Borussia Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin believes Dinamo Zagreb pose a serious threat in Wednesday's Champions League clash.
He noted their impressive turnaround, going undefeated in their last three matches (W2 D1) after starting with a heavy loss to Bayern Munich.
Dortmund are seventh and in the top section of the Champions League table after three wins, while the Croatian capital club are currently eighteenth and in the play-off section, with seven points from four matches.
Dinamo's most memorable outing came in the form of a 9-2 thrashing by Bayern on the opening matchday. However, Sahin acknowledged the quality in Nenad Bjelica's side.
"We’ve watched a lot of Dinamo’s matches. They’ve impressively earned seven points. You can see the coach’s influence — it’s a team that reflects his ideas. They have some strong players and big names," Sahin told a press conference on Tuesday.
"We don't want to stray from our idea. We want to control the ball and play football. But we’re ready."
Despite Niklas Sule and Karim Adeyemi staying in Dortmund to recover from injuries, Sahin confirmed that Emre Can and Serhou Guirassy had travelled with the team ahead of the clash.
"Emre wasn’t able to fully participate in today’s session. But Serhou trained well," Sahin said, adding that both were options for the match.
Dortmund have never previously faced a Croatian side in any European competition. It’s the first time they will face a new nation in Europe since facing Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia in October 2017 and drawing 1-1.
Dinamo, on the other hand, have lost their last seven games against German opposition, scoring six goals while conceding 25 in all European competitions.
The game will be held at Stadion Maksimir, famed for its intense atmosphere. Sahin, however, insisted his team are unfazed.
"I don’t think it will shock the players. Our squad operates at the highest level. They’ve seen and experienced a lot," he said, adding that Dortmund also boast a unique atmosphere, including the "Yellow Wall" of fans in the southern stand.
"What happens in the stands doesn’t matter much. The players enjoy it."
Juventus coach Thiago Motta is not surprised that Unai Emery has enjoyed success at Aston Villa.
Motta's Juve side face Villa at Villa Park in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Villa won their opening three matches in the competition, though a defeat to Club Brugge last time out saw them relinquish top spot.
They have also had a stuttering start to the Premier League campaign, but given Villa were candidates to be in a relegation fight when Emery took over a little over two years ago, the transformation into one of Europe's best sides has been remarkable.
Motta, though, is not shocked.
"Like all the coaches I've had, I've tried to improve and learn," said Motta, who worked under Emery at Paris Saint-Germain.
"Emery is a coach who has been at a high level for a long time. He's showing his worth again at Aston Villa and doing it in a very difficult league.
"That's also why we will go into the game with great humility and determined to give a great performance."
This will be the third time Villa and Juventus have faced each other in the European Cup/Champions League, following two meetings in the 1982-83 quarter-finals.
Juventus won 5-2 on aggregate with victories in both legs, with the Italian side going on to finish as runners-up that season.
The Bianconeri head into Wednesday's clash unbeaten in Serie A, having drawn 0-0 with Milan over the weekend.
"Tomorrow we will face a great team and we will take the field determined to do our job," Motta said.
"We played well against Milan, controlling the game without giving them the chance to counter-attack.
"Tomorrow we'll play another side very good on the break, so we can't leave space for their attacking midfielders, we have to work together in defence and attack."
Dusan Vlahovic has been involved in five goals in his six away Champions League appearances for Juve (four goals, one assist), including at least one in his last three. However, the striker is one of several Bianconeri players who will be absent due to injury.
"Injuries aren't just happening to us and they're not happening by chance," Motta said.
"At this moment in time it wouldn't be constructive to find the reason behind them. We have to deal with the situation by giving that bit more."
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite praised his team-mates for putting the lessons of their series whitewash by England into action, as they earned a rare home win versus Bangladesh.
The Windies earned their first home Test victory in over two years on Tuesday, with two wickets from Alzarri Joseph helping them wrap up a 201-run triumph.
The best Bangladesh can now hope for from the two-match series is a draw, with West Indies snapping a miserable run of red-ball results.
They were beaten 3-0 by England on their most recent foreign tour in July, before going down 1-0 over two home matches against South Africa in August.
Speaking after the win in Antigua, Brathwaite said: "A lot of learning has taken place from the England tour. Test cricket is all about learning and that's what I tell our guys.
"We have seen a hundred here [from Justin Greaves] and that was a positive. It's good to get a Test win and we continue working hard."
