The Bucks have won 11 of their last 12 games thanks to Saturday night's 120-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Milwaukee.

But the national hype hasn't been the same around this year's group compared to the past two seasons, when it finished atop the league standings.

And for reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, that's just the way he likes it.

"We don't play for people to talk about us," the Bucks star said following a 26-point, 15-assist, 8-rebound performance against the Spurs. "I kind of like it. I just want to be left alone. I never liked bright lights. I never liked people talking about us. It just adds pressure to me and my teammates to come in and do what we do.

"I kind of like to be under the radar and we just come in, enjoy one another, enjoy playing basketball and we're just getting the job done. But, yeah, there's gonna be times they're gonna talk about us, there's gonna be times they're not gonna talk about us, but personally, as I said, I just like being under the radar."

During Saturday's win, the Bucks also saw a debut performance from P.J. Tucker, who didn't score in 13 minutes but did grab three boards with a block. His presence was felt deeper than the box score, though.

"He's great. You can hear him everywhere," said Bucks guard Jrue Holiday, who finished with 21 points and five rebounds.

"You can hear him even when he's on the bench, but out there on the court it's really fun. You love a guy that communicates in that way. He's loud, very clear and distinctive and makes the game a lot easier."

Antetokounmpo matched his career high with 15 assists. He also became the fourth player in Bucks history with at least 25 points and 15 assists in a game, joining Monta Ellis, Oscar Robertson and Guy Rodgers, per ESPN Stats & Information research.

Additionally, he became the third player to average a 25-point triple-double and 60% shooting over a 5-game span, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Still, he feels "they don't need to talk about us," the goal is a title.

"We're just gonna keep doing what we're doing," Antetokounmpo said. "We just keep enjoying each other and keep playing to win games and playing the right way."

ATTICA, Ohio – In a caution-filled opening night 410 sprint feature which saw two early leaders spin, Missouri’s Hunter Schuerenberg navigated through traffic and held off a late-race charge to score his first Attica Raceway Park victory.

Schuerenberg inherited the lead of the Callie’s Performance Products 410 sprint feature on lap 15 when leader Trey Jacobs spun and held off a late race charge by his friend Zach Hampton for the 30-lap win.

The triumph for Schuerenberg came aboard the Vermeer Motorsports/TK Concrete/Maxim Trucking/Roof Bolt Transport/Eddie Gilstrap Motors/Logan Contracting/Titan Machinery backed No. 55.

“It was just of those kinds of race tracks if your leading you can’t afford to make a mistake. As wide as the place was I knew someone in second was probably pressuring the hell out of me. If you caught lapped traffic then you were forced to try and slide across that race track and give the guy behind you some room,” Schuerenberg said. “I knew he was back there…I was just trying to slow the pace down enough so we didn’t have to get into lapped traffic real hard. I probably could have run the car a little bit harder but when three guys ahead of you make a mistake … I wasn’t going to give the race away.

“I think that was Zach (Hampton) that ran second and that’s pretty cool. He and I are buddies. That kid is the hardest working dude in sprint car racing right now. He’s coming along quite well and to know he ran second is pretty cool. Happy to get win No. 1 with Vermeer Motorsports,” he added.

Chad Wilson and Cole Macedo brought the field to green for the 30-lap 410 sprint feature but a three car tangle necessitated another start which saw another spin followed by a green and another caution.

When the race finally started, Macedo jumped into the lead over Trey Jacobs, Schuerenberg, Wilson, Ricky Peterson, Hampton and Chris Andrews.

Macedo spun on lap two handing the lead to Jacobs. Jacobs set a blistering pace, racing into lapped traffic by the sixth circuit with Schuerenberg, Peterson, Hampton and Andrews in pursuit.

A spin on lap seven gave Jacobs a clear track and he pulled away. Jacobs once again found heavy lapped traffic by the 12th circuit but another caution gave him a clear track.

By the half-way point Jacobs had built a nice lead over Schuerenberg, Peterson, Hampton, Andrews, Cole Duncan, Nate Dussel and John Ivy.

But disaster truck for Jacobs as he jumped the cushion in turns three and four to bring out the caution and handing the lead to Schuerenberg. On the restart another caution flew which brought about a fuel stoppage. The race would go caution free for the final half.

