Luka Doncic put up arguably the most gaudy stat-line of the season in the Dallas Mavericks' 126-121 home victory against the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
Doncic ended up with 60 points on 21-of-31 shooting, 21 rebounds, 10 assists, two steals and a block in the virtuoso performance, and the Mavericks needed every bit of it to come back from a late deficit.
Trailing 112-103 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Dallas staged a miraculous recovery, but still needed some Luka magic to send the game to overtime.
With four seconds on the clock, trailing by three, Doncic was sent to the line for two free throws. He made the first, before intentionally missing the second, tracking down his own rebound and putting it back in to tie the game.
He scored seven of the Mavericks' 11 points in the overtime period to complete the comeback, finishing the game on a 23-9 run.
The win is Dallas' fourth in a row, and improves their record to 19-16 to sit seventh in the Western Conference.
Despite the loss for the Knicks – their fourth in a row – there were encouraging signs for the future of their backcourt. With Jalen Brunson missing his first game of the season due to a hip injury, Immanuel Quickley was handed the start.
He had 11 of his 15 assists in the first half before struggling down the stretch as he was asked to play a game-high 51 minutes, while Quentin Grimes top-scored for New York with 33 points (12-of-25).
LeBron's Lakers get back on track
The Los Angeles Lakers are back in the winner's list after LeBron James led them to a 129-110 road win against the Orlando Magic.
Entering the contest on a four-game losing streak since the injury of Anthony Davis, James was terrific, scoring a team-high 28 points on 12-of-24 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists.
He was supported well by Davis' replacement in the starting lineup, with Thomas Bryant chipping in 21 points (eight-of-10 shooting) and 10 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook tied Detlef Schrempf's all-time record for triple-doubles off the bench with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists.
The Magic had won eight of their previous nine, but it was a tough outing for number one draft pick Paolo Banchero, scoring a career-low four points with five fouls in 22 minutes.
76ers waste incredible Embiid performance
The Philadelphia 76ers' winning streak has ended at eight games after a disappointing 116-111 loss to the Washington Wizards, despite Joel Embiid heroics.
Embiid, the back-to-back MVP runner-up, scored a game-high 48 points on 17-of-31 shooting, adding nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals to finish with a plus/minus of plus eight in his 36 minutes.
Unfortunately for Embiid, the 76ers were outscored by 13 in the 12 minutes he was on the bench, with Kristaps Porzingis' 24 points (seven-of-15), 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals leading the way for the Wizards.
The win may be coming at a cost, however, as All-Star Bradley Beal left in the fourth quarter after suffering a hamstring injury.
The Texas Rangers continued to add to their rotation Tuesday, signing pitcher Nathan Eovaldi to a two-year, $34million deal.
The contract includes a third-year vesting player option, and performance bonuses could increase the total value of the contract.
Eovaldi, who turns 33 in February, will be joining his sixth major league team in his 11th season. He spent the past four-and-a-half seasons with the Boston Red Sox and is perhaps best known for his performance in their 2018 World Series win.
In 22-and-a-third innings in those playoffs, Eovaldi went 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA, and had wins as a starter in Game 3 of both the American League Division and Championship Series.
The right-hander finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting in 2021 after going 11-9 with 3.75 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 32 starts. He made two trips to the injured list last season and was limited to 20 starts, going 6-3 with a 3.87 ERA.
The Rangers added two-time NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom on a five-year contract earlier this month and gave left-hander Andrew Heaney a two-year deal a week later. They join holdovers Jon Gray, Jake Odorizzi and Martin Perez in what figures to be a crowded rotation.
Prior to last season, Texas committed a combined $500m on middle infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, but finished 68-94 and fired manager Chris Woodward in August.
Despite reports that Sacramento Kings All-Star Domantas Sabonis would attempt to play through the avulsion fracture in his right thumb, he has been ruled out of Tuesday's home game against the Denver Nuggets.
Sabonis, 26, was a two-time All-Star selection with the Indiana Pacers before being traded to the Kings last season, and he is enjoying a career-best start to the current campaign.
