Sports News Roundup: Another big night for new Net James Harden; Eagles interviewing Colts OC Nick Sirianni and more

NBA roundup: Another big night for new Net James Harden James Harden collected 34 points and 12 assists, Kevin Durant added 30 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 36.8 seconds left, and the Brooklyn Nets outlasted the Milwaukee Bucks for a 125-123 victory Monday night in New York.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Players warm up to strict quarantine at Australian Open

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley said most players supported being locked down in hard quarantine with the local government reporting three new cases of COVID-19 linked to participants of the Grand Slam on Tuesday. Victoria health officials said two previous cases have been classified as prior infections taking the total positive cases associated with the tournament to seven.

NBA roundup: Another big night for new Net James Harden

James Harden collected 34 points and 12 assists, Kevin Durant added 30 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 36.8 seconds left, and the Brooklyn Nets outlasted the Milwaukee Bucks for a 125-123 victory Monday night in New York. Harden became the first Net to score at least 30 points in each of his first two games with the team. He also grabbed a key rebound with 38 seconds left when he missed a 3-pointer and got the offensive board. He quickly found Durant, who calmly knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Brooklyn the lead for good at 125-123.

Mets fire GM Porter over inappropriate text messages

The New York Mets have fired general manager Jared Porter for sending unsolicited, inappropriate text messages to a female reporter, team owner Steven Cohen said on Tuesday. "We have terminated Jared Porter this morning," Cohen said in a statement on Twitter. "In my initial press conference I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it. There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior."

Report: Eagles interviewing Colts OC Nick Sirianni

The Philadelphia Eagles are meeting Tuesday with Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni about their head coaching vacancy, ESPN reported. Sirianni, 39, has held that position for the last three seasons with the Colts following five seasons as an assistant with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers (2013-17) and four with the Kansas City Chiefs (2009-12).

MLB: New Mets GM admits sending lewd texts to journalist

Jared Porter, hired as the New York Mets' general manager last month, admitted Monday to sending lewd texts to a female journalist five years ago. According to ESPN, Porter, at the time serving as the Chicago Cubs' director of professional scouting, sent the reporter more than 60 texts, some of which included compliments and offers to meet her in person in different cities. Another text included a photo of pants with a bulging groin area.

NHL roundup: Isles earn late 1-0 win over Bruins

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored with 4:09 remaining in the game and Semyon Varlamov recorded his second shutout of the season to lift the New York Islanders to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday at Uniondale, N.Y. Varlamov made 27 saves in his return after being injured in warmups prior to the team's 5-0 setback against the New York Rangers on Saturday. He stopped all 24 shots he faced in a 4-0 win over the Rangers in the season opener on Thursday.

Australian Open organisers rule out change of dates, format

Organisers of the Australian Open on Tuesday ruled out reducing the men's tournament at the Grand Slam to best-of-three sets due to players' inability to train at required level amid the strict COVID-19 quarantine rules. A total of 72 players are currently not allowed to leave their hotel rooms for 14 days after some passengers on three charter flights to Australia tested positive for COVID-19 infections.

Belarusian opposition celebrates Lukashenko losing major hockey tournament

Belarusian athletes and opposition supporters on Tuesday welcomed a decision to strip Belarus of this year's ice hockey world championship, a prestigious event they say would have given the country's embattled president an international boost. The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF), with the support of the Belarusian diaspora and opposition activists, sent a flurry a letters to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and to tournament sponsors and national federations describing the crackdown on anti-government protesters in the wake of Alexander Lukashenko's contested re-election last year.

Rahm withdraws from PGA Tour's La Quinta field World No.2 Jon Rahm withdrew from the field for this week's The American Express in La Quinta, California but did not give a reason for his decision, a PGA Tour spokesman said on Monday. The Spaniard, who tied for seventh two weeks ago at Kapalua, was the highest-ranked player at the event at PGA West and won the tournament in 2018 when it was known as the CareerBuilder Challenge.

NCAA: Tennessee fires coach Jeremy Pruitt Tennessee fired football coach Jeremy Pruitt, two assistant coaches and seven others on Monday in the aftermath of an internal investigation into recruiting violations. In addition to Pruitt, Tennessee also fired assistant coaches Brian Niedermeyer and Shelton Felton, four members of the on-campus football recruiting staff, the director and assistant director of football player personnel, and a football analyst/quality control coach.

(With inputs from agencies.)