Hopes of any turf racing taking place in Britain on Saturday hinge on a second precautionary inspection at Uttoxeter at 7.30am.

Friday’s jumps cards at Fontwell, Wetherby and Wexford all fell victim to the persistent wet spell, while Saturday’s card at Stratford and Kelso’s Premier Raceday were also abandoned due to waterlogging.

Officials at Uttoxeter staged an initial inspection at 2pm on Friday to assess the latest state of play and while standing water remains in some areas, the track was described as raceable, prompting the team to announce a further check for raceday morning.

A statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, read: “Following our precautionary inspection at 2pm, the track is currently raceable with no rain since 7.30am.

“We are optimistic that we will be able to race tomorrow, however, due to variable forecasts, we will be holding another precautionary inspection at 7:30am.”

Saturday’s Curragh meeting, due to feature the Group Three Tote.ie Alleged Stakes, is also subject to a 7.30am inspection.

Brendan Sheridan, the IHRB clerk of the course at the Curragh, said on Friday morning: “Following a further 6.5mm of rain overnight, the Curragh remains heavy and fit for racing. Having spoken with Met Éireann this morning, there is the possibility of a further 8-11mm of rain between now and 5.35pm tomorrow.

“However, we are also faced with the prospect of Storm Kathleen which has the potential to bring high gusts of wind through tomorrow. On the basis of the forecast for further rain, we will have a 7.30am inspection on Saturday morning to assess if the track remains fit for racing.

“Should the track remain fit for racing at that point, we will continue to monitor the situation and consult with Met Éireann in relation to the high winds.”

Saturday’s racing programme is completed by all-weather cards at Chelmsford and Kempton and the disruption looks likely to continue, with Downpatrick’s Sunday meeting hinging on a 7.30am check.

Tuesday’s Flat meeting at Navan has already been cancelled, while Hexham’s jumps card on the same day also looks in serious doubt, with officials calling an inspection for 7.30am on Sunday.

Harry Charlton could land his first major success since taking over the Beckhampton licence when Sleeping Lion bids for his second victory in Kempton’s Virgin Bet Queen’s Prize Handicap.

The Sunbury regular got his hands on the staying handicap on his debut for the Charlton team in 2021 before returning to finish fifth last season and the nine-year-old’s last three appearances have all come on the all-weather at this venue.

Three of the experienced stayer’s five career victories have been at Kempton and his handler believes local knowledge can see him thereabouts once again in the £45,000 contest.

“He’s not really a horse for undulating tracks and he doesn’t like soft ground so we quite often come back to Kempton,” said Charlton, who has taken over solely after a spell alongside his father, Roger.

“He’s in good form and he always runs well there, it just looks quite competitive I thought.

“I think if he runs his usual kind of race, he will be thereabouts, whether he is improving, it’s hard to say at that age, but he’s very consistent and very enthusiastic. He’s a pleasure to have around.”

James Owen is another handler who could establish himself as a leading player on the Flat this season and his impressive Catterick hurdles winner Sweet Fantasy changes tack in search of this valuable prize.

“The plan was to go to Musselburgh for the big handicap last weekend and she was declared to run but unfortunately it was called off and we have come here with her,” said Owen.

“I would rather run her on the grass but she works very well on the all-weather and has some back-form on the all-weather.

“I think the step up in trip will massively help her and she looked a very solid stayer for me over hurdles.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do on the Flat for us and I think there is more to come from what she has shown at home. Hopefully she can do it on the track as well.

“It’s nice that Aidan (Keeley) can ride them both (also partners Cannon Rock in the Rosebery Handicap). I think he is riding really well and he claims a massive 3lb and is a very good rider. He’s helping me out massively at home, so it’s nice to be able to repay him.”

James Fanshawe’s Novel Legend was a regular in the top staying contests last season and finished the year competing in the Group One Prix Royal-Oak in France.

He will carry top weight, while Andrew Balding’s Spirit Mixer is 1lb lower than when chasing home star stayer Trueshan in the 2022 Northumberland Plate and is sure to be sharper for his Lingfield return from a long 328-day absence last month.