He is leading the NBA in rebounding at 12.4 per game, while his 61.2 per cent field goal percentage is a new career-high, and his 6.7 assists per game ties his career-high.
Sabonis has played in all 31 of the Kings' games this season, helping them to a 17-14 record to occupy the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
The Kings are seeking to break the league's longest playoff drought, having not played in the postseason since 2006, so they will be desperately hoping Sabonis' absence is only brief.
Jalen Brunson's first game back in Dallas against the team that drafted him will have to wait, as he will miss the New York Knicks' road game against the Mavericks on Tuesday due to a sore right hip.
Brunson, 26, spent the first four years of his career with the Mavericks after being drafted 33rd overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.
After shining in the 2022 playoffs – averaging 21.6 points while starting all 18 games – Brunson entered free agency and signed with the Knicks, where his father Rick Brunson is an assistant coach.
It has proven to be a savvy career move on a statistical level, stepping out of Luka Doncic's shadow to get his own team to run.
He is averaging career-highs in points (20.2), assists (6.6) and steals (1.1), and has played in all 34 of the Knicks' games up to this point, guiding them to an 18-16 record to sit sixth in the Eastern Conference.
Erik ten Hag was not entirely satisfied with Manchester United's finishing despite comfortably seeing off Nottingham Forest 3-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
United returned to Premier League action following the World Cup and ultimately cruised to a straightforward victory that leaves them just a point behind fourth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand.
First-half goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial sent United on their way before Fred rounded things off in the final minutes.
But United wasted several decent opportunities before Fred's Casemiro-inspired goal, with Antony and Rashford spurning particularly good chances.
And that proved to be a key area of focus for Ten Hag after the game.
"It's what I said in the dressing room, we have to score more goals," he told Prime Video.
"We created so many chances and it takes us until just before the end to score the third goal. We need to finish this game in an earlier moment.
"Just after half-time we had two really good chances to finish the game. Life would be more easy.
"There are many games to come, [if you get a third goal then] you can then save energy and it is better for everyone, but also for the progress of the team, we need to be more clinical.
"We have players who can score.
"You can see Martial and Rashford are goalscorers; Bruno Fernandes scores goals. We have a lot of players who can score, but we have to be ruthless."
Ten Hag has already confirmed United are keen to bring in attacking reinforcements during the January transfer window following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
PSV forward Cody Gakpo was widely considered the most likely to arrive but it emerged on Monday that the Netherlands international is close to joining Liverpool after the two clubs agreed a fee.
Ten Hag was asked about Liverpool's move for Gakpo, though he was unsurprisingly keen to avoid speaking about his compatriot.
"I don't talk about individual cases," he said.
"We are looking for offensive players, we are looking for a striker. It would be good because we have games coming, so many, every third day, and it's tough.
"You want to play in all the competitions we are in, we want to stay in them hopefully until the end of the season, so you need numbers in the squad to cover them all.
"I think we are always in the market, but it has to match the sporting criteria and the financial criteria, and we do what we can to bring in what we need."
While the Red Devils appear to have missed out on Gakpo, the August arrival of Casemiro proves United retain the ability to attract the best in the world.
The Brazil international was central to Tuesday's win, brilliantly winning the ball back near his own corner flag in the build-up to United's second goal before also inspiring Fred's clincher.
Those two incidents fitted into the wider narrative of his all-round brilliance in midfield as he recorded a joint-high three key passes, attempted more tackles than anyone else (five) and was engaged in the most duels (11).
For Ten Hag, Casemiro is a blessing.
"I can't deny that, I can only confirm," Ten Hag replied when Casemiro's importance was highlighted by a pundit. "It's a pleasure to work with him.
"I think everyone can see how important he is. The performance, the level he brings to the team is huge."
Marcus Rashford has his sights on a career-best goal haul this season after adding to his tally in Manchester United's Premier League win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
Erik ten Hag's side returned to top-flight action in miserable conditions at Old Trafford, but exerted their control to run out comfortable winners in a 3-0 victory.
Rashford, who struggled across a tough 2021-22 campaign, picked up where he left off with his revitalised club form, netting his side's opener before assisting the second.
