Club América advances to the next round of the Concacaf Champions Cup

It was shaky towards the end, but Club América was able to hold on and qualified for the next round of the Concacaf Champions Club after defeating the Philadelphia Union on aggregate. The Aguilas played a game of two halves as they dominated the first half but struggled in the second half. They were lucky that the Union was unable to capitalize on any of their chances. Now the Union return home to resume the regular season while the Aguilas will prepare to face Pumas in the Clasico Capitalino and then Nashville in the Champions Cup. 

América got the ball rolling six minutes into the match thanks to a goal from Rodrigo Dourado. Philadelphia committed a foul outside of the box which gave the Aguilas a free kick in a dangerous spot. Brazilian Rapha Veiga took the kick as he sent the ball into the box where fellow Brazilian Dourado was there to head the ball into the back of the net and go up 2-0 on aggregate.

The visitors did not get their first chance of the night until the 11th minute, which was a wasted opportunity as the ball went nowhere near the target. It was still the beginning of the game so the Union had a chance to make their way back. That, however, looked to be difficult as the Aguilas dominated control and Philadelphia were just trying to make their way forward towards goal but without success. Then it looked as if the night went from bad to worse for the visitors when Alejandro Zendejas scored a goal after a great through pass from Patricio Salas. Upon a second look the goal was called back due to offside. Philadelphia got lucky and they would need to take advantage of this opportunity given. Instead it was América who had the chances to go up as they attacked the wings. Whether it was Brian Rodriguez on the left side or Zendejas on the right side, the home side was creating chances while the visitors could only defend. The Union were even lucky that the Aguilas were unable to finish any of their chances as they weren’t lethal in front of goal as they used to be. As the first half came to an end, Philadelphia were lucky to not be down by many goals the way América were playing. 

The second half started with changes from both coaches. André Jardine made only one change as he subbed in Ramon Juárez for Sebastian Cáceres. Meanwhile Bradley Carnell made two changes as Frankie Westfield and Bruno Damiani came on for Geiner Martinez and Stas Korzeniowski. The changes on the visitors’ side paid off just a few minutes later. Westfield made his way into the box with the ball as Zendejas attempted to disarm him but instead he tripped up the player and the referee did not hesitate to point to the center of the box for a penalty. Jesus Bueno stepped up to take the penalty to attempt to give his team a lifeline. The Venezuelan sent Rodolfo Cota the wrong way as he easily sent the ball to the corner and now Philadelphia had a chance to make a comeback. If they scored another goal, without receiving one, they would advance to the next round.

Seeing as the visitors only needed one goal to advance it would seem that América would up the intensity to put the game away but that was not the case. Instead they found themselves back, blocking attempts from the Union. A second goal from the visitors came close in the 60th minute when Nathan Harriel made his way into the box unmarked and got on a rebound but his shot went high into the stands. A few minutes later Westfield made his way up the left side of the field where he sent a cross into the box but before his teammate got to it Cota stretched his arms out for the save. In the 65th minute the Aguilas had a chance to go up when Zendejas found himself alone on the right side but instead of running at full speed up the right side, he slowly made his way up. Then he passed to Rodriguez who fell to the ground right outside the box looking for a foul the moment he felt a defender run up to him. It looked as if Zendejas might have slowed down because he thought he was in an offside position even though he was not. Even if he believed he was offside, players need to play until they hear the whistle because if he would have done that then his team would be up a goal. The Union then had two back-to-back chances at goal. They received a free kick outside the box after Cristian Borja committed a reckless foul. The chance went nowhere as the ball hit the wall of yellow jerseys and went out of danger. Right after this, Westfield had another big chance when he sent a ball towards the net from distance but the ball went just above the crossbar. In the 72nd minute Jardine made more changes that did not bring a lot of confidence to fans. A substitution is supposed to be a game changer but the three players Jardine was about to send in were anything but that. This wasn’t a surprise seeing as América had yet to bring in high caliber signings like they used to. As the game was in its final 10 minutes the home side was just trying to defend their result. If the Union scored a goal then their journey in the tournament was over. Meanwhile the Union repeatedly made their way up the field looking for one more goal. They had one last chance in stoppage time as they were awarded a free kick outside of the box. The ball made its way into the box but Cota used his height for his benefit as he jumped into the air and punched the ball out of danger. This was the last play of the game as the referee blew his whistle and the Union players fell to their knees knowing their Champions Cup journey came to an end while Club América moved on, looking for the one trophy that alludes André Jardine. 

Luka Doncic scored 40 points and LeBron James added 30 on Wednesday to spark the Los Angeles Lakers over Houston 124-116, stretching their NBA win streak to seven games.