While Joseph finished with figures of 3-69, Jayden Seales and Greaves also dismissed two apiece in Bangladesh's second innings, leading Brathwaite to praise his pace attack.
"It all depends on the surface, but these guys have different skill sets," he said. "We have to stay hungry, that's one.
"Some guys got big fifties, it was good to see but this Test is over. We need to keep at it. The fans' support means a lot. I have seen the guys supporting us not just here but also in the first-class cricket."
Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz also praised his bowlers, in particular six-wicket star Taskin Ahmed, but conceded they did not do enough with the bat.
"Think we bowled really well. Taskin got six wickets but they had a got partnership after they were down seven wickets," Miraz said. "Then the match was lost there.
"We didn't bat well in this match. I think we made a few mistakes but that can happen. We hope to come back strongly in the next match.
"We know what mistakes we made and we need to come back stronger. We will have a chat among ourselves. We have got a pace attack who bowled really well in the first innings. I am really happy with their performance."
Liverpool boss Arne Slot does not believe Mohamed Salah has been distracted by his lack of a contract offer, after the Egyptian declared he was likely to leave the club.
After scoring twice to fire Liverpool to a 3-2 Premier League victory over Southampton on Sunday, Salah made headlines with comments about his future in the mixed zone.
Salah, who is out of contract at the end of the season, said he was "more out than in" due to Liverpool's failure to offer him new terms.
Salah's comments come at a key time for Liverpool, who face Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday before taking on Manchester City in the league on Sunday – a win in that latter match would take them 11 points clear of Pep Guardiola's stuttering champions.
Speaking at Tuesday's pre-match press conference, however, Slot insisted Salah maintains the same laser focus as always.
"The only thing I can say is, when I look at my lineups, Mo is more in than out. That quote I can give you," Slot said.
"He is not distracted at all. I haven't seen it after the Manchester United game when he made comments. I didn't see anything today, he is fully focused on the game tomorrow.
"If you had been at the training ground today, no one spoke about it at least when I was there. Players are also focused on the short term. That is Real Madrid and City.
"I don't think there is any distraction for him, the players and definitely not for me."
Salah has scored 12 goals and provided 10 assists in 18 games across all competitions this season. Both of those are team-high figures, while he also leads all his Liverpool team-mates for chances created (32), shots (55) and shots on target (32).
Former Reds defender Jamie Carragher responded to Salah's comments on his contract by describing the winger as "selfish" on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, but Slot preferred to focus on Salah's ability rather than be drawn into that debate.
"I focus a bit more on what else Jamie said," said Slot when asked about Carragher's comments.
"He said Mo is one of the five best players we ever had at this club. I agree with him. I don't think it distracts Mo. My main focus is the next game. We have another big game coming up after that.
"I talked to Mo about what I expect from him, like I do with all the other players. I am not distracted at all by his comments and I do not feel his team-mates are as well."
Champions were crowned across five categories at the inaugural Supreme Ventures Jamaica Invitational Bodybuilding Championships held at the Courtleigh Auditorium in Kingston on November 23.
Organized by Supreme Ventures in partnership with the Jamaica Olympic Association and the Jamaica Bodybuilding and Fitness Association, the event showcased the nation’s top bodybuilding talents across five categories: Men’s Physique Open, Women’s Bikini Fitness Open, Bodybuilding Open, Classic Bodybuilding, and Women’s Bikini Wellness.
Sheldon Harper took top spot in the Men’s Physique Open category ahead of Shaquille Bowen and Dwayne Leslie. Andre McDonald, Ranile Moore, and Nicholas Williams filled out the remaining top six spots.
In Women’s Bikini Fitness Open, Nicole Lewis claimed the title, with Kenesha Spencer and Oberlene Smith-Whyte finishing second and third, respectively.
Nicolas Wilson took the top honours in the Bodybuilding Open, followed by Henry Graham in second place and Andrew Chisholm in third.
Kymani Kirby, Rupert Johnson, and Wendell Martin finished in the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions.
In the Classic Bodybuilding category, Kymani Kirby rose to the top, with Wendell Martin in second and Amunike Peddie in third.
Nicolas Wilson, Matthew Donville, and Ross Lowe placed fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.
In the final category of Women’s Bikini Wellness, Bryana Johnson emerged victorious ahead of Lissan Wallace placing second.