It takes him to 10 goals in 21 matches across all competitions for United this year, and the 25-year-old acknowledges he has a target in mind.
"Every forward always has a number that they want to try and reach," he told Amazon Prime Sport.
"For me, it's to score more than I've ever scored in a season. I think it's 22 or 23. I'm enjoying what I'm doing at the minute."
Rashford's prior best season with United was the 2019-20 campaign, when he scored 22 goals at club level, and the team reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, EFL Cup and Europa League.
After the frustrations of last term under Ralf Rangnick, Rashford has enjoyed his turnaround under Erik ten Hag, and spoke of the improved mood around the squad since the Dutchman took charge.
"We're winning more games and I think the level of play has been a lot higher," he added. "I'm happy with the way that we're developing at the minute, and hopefully we can keep kicking on.
"It's a completely different mindset to last season, a different team playing different football. We should be scoring plenty more goals in plenty more games."
Erling Haaland has struggled to shake off a foot injury, but Pep Guardiola expects him to be able to play a starring role for Manchester City at Leeds United on Wednesday.
Haaland has been in sensational form this season, leading the Premier League scoring charts with 18 goals after quickly settling into English football following his arrival from Borussia Dortmund.
However, he suffered an injury against Dortmund in October and has since been dealing with the ramifications of that problem, even with the club season pausing for the World Cup.
"The injury is completely different to last season," Guardiola said. "It was a knock in his foot in Dortmund when we played in the Champions League, and the doctor said that he has damaged his ligament in his foot.
"It's painful, it's not easy to recover, that's why he struggled, but [it is a] muscular issue. Now it is much better, and now we know it is a question of time. Of course, we need him.
"I think he will be ready [for Leeds]. Day by day, he is getting better. As much as he can train, he will get his condition."
City trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by eight points ahead of their game in hand against Leeds, with the defending champions having lost two of their previous five Premier League matches and widely considered not to have yet hit their best form.
Yet Guardiola does not expect to venture into the January transfer market in search of additions to strengthen a title charge.
"I think we are going to finish in this way," he said.
"I don't know what's going to happen, but since I arrived in Abu Dhabi with the sporting director, with Txiki [Begiristain], with everyone, there wasn't any names on the table."
Reece James's latest injury scare is cause for concern for Chelsea, with the club and Graham Potter having their "fingers crossed" over his prognosis.
The right-back made his first appearance since an October knee injury that ruled him out of the World Cup in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Bournemouth.
But shortly after half-time, James was forced from the field with another knee worry.
"It's the same area, so we are concerned," Potter said, as quoted by BBC Sport. "It's really too soon. He felt something there.
"We will have to find out the extent of it and keep our fingers crossed. He's been really disappointed to miss the World Cup, of course. It was a huge blow to him."
The initial injury has limited Potter's work with James at Stamford Bridge so far, but he is a big fan of the England defender.
"You could see today his quality and what he brings to the team," Potter added. "He is a world-class player. You see it from the outside, but not until you work with him do you see how good he is.
"He could play in any team in the world, and any team would miss him. The plan was to play 60 minutes today, so now he's disappointed, of course. We hope it's not as bad as it was and he can have a speedy recovery."
Marcus Rashford was the inspiration as Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday in their first Premier League game since the World Cup break.
Rashford played a starring role in the EFL Cup defeat of Burnley last week and was again United's standout performer as they moved to within a point of fourth-placed Tottenham.
The England forward opened the scoring for a dominant United with a goal straight off the training ground before setting up Anthony Martial.
Forest had a goal wiped out just before the break, but it was not a precursor to United coming under greater scrutiny in the second period as they coasted before adding a late third through substitute Fred.
Erik ten Hag was forced to pick a somewhat unfamiliar backline due to illness, with Luke Shaw at centre-back.
But there was no sign of that inhibiting United, and they were deservedly ahead before long, with Rashford providing a wonderfully deft finish from Christian Eriksen's smart corner delivery.
Rashford was key again as United made it 2-0 three minutes later, latching on to Bruno Fernandes' clever pass and teeing up Martial to beat the unconvincing Wayne Hennessey at the end of a counter-attack that stemmed from Casemiro's brilliant recovery.