Doncic, the league's leading scorer, added 10 assists and nine rebounds while 41-year-old James hit 13-of-14 shots from the floor for the visiting Lakers.

"He pulled it out with big shots, big time," James said, heaping praise on Slovenian Doncic.

"He has been doing it all year for us and he has been in great rhythm since the season started and we just try to pick him up."

James, the all-time NBA scoring leader, delivered a masterful performance.

"I didn't feel that great when I woke up or even when I got to the arena. I was pretty tired from the last game," James said.

"But once the competitive juices get going, we got it flowing and we just tried to make a few plays."

The Lakers (44-25), third in the Western Conference, took the season series tie-breaker over Houston (41-27).

Doncic and James each scored 18 points in the first half as the Lakers led 67-55 at halftime.

James made four first-half dunks, his most since 2020, and went 8-for-8 from the floor to match his most baskets without a missed shot in any half since March 2011.

But the Rockets rallied in the third quarter as Kevin Durant, who had only two first-half points, scored 13 in the third and Houston led 92-89 entering the fourth.

Doncic sandwiched three-pointers around lobs for dunks to James and Rui Hachimura for a 120-111 lead and Houston could not rally.

"We have a lot of resilience," James said. "Even when we went down in the second half, they made a run and took the lead. But we have guys who have been in big games before."

At Boston, Jaylen Brown scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum added 24 points and a game-high 10 rebounds as the Celtics (46-23) ripped visiting Golden State 120-99.

Brown shot 8-of-9 from the floor to score 19 points in the first quarter while Tatum had 16 in the first half, his best half since returning two weeks ago from a 10-month ruptured Achilles tendon absence.

Brown passed Dave Cowens for 10th on the all-time Celtics scoring list.

"It just goes to show the dedication, the commitment that he has made to his craft and getting better every single year," Tatum said of Brown.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points to extend his NBA record streak of 20-point games as the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder cruised 121-92 at Brooklyn.

Jared McCain added 26 points off the bench for the Thunder, whose 10th consecutive victory boosted the NBA's best record to 55-15.

The Nets fell to 17-52 with a fifth straight loss.

Oklahoma City led 60-24 at halftime, the Nets matching a club record for fewest points in a first half from the 1997-98 season.

"From the jump we did a great job and it carried over throughout the game," Oklahoma City's Aaron Wiggins said.

- Hawks streak at 11 -

The Atlanta Hawks (38-31) stretched their win streak to 11 games with a 135-120 triumph at Dallas.

C.J. McCollum scored 24 points and Jalen Johnson added 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Deni Avdija had 32 points and 11 rebounds to lead Portland's 127-119 victory at Indiana, the NBA-worst Pacers (15-55) losing their 15th consecutive game.

Ty Jerome scored 21 points and Memphis snapped an eight-game losing skid with a 125-118 home victory over Denver.

With star Anthony Edwards out due to a sore right knee, Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 12 rebounds in host Minnesota's 147-111 rout of Utah.

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Boston Celtics (46-23, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (24-44, 11th in the Western Conference)

Memphis, Tennessee; Friday, 8 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Boston seeks to continue its three-game win streak with a victory over Memphis.

The Grizzlies are 13-20 on their home court. Memphis is seventh in the NBA with 28.5 assists per game led by Cam Spencer averaging 5.4.

The Celtics are 22-13 on the road. Boston scores 114.4 points and has outscored opponents by 7.4 points per game.

The Grizzlies are shooting 46.0% from the field this season, 1.9 percentage points higher than the 44.1% the Celtics allow to opponents. The Celtics are shooting 46.5% from the field, 1.1% lower than the 47.6% the Grizzlies' opponents have shot this season.

The teams square off for the second time this season. The Celtics won the last meeting 131-95 on Nov. 13. Payton Pritchard scored 24 points to help lead the Celtics to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Spencer is averaging 11.4 points and 5.4 assists for the Grizzlies. Jaylen Wells is averaging 14.7 points over the last 10 games.

Jaylen Brown is scoring 28.5 points per game with 7.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists for the Celtics. Derrick White is averaging 17.5 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 42.1% over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Grizzlies: 2-8, averaging 116.7 points, 38.1 rebounds, 26.4 assists, 9.8 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.9 points per game.

Celtics: 7-3, averaging 110.9 points, 48.8 rebounds, 25.9 assists, 6.1 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 103.5 points.

INJURIES: Grizzlies: Santi Aldama: out for season (knee), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: out for season (finger), Ja Morant: out (elbow), Scotty Pippen Jr.: out for season (toe), Zach Edey: out for season (ankle), Jahmai Mashack: out (ankle), Brandon Clarke: out (calf).

Celtics: Nikola Vucevic: out (finger).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.