Paul George and James Harden were relieved to see Kawhi Leonard return from a four-game absence and help the Los Angeles Clippers stay hot with a win over the Miami Heat.

Leonard scored 24 points to pass 13,000 for his NBA career as the Clippers won 121-104 against the short-handed Heat on Monday.

George added 23 points, Norman Powell had 22 on 9-of-11 shooting while James Harden scored 15 points and provided 10 assists to aid in the Clippers' third straight victory and 12th in 14 games. 

"You see the performance," Harden said about the return of Leonard, who had been sidelined by a hip contusion.

"Both ends of the ball, just elite. Shotmaking, defensively just being active, creating opportunities in transition. We needed that, for him to get well and get better. We missed him."

George feels Leonard adds so much more than his statistical production.

"He does all the little intangible stuff – it's just so reliable," said George.

"It's great to have 2 back in the lineup. He missed a little over a week and it was going to take a little time for him to catch his rhythm, but I thought he did and looked like himself."

Miami, playing without six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler and a few other key contributors due to injuries, held a 35-23 lead after one quarter and was up by as much as 14 points in the second before the Clippers began battling back.

Los Angeles outscored the Heat by a 32-17 margin over the final 9 1/2 minutes of the first half to take a 59-58 edge at the break. Leonard had 13 second-quarter points to spark the comeback and George then scored 12 points in the third as the Clippers extended their lead to 95-85 entering the fourth.

The Clippers have continued to find a way to win since their six-game losing streak in November.

"It is better when you try to figure it out winning than trying to figure out losing and that is what was happening earlier [in the season]," added Harden.

"Every single game, we are trying to find ways to win games. Then towards the end of the season we’ll understand what we’re really good at and what we are not."

Los Angeles is now 20-12 for the season, fourth in the Western Conference ahead of Wednesday's road game against the Phoenix Suns, who have won four straight games.

Bradley Beal scored 21 points as the surging Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers 109-88, even with Kevin Durant sidelined by right hamstring tightness.

As for the Heat, they will stay in Los Angeles before playing the Lakers on Wednesday.

Bam Adebayo paced Miami with 21 points and 15 rebounds but the Heat have now dropped two straight following a four-game winning streak and are fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Fulham captain Tom Cairney has signed a new contract to stay at Craven Cottage until the summer of 2025.

Cairney, 32, has made 304 appearances since joining the Premier League club from Blackburn in June 2015.

“It means everything to me to extend my contract. 10 years is a hell of a long time in football, a very rare thing,” Cairney told the official club website.

“I said from quite early on that Fulham feels like home – a lot of players say that and then move on, but I feel like it’s obvious that I meant it as I’ll still be here 10 years later.

“I just want to thank everyone for the support over the years – the Fulham fans have been incredible with me, and I’ll just look to keep repaying them.”

Fulham owner Tony Khan said: “I don’t think that the importance of Tom Cairney joining Fulham in 2015 can be underestimated in terms of our recent history.

“He has been a great signing for the club whose contribution over the years has led to so many memorable successes on the pitch.”

Owner Brian Acheson believes Galopin Des Champs is the best horse since Kauto Star and has conceded his Gerri Colombe will be running for second place when he tackles Willie Mullins’ defending champion in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Galopin Des Champs was an imperious winner of the blue riband in March but had since suffered defeat twice at the hands of Martin Brassil’s Fastorslow, with Acheson’s Gerri Colombe emerging as a real Gold Cup contender when making a winning return at Down Royal.

The two talented stayers clashed for the first time at Leopardstown in the Savills Chase and with the Closutton Cheltenham hero back to his very best, Gerri Colombe was helpless as Galopin Des Champs romped to a brilliant 23-length success.

That shot the eight-year-old back to the top of the Gold Cup market, with Gerri Colombe eased to a best price of 11-1 with Unibet, and Acheson – who runs his horses under the Robcour banner – feels there is no way of turning the tables when they meet again at Prestbury Park in March.

He said: “Galopin is the best horse since Kauto Star and I’ve said it since the day of the Turners (Novices’ Chase, at Cheltenham). He is an absolute rocket, a weapon.

“We lost nothing in defeat and I don’t think there is a horse in training that can stay with him, he’s just a machine.

“You are running for second place. In the era where we don’t have enough good horses, if I didn’t have Gerri in the race, then you would love him to win by half the track just to make him look a superstar – and he is a superstar, I would love to own him.

“Hats off to him and it was actually an honour to run against him, he’s so good.

“We will take him on but there is only one winner.”

Acheson also outlined plans for his plethora of stars in the staying hurdle division.

Bob Olinger and Irish Point have both thrown their names into the mix with victories over the Christmas period, but it is last year’s Stayers’ Hurdle third Teahupoo who is currently carrying his owner’s main hopes following his second Hatton’s Grace success last month.

