SAN FRANCISCO -- Golden State Warriors swingman Klay Thompson acknowledged that 2020 was "the worst year of my life," and he is hopeful he'll be ready for the start of next season as he continues to recover from a torn right Achilles tendon.

Speaking to the media for the first time since suffering the injury on Nov. 18, 2020, during a workout in Los Angeles, Thompson talked at length about the rehab he has endured for the second consecutive season. Thompson has not played in an NBA game since June 13, 2019, after he tore his left ACL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors.

"It was probably the worst year of my life, guys," Thompson said during a video conference with reporters prior to Sunday's victory over the Utah Jazz. "It feels good to be back here. I feel love when I'm back in the Warriors facility. My roots are here. [The pandemic] was not easy on anybody. Everyone had their own little trials and tribulations in 2020, but that was it for me -- was losing my grandma Mary, tearing my Achilles, I still think about Kobe [Bryant] every single day.

"There's not a day I don't think about him. And not being able to have that last convo with him ... it was a tough year, guys. Not only for me, but I'm sure for all of you. I'm looking forward to the future, that's for sure."

Later Sunday, perhaps spurred on by Thompson's words, Draymond Green had his 26th career triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Warriors held off the NBA-leading Jazz 131-119 to end a season-worst four-game losing streak.

When asked specifically about the possibility of playing at the start of next season, Thompson said that was his goal.

"Absolutely," he said. "It could be a few weeks after, maybe a month after, but it's definitely going to be geared toward the very beginning of the season."

Thompson said he is no longer wearing the protective boot around his leg that he had been wearing since surgery to fix the Achilles. He hasn't been able to start running yet, but he has been using an underwater treadmill, "and that's good for my psyche," he said.

"[The Achilles injury] just happened on a true dribble, pull-up jump shot, a move I do 100 times a day," Thompson said. "So, it was just an unfortunate series of events. Nothing I could have ever prepared for, nor prevented. I was working my butt off 10 months up to that point, and you just got to go back to the drawing board. I knew I did it right away, and it's in the past, but I'm getting better every day."

Thompson admitted that the mental aspect of his rehab has been more difficult than having to work through the physical grind of a second straight season-ending injury.

"It's way harder than any basketball game I've ever had to play," Thompson said. "Way harder than any conditioning drill or practice. The mental toll is not very fun. You always guess if you're going to be the same player you once were, so you have those natural thoughts, but you can't let those overtake you, and you got to realize that this is not unique just to me. So many athletes have been through this. Although I was used to playing 100 games a year for the first eight years of my career, this is just a new set of challenges; and with my style of play, I feel like could be effective 'til my late 30s, so I'm not going to feel sorry for myself right now.

"I'm just going to keep buckling down and keep doing what I love to do."

Thompson said he has taken comfort in knowing that current and former NBA stars have had a similar injury and still returned to their old form, including one of his former teammates, Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant.

"From what I've read and what I've heard, you may lose 5 percent of your explosiveness, maybe 10 percent," Thompson said.

Thompson said he also spoke to Hall of Famer Grant Hill to get some tips on how he handled his rehab from various ankle injuries in the prime of his own career.

After missing all of the 2019-20 season, Thompson said it was hard to accept the Achilles injury -- and the realization he would miss yet another full year.

"When it happened, in my mind I knew it happened, but I wasn't even that emotional because my heart wouldn't accept it at the time," Thompson said. "I was hoping for a calf strain or something, but I was just doing what I always do every summer. I was in the weight room, I was getting shots up, I was doing two-a-days, the stuff fans don't see. I was so eager to come back to the court after a year away."

Thompson said the support he received from up and down the Warriors organization was important to him as he tried to shake off the disappointment.

"Luckily, for me, I got great teammates," he said.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr was hopeful from the outset of the second injury that Thompson would spend more time around his teammates and coaches this season after spending parts of last year rehabbing in Los Angeles. Thompson has been more of a fixture on the Warriors bench this season -- both at home and on the road -- a move that has been beneficial to both Thompson and his teammates.

"It's helped me tremendously," Thompson said. "I'm at the point in my career where I can lend my voice, and I know guys appreciate that, even just being there on the road, just showing I'm committed, I know that goes a long way, as well. But it's nice when you get to grind with your teammates in the gym every day and you still feel like you're a part of it."

The Warriors, who now sport a 20-19 record, have struggled to find consistency without Thompson. Despite the ups and downs, Thompson remains confident he can help the Warriors elevate back into title contention.