When the green came back out Schuerenberg could not shake Hampton, who had grabbed second from Peterson. Meanwhile a tremendous battle shaped up for fourth with Dussel, Andrews and Duncan.

With five laps to go, Schuerenberg was struggling behind a lapped car, but was content not to push the issue as Hampton never showed him his nose.

Schuerenberg was finally able to dispose of the lapper and drove to the win over Hampton, Peterson, Andrews and Dussel.

In arguably the best feature of the night, five-time and defending Fremont Fence 305 sprint car track champion Paul Weaver used lapped traffic to take the lead at the white flag and held off a last ditch challenge from Steve Rando to earn his 57th career class victory.

It was Weaver’s 60th total win at the track, including three in the 410 sprint class, making him the all-time career winner at Attica.

“I caught him (Rando), he pulled away, I caught him, he pulled away and it just played out on the last lap or he probably would have got me back,” said Weaver. “I might have passed Mark Keegan (for all time wins) but Mark Keegan is the best. When he walks in the pits everyone knows that. It’s a shame I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to run 410s. I’m just trying to keep the fun in racing.”

Rando tried a last corner dive in an effort to get the top spot back, but Weaver held his line and drove to the win.

Rando, Jamie Miller, Zeth Sabo and Brandon Moore rounded out the top five.

Ryan Markham led all 25 laps to win the Propane.com/Dirt Nerds Podcast UMP Late Model A Main over Rusty Schlenk, Collin Shipley, a charging Casey Noonan, and defending late model track titlist Devin Shiels.

The finish:

1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 2. 35H-Zach Hampton [5]; 3. 2-Ricky Peterson [3]; 4. 23-Chris Andrews [10]; 5. 1-Nate Dussel [13]; 6. 22-Cole Duncan [9]; 7. 16-D.J. Foos [19]; 8. 27S-John Ivy [12]; 9. 18-Cole Macedo [2]; 10. 97-Gary Taylor [6]; 11. 35-Stuart Brubaker [23]; 12. 3C-Cale Conley [24]; 13. 4T-Josh Turner [20]; 14. 3J-Trey Jacobs [4]; 15. 98-Clinton Boyles [16]; 16. 14-Chad Wilson [1]; 17. 20B-Cody Bova [7]; 18. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [17]; 19. 40I-Mark Imler [18]; 20. 12-Kyle Capodice [21]; 21. 33W-Caleb Griffith [15]; 22. 71H-Ryan Ruhl [11]; 23. 16B-Zane DeVault [14]; 24. 7-Dylan Kingan [22].

HICKORY, N.C. – Matt Craig led nearly every lap of Saturday’s CARS Super Late Model Tour opener at Hickory Motor Speedway, but he didn’t have the honor of leading the most important one.

Instead that honor went to Carson Kvapil, who snookered Craig on the final lap to steal his first series victory.

Wheeling the No. 35 super late model prepared by his father, 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, the younger Kvapil spent nearly the entire 100-lap distance chasing Craig.

Kvapil was never more than a few car lengths away from Craig throughout the race and he really began to close the gap in the final 10 laps. With five laps left Kvapil was right behind Craig and hounding him for the lead.

On the final lap Kvapil made his move, moving below Craig coming out of turn two. Craig gave up the position and pulled the crossover on Kvapil, diving back under him as they raced into turn three.

They came out of turn four side-by-side, with Kvapil beating Craig to the finish line by .010 seconds to earn his first CARS Super Late Model Tour victory.

“I was on him the last two laps,” Kvapil said. “I gave him a shove him in the center and got him up the track a little bit and got under him and just piled into (turn) three. I think we both did. I washed up the track and he crossed me over, so I cut back down and got the run down the straightaway.”

Craig was left frustrated in the immediate aftermath of the finish and briefly confronted Kvapil in victory lane, where he had some choice word for the 17-year-old.

“My right-rear (tire) was giving up. I ran really hard,” Craig said. “They’ve got their program going pretty good, but I saw him fly in on my left side. I knew if I didn’t try to back out of the hole and try the crossover, he was going to fence me off of (turn) four. He barely made the corner with me out there, so he was definitely going to run into me.”