Ian Williams’ Aqwaam landed the victory he had been threatening at Lingfield on Good Friday and will go in search of his second win in the space of eight days off a 4lb higher rating.

“He ran very well at Lingfield last time and 4lb doesn’t look too extreme against what he has achieved, so we would be hopeful of another decent run,” said Williams.

“It’s always good to pick up a decent prize, so it would be good to see him run well again.”

Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Broadway Boy is ready for his Aintree assignment after missing out on the Cheltenham Festival.

The six-year-old began his debut season over fences in September, winning at the first time of asking and then impressing with a trio of good runs at Prestbury Park.

He finished second to Flooring Porter over three miles and half a furlong in October before returning to the Cotswolds to win a Listed contest over the same trip and a valuable handicap over three miles and two.

The gelding was subsequently a distant third in the Hampton Novices’ Chase at Warwick but was still a popular pick ahead of the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Festival in March.

An unsatisfactory scope ruled him out of the race two days before he was due to line up, but the bay has fared well since and is preparing to run in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at the Grand National meeting.

“He’s very well, he did a bit of work on Tuesday and all being well he’s headed for Aintree,” said Willy Twiston-Davies, assistant to his father.

“His last two trach washes have been spotless and he’s in very good form, it’s all systems go.

“He’ll go for the three-mile Grade One novice.”

The Twiston-Davies team have a nice prospect in Clap Of Thunder, a four-year-old Mount Nelson gelding with four bumper runs under his belt.

He was most recently seen in the Tattersalls Ireland George Mernagh Memorial Sales Bumper at Fairyhouse on March 31, competing among a field of 14 horses, including some expensive purchases.

Under conditional amateur Toby McCain-Mitchell, Clap Of Thunder raced at the head of the field and though he was eventually outdone by an impressive winner in Willie Mullins’ Kopek Des Bordes, the third-placed horse was nine lengths behind him and the rest of the runners were even further strung out.

The bay is owned by his trainer and will go through the sales ring in search of a new home, though the family are naturally keen for him to return to the yard for them to train for fresh connections.

“That was brilliant, we were really, really pleased with him,” said Twiston-Davies.

“He bumped into a very good horse and I imagine that will be him done for the season.

“He is for sale and he will go to the sales, but we’d like to keep him in the yard if we could.

“He’s not made to be a four-year-old bumper horse, he’s a very big horse, so that just shows the ability he’s got at this stage in his career.

“We’d like to think he’d make a very nice novice hurdler for next year, we’ve schooled him plenty already and he looks a bit of a natural.”

Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Gerri Colombe and Festival absentees Hewick and Shishkin are among 12 entries for the Aintree Bowl on the opening afternoon of the Grand National meeting on Thursday.

Gordon Elliott’s Gerri Colombe finished a clear best of the rest behind reigning champion Galopin Des Champs in the blue riband at Prestbury Park last month and could now bid for a second win on Merseyside, having claimed Grade One honours in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase 12 months ago.

Shark Hanlon made the difficult decision to take Hewick out of the Gold Cup due to the rain-softened ground, and having opted against running his charge under top-weight in the Randox Grand National, he is instead set to line up at Aintree 48 hours earlier.

Shishkin was also declared a non-runner in the Gold Cup during a difficult week at Cheltenham for Nicky Henderson, meaning he will be fresh as he looks to claim the Bowl for the second year in succession.

Other contenders for the home team include the Paul Nicholls-trained Bravemansgame, Dan Skelton’s Ryanair Chase hero Protektorat and Ahoy Senor from Lucinda Russell’s yard, while the Irish contingent interestingly features Emmet Mullins’ exciting novice Corbetts Cross.

The latter was hugely impressive when sauntering to success in the National Hunt Chase at the Festival and could now step up to take on more experienced rivals at the highest level.

Banbridge (Joseph O’Brien), Conflated (Elliott), Gentlemansgame (Mouse Morris), Jungle Boogie (Henry de Bromhead) and Thunder Rock (Olly Murphy) complete the potential field.