Willy Boly deflected Ryan Yates' header in on the stroke of half-time, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside.
United should have taken advantage of that let-off early in the second half when Antony spurned a glorious opportunity with only Hennessey to beat.
Rashford also wasted a good chance when scuffing substitute Donny van de Beek's cut-back, but United put the game beyond Forest late on as Casemiro won the ball back, surged into the final third and found Fred for an easy finish.
What does it mean? Red Devils looking free without Cristiano Ronaldo
The mid-World Cup announcement of Ronaldo's exit was generally greeted favourably by United fans, with the Portugal striker resembling a square peg in a round hole in the first part of the season.
While Burnley and Forest may not be the greatest of opponents, United have looked fluid and unshackled going forward with Ronaldo not there to hold them back.
They should have scored more than they did on Tuesday, but there was always a sense they could have cranked things up a notch if needed – that ultimately was not a necessity as they comfortably saw off a mediocre Forest side.
Casemiro shows his class
Rashford will dominate the headlines, but this was a masterclass from Casemiro. He played a crucial role in United's second when winning the ball back near his own corner flag; then he did similar and provided the assist for their third. He was imperious.
Antony a source of frustration
Although he has chipped in with a few goals, United fans are still waiting for Antony to really explode. That certainly did not occur here.
His decision-making was largely poor. He failed to tally a single key pass and wasted a tremendous chance in the second half before being withdrawn.
What's next?
United go to Wolves on Saturday, while Forest are home to Chelsea the following day.
Kai Havertz credited the "freedom" offered by Graham Potter as key to his positive performance after Chelsea snapped their winless streak against Bournemouth.
The Germany international scored one and assisted the other in Tuesday's 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge, opening the scoring before setting up Mason Mount for the second.
It was Chelsea's first Premier League victory in six attempts, but Havertz now has four goals under Potter in all competitions and is enjoying working with the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss.
"He gives me the freedom to do whatever I feel comfortable on the pitch," Havertz told Amazon Prime Sport. "I like to play free and to be in the box. He gives me a lot of confidence.
"The win and the goals hopefully will [help]. It's an important win and we have to keep on winning. We need the points and we'll give it our best in the coming games."
Potter, who succeeded Thomas Tuchel in September, was in turn effusive in his praise of his players, although he lost Reece James to another injury and was waiting for a diagnosis.
"Credit to the players," Potter told BBC Sport. "You're never sure how it'll go with the break we had. The attitude was fantastic and they tried their best.
"It was a deserved win. We had to hold on; Bournemouth made it competitive. It's a step forward for us as a team."
The Denver Broncos believe Russell Wilson is fixable as they head into an offseason looking to pick up the pieces from a debacle of a 2022 season.
Denver fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday after under a year at the helm of a team many expected to contend this campaign.
The Broncos' 51-14 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day sealed Hackett's fate, the loss dropping Denver to 4-11 on the season.
Wilson was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks in the offseason, the Broncos parting with two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant to land his services.
But the nine-time Pro Bowler has endured the worst season of his career, completing 60.1 per cent of his passes for 3,019 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Wilson's well-thrown rate of 78.8 per cent is below the NFL average of 81.1 per cent and, heading into last weekend's games, he ranked 25th (for QBs with a minimum of 100 plays in expected passing situations) in yards over expected on downs where the defense would be anticipating a pass, according to Stats Perform data.
His level of performance after being handed a five-year, $245million extension by Denver arguably makes the Broncos job an unappealing one for potential Hackett successors, with the dead cap hits that would come with parting with Wilson meaning they are likely committed to keeping him until at least end of the 2024 season.
But general manager George Paton remains confident Wilson can be salvaged and return to the form that made him such a prized asset.
"We saw flashes of Russ this year. Russ even said he didn't play up to his standard," Paton said at a press conference.
"He will be the first one to tell you he didn't play up to his standard, didn't play up to our standard. He needs to be better.
"I don't think we made a coaching move based on Russ. That wasn't what it's all about.
"That's not why we're getting a new coach, to turn around Russ; it's about the entire organisation. It's about the entire football team.