“Bob Olinger will be going to Aintree,” said Acheson. “If you had three horses, would you run three horses in the Stayers’?

“At the moment, I have two horses who could run in the Stayers’ and the one horse who is going there if he is fit and well is Teahupoo.

“Irish Point won well last week, but Home By The Lee didn’t run his race and Asterion Forlonge was a great horse but is a little bit older now.

“Teahupoo’s run against Impaire Et Passe was better form-wise, so he’s number one, but this French horse (Theleme) is meant to be a superstar.”

Emma Raducanu celebrated her long-awaited return from injury with a gutsy three-set win over Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the first round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.

The former British number one, who was playing her first match since April following operations on both her wrists and one ankle, held off a fightback from the Romanian qualifier to progress 6-3 4-6 7-5.

Her preparations for the upcoming Australian Open will continue with a tough last-16 tie against second seed Elina Svitolina.

Tournament wild card Raducanu, who had dropped to 301st in the world rankings, resumed her stalled career claiming to feel “reborn” and freed from the weight of her headline-grabbing US Open triumph in 2021.

Having managed only nine matches in 2023, she initially showed few signs of rustiness as she wrapped up the opening set in 37 minutes after capitalising on her third break point in game eight.

Yet any hopes of straightforward progression were quickly dashed as Ruse responded.

The world number 134 doggedly saved three break points in an 11-minute opening game of the second set before winning two of Raducanu’s next three service games to shift the momentum.

At 5-2 down, Raducanu demonstrated resilience to return the match to serve but then failed to hold as it went to a decider.

The 21-year-old showed flashes of her best throughout the contest, including a delightful backhand slice winner, and would not be denied, despite the best efforts of the determined Ruse.

She blew a 5-2 lead in the final set and failed to capitalise on two match points on her opponent’s serve before digging in to ensure eight months on the sidelines culminated in an encouraging comeback victory.

Referee Russ Bray is proud of his tag as the ‘voice of darts’ as he gets ready to call his last World Championship final on Wednesday.

The 66-year-old has become one of the most imitated people in sport due to the trademark way he bellows ‘180’ every time a player hits a maximum in his gruff and booming voice, while his ‘game on’ to mark the start of play is also instantly recognisable.

He will take charge of his 28th and last final on Wednesday night before heading into semi-retirement, also taking up a role as an ambassador for the Professional Darts Corporation.

And he could be calling a momentous occasion if teenage sensation Luke Littler can continue his bid to become the youngest-ever world champion on Tuesday night.

Bray, who became a referee in 1996, has been a central figure in the sport as it has catapulted into the mainstream over the last 15 years.

He cannot walk down the street without someone shouting one of his catchphrases at him, but embraces the attention.

“It is a lovely feeling that people put a tag on you like the ‘voice of darts’,” he told the PA news agency.

“I have been very, very lucky because my voice has been so different so it makes it obvious.

“People walk down the street and shout ‘game on’ or ‘180’ and it’s lovely.

“It’s good, for someone to do that means they are recognising what you do and I take it as a compliment.

“My calls part of the game. Every referee says game on and every referee says 180. It’s just that mine has been recognised by everyone.

“You try to make a game as exciting as you can. My calls are all natural, nobody told me to do it like that, I just wanted to be different.

“It is a spectacle and to be part of that is very important.”

Bray has been standing beside the oche for many of the most memorable moments over the last 25 years and he has seen the sport change from a pub game watched by enthusiasts into a global phenomenon.

He refereed the famous World Championship final between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld in 2007 and lists it as his personal highlight.

“The Barney-Taylor final at the Circus Tavern, it was the last one there,” he remembers.

“It went to a sudden-death leg and Raymond hitting the bull, then Phil hits a 180 and Raymond follows with a 180 and takes out tops. That was very, very special.

“When I started you had one winner and that was Phil, he was the one who dominated for so many years.

“You come to this tournament here and there could be several winners.

“Now you could have a dozen winners that could take the title. In those days you only had one, so that is what makes it so good.

“I am going to finish at the very top, there is nothing bigger than calling the final of the World Championship on the Ally Pally stage, to finish there will be pretty nice.”

What the papers say

Paris St Germain and Newcastle are believed to be leading the chase for Kalvin Phillips. According to The Telegraph, the Manchester City midfielder is likely to leave the club this month in search of regular football, having made just two starts for City since his £45million move from Leeds 18 months ago.

The Hull Daily Mail reports Burnley winger Manuel Benson has entered talks with Hull City. The paper says the development comes after the two sides verbally agreed on a loan deal until the end of the season.

Manchester City are reportedly among a wealth of teams interested in 18-year-old Lille defender Leny Yoro. Le 10 Sport, via the Manchester Evening News, says Liverpool and Paris St Germain are also tracking Yoro, but Lille are unlikely to entertain any offers under £78m.

