a high level, particularly when minutes become scarcer as the playoffs arrive.

This is not to suggest that the Celtics are going to storm the playoffs. While they are clearly a more talented team than Indiana, it seems fair to suggest that wins won’t come quite as easy as they did Friday night when the playoffs start. The Pacers are still going to make Boston work, particularly with their physicality.

Even if the Celtics advance, things get daunting in a hurry with a likely second-round matchup opening on the road against Giannis and the Bucks. But if fans were leery of a quick postseason stay a few weeks ago based on how the Celtics looked, then maybe there’s a bit more optimism about whether this team can push the East’s elite.

Lucy could still pull that football. Nothing about the Celtics’ 2018-19 season suggests that anything is a given. But we’ve seen more encouraging stretches of good basketball lately than at any other point in the season.

A month ago, when the Celtics were clinging to a “flip the switch” possibility, it was fair to laugh and suggest they didn’t even know where that switch was. Now, it at least feels like they have a floor plan and a general idea of where they need to get to.

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.

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Wasps moved themselves clear of the Premiership relegation battle with a 28-16 bonus-point win over Worcester.

The home side scored three tries in 15 first-half minutes through Nathan Hughes, Marcus Watson and Zurabi Zhvania.

Warriors hit back through Sam Lewis but Hughes' second try just after the hour mark sealed the win.

Wasps subsequently climb to seventh and leave Worcester deep in the relegation battle in 11th.

After Duncan Weir's early penalty had put the visitors in front, Wasps took control of the contest.

Hughes' first score was given after a referral to the Television Match Official, before Watson crossed and Georgian prop Zurabi Zhvania burrowed over from short range.

The shell-shocked Warriors regrouped and after a good spell of pressure of their own, Sam Lewis went over and Duncan Weir added the extras.

Wasps centre Gaby Lovobalavu was then yellow carded for an early tackle on Welsh wing Josh Adams.

Weir kicked to the corner as the visitors looked for a second try before half time but Francois Hougaard was tackled and turned over by James Gaskell as he darted for the line.

Scotland international Weir knocked over a penalty on the stroke of half time to reduce the gap to 21-13.

After Wasps outside-half Lima Sopoaga had effortlessly kicked three conversions, he had a moment to forget when he missed a penalty in front of the posts, in the first action of the second period.

Warriors skipper Chris Pennell showed him how it was done just minutes later when he kicked a penalty from halfway to cut the gap to five.

But Wasps held off the revival to secure the bonus point when Hughes added his second of the afternoon.

After being checked by the TMO for a forward pass, the try was given and Sopoaga added his fourth conversion of the match.

• BBC Sport assesses the Premiership relegation battle

Wasps: Le Roux; Watson, Daly, Lovobalavu, Bassett; Sopoaga, Simpson; Zhvania, Cruse, Stuart, Launchbury (capt), Gaskell, Shields, Carr, Hughes.

Replacements: Johnson, McIntyre, Cooper-Woolley, Rowlands, Morris, Hampson, Miller, De Jongh.

Worcester: Pennell; Howe, Te'o, Mills (capt), Adams; Weir, Hougaard; Black, Annett, Schonert, Bresler, Barry, Hill, Lewis, Mama.

Replacements: Taufete'e, Waller, Milasinovich, Kitchener, Du Preez, Heaney, Venter, Van Breda.

Referee: Matthew Carley

For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.

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