"It's just not one player. It's not whether Russ is fixable or not. We do believe he is. We do."
Broncos owner and CEO George Penner, who revealed the new head coach would report into him rather than Paton, echoed the general manager's apparent lack of panic surrounding Wilson.
"The decision to have Russell here was a long-term one," Penner said. "This season has not been up to his standards or expectations. We saw some glimpses of it in the last few weeks.
"He knows he can play better, we know he can play better, and we know he will do the right work in the offseason to be ready for next year.
"George and I have had a chance to get to know each other – we talk every day since we purchased the team a number of months ago – and he acknowledged right up front there were a couple of decisions that hadn't worked out as he had expected.
"But I understand his thought process. He understands the work that needs to be done in this offseason, and I'm going to rely on him heavily as we go through and make these changes."
Mason Mount and Kai Havertz struck as Chelsea relaunched their Premier League season with a much-needed 2-0 victory against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Graham Potter's side headed into the mid-season World Cup break last month having failed to notch a win in their previous five top-flight games, with three losses on the bounce to boot.
An impressive performance from the hosts saw them break their barren run, though it came at a cost with Reece James forced off injured in his first match since October.
The outcome means Bournemouth have had two losses in two competitive games under head coach Gary O'Neil since he took charge of the Cherries on a permanent basis, having been Scott Parker's interim successor for the majority of the season.
Chelsea's early dominance brought a swift breakthrough, with Havertz prodding home Raheem Sterling's low delivery at full stretch just 16 minutes in.
Eight minutes later, Germany international Havertz turned provider for England midfielder Mount, who curled a first-time shot through the scrambled Bournemouth defence to double the lead.
The Blues went close to making it 3-0 just before the interval, with goalkeeper Mark Travers parrying a close-range Sterling strike at his top corner.
A third goal proved elusive following the break for Chelsea, and they were dealt a blow when James was forced down the tunnel after lengthy treatment for an apparent leg problem.
His absence threw their rhythm off to a point, with Bournemouth gaining confidence in pursuit of a response, albeit without showing a great cutting edge.
Former Chelsea youth-team graduate Dominic Solanke headed just wide in stoppage time from Bournemouth's best chance as the visitors could not find a way back into the contest.
Reece James was forced out of his comeback match for Chelsea as injury again got the better of the defender who missed England's World Cup campaign.
The right-back sat out the Qatar 2022 finals because of a knee blow sustained on Champions League duty against Milan on October 11.
Tuesday's Premier League game against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge was James' first game back, having returned to training at the start of December.
However, he lasted only 51 minutes before injury struck again, with Chelsea 2-0 ahead at the time.
James appeared to feel a twinge after beating Bournemouth's Jaidon Anthony to the ball, and he immediately signalled to the bench he needed to be replaced.
James went down to the ground, covering his face and looking to be in trouble.
He was treated by Chelsea medical staff before being able to stand up and walk off the pitch, passing head coach Graham Potter as he departed to have the pain checked out.
Before the game, Potter had described James as being "in a good place" again after the "brutal" experience of having to sit out the World Cup.
Milan coach Stefano Pioli still thinks his side can defend their Serie A crown despite their eight-point deficit to league leaders Napoli.
The Rossoneri beat rivals Inter in a title race that went down to the wire last season, taking a first Scudetto since the 2010-11 campaign.
But their hopes of a second successive triumph look to be under serious threat, with Napoli having romped away at the summit after 15 games.
Milan remain their nearest rivals, however, and Pioli argues his team can still turn it around, although he knows they must hit the ground running in 2023.
"It is clear that we arrived at this prestigious [title] victory ahead of time, because the club's desire was to invest in players, especially young players, so maybe we expected to win a little later," he told Italia Uno.
"But we managed almost immediately, so it is clear that for me and for us 2022 was a really important year and full of satisfaction.
"You have to think that you can still win the championship [this season], this in the most absolute way.
"Then it is clear that if Napoli continues like this they can make 100 points and then we must congratulate them, but we must think about making many points.
"Last year, 86 were needed; perhaps this year they could need even more. There are still 69 points available – that's a lot – but we have to start pedalling hard and we definitely have to believe in it."
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