Kvapil said he didn’t understand exactly why Craig was upset.

“We were both going for the win. We’re both going to drive it into the corner,” Kvapil said. “I know he’d do the same thing to me. If I was on the outside he wouldn’t just let me have the win. I’m sure he’d do the same thing. I don’t really get it. I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

Ryan Moore finished third, followed by T.J. Duke and Northern invader Garrett Hall.

The race was broadcast live by SPEED SPORT TV affiliate Pit Row TV. Fans that missed the race live can watch it on demand now.

The finish:

Carson Kvapil, Matt Craig, Ryan Moore, T.J. Duke, Garrett Hall, Justin Crider, Ben Rowe, Michael Ritch, Jeff Batten, Jacob Perry, Mike Hopkins, Jeremy Barclay, Kodie Conner, Brandon Setzer.

HICKORY, N.C. – For the second time in a matter of hours, a race at Hickory Motor Speedway was determined by a matter of inches on Saturday night.

This time it was during a CARS Late Model Stock Tour main event, which saw Bobby McCarty survive a late-race challenge from Tyler Mathews to earn his first victory of the young season by .025 seconds.

The CARS Late Model Stock Tour feature followed the CARS Super Late Model Tour opener earlier in the evening, which saw Carson Kvapil beat Matt Craig by .010 seconds in another photo finish.

Initially it appeared it would be a battle between Mike Looney and McCarty for the victory in CARS Late Model Stock Tour feature. Looney took the lead on lap 64 and pulled away to half a straightaway lead over the rest of the pack.

McCarty, who spent more than half of the race conserving his tires, set off in pursuit of Looney after taking second on lap 97. He was able to catch Looney in traffic, but disaster soon struck for Looney after he was involved in an incident with Jonathan Shafer that heavily damaged the nose on Looney’s car.

With Looney forced to pit during the ensuing caution to repair the damaged nose on his car, McCarty inherited the race lead. When racing resumed McCarty shot out into the lead and tried to pull away, but Mathews suddenly appeared on the scene after taking second on lap 136.

Mathews began closing in on McCarty, but with laps clicking away it appeared he wouldn’t have enough time to catch McCarty. That changed when the caution flag waved on lap 147 when Jessica Cann and Jack Wood crashed in turn four.

That set up a three-lap dash to the checkered flag, with McCarty initially getting the lead ahead of Mathews. However, Mathews stayed glued to the bottom and with each lap he inched closer to McCarty.

Coming to the white flag Mathews was right on McCarty’s bumper and was able to get alongside him on the final lap. Coming around to the checkered flag McCarty narrowly held the advantage to beat Mathews to the checkered flag.

“I knew Tyler was coming, but I felt pretty confident that I could hold him off,” McCarty said. “That caution came out and I was like, ‘Dude, that is the last we really needed.’

“I didn’t want to go to the bottom because I knew he could bump me sooner,” McCarty continued. “With the way this place wears tires out it doesn’t take much to get you up and out of the throttle. I ran the top and it worked out for us. He raced me clean. I really appreciate that. He could have done what he had to do to win the race and he raced me clean. It was close.”

Mathews fell just short of his first CARS Late Model Stock Tour victory, but was still smiling after the race.

“We were catching him right there under green,” Mathews explained. “It was one of those cautions that you hate to see but you love to see, because you know you definitely have an opportunity. That restart, just pinning us down on the bottom and it took us a little bit opened up and run him back down and get back to his bumper.

“It’s a great confidence booster going into Orange County. I really feel like we’ve got a good race program. Made some really good strides out of today.”

Sam Butler finished third, followed by Deac McCaskill and Daniel Silvestri.

The race was broadcast live by SPEED SPORT TV affiliate Pit Row TV. Fans that missed the race live can watch it on demand now.

The finish:

Bobby McCarty, Tyler Mathews, Sam Butler, Deac McCaskill, Daniel Silvestri, Jonathan Findley, Mini Tyrrell, William Cox III, Kaden Honeycutt, Justin Johnson, Jared Fryar, Brandon Pierce, Mike Looney, Justin Carroll, Joe Valento, Sam Yarbrough, Jonathan Shafer, Layne Riggs, Chase Dixon, Jack Wood, Jessica Cann, Mason Diaz, Conner Jones, Matt Leicht. 