And the Liverpool Echo reports Liverpool are keeping a close eye on Genoa midfielder Morten Frendrup, but are not expected to make a move this month.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Kylian Mbappe: Le Parisian says Real Madrid and Liverpool both want the Paris St Germain striker, who is out of contract at the end of the season.

Joshua Kimmich: Manchester United and Liverpool are the frontrunners to nab the Bayern Munich midfielder, according to AS.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed Cardiff manager on this day in 2014.

The former Manchester United striker had been Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman’s first choice candidate, despite his relatively limited managerial experience with Norwegian club Molde.

He replaced the sacked Malky Mackay, who was was dismissed six days earlier after a series of disputes with club owner Vincent Tan.

Solskjaer, then aged 40, denied he had reservations about working with Tan, or that his former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson had advised him to turn down the job.

“I have had good contact with the gaffer (Ferguson),” he said. “He has wished me all the best and given me some good advice as he always does.

“When you worked for him you could ask him for advice and I had a good conversation with him.

“It is absolute nonsense (that he told me to turn down Cardiff). I go into this with my eyes open and I want the fans to be proud of us when we go on the pitch.”

Solskjaer took over a Cardiff side sitting a single point above the Premier League drop zone.

The Bluebirds suffered relegation at the end of the season after finishing bottom of the table following just just three wins from 18 top-flight fixtures under the Norwegian.

Solskjaer was sacked in September 2014 – less than nine months after his appointment – with the club 17th in the Championship.

David Warner has pleaded for the return of his baggy green Australian cricket cap after it went missing from his bag on the eve of his final Test match.

In a video on Instagram, the veteran batsman said the cap was taken from his backpack during transit to Sydney ahead of Australia’s third Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“This is my last resort to do this,” Warner said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31)

“A couple of days ago, our bags got freighted via Qantas. We’ve gone through CCTV footage, they’ve got some blind spots apparently, we spoke to the Quay West Hotel who we absolutely trust and have gone through their cameras, no one’s come into our rooms.

“But unfortunately, someone has taken my backpack out of my actual luggage, which had my backpack and my girls’ presents in there, inside this backpack was my baggy green.

“It’s sentimental to me, it’s something I would love to have back in my hands walking out there come this week. If it is the backpack you really wanted, I have a spare one here, you won’t get into trouble.

“Please reach out to Cricket Australia or myself via my social media and I’m happy to give this to you if you return my baggy greens.”

The Sydney Test, which starts on Wednesday, marks the 37-year-old’s final red ball appearance for his country after more than a decade as Australia’s linchpin opener.

At a press conference on Monday, Warner announced he was also retiring from one-day cricket, but would still be available for the T20 format.

He said Australia’s upset victory over India in the World Cup final in November was his last 50-over match on the international stage.

He told reporters: “That was something that I had said through the World Cup, get through that, and winning it in India, I think that’s a massive achievement.

“So I’ll make that decision today, to retire from those forms, which does allow me to go and play some other leagues around the world and sort of get the one-day team moving forward a little bit.”

Luke Littler will aim to move a step closer to World Darts Championship glory on Tuesday night and his path became clearer after tournament favourite Michael van Gerwen crashed out.

The 16-year-old has taken Alexandra Palace by storm and became the youngest semi-finalist ever after he beat Brendan Dolan 5-1 in the quarter-final.

A semi-final against 2018 winner Rob Cross is next up, but he will no longer have to meet Van Gerwen in the final after the three-time champion suffered one of the biggest shocks in recent times, going out 5-3 to unseeded Scott Williams.

It was a new year, but the same old brilliance from the precocious Littler, who is on the cusp of producing one of the greatest sporting stories of all time.

And the teenager believes it is going to “take a lot” to stop his juggernaut.

“It feels unbelievable. I would never have thought I would have got to the semis on my debut year,” he said. “Brendan was just another opponent in my way and I have brushed him aside and now I am into the semi-final.

“It’s going to take a lot to stop me, based on my performances so far. But it is about whatever Luke Littler turns up.

“I have got the ability to go all the way, if it’s not to be tomorrow night, it’s not to be.

“I know I have got a good chance and I have got a good feeling I could go all the way tomorrow.”

Cross has enjoyed watching Littler’s emergence, but says there will be no room for sentiment.

“Everyone loves an underdog story,” he said. “As the public and people looking at the game, everyone loves an underdog story.

“I am not being rude, I am on Luke’s side, I love an underdog story.

“It took a bit of pressure off me winning it first time as well.

“He’s fantastic and he deserves all the luck in the world, he is a nice, young boy. Tomorrow we play darts, though, and I have to go down to business.”

It has been quite a tournament for Williams, who had to apologise for insensitive comments about the war after beating Germany’s Martin Schindler earlier in the tournament, but he let his darts do the talking in a career-best performance, outscoring his illustrious opponent.