"I anticipate us being right back in contention," Thompson said. "This year has been tough, obviously, with the pandemic and so many new players on the team. I love our group, though. I think we have a great group. These guys come to work every day; they're eager to be great players. And we still have so much basketball left to play so, although our record doesn't reflect how good I think we are."

Thompson also went out of his way to praise No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman. Wiseman has struggled to find a rhythm during his rookie campaign with the Warriors. He was recently benched for the first half of the Warriors' loss to the LA Clippers on Thursday after missing the first practice following the All-Star break because he missed two consecutive days of COVID-19 testing. Wiseman scored 16 points on 8-for-11 shooting while playing 23 minutes versus the Jazz.

"James is going to be a perennial All-Star one day. He doesn't know how good he is yet," Thompson said. "Who does when they're 19 years old? But he just has physical abilities and talent that you just can't teach."

Thompson understands his body might not be ready to play at his usual high level upon his return. Fortunately, there's time between now and then.

"I'll be honest with you guys: I don't expect to come back and just [go] balls to the wall, 38 minutes a night, guarding the best player running around 100 screens," Thompson said. "I'm going to get to that point, I guarantee that. But I've talked to [Warriors director of sports medicine and performance] Rick Celebrini about a lot; it might be 20 minutes to start the season, 18 minutes, like a minutes restriction. We'll see where I'm at."

MINNEAPOLIS -- Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 34 points and threw down another massive dunk as the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves held on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 114-112 on Sunday.

At 19 years and 221 days old, Edwards became the youngest player in Timberwolves history with a 30-point game.

"No matter if I'm playing good or bad, if it's time for a big-time shot, I always want the ball no matter what," Edwards said of his fourth quarter, in which he scored 13 points. "That's just who I am, but it just happened to be a good game. I was just telling them to give me the ball and get out of the way."

Ricky Rubio added 15 points, including eight free throws in the final seconds. Karl-Anthony Towns had 13 points as Minnesota started with just 10 players, after rookie Jaden McDaniels was added to the health and safety protocols before the game.

Neither team could pull away for three quarters, with the largest lead being just six points for the squads playing without several key players and on the second game of a back-to-back.

Minnesota started to pull away early in the fourth, and it wasn't surprising to see Edwards in the middle of the action.

The No. 1 overall draft pick left the game for several minutes after a midair collision with Blazers center Enes Kanter but later returned after being examined by the athletic trainer. Edwards drained three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and punctuated the performance with a flying dunk down the middle of the lane with 4:09 remaining to give the Wolves a 10-point advantage.

"I be smiling every time because I know people don't wanna jump because of what they saw a couple weeks ago or like a month ago," Edwards said of Sunday's dunk while referencing his now-famous jam over Toronto Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe on Feb. 19. "So, I just try to, you know, power dunk it every time to put even more fear into them so they don't want to jump at all."

Despite another incredible feat, Edwards did most of his damage behind the 3-point line. He had a career-high six 3s, his 13th game with at least three in a game, marking the second-most such games as a rookie in team history. Stephon Marbury had 15 in 1997.

"He's fearless," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said of Edwards. "That's what you want from all your great offensive players -- fearless -- and as he learns the NBA and learns his own game and tries to master those individual situations that he finds himself in, which he will over time. It's fun to see him playing like that, for sure."

The Timberwolves have now won two of their past three games and are 2-6 under Finch, who replaced Ryan Saunders as coach last month.

Edwards said he received a text from someone who believes the team -- which at 9-30 still has the league's worst record -- is about to start a winning streak.

"It's just crazy, but I feel like we can go on a large, tremendous winning streak," Edwards said. "If we just stay locked in and engaged on everything that we're doing, we can go on a winning streak."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

After the LA Clippers failed to respond and were routed by a more aggressive and hungrier New Orleans Pelicans squad on Sunday night, Kawhi Leonard said his team's lack of consistency is "very concerning."

The Clippers never led and trailed by 33 points before falling 135-115 to the up-and-down Pelicans in New Orleans. While the Clippers were without Patrick Beverley (knee) and lost a second starter in Serge Ibaka for the second half due to lower back tightness, Leonard has not liked what he has seen.

The Clippers, a team expected to contend for a championship, have lost five of their past seven games. After starting the season 21-8, the Clippers are just 4-7 since.