“We are extremely proud to have launched the Supreme Ventures Jamaica Invitational Bodybuilding Championships, and to have witnessed such outstanding competition,” said Chloleen Daley-Muschett, Corporate Communication and PR Manager at Supreme Ventures Limited.
“This event is a testament to the incredible talent in Jamaica, and we are excited about the future of bodybuilding in the country. We look forward to making this an annual event that continues to inspire and elevate athletes at all levels,” she added.
Alzarri Joseph took two wickets in the first session on day five as West Indies wrapped up a 201-run win over Bangladesh in Antigua.
Bangladesh lasted less than seven overs on Tuesday, as the Windies sealed their first home Test win in over two years in style.
Joseph (2-32) dismissed Hasan Mahmud (0), before ending Jaker Ali's brave stand on 31.
That left the tourists on 129-9, and Joseph then sent a fierce bouncer into the shoulder of Shoriful Islam.
Shoriful attempted to push on, but lasted just eight balls before he was forced to retire hurt, ensuring Bangladesh's innings came to an end and marking an emphatic victory for West Indies.
Data Debrief: No place like home
This is the first time the Windies have won a Test at home since they beat Bangladesh in June 2022, ending a four-match winless streak.
West Indies have won six of their last seven Test series against Bangladesh (one loss) including each of their last two, and they now have an unassailable 1-0 lead with just one more match to play in the series, so the best Bangladesh can hope for is a draw.
Aston Villa may be winless in six games ahead of their Champions League meeting with Juventus, but Unai Emery refuses to blame their drop-off on a congested fixture list.
Villa's winless streak has seen them crash out of the EFL Cup and drop to eighth in the Premier League table, with only a late Ross Barkley header salvaging a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Emery's men also saw their perfect Champions League start halted by a shock 1-0 defeat to Club Brugge on matchday four, leaving them eighth in the 36-team table.
Villa have nine more matches to play before the turn of the year, with the first of those at home to a Juve side sat one point behind them in the standings.
Emery, however, says they cannot blame a fixture pile-up for their loss of form, particularly after they juggled domestic and Europa Conference League commitments last season.
"Last year we had experience with the Conference League, we juggled a lot. We want to play a lot of matches and hopefully, we will play until the last month of the season," Emery said.
"The Champions League is the best competition in the world. We are managing each match and more or less being consistent in the preparation and being consistent in the idea of building a team.
"Tomorrow is a very important three points but even if we don't win, taking one point is good because in the table we are in the top eight positions.
"We want to be in the next round and tomorrow if we win, maybe we can be a contender to get it."
Villa have beaten Bayern Munich and Bologna in their first two Champions League home games, and they could now become just the third English club to win their first three at home in the competition, after Tottenham in 2010 and Leicester City in 2016.
They kept clean sheets in both of those matches, with AC Milan in 1992-93 the only team to ever win their first three home games in the Champions League without conceding.
Juve have also been tough to break down under Thiago Motta, though, boasting Serie A's best defensive record, and Emery knows Villa will have to make the most of their chances.
"He was very competitive as a player, he was very intelligent, he was a top player. Physically he was strong, mentally he was strong and now as a coach he has started being successful," Emery, who coached Motta when he was a midfielder at Paris Saint-Germain, added.
"I appreciate him as a person, I appreciated him as a player and now I appreciate him as a manager.
"They are very strong defensively, not only with the ball but without the ball... They are building a team, trying to keep consistency and dominating matches with the ball but defensively trying to be strong positionally."
Villa are also dealing with injury concerns but Emery said Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara will be available as Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey miss out.
Onana sat out the weekend's draw with Palace due to injury, while Ramsey is still nursing a knock sustained in a 2-0 defeat by Liverpool before the international break.
West Indies ended a two-and-a-half-year wait for a Test win on home soil with an emphatic 201-run triumph over Bangladesh in the first Test of their two-match series in Antigua.
The hosts' commanding performance showcased their pace attack's dominance and underlined their desire to return to winning ways in the longest format.
Bangladesh’s pursuit of an improbable 334 was thwarted on Tuesday’s fifth morning at 132-9, with Shoriful Islam’s retirement due to a shoulder injury effectively sealing the result.
Shoriful’s decision not to continue resulted from Alzarri Joseph’s short-ball assault on Bangladesh number 11, as West Indies needed just seven overs to wrap things up.