A dozen entries have also been made for the William Hill Aintree Hurdle, which will of course be missing last year’s winner Constitution Hill.

In his absence, leading lights include Elliott’s Champion Hurdle runner-up Irish Point, De Bromhead’s Bob Olinger and the Willie Mullins-trained Impaire Et Passe, with the latter pair having purposely sidestepped Cheltenham to be saved for this race.

Despite Constitution Hill being sidelined, Henderson could still be represented with Champion Hurdle third Luccia, Iberico Lord, Marie’s Rock and First Street all in the mix, while dual Coral Cup victor Langer Dan could step up in class for the title-chasing Skelton team.

The first of four Grade Ones is the Manifesto Novices’ Chase, which also features Corbetts Cross as well as the Willie Mullins-trained pair of Embassy Gardens and Il Etait Temps, with Turners Novices’ Chase one-two Grey Dawning (Skelton) and Ginny’s Destiny (Nicholls) perhaps the best of the British in an 18-strong field.

A total of 13 four-year-olds are in contention for the Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle, with Henderson’s Sir Gino looking for compensation after missing the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham.

His potential rivals include the Triumph Hurdle second and fourth Kargese (Willie Mullins) and Nurburgring (Joseph O’Brien), as well as the unbeaten Kalif Du Berlais (Nicholls).

Connections of White Birch are keeping their fingers crossed Saturday’s Curragh meeting goes ahead to allow last season’s Derby third to make his reappearance in the Tote.ie Alleged Stakes.

Winner of the Ballysax Stakes on heavy ground at Leopardstown 12 months ago, John Joseph Murphy’s colt went on to finish a close second to The Foxes in the Dante at York before picking up the bronze medal behind Auguste Rodin in the premier Classic at Epsom in early June.

The grey failed to fire in the Irish Derby on his next start but rounded off his season with a close-up fourth in a Group Three on Irish Champions Weekend and George Murphy, assistant to his father, views this 10-furlong contest as a suitable starting point for his four-year-old campaign.

“We’re getting an awful lot of rain here, I don’t know what they’re getting in the Curragh, but I would imagine it will be the same,” he said.

“It’ll be tough going, but it will be loose ground and he’ll more than likely run if it goes ahead.

“He’ll definitely come on for it. Everything has been going well, we probably would have liked to have got him on the grass a couple more times, but other than that, we’re very happy with him.

“We’ll make a plan for what’s next after the weekend.”

White Birch is the highest-rated horse in a nine-strong entry list, with Noel Meade fielding a pair of multiple course winners in Lafayette and Helvic Dream.

Lafayette has struck gold at the home of Irish Flat racing on four occasions, with Helvic Dream a three-time course winner, most notably claiming Group One honours in the 2021 Tattersalls Gold Cup.

Maxux, who carries the colours of Spanish footballer Alvaro Odriozola, has won twice from four previous starts for Joseph O’Brien and was last seen plundering a Group Three prize at Fairyhouse in September.

“She looks like she handles soft ground and that is what it is going to be at the weekend,” said O’Brien.

“Although it looks a really competitive race and she is taking on colts, it looks a nice starting point for her.

“We’re just hoping for a nice run and hope it’s a nice starting point. At this time of the season, it’s all about a platform that she can build on. I’m sure there will be easier opportunities at this level as the year goes on, but this is a good starting point.”

Aidan O’Brien has won four of the last six runnings of the Alleged Stakes and this year relies upon Greenland, while Crypto Force makes his stable debut for Adrian Murray, having been off the track since claiming the 2022 Beresford Stakes.

Mashhoor (Johnny Murtagh), The Shadow Lingers (Luke Comer) and Village Voice (Jessica Harrington) are the other hopefuls.

Klay Thompson hit out at Tari Eason's "lame" pre-game taunts after helping the Golden State Warriors to a huge win over the Houston Rockets, all but confirming their Play-In spot.

Ahead of Thursday's game at Toyota Center, second-year forward Eason – who is out for the season after undergoing surgery on a benign growth on his lower leg bone – was seen wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan: 'Warriors, come out and play'.