"It's very concerning," Leonard said when asked what his level of concern is at over the slippage. "[If] we want to have a chance at anything, you gotta be consistent. You know, that's what the great teams do, they're consistent. They have their nights when, you know, the energy's not there. But it's all about consistency, from teams to players to coaches. That's what makes a team great, players great, coaches great. A consistency of being, wanting to win, and doing pretty much the same habits of winning."

Clippers coach Ty Lue was as angry as he has been this season following a loss. The Clippers (25-15) allowed New Orleans (17-22) to score 36 points and shoot 14-for-21 in the first quarter to fall behind by 12. Lonzo Ball, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram combined to outscore the entire Clippers team 25-24 in the first quarter.

"Teams are going at us, and we got to put up more resistance," Lue said. "I am not discouraged, because we have shown what we can do, and we can play at a high level. But we got to do it every single night. We can't keep talking about it. We got to f---ing ... sorry, we got to do it."

The only other time the even-keeled Lue was this frustrated after a loss was when the Clippers were drilled by a more physical and aggressive Grizzlies team in Memphis during a 122-94 defeat on Feb. 25. That loss not only marked the start of this current stretch of poor play, but the Clippers opened that game and this latest loss in New Orleans in similar fashion.

"That's exactly what it felt like," Lue said of the defeat at Memphis. "That's what our coaching staff was talking about. They were more physical than us, they were tougher than us, and you saw the results. We just gotta be better.

"We gotta be more physical, gotta have defensive mindset at the start of every game, I don't give a hell, I don't care who you playing."

After that 28-point loss to the Grizzlies, the Clippers bounced back and beat Memphis by 20 the next game. But the Clippers followed that with three straight losses entering the All-Star break.

The Clippers appeared to get back on track by blowing out the Golden State Warriors 130-104 at home on Thursday. But then came Sunday night's dismal effort without Beverley, who often gives the Clippers an attitude and energy.

"If [Beverley is] here or not ... everybody has to do it," Leonard said of bringing the energy. "Can't rely on one person."

The Clippers will play Monday against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks in Dallas for the first time since the Mavs destroyed them 124-73 in Los Angeles during the third game of the season.

"If we play like this again tomorrow, it can be another 50-point loss," a frustrated Lue said. "So we got to be ready, got to be prepared. And we got to have our stuff together, man."

To say New York Mets shortstop Luis Guillorme earned his fifth-inning walk would be an understatement.

After going down 0-2 in the count to St. Louis Cardinals righty Jordan Hicks, Guillorme worked a 22-pitch at-bat to take a free path to first.

Guillorme fouled off 16 pitches, including nine straight before getting Ball 4, and it wasn't easy. He saw 10 pitches that were 99 mph or faster throughout the at-bat, according to pitch-tracking data.

"It's pretty cool," Guillorme said after the Mets' 7-5 win on Sunday night. "I'm just happy I ended up with the walk because if I would've gotten out that would've been not fun for me. All that work for nothing. But, you know, it's pretty cool."

Hicks did everything he could to get the out, mixing in fastballs that clocked as high as 101.4 mph with sliders that ranged from 83.2 to 91.9 mph, and a couple of changeups.

It was a rude welcome back to the mound for Hicks, who was facing his first batter since 2019. The 24-year-old reliever had Tommy John surgery in 2019 and opted out of the 2020 season. Hicks was removed after the Guillorme at-bat.

The inning didn't go much better for the rest of the Cardinals' pitching staff, as the next two batters after Guillorme were hit, as was a third batter in a five-run fifth for the Mets.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg left his second spring training start in the third inning Sunday because of a problem with his left calf that he called "nothing major."

The 2019 World Series MVP, whose 2020 season was cut to just five innings because he needed carpal tunnel surgery on his right wrist, said his calf "grabbed" as he stood on that leg at the end of his pitching motion.

"Just kind of more of a precautionary thing and just kind of take it day-to-day and see how it feels tomorrow," said Strasburg, who allowed one hit, struck out four and walked one in 2 1/3 scoreless innings of Washington's 5-0 loss to the Houston Astros.

"Luckily, I feel like I'm a fast healer," he said, "so I don't think it would be something that could be a prolonged absence."

Manager Dave Martinez and trainer Paul Lessard went out to the mound to check on the right-hander before he left the game.

"There was really not much of a discussion," Martinez said. "Just wanted to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling. Other than that, he was coming out of the game. We're in spring training. There's no sense in pushing it."

Strasburg said he was looked at by a team doctor and had an ultrasound exam.