Scores: West Indies 450-9 dec (Greaves 115*, Louis 97, Mahmud 3-87) and 152 (Athanaze 42, Taskin 6-64, Mehidy 2-31) beat Bangladesh 269-9 dec (Jaker 53, A Joseph 3-69, Greaves 2-34) and 132 (Mehidy 45, Roach 3-20, Seales 3-45) by 201 runs
Alzarri Joseph set the tone early, dismissing Hasan Mahmud for a duck with a sharp delivery that moved away, drawing an edge that was caught low down by wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva.
Jaker Ali, the lone resistance in Bangladesh's lower order, seemed set to delay the inevitable but was later trapped leg-before-wicket for 31 after a dogged 58-ball stay that included four boundaries.
With only two wickets left, Alzarri turned up the heat, relentlessly peppering Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful with bouncers. The West Indies fielders joined the action, adding verbal pressure to the beleaguered Bangladesh tailenders.
When Shoriful was unable to continue after Joseph's blow, the match was called off, capping an aggressive and clinical effort by the hosts.
This victory marks a turning point for the West Indies, who last tasted a home Test win in 2021. The performance was built on a foundation of aggressive fast bowling and a collective resolve to dominate in all phases of the game.
Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales ended with five wickets in the match, while Kemar Roach ended with four, and Man-of-the-Match Justin Greaves had two to go with his unbeaten 115 with the bat, as West Indies, opting to play five seamers, was not disappointed.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite praised the team’s effort, highlighting the bowlers’ role in the victory.
“A lot of learning has taken place from the England tour. Test cricket is all about learning, and that's what I tell our guys. We have seen a hundred here, and that was positive. Good to get a Test win, and we continue working hard. [On five-man pace attack] It all depends on the surface, but these guys have different skill set,” Brathwaite said in a post-game interview.
“Where improvement is concerned, we have to stay hungry is one. Some guys got big fifties; it was good to see, but this Test is over. We need to keep at it,” he added.
Now leading 1-0, Brathwaite and his team will be aiming to wrap up the series when the second match bowls off at Sabina Park in Jamaica on Saturday.
PSV coach Peter Bosz expects a difficult test as his team host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday, when they could be without Luuk de Jong and Noah Lang.
Captain De Jong and Netherlands international Lang both missed Saturday's 5-0 Eredivisie win over Groningen, though former Barcelona striker De Jong returned to training on Monday.
Both players are considered doubtful for their upcoming clash with Ukrainian champions Shakhtar, as PSV bid to improve on their record of five points from four league-phase games.
They sit one point above Shakhtar, who are just outside the play-off places in 28th. While the Opta supercomputer gives PSV an 80% chance of sealing a top-24 finish, Shakhtar's hopes are rated at a mere 11%.
"We have to win at home, but that doesn't just happen. You don't just grab the points," Bosz said.
"They have very good footballers in the team and, for example, lost very unluckily and narrowly at Arsenal.
"It is a team that wants to play football and wants to build up, with a goalkeeper (Dmytro Riznyk) who plays along. They want to play with short combinations from the back.
"They dared to do that in London, with a rather daring build-up. With that they also pushed Arsenal back at times, which was impressive. They have players with individual qualities up front. We will have to work hard."
After hosting Shakhtar, PSV go to surprise package Brest on matchday six and round out their group-phase campaign against Red Star Belgrade and Liverpool in the new year.
A run of winnable fixtures before they face Arne Slot's Reds has amplified talk of PSV reaching the playoffs, but Bosz was uninterested in making any predictions.
"I'm not really calculating, I try to keep it as simple as possible," he said. "If you look at the points, you see how close it is and therefore how important tomorrow's match is.
"We do not yet know how many points we will need. We will see that afterwards."
Tahlia Richardson and Joel Angus were the female and male open winners at week one of the 2024 All Jamaica Badminton Championships at the YMCA in Kingston over the weekend.
Richardson won the women’s open title by two sets to none (21-10, 21-14) over Alexandra Beckford while Angus won the men’s open crown two sets to one win over Craig Allison.
Angus won the first set 21-18 before Allison tied proceedings with a 21-13 second set win. Angus then prevailed 21-13 in the last set to claim the title.
It was a fruitful weekend for Richardson who also took titles in women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
She partnered with Breanna Bisnott to defeat the pair of Mikaelah Mustafaa and Jade Ranger 21-11, 21-9 in women’s doubles before teaming up with Anthony McNee to defeat Kenneth Anglin and Mustafaa 21-16, 21-7 in mixed doubles.