Golden State did just that as Thompson joined Stephen Curry in scoring 29 points in a 133-110 win, their sixth in a row and one which has huge implications for both teams' playoff hopes.

The Warriors occupy the Western Conference's final Play-In spot and are now four games ahead of the Rockets with six regular-season games remaining, also holding the season tiebreaker. 

Thompson was delighted to get the last laugh over Eason, warning against players trash-talking when they are unable to contribute on the court.

"That's pretty lame, especially if you're not even playing," Thompson said of Eason's T-shirt, which he removed after the game.  

"It's one thing if you are out there playing, out there competing and you can back it up. 

"But if you're just going to be trolling from the sideline… what are you doing? The times we talk smack, we're out there competing. That's all I have to say about that."

Warriors team-mate Draymond Green echoed those sentiments, saying: "I love it but if you're going to say that, you've got to play. You can't come out and say that and not play. 

"I know what type of player he is. He welcomes all of that. He welcomes the challenge and welcomes the fight.

"Hopefully next year he'll say the same thing and we won't both be fighting for the Play-In, we'll be fighting for the seeding."

For the Rockets to pip the Warriors to the final Play-In spot, they will likely need to win all six of their remaining games and see in-form Golden State drop five.

But with the Warriors pulling to within 1.5 games of the ninth-placed Los Angeles Lakers, Green is looking up, rather than down.

"It allows you to now focus on what you can do to move up," Green said. "When you're just trying to solidify, you take everything step by step. 

"The first step is to solidify ourselves a chance, to give ourselves a chance. Once you get yourself a chance, it's like; 'What's next? What's the best chance we can give ourselves?'"

Long-serving presenter Garry Richardson will step down from BBC Radio Four’s Today programme this autumn, the corporation has announced.

Richardson will present the sports news on the early morning programme for the final time on September 9, marking precisely 50 years since his first day as a junior researcher for the broadcaster in 1974.

He has been working on the Today programme since 1981, and was also the host of the agenda-setting Sportsweek programme on Sunday mornings on BBC Radio 5 Live for 20 years until its final edition in September 2019.

“I have had the most wonderful time working for the BBC alongside my heroes from sport and showbusiness,” Richardson said.

“I’ll still be broadcasting from time to time, the only difference will be I won’t be setting my alarm for 2.45am and that’s a lovely thought.”

The BBC’s director-general Tim Davie described Richardson as a “legendary presenter” and added: “So many of us have woken up to him bringing the latest sporting news for over four decades.

“He has brought wisdom, insight and a smile to every broadcast. On behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank Garry for everything he has done, fifty years at the BBC is an incredible milestone.”

The news about Richardson comes just two days after it was confirmed Jonathan Agnew would stand down as the corporation’s chief cricket correspondent at the end of the summer.

Agnew will continue to commentate on the BBC’s Test Match Special broadcasts for four more years.

Animal Rising, the organisation behind the disruption at last year’s Grand National, has announced it has no plans to interfere with the meeting next week.

Last year’s Grand National was delayed by around 15 minutes after members of Animal Rising attempted to glue themselves to a fence. Over 100 arrests were made by Merseyside Police.

Animal Rising went on to stage a further protest at the Derby at Epsom in June, which led to Ben Newman, one of the founders of the group, being given a suspended prison sentence because the Jockey Club, the owners of Epsom, had been granted an injunction preventing disruption.

Animal Rising issued a statement confirming they had no intention of attending this year’s Grand National which read: “Last year the British public saw through the myths of the horse racing industry as a spotlight was put onto the Grand National.

“We all want to see these horses living happy lives in sanctuaries, not being raced; just as we need to see mass rewilding and a plant-based food system to really tackle our climate and nature crises.”

A spokesperson for Aintree said the racecourse have not been contacted directly by Animal Rising ahead of next week’s event and that they continue to work with Merseyside Police and their own security teams to plan for all eventualities.

Toto Wolff made a U-turn on his decision not to attend the Japanese Grand Prix as it would have been the “wrong choice” given Mercedes recent troubles.