He threw 45 pitches and said that before the calf became problematic, his fastball and changeup felt better than they did in his initial Grapefruit League outing five days earlier.

"I didn't really feel it at all except for that last pitch, where I kind of felt it simultaneously as I was finishing the pitch," Strasburg said.

"I've had my calves cramping up on me in the past and I've pitched through that," he said. "This was definitely something a little different, but not something I couldn't have pitched through if it was a bigger game, I guess."

Opening day is April 1.

"My concern is just keeping him on a five-day schedule right now," Martinez said.

"If he wakes up tomorrow sore or something, he might be held back," the manager said. "We'll see what happens tomorrow."

The Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation is as deep and as talented as it has ever been, but Clayton Kershaw remains perched atop it.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Sunday that Kershaw will once again start on Opening Day, marking the 11th time he has been bestowed the honor. Kershaw has been named the Opening Day starter every year since 2011 but has ultimately been replaced each of the previous two years due to injury.

Last summer, to begin the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, Kershaw was scratched because of back stiffness four hours before the first pitch. He debuted 10 days later and put together another impressive stat line, posting a 2.16 ERA with 62 strikeouts and eight walks in 58 1/3 regular-season innings while pitching with a fastball velocity that returned to the 92-mph range. Kershaw followed with a 2.93 ERA in five starts the ensuing postseason, helping the Dodgers capture their long-elusive World Series championship.

Since then the Dodgers added Trevor Bauer, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. They also employ another Cy Young Award winner in David Price, who's back with the team after opting out of the 2020 season. And they possess a potential Cy Young Award winner in Walker Buehler, who has established himself among the sport's greatest pitchers. But Kershaw, who will turn 33 on Friday and will soon begin the final year of his contract, still sets the tone for their rotation.

"There's really no wrong decision," Roberts said. "I just feel that he's earned it, he's the right guy for the spot for 2021 -- for every reason I just think it makes the most sense."

Not making the most of big moments in games is holding Scotland back from contending for the Six Nations title, says head coach Gregor Townsend.

It followed a one-point loss to Wales, having beaten England away for the first time in 38 years.

"Making the most of your moments," Townsend said when asked what was spoiling his side's chances.

"There was obviously big moments in the Wales game that didn't go our way. There was a big one at the end [Duhan van der Merwe's late run] that could easily have led to a try and a victory.

"We're showing a competitiveness in these games right to the end. But we feel we're better than that.

"But we can't be better until we record back-to-back victories which we've not done these last two games."

After a month without a game due to their match with France being postponed, Scotland now face two six-day turnarounds, with the rescheduled trip to Paris expected to be played on 26 March and Italy visiting Edinburgh on Saturday.

Townsend says it is "unlikely" Finn Russell will be available for the Italy game, as the fly-half suffered a concussion against Ireland and had to be taken off after an hour.

Second-row duo Scott Cummings and Jonny Gray are also injury doubts.

"Scott Cummings, we fear might have a fracture on his hand and, if that's the case, he won't be involved next week," the Scotland head coach said.

"Jonny Gray had a shoulder issue, so well see how that is. That's three players and I imagine there will be a few sore at training on Tuesday and we'll need to see where we are then."

Watch as replacement Huw Jones slaloms through the Irish defence to put Scotland back in contention against Ireland.

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Johnny Sexton knocked over a late penalty as Ireland survived a surge from Scotland to eke out a hectic Six Nations victory at Murrayfield.

Robbie Henshaw and Finn Russell traded unconventional first-half scores.

Soon after a Tadhg Beirne score, Ireland led 24-10 before Huw Jones began a comeback that fell just short.

A sixth successive win over Scotland lifts Ireland up to second in the table, although they go into their final match at home to England with no chance of winning the championship.

Scotland, who opened with a historic win at Twickenham, are stuck in fifth place, having lost three in a row in Edinburgh for the first time since March 2015.

Gregor Townsend's side had four weeks to stew over a careless one-point loss to Wales after the postponement of their visit to Paris and made a sluggish start.

Ireland were on the front foot straight away, with powerful carrying from their forwards, and Sexton was soon clipping over a simple penalty.

The Scottish line-out malfunctioned horribly and the first of six steals from eight throws resulted in the opening try as Sexton hoisted a cross-field kick into scoring zone.

Stuart Hogg and Chris Harris both went up against Keith Earls with no one able to gather and the ball popped loose for Henshaw to pounce on.

Sexton's conversion attempt from a tight angle clipped the post - that would be the veteran fly-half's only miss.

