Sports News Roundup: Republicans want to yank baseball's antitrust immunity; Marlins blast Braves behind Adam Duvail's 7 RBIs and more

We immediately launched an investigation", Houston Rockets said in an emailed statement, adding that cybersecurity experts were also helping. NBA roundup: Celtics clip Blazers for 4th straight win Jayson Tatum recorded 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 116-115 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Republicans want to yank baseball's antitrust immunity after MLB reaction to Georgia voting law

Five Republican senators introduced a bill on Wednesday to strip Major League Baseball of its immunity to antitrust law, saying the legal shield wasn't deserved after the league moved its All-Star game away from Georgia to protest a law that could make it harder to vote. Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley, Marsha Blackburn and Mike Lee introduced the bill in the Senate, Lee's office said in a statement. A version of the bill was also introduced in the House of Representatives by a group of Republican lawmakers.

MLB roundup: Marlins blast Braves behind Adam Duvall's 7 RBIs

Miami left fielder Adam Duvall had two home runs and matched a club record with seven RBIs to help lead the visiting Miami Marlins to a 14-8 win over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. Duvall was 4-for-5, hit his third and fourth home runs, and added a double to lift his batting average from .160 to .267.

Olympics: Russia unveils flagless uniforms for Tokyo Games

Russian competitors at this year's Tokyo Olympics will be wearing blue, red and white uniforms, but their country's tricolour flag will not appear because of doping sanctions. ZASPORT, the supplier of the Russian Olympic team, unveiled uniforms on Wednesday that bore the logo of the Russian Olympic Committee instead of the country's flag.

Olympics: Australia must prepare for swimmers to miss out on COVID-19 vaccine - CEO

Swimming Australia (SA) hopes its Olympic team will receive COVID-19 vaccines before the Tokyo Games but must prepare for the scenario that they miss out, the governing body's newly appointed Chief Executive said on Thursday. Australia has restricted the roll-out of its favoured AstraZeneca vaccine to people under 50 over blood clotting concerns, slowing the national vaccination programme further after the European Union blocked exports to the country.

Christ the Redeemer lit up to mark 100 days till the Olympics

The world's most famous statue of Jesus Christ was lit up with the Olympics logo and images of sporting arenas on Wednesday to mark 100 days to the Tokyo Olympic Games opening ceremony. Hundreds of LED projectors were used to beam images onto the 98-foot (30-m) Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, according to media reports.

Azarenka skips Stuttgart event to get COVID-19 vaccine

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka said she has pulled out of next week's WTA 500 event in Stuttgart as it coincides with her scheduled COVID-19 vaccination. "I will unfortunately not be able to compete in Stuttgart ... next week as I will be receiving my first dosis (sic) of the vaccine at the same time," the Belarusian world No. 15 said on Twitter.

NBA's Houston Rockets probing cyber attack, working closely with FBI

The Houston Rockets are investigating a cyber attack that attempted to install ransomware on the basketball team's internal systems, and the organization is working closely with the FBI, team officials said. "The Rockets organization recently detected suspicious activity on certain systems in its internal network. We immediately launched an investigation", Houston Rockets said in an emailed statement, adding that cybersecurity experts were also helping.

NBA roundup: Celtics clip Blazers for 4th straight win

Jayson Tatum recorded 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 116-115 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. Jaylen Brown scored 24 points and Kemba Walker contributed 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as Boston won for the fourth straight game and sixth time in the past seven. Robert Williams III added 16 points and seven rebounds and Marcus Smart had 13 points and seven assists.

NFL: Lions become fourth team to opt out of voluntary workouts over COVID-19 concerns

The Detroit Lions became the fourth National Football League team to opt out of in-person voluntary workouts, citing concerns over COVID-19, as a rift emerged between the league and its players' union over off-season protocols. The Lions joined the Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who said this week they would not participate in the workouts, a year after the NFL took its off-season to a "virtual" format up until training camp, as the deadly pandemic ripped through the United States.

Cancelling Olympics remains an option, says Japan ruling party official

A senior Japanese ruling party official said canceling this year's Olympic Games is an option if the coronavirus crisis becomes too dire, Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday, less than 100 days out from the planned start of the Games. If rising coronavirus cases means "it is said to be impossible we would have to give up," Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said in comments in a television interview due to air on Friday, Kyodo reported.

(With inputs from agencies.)