FOOTBALL
The Patriots’ recent string of re-signing their own players to contract extensions continued into the summer.
The Patriots and linebacker Jahlani Tavai agreed to a three-year, $15 million contract extension that’s worth up to $21 million, ESPN reported Tuesday.
Tavai was entering a contract year after signing a two-year, $4.4 million contract extension in November 2022. The 27-year-old linebacker was selected by the Lions in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Hawaii when former Patriots assistant Matt Patricia was Detroit’s head coach.
Tavai signed to the Patriots’ practice squad in 2021 before being added to New England’s 53-man roster, where he’s remained since.
The 6-foot-2, 255-pound defender has played 47 games, starting 28, since 2022 with the Patriots. He started 12 of 17 games in 2022 and 16 of 17 games in 2023 and finished second among Patriots defenders with 110 combined tackles last season.
• Veteran safety Tashaun Gipson, who played for the 49ers last season, has been suspended by the NFL for the first six games of the 2024 season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
Gipson, who turns 34 on Aug. 7, is a free agent and remains eligible to sign with a team and participate in all preseason activities, including games. His suspension wouldn’t take effect until teams reduce their rosters to 53 players.
Gipson started 16 games with San Francisco last season.
Gipson has made 165 starts in 173 career regular-season games with the Cleveland Browns (2012-15), Jacksonville Jaguars (2016-18), Houston Texans (2019), Chicago Bears (2020-21) and 49ers (2022-23). He has 33 career interceptions.
He made the Pro Bowl with Cleveland in 2014.
GOLF
BRITISH OPEN: Justin Rose went to great lengths to secure a spot at Royal Troon and it paid off when he posted rounds of 66-68 to be among 16 players who qualified at four links courses for the British Open.
Sergio Garcia missed out for the second straight year as only two LIV Golf players qualified.
The British Open is July 18-21 at Royal Troon.
Rose has been exempt for the better part of two decades and most recently won the AT&T Pebble Beach a year ago. But this year has been a struggle for the 43-year-old Englishman, who dropped out of the top 50 in the world ranking. He figured his best option was 36 holes of qualifying in the U.K.
Rose was co-medalist at Burnham and Berrow with Dominic Clemons of England, who played college golf last year at Stetson and recently signed with Alabama. Abraham Ancer of LIV Golf and Charlie Lindh of Sweden advanced from a three-man playoff, with LIV player Anirban Lahiri of India making bogey on the first extra hole.
Garcia was among eight LIV Golf players who failed to qualify. Garcia had rounds of 71-70 at West Lancashire and missed the four qualifying spots by two shots.
Sam Horsfield of LIV Golf was among the four who made it from West Lancashire, joining Matthew Dodd-Berry, Daniel Brown and Masahiro Kawamura.
BASKETBALL
OLYMPICS: Buddy Hield and the Bahamas are a step closer to the Paris Olympics. Luka Doncic and Slovenia are now facing an uphill battle to get there.
Hield scored 24 points, Valdez Edgecombe Jr. added 20 and the Bahamas beat Finland 96-85 in the first game of the qualifying tournament at Valencia, Spain.
The tournaments in Spain and Greece were two of four that started to determine the last four spots in the men’s basketball field for the Paris Olympics. Other tournaments are being held in Latvia and Puerto Rico. Group play at all four sites continues through Thursday, with semifinal games Saturday and four games with Olympic berths on the line set for Sunday.
The Bahamas closed the game on a 44-21 run over the final 17 minutes, erasing what was a 12-point second-half deficit.
But for Slovenia, there was no comeback. At Piraeus, Greece, Croatia led by as many as 29 points and rolled to a 108-92 win. Doncic had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Slovenia.
At Valencia, host Spain rolled behind 17 points from Santi Aldama, 15 from Usman Garuba and 14 from Jaime Pradilla to beat Lebanon, 104-59. Spain can wrap up a spot in the semifinals with a win over Angola on Wednesday.
At Riga, Latvia, Brazil trailed for most of the game but outscored Montenegro 29-16 in the fourth quarter to pull off the comeback, 81-72.
At Riga, host Latvia outscored Georgia 28-11 in the second quarter to take complete control and rolled to the opening win, 83-55.
At Piraeus, Jean Montero scored 17 points, and the Dominican Republic used a 14-0 run spanning the end of the second quarter and start of the third quarter to pull away from Egypt, 90-77.
RETIREMENT: Four-time NBA All-Star guard Kemba Walker says he’s retiring.
The 34-year-old Walker wasn’t in the NBA this past season, but did play in the EuroLeague with AS Monaco. He announced his decision on social media.
Walker averaged 19.3 points in 750 career regular-season games with the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets (2011-19), Boston Celtics (2019-21), New York Knicks (2021-22) and Dallas Mavericks (2023). Walker is Charlotte’s all-time leading scorer with 12,009 points, ahead of Dell Curry (9.839).
NBA: The Boston Celtics re-signed big men Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman Sr., bringing back two bench players who helped them win the NBA championship.
• Donovan Mitchell, a five-time All-Star guard, has agreed to a three-year, $150.3 million contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.
Mitchell’s choice to commit to the Cavaliers had been expected for some time.
• Jonathan Isaac has agreed to an $84 million deal that will keep him with Orlando for five more seasons, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said.
Isaac agreed to a renegotiation of the last year of his current deal along with an extension, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
SOCCER
EURO 2024: Merih Demiral scored twice to send Turkey into the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win over Austria at Leipzig, Germany.
• The Netherlands reached its first quarterfinal in 16 years with a 3-0 win over Romania at Munich.
Cody Gakpo broke the deadlock in the 20th minute and Donyell Malen scored two late goals to send the Dutch to their first quarterfinal in the tournament since 2008.
CYCLING
TOUR DE FRANCE: Tadej Pogacar attacked near the top of the first big mountain pass of the Tour de France and extended his lead during the twisty, high-speed descent to take back the yellow jersey.
Two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard did his best to limit the damage but finished 37 seconds behind on stage four. The race crossed back into France after the opening stages in Italy.
The climb to the 8,668-foot Col du Galibier met expectations as the Tour’s first decisive point.
Previous leader Richard Carapaz was dropped on the Galibier.
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