Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Rockets hang on to defeat Thunder, move on to West semis

James Harden capped a miserable shooting performance with a timely defensive play, and the Houston Rockets held on for a 104-102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Wednesday near Orlando. Harden closed out on Thunder guard Luguentz Dort and recorded a blocked shot with 4.8 seconds left and Houston clinging to a one-point lead. Following a Robert Covington free throw, the Rockets blew up an inbounds play from the Thunder with 1.1 seconds left to clinch the series and set a date opposite the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. Kazakhstan’s Lutsenko wins Tour de France stage six

Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko won the sixth stage of the Tour de France, a 191-km trek from Le Teil on Thursday. The Astana rider prevailed from an eight-man breakaway at the top of the Mont Aigoual. No sign of slowdown as Osaka beats second-round challenger at U.S. Open

Former champion Naomi Osaka made quick work of second-round opponent Camila Giorgi 6-1 6-2 at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, in a lopsided matchup at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in which she showed no sign of slowing down. A dominant Osaka came roaring out of the gate, winning the first five straight games in near-pristine form, committing just four unforced errors in the first set and winning 10 of her 12 first-serve points. MLB roundup: Duvall gets Braves’ second straight three-homer game

The visiting Atlanta Braves got a three-homer performance for the second straight night, this time by Adam Duvall in a 7-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday. The result gave Atlanta a three-game sweep of Boston, the first time the Braves swept three from the Red Sox since 2002. Ice hockey – KHL game between Finns Jokerit and Dinamo Minsk cancelled amid fan protests

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) game between Finnish club Jokerit and Belarus’s Dinamo Minsk scheduled for Thursday has been cancelled, the league said, amid fan protests in Finland because of the political crisis in Belarus. The KHL awarded Jokerit a technical defeat for having failed to travel to Minsk. The league said earlier on Thursday it would provide the reasons for Jokerit’s absence at a later time. ‘Not easy’ during U.S. Open, but Djokovic moving forward with players body

Novak Djokovic is finding it tough to deal with issues related to his breakaway players body in the middle of the U.S. Open but the world number one says he is moving forward with it as more professionals join the cause daily. Djokovic resigned as head of the ATP player council last week, along with members Vasek Pospisil, John Isner and Sam Querrey, to form the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA). Brooklyn Nets name Hall of Famer Nash as head coach

Basketball Hall of Famer Steve Nash has been named head coach of a Brooklyn Nets squad that will be led by the dominant Kevin Durant next season, the NBA team said on Thursday. Nash joins the Nets after spending five seasons as a player development consultant with the Golden State Warriors, where he contributed to two NBA championship teams and made four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. Former New York Mets star pitcher Tom Seaver dies at 75

Tom Seaver, the Hall-of-Fame pitcher who won more than 300 games during his Major League Baseball career and led the New York Mets to their unlikely 1969 World Series championship, has died at the age of 75. Seaver, who was nicknamed “The Franchise” and “Tom Terrific” because of how valuable he was to the Mets, died in his sleep on Monday from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19, the Baseball Hall of Fame said in a statement. Makeup game to conclude Mets-Yankees season series

The first five Subway Series games featured each team getting wins in the late innings and under unique circumstances befitting the abbreviated 60-game season. The final meeting will occur Thursday afternoon when the New York Yankees visit the New York Mets. Johnson and Rahm set for battle in playoff finale

The PGA Tour wraps up a season unlike any other with this week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta where the winner from an elite 30-player field will be crowned FedExCup champion and take home an eye-popping $15 million. Due to a staggered scoring system that gives a head start to the top players in the points standings, Dustin Johnson will begin at 10 under par, followed by Spaniard Jon Rahm at eight under and former FedExCup champion Justin Thomas at seven under.