McNee also claimed the men’s doubles title alongside Kemar Valentine with a 21-19, 21-17 win over Craig Allison and Mickhail Williams.
Brianna Burke and Samuel Smith claimed the top female and male prizes in the new Rising Shuttler category.
Burke defeated Sue-Ann Ogle 21-9, 21-18 to claim the title while Smith won the men’s title in a walkover over Daniel Ford.
In the junior championships held on November 16 and 17, 14-year-old Amir McBean was dominant, winning the boys singles titles at the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 level.
He won the Under-17 title 21-10, 21-5 over Jhevado Ross and won the Under-19 crown with a 21-10, 21-10 win over his brother Jorie McBean.
At Under-15, he defeated Justin Dillon 21-10, 21-5. He also teamed up with Matheus Smith to win the doubles title 21-7, 21-11 over Cameron Crooks and Nicholas Francis.
The Under-19 girls singles crown went to Jade Ranger thanks to a dominant 21-4, 21-4 win over Amelia Dawkins.
Ranger also won the titles in girls doubles and mixed doubles. She teamed up with Cassandra Russell to win the girls doubles crown 21-16, 21-2 over Daviannia Francis and Rachel Rainsford before teaming with Samuel Smith to win mixed doubles 21-3, 21-1 over Trevar Hunt and Faithe Beavfort.
Sue-Ann Ogle won a three-set affair to claim the Under-17 girls singles title over Ruthann Wadgle. Ogle lost the first set 12-21 before bouncing back to win the next two 21-13, 21-17.
Ogle also won the singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles in the Under-15 category. She won another three-setter to claim the singles title against Najia Henry, losing the first set 13-21 before rallying to win the next two 21-16 and 21-7.
She teamed up with Abigail Harvey to win the doubles title over Najia Henry and Danielle Morgan 21-9, 21-13 before her and Matheus Smith claimed the mixed doubles title in a walkover.
The other age group champions include Justin Dillon (Under-13 boys singles), Ella Belle Palmer (Under-13 girls singles), Zachary Gardner (Under-11 boys singles), Jillian Yap (Under-11 and Under-9 girls singles), Zamani Allen (Under-9 boys singles).
Saim Ayub made a 53-ball century and Abrar Ahmed took four wickets on debut as Pakistan trounced Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to level the teams' ODI series at 1-1 on Tuesday.
Having lost a rain-hit opener by DLS method on Sunday, Pakistan raced to victory in the second match in Bulawayo, thanks in part to a brilliant display of spin bowling.
Debutant Abrar was the pick of the bunch among their attack, finishing with figures of 4-33, while Salman Agha went 3-26 as the hosts were skittled for 145 runs within 33 overs.
Dion Myers top-scored with just 33 for Zimbabwe before being trapped lbw by Salman, with six home batters in single figures as their innings unravelled.
Any hopes that Pakistan's Sunday struggles might reappear were swiftly eradicated when the tourists took up the bat, with Ayub (113) teaming up with Abdullah Shafique (32) for an unbeaten stand of 145.
Ayub smashed Sikandar Raza's delivery for four to get Pakistan over the line in barely more than 18 overs, making Thursday's final ODI a series decider.
The teams will then face off in three T20Is, with the opening match of that series, which is also being staged entirely in Bulawayo, set for Sunday.
Data Debrief: Ayub the best of the rest
Ayub's century was the fastest ODI hundred ever made by a Pakistan player excluding the legendary Shahid Afridi.
The latter's record stands at 102 off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in 1996, while he also hit a 45-ball ton against India in 2005.
Michael Malone labelled the manner of the Denver Nuggets’ 145-118 loss to the New York Knicks “embarrassing” as they fell to their second straight defeat at home.
The 145 points scored by the Knicks were the most by a visiting side at the Ball Arena since April 2022, when the Los Angeles Lakers racked up 146 in an overtime victory.
While the Nuggets had the NBA's joint second-best record at home last season at 33-8, their record this season tells a different tale at 5-4.
Malone vowed the home team would not just move past the blowout, telling reporters: "F*** that man, no. No, we're not flushing.
"You don't flush when you get embarrassed, you don't flush when you gave up 145 points, you don't flush when you didn't play hard, didn't play with effort, physicality, I'm not flushing anything."
The Nuggets allowed the Knicks to beat records all over the court. OG Anunoby made a career-high 40 points, while Jalen Brunson also attained a career-best in supplying 17 of New York’s 45 assists.