He will now meet pre-tournament favourite Luke Humphries, who breezed past Dave Chisnall in the other quarter-final.

Joey Daccord stopped 35 shots for his second career shutout as the surging Seattle Kraken registered a 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday to win the NHL’s Winter Classic.

Daccord recorded the first shutout in Winter Classic history and was supported by goals from Eeli Tolvanen, Will Borgen and Yanni Gourde as the Kraken delighted a crowd of 47,313 at T-Mobile Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners.

Tolvanen added an assist to help Seattle to its fifth straight win. The Kraken also set a franchise record by earning a point in their ninth consecutive game (7-0-2).

Seattle jumped out to a 1–0 lead less than five minutes in when Tolvanen redirected teammate Vince Dunn’s shot past Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson.

Borgen extended the margin 2:19 into the second period with his first goal of the season, a drive off a loose puck that beat Thompson to the stick side.

Despite the Golden Knights owning a 15-6 shot advantage in the third period, the Kraken got the lone goal when Gourde forced a Vegas turnover and scored with 17:50 left to play.

Thompson finished with 24 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, who had their recent slump extended with a fifth loss in six games.

This was the first appearance for both teams in the Winter Classic, the NHL’s annual New Year’s Day outdoor event which was being held for the 15th time.

David Warner has pleaded for the return of his baggy green Australian cricket caps after they went missing from his bag on the eve of his final Test match.

In a video on Instagram, the veteran batsman said the caps were taken from his backpack during transit to Sydney ahead of Australia’s third Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“This is my last resort to do this,” Warner said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31)

“A couple of days ago, our bags got freighted via Qantas. We’ve gone through CCTV footage, they’ve got some blind spots apparently, we spoke to the Quay West Hotel who we absolutely trust and have gone through their cameras, no one’s come into our rooms.

“But unfortunately, someone has taken my backpack out of my actual luggage, which had my backpack and my girls’ presents in there, inside this backpack was my baggy greens.

“It’s sentimental to me, it’s something I would love to have back in my hands walking out there come this week. If it is the backpack you really wanted, I have a spare one here, you won’t get into trouble.

“Please reach out to Cricket Australia or myself via my social media and I’m happy to give this to you if you return my baggy greens.”

The Sydney Test, which starts on Wednesday, marks the 37-year-old’s final red ball appearance for his country after more than a decade as Australia’s linchpin opener.

At a press conference on Monday, Warner announced he was also retiring from one-day cricket, but would still be available for the T20 format.

Mohamed Salah believes Liverpool can win the Premier League after his inspirational display fired the Reds to a crucial yet hard-fought win over Newcastle.

Salah recovered from a first-half penalty miss to score twice and set up another as Jurgen Klopp’s side won a New Year’s Day thriller 4-2 at Anfield to move three points clear at the top.

It was his final game before joining up with Egypt ahead of the upcoming African Cup of Nations.

Salah told Sky Sports: “It’s a great result for us. The game was very intense and we managed to pick up three points and now we are top of the table. We need to stay calm and win every game.”

Asked about his side’s title chances, he added: “We believe a lot. We need to work hard and express ourselves on the field. If we manage to do that and work hard then we can keep winning.”

Salah was pleased not to be signing off from club duty on a low note after seeing a spot-kick – the first of two he had during the game – beaten away by impressive Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

He said: “I missed the pen – I didn’t want to leave with national team with that performance.

“The first one I was confused because the goalkeeper moved, but the second one I did like I did in training.”

Salah opened the scoring with a tap-in early in the second half. That effort was quickly cancelled out by Alexander Isak, but Liverpool took control through Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo.

Sven Botman pulled another back, but Salah wrapped up the win the hosts – who racked up 34 shots – deserved after a foul by Dubravka on Diogo Jota.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “Nobody should be really surprised that Mo can change a game. The more goals you have, the more you are used to missing chances and understand what you have to do to keep going and improving, and that was what Mo did.

“It was a super game from start to finish, super high intensity. I loved so many aspects of the game except the goals we conceded.

“It was an unbelievable game with and unbelievable atmosphere.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted his side were fortunate to get in goalless at half-time, but he had issues with both spot-kicks given against them.

“I’m still confused over the penalties we conceded. The second one especially didn’t look like a penalty,” he said.

“There are two ways to look at it: the challenge on Sean Longstaff (in the second half) was a pen for me and that changes the game massively and then they go up the other end and it wasn’t (a penalty).”

A fifth defeat in six league matches, and one win in 12 away games, has left Newcastle struggling to stay in reach of the top four.

“We have to do everything we can to protect that confidence so that is why I think we need not to over dramatise things,” Howe added.

“It was a really good performance from Liverpool, they made it very difficult for us – we did well to come in 0-0.

“Take away the penalty moments, the goals we conceded were disappointing.”