Newcastle United remain outside the Premier League's bottom three but the abject nature of Saturday's 3-0 defeat by fellow strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion did not bode well for their hopes of avoiding the drop.

Steve Bruce's side were comprehensively outplayed as Brighton cruised to victory with goals by Leandro Trossard, Danny Welbeck and Neal Maupay.

The visitors failed to register a shot on target and are now six games without a league win, leaving them in 17th place, two points above third-from-bottom Fulham.

- Premier League table: Newcastle two points clear of Fulham
- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)

To rub salt into their wounds they lost midfielder Isaac Hayden to what looked a serious knee injury shortly before Trossard's opener on the stroke of half-time.

"The mood is the lowest it's been. We just weren't good enough," said Newcastle winger Ryan Fraser, who hit the post shortly before Welbeck made it 2-0.

"It was a must-win game after doing alright in the last couple of weeks. It didn't happen for us tonight.

"Conceding just before half-time after the injury was a low blow. The second goal was identical to their first. It was a little bit too easy. We need to save our season now."

While Newcastle had drawn their previous three matches, they have managed only two wins from their last 18 and with a tough run of fixtures to come after the international break, they are in a desperate battle to remain a top-flight team.

"We're not in the bottom three yet and we've still got games remaining," Fraser said. "If we go and win our next game it looks rosy again. We've still got to play Fulham too."

Bruce will come under further pressure after what he described as "a painful evening" on the south coast.

"We weren't anywhere near the levels we need to be at. I take full responsibility for that. Unfortunately it unravelled very, very quickly," he said.

"There's a lot of disappointment. Over the last few weeks I've seen a degree of togetherness and fight, but we've got to be better than we were tonight to give ourselves a chance."

Shakib Al Hasan has said that he was misrepresented by the BCB about his decision to skip the Test series against Sri Lanka.

Shakib said that the two matches, which are part of the World Test Championship, aren't of much value as Bangladesh are at the bottom of the competition's points table. He said that playing in the IPL would rather help him prepare better for the T20 World Cup, to be held in India in October.

"These two Tests are our last matches in the World Test Championship so it is not as if we are going to play the final," Shakib told Cricfrenzy. "We are at the very bottom of the points table. I don't think it makes much of a difference. The other major reason is that the World Cup T20 is in India later this year. It is a very important tournament where we have much to achieve. There isn't much to achieve in these two Tests. I think it is a better option that I prepare myself for something bigger."

Shakib said that his letter to the BCB was focused on his plan to prepare for the T20 World Cup, but Akram Khan, the BCB's cricket operations chairman, said that Shakib doesn't want to play the two Tests against Sri Lanka, to be held from April 21 to May 3.

"Those who keep saying that I don't want to play Tests, I am sure they didn't read my letter. I didn't mention anywhere in my letter to the BCB that I don't want to play Tests. I wrote that I want to play the IPL to prepare myself for the World Cup," Shakib said.

"Akram bhai especially has repeatedly said that I don't want to play Tests. I think he said it again in an interview yesterday. I guess he never read the letter. People should have a clear idea that I wanted to play the IPL even if ODIs were scheduled during this time.

"I want to take advantage of playing in the same grounds and against the same players who I will face in the World Cup T20 four months later. I can share the same experience with my Bangladesh team-mates."

He said that the BCB president Nazmul Hassan's decision to allow him to play in the IPL is laudable. "I want to thank (Nazmul Hassan) Papon bhai for taking the right decision. A player must have the freedom, and his confidence goes up when the board president backs him in this manner. The player becomes more responsible when playing for the national team," he said.

Shakib criticised the BCB's decision to hold the Test series during the IPL. They will also be playing an ODI series against Sri Lanka, possibly from May 20, which will also clash with Shakib's IPL commitment. Shakib said that by doing so, BCB had again given less value to its own cricketers.

"No other cricket board holds international matches during the IPL," he said. "Only we are playing against Sri Lanka. Do you ever see any Afghanistan cricketer playing for their country during the IPL? Their board makes sure the players are free to play in the IPL. If we don't value our own players, how can you expect us to perform well when playing for Bangladesh?