Malone’s focus remained on the efforts of his own players, however. He called for better leadership from his starters.
"Russell Westbrook, he's vocal -- but we need more than Russell Westbrook. I need Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, I need guys that have been here in that starting lineup to be vocal. And you know tonight we got embarrassed,” he explained.
"We're 16 games in and we're talking about effort, we're talking about toughness, we're talking about physicality. ... And regardless of who's in, who's out, who do we want to be as a team?
“So, yeah, leadership would be great, toughness would be great, physicality would be great, playing like you actually care would be great, and we didn't do that tonight."
Westbrook totalled 27 points off the bench for the Nuggets, but Jokic finished with a career-low seven rebounds and a 22-point total.
"We didn't show up tonight. It's always a good punch in the face just to wake up," Jokic said.
"Coach was right. We are in the games, and we are always down 20 at a half. I don't know [what's going on]. We don't warm up, we don't wake up, or we just don't play hard enough. I don't know what it is, but collectively, we need to do a better job."
Harry Kane has blamed the influence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the lack of current number nines in the game.
He credits the two footballing behemoths for encouraging new players to be wingers rather than taking up the traditional striker role.
Kane has made his own case for being listed among the best in the number nine role. He netted his 50th goal in the Bundesliga in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over Augsburg last week, reaching the milestone in just 43 appearances.
It smashed the previous record of 50 set by Erling Haaland during his time at Borussia Dortmund.
"The game is changing a little bit. The way coaching is now [means] a lot of players grow up wanting to be wingers,” Kane told TNT Sport Brazil.
"I think Messi and Cristiano dominated for a long, long time playing off the wings. I think a lot of players wanted to watch them.
"When I was growing up, I had some of the best strikers in the world [to watch], so I wanted to be a number nine.
"That’s just the way football goes. I think, tactically, some managers play with a false nine, or a nine-and-a-half or 10 position.
"But for sure, when I was growing up at number nine, there were some incredible players."
Kane certainly took note, becoming a complete striker. Of Kane's 50 Bundesliga goals, 10 have come from penalties, while 32 of them have been with his right foot, nine with his left and nine with his head.
He is also the quickest Bayern player to hit 50 league goals for the club, surpassing Robert Lewandowski's previous record of 64 games by a staggering 21 matches.
The England captain, who is preparing for a Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, drew particular inspiration from Brazilian great Ronaldo.
"I think we’re totally different players in the way we play, but ultimately, the way he used to finish was as good as anyone, as well as the way he moved with the ball,” Kane added.
"His dribbling ability. His movement. I think he was as good as anyone in the world. He had a lot more ability than me if I’m totally honest. He had good pace as well.
"But for me growing up, I tried to watch all the best strikers in the world, and he was in his prime at the time.
"It was a joy to watch him, and it’s been nice to score a few goals myself and take a few bits from his game."
LaMelo Ball claimed a share of an unwanted NBA record as his 44-point haul failed to prevent the Charlotte Hornets from suffering a 95-84 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday.
Ball became the third-youngest player in NBA history to sink 50 points and record 10 assists in a single game on Saturday, yet Charlotte were still beaten 125-119 by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 23-year-old endured more bad fortune on Monday, as his 44 points, nine rebounds and seven assists came in another defeat to the Magic.
Ball shot 17 of 30 and 4 of 11 from 3-point range but the Magic still snapped Charlotte's four-game winning streak on home turf, dropping them to 6-11 for this season.
He now has 94 points, 14 rebounds and 17 assists across his last two games but has lost both.
The only other player in NBA history to manage at least as many points, rebounds and assists in a two-game span but lose both is the legendary Wilt Chamberlain, who did so on February 12 and 13, 1963 (97 points, 61 rebounds, 18 assists).
Despite Ball's herculean effort, Hornets coach Charles Lee criticised the inconsistency of his team's offensive play after the defeat.
"I thought defensively, our guys did a really good job of executing the gameplan," he said.
"To give up 95 points when we’re fouling towards the end of the game, I think it shows the effort, the competitiveness and the togetherness.
"Offensively, we got ourselves in trouble with some of our turnovers. Most of it is self-inflicted again and things that we can control.
"I'll give credit to Orlando for their length and activity on our drives, but I would love to see us fix some of our transition turnovers that we had."
The Hornets are back in action versus the Miami Heat on Wednesday, with the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks their next opponents as they play three games in as many days.
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