Scotland reduced the deficit with a Russell penalty but struggled to find any momentum because of the haphazard nature of their set-piece.

If there was a touch of fortune about the game's opening try, the second was downright freakish.

Hogg charged down a kick then managed to hack the ball on twice, with the first attempt coming off his own chin. Russell won the race to reach it but his touch with the boot seemed too heavy.

However, James Lowe, in his attempt to intercept only succeeded in patting the ball up in the air and it fell perfectly for Russell to gather and score before he added the extras.

Somehow the hosts were in front, although not for long.

Ireland snaffled yet another dreadful line-out and quickly hammered it forward to earn a penalty, which Sexton knocked over with ease and, on the cusp of half-time, Sexton was at it again thanks to an offside gift from Ali Price.

The second half was nine minutes old when Beirne crashed through for Ireland's second try. Sexton slotted the conversion and was soon adding another penalty, with Scotland second best at the breakdown.

The hosts were down by 14 points and looking rather lost before an exceptional score from Jones hauled them back into the mix.

Sam Johnson ate up ground with purpose and the ball was worked wide on the right for the replacement centre to motor onto, with his power and pace taking him away from the grasping hands of four opponents.

A glut of injuries meant a major reshuffle for the Scots but suddenly they were energised and battering away under the posts.

Duhan van der Merwe was almost in and kept a cool head to keep the ball alive, with Watson burrowing over from close range.

Hogg crashed over the extras and it was a level game with just a few minutes on the clock.

Ireland must have been sick after surrendering such a commanding lead but they summoned one more venture forward and when Ryan Baird charged down Price's kick, the home scrum-half was penalised for holding on, allowing Sexton the final word.

Sexton v Russell?

No contest.

Much of the pre-match narrative was of Russell snapping at the heels of Sexton for a British and Irish Lions place but the Irish captain was streets ahead, pinging over a tricky fifth penalty of the afternoon to seal victory.

Yes, Russell scored a try, but it came from some bizarre pinball. The Scotland number 10 sent a wild penalty attempt wide in the first half and blazed a kick to touch in the corner miles out on the full when Scotland were in need of a lift early in the second half.

He was removed on 62 minutes after a bang on the head, which will likely rule him out against Italy next week, and Scotland looked more dynamic with Hogg taking over at fly-half.

Man of the match - Tadhg Beirne

'Not my best strike'- reaction

Scotland captain Stuart Hogg: "Ireland were outstanding for 80 minutes and fully deserved the win.

"The frustrating thing for us is giving them 24 points in the first place. Credit to Ireland, they took their opportunities but for the second week in a row we've been ill-disciplined, allowed them easy field position and kind of killed ourselves at times."

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton: "I probably got a little bit lucky [with the winning kick] it was not my best strike - and it got there thankfully.

"We're just letting in soft tries, which is not acceptable at international level, and it is a little frustrating as we dominated the game. But, if we can finish second after a poor start to the Six Nations, we'll be happy."

Scotland: 15-Stuart Hogg (capt), 14-Sean Maitland, 13-Chris Harris, 12-Sam Johnson, 11-Duhan van der Merwe, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Ali Price; 1-Rory Sutherland, 2-George Turner, 3-WP Nel, 4-Scott Cummings, 5-Jonny Gray, 6-Jamie Ritchie, 7-Hamish Watson, 8-Matt Fagerson

Replacements: 16-David Cherry, 17-Jamie Bhatti, 18-Simon Berghan, 19-Grant Gilchrist, 20-Nick Haining, 21-Scott Steele, 22-Huw Jones, 23-Darcy Graham

Ireland: 15-Hugo Keenan, 14-Keith Earls, 13-Garry Ringrose, 12-Robbie Henshaw, 11-James Lowe, 10-Johnny Sexton (capt), 9-Jamison Gibson-Park; 1-Cian Healy, 2-Rob Herring, 3-Tadhg Furlong, 4-Iain Henderson, 5-James Ryan, 6- Tadhg Beirne, 7-Will Connors, 8-CJ Stander

Replacements: 16-Ronan Kelleher, 17-Dave Kilcoyne, 18-Andrew Porter, 19-Ryan Baird, 20-Jack Conan, 21-Conor Murray, 22-Billy Burns, 23-Jordan Larmour

Match officials

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Touch judges: Mathieu Raynal (France) and Andrea Piardi (Italy)

TMO: Alex Ruiz (France)