The Mercedes team boss was scheduled not to be at Suzuka this weekend and the PA news agency understands that was planned before the start of the new season and not as a result of the team’s poor performance at the Australian Grand Prix.

Neither Lewis Hamilton nor George Russell finished the race in Melbourne, with Russell’s fifth-placed finish in the season-opener in Bahrain the best result for the team so far this year.

Having dominated the sport between 2014 and 2021, Mercedes have struggled since new regulations arrived the following year and have won just one race in that time.

Wolff changed his mind on attending the race in Suzuka – where Russell and Hamilton finished fourth and fifth in first practice before a rain-affected second session – and explained the call on Friday afternoon.

“I had planned not to come to Japan, because there’s so much on back in Europe, things to do,” he said.

“But then I felt not coming to Japan was the wrong choice. I think it’s important to be with the race team…it does me good also, to be close to the action.

“We’re experimenting with a few things and then being part of the team really gives me energy and I hope the other way around, too. So that’s why I decided against staying in Europe.”

Speaking on Thursday, Hamilton was asked about the tough times of both drivers not crossing the finish line last time out.

“I think it’s all about perspective. I think for us of course we’ve not started the season where we wanted to be,” he said.

“We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve seen in the past – last year for example – how things can switch with certain teams.

“I think we’ve just got to learn as much as we can, take as much as we can from the data, remain positive, continue to work hard and I always say it’s not how you fall, it’s how you get up.

“We will just continue to chase and fight and hope we can be fighting at the front at some stage.”

Wolff, too, was keen to be optimistic when asked about the struggles of the season so far.

“We are a sports team, we’ve won eight times in a row, and that hasn’t been done before. But you have periods where you struggle, like any other sports team, and you can’t win every time.

“That’s why this is a super challenge and it’s not a race, it’s not one single season, and then you come back out on top, but it’s the third one in a row.

“But I remain absolutely convinced that we will be looking back in a few years and saying that was so tough, but so important for the development of the team.”

Hamilton, who has won six of Mercedes’ seven consecutive drivers’ championships, is leaving to join Ferrari next season.

He has tipped Sebastian Vettel as an “amazing option” to take his seat at Mercedes after the four-time world champion revealed he has been considering returning to F1 after leaving in 2022.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Vettel admitted he has been talking to Wolff – who was full of praise for the former Red Bull and Ferrari man, before confirming he has whittled down the options for 2025 to two or three drivers.

“Sebastian is someone you can never discount,” he said.

“His track record is phenomenal, and sometimes maybe taking a break is also good to evaluate what’s important for you and re-find your motivation.

“We haven’t taken the decision yet and it is not something we plan to do in the next few weeks, the driver market is very dynamic and some of the really good guys are about so sign for the other teams.”

This afternoon’s meeting at Fontwell and Saturday’s Premier fixture at Kelso are the latest to fall foul of the persistent wet spell.

Officials at Fontwell held a precautionary inspection at 7.30am following over 30mm of rain through the week and a further 7mm in the last 24 hours tipped the decision over the edge.

Unfortunately for Kelso, where the £100,000 Herring Queen Series Final Mares’ Novices’ Handicap Hurdle was the feature on a valuable card, heavy rain overnight left the course unraceable and more is forecast.

Clerk of the course Matthew Taylor said: “Unfortunately we’ve had a further 12mm overnight and it has left us unraceable.

“We had 22mm yesterday but then we had some improvement which was significant but this further 12mm has set us back quite a way. Up to 50 per cent of the track is waterlogged.

“It has just stopped raining by 8am and it is a bit breezy but we’ve got random sporadic showers forecast this afternoon which will be heavy and there’s a further rain band coming in Friday night and into Saturday morning.

“That wouldn’t give us enough time to do the work needed so we’ve had to abandon. We’re really sorry, we were desperate to get it on as a Premier raceday but we just can’t guarantee the integrity of the structure of the surface underneath.”

Wexford in Ireland were also forced to abandon on Friday while the meeting at Wetherby had already been called off.

Second practice for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix proved to be a damp squib as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest time on a weather-affected session.