"I will let you in on a brutal truth. When overseas players come to Bangladesh, we call most of them 'sir' or 'hujur', but we do not see our experienced cricketers the same way. If the people, board and players do not respect you, you can't expect them to respect you."

Shakib also criticised the BCB's long-term planning, questioning the role of the High Performance unit, and suggested that some of the BCB directors who have played for Bangladesh in the past haven't done much to progress the game.

"Not having back-up players is really disappointing. I don't know how many players have come from the High Performance squad. We have a number of people in the cricket board who have played for Bangladesh, but apart from (Khaled Mahmud) Sujon bhai, they are not too involved. Sujon bhai and Papon bhai must be credited for the 2019 Under-19 World Cup win.

"But I can't find any more people from the board to give credit. I don't think they think much about cricket (laughs). We hardly talk about these things. Even our journalists are focused on small things. They don't look at the big picture, like how many players we produced in the last five years."

Defending champions Khulna will face the newly-promoted Sylhet in the National Cricket League from March 22, as domestic cricket returns in Bangladesh after three months. The last domestic tournament held was the Bangabandhu T20s, which finished on December 18. Since then, the 2020-21 domestic season has been paused for vaccination to begin across the country.

Many of the participating players have already been vaccinated before the competition, although the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh may have an affect later in the NCL's scheduling.

The NCL is one of two first-class competitions that will be played in six cities this time, but at least for the first two rounds, none of the matches will be played in Dhaka where Covid cases are the highest.

Khulna, Sylhet, Dhaka and Rangpur are in Tier-1 of the competition while Rajshahi, Dhaka Metropolis, Chattogram and Barisal are in Tier-2. Last season, Rajshahi were demoted to Tier-2.

Bangladesh are currently touring New Zealand, and will return after the third T20I on April 1. Upon their return, they will have less than two weeks to fit in time with their family before they go to Sri Lanka to play two World Test Championship matches. It might leave them with possibly one first-class match although that too depends entirely on their bio-bubble management.

Following the NCL, the BCB has already announced that the 2019-20 Dhaka Premier League will be completed as a T20 tournament during this season, starting on May 6.

New South Wales 32 (Bird 7-18) trail Tasmania 333 by 301 runs

On an extraordinary second day in Hobart, defending Sheffield Shield champions New South Wales were demolished for 32 - their lowest first-class total and the fourth-lowest of all-time in the Shield - as Jackson Bird bagged a career-best 7 for 18.

Only captain Peter Nevill reached double figures, unbeaten on 10, when last-man Harry Conway edged Sam Rainbird to Tim Paine with the injured Sean Abbott, who split the webbing in his right hand yesterday, unable to bat. Tasmania opted not to enforce the follow-on.

Earlier in the season, New South Wales had been bowled out for 64 by Tasmania in Adelaide but were able to turn that match on its head to secure victory.

Here they lost two wickets in their first over - Daniel Hughes and Daniel Solway lbw to Bird - and the entire innings lasted less than 20 overs. Before they had managed a run, Kurtis Patterson also departed when he got an inside edge against Bird.

Seven overs past before the mayhem resumed, Jason Sangha beaten by one from Peter Siddle that nipped back and perhaps kept a fraction low.

Then it was back to Bird who had Nick Larkin taken at short leg from an inside edge that ballooned off the pad with Mitchell Starc walking in at No. 7 before lunch.

He did not last long after the interval, flashing an edge to Matthew Wade at slip to give Bird his five-wicket haul in the space of 45 deliveries.

Fortune was on Bird's side for his next wicket when Trent Copeland's edge was parried by third slip and taken by first and two balls later Nathan Lyon chipped to mid-on.

Bird had been at the forefront of the action when play resumed with Tasmania 7 for 258 as he struck 54 off 55 balls, just his second first-class half-century, in an eighth-wicket stand of 83 with Paine to lift the home side well over 300.

Captain Alun Wyn Jones and flanker Josh Navidi rue Wales indiscipline late on that helped France deny them a Grand Slam in Paris.

The hosts fought back from 30-20 down to win 32-30 in a dramatic finish. It means France now have a chance to win the tournament when they take on Scotland in Paris on Friday.

Read more: Galthie accuses Wales over red card

Watch more: Highlights - France 32-30 Wales