Local favourite Yuki Tsunoda and his RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo were the only drivers to set lap times early on in changeable conditions, but set their times on the intermediate tyre.

The hour-long session began in rain and, although it later stopped, the track was not deemed sufficiently dry enough for most teams to send out their cars.

Piastri was one of them and his time of one minute 34.725 seconds proved fast enough to top the timesheets, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari the only others to set representative times.

Earlier, Max Verstappen set the pace in first practice as Willams endured another Friday to forget.

Reigning champion Verstappen retired in Melbourne a fortnight ago but was back at it here, his time of one minute 20.056 seconds was enough to see him go quickest at Suzuka, with team-mate Sergio Perez his closest challenger 0.181 seconds back.

A red flag halfway through the session stopped running for 11 minutes as Logan Sargeant crashed off at turn two – further adding to the Williams woes.

Sargeant sat out the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago as team-mate Alex Albon took his car after destroying his own in a practice crash and the team currently have no spare chassis.

Williams team principal James Vowles confirmed the car had suffered “extensive” damage and Sargeant was forced to sit out of second practice – although the lack of running meant there was little that would have been gained from taking part.

“It is pretty significant (damage). So the chassis is OK, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn’t – so the suspension around, the gearbox is cracked, big damage.

“At the top of the brow of the hill there, he struggled to see where his positioning was on track. So it fundamentally looks like he didn’t quite realise where he was with where the grass was on the outside and put a wheel on the grass.”

Albon went 12th fastest after the action restarted, while Verstappen assumed his usual position as the car to beat.

Carlos Sainz, who won in Australia last time out, was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Hamilton, while the second Ferrari of Leclerc was sixth.

Jon Rahm will defend his title when the 88th Masters takes place at Augusta National from April 11-14.

Rahm is bidding to become just the fourth player to win back-to-back green jackets after Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the main contenders for the year’s first major championship.

The 2022 champion has been in brilliant form in 2024, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five shots and seven days later becoming the first player to win back-to-back Players Championship titles at Sawgrass. Switching putters on the advice of Rory McIlroy has proved vital, although missed short putts did cost him a third straight win in the Houston Open. Rightly rated favourite for a second green jacket at the kind of odds previously only offered for peak-era Tiger Woods.

Started last year with a four-putt double bogey on the first but still shot an opening 65 and ended up winning his second major title by four shots over LIV Golf duo Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson. Remarkably returns to Augusta as a fellow member of the Saudi-backed breakaway, a shock move which ensures his competitive sharpness will be under scrutiny. Will be hoping Koepka and Mickelson proved last year that experience of the course is more important than current form.

McIlroy’s 10th attempt to win the Masters and complete a career grand slam comes on the back of some underwhelming form since winning in Dubai in January, although the world number two remains second favourite behind Scheffler. His recent record at Augusta National includes a thrilling final round of 64 in 2022 and two missed cuts and the four-time major winner is reportedly set to skip the pre-tournament par-three contest to fully focus on his bid to make history.

Schauffele insisted the best was yet to come in his career after narrowly missing out on the Players Championship title, the Olympic champion taking a one-shot lead into the final round only to get overhauled by a charging Scheffler. Failing to get over the line perpetuated the belief in some circles that Schauffele has underachieved, although he has seven PGA Tour titles to go with his gold medal from Tokyo, along with 11 top-10 major finishes, including three in his last five starts at Augusta.

Most golf fans are well aware of the statistic which makes Aberg appear an unlikely contender, namely that Fuzzy Zoeller was the last player to win the Masters on their tournament debut back in 1979. In addition, the Masters will be Aberg’s first appearance in any major, but the 24-year-old Swede has defied the odds since turning professional in June 2023, winning on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour and justifying his wild card by helping Europe regain the Ryder Cup.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson each scored 29 points and the Golden State Warriors won their season-high sixth straight game, 133-110 over the Houston Rockets on Thursday.

Rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis had a career-high 20 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Warriors, who made it 13 straight wins against the Rockets since a loss on Feb. 20, 2020, and tightened its grip on 10th place in the Western Conference.

Thompson scored 21 points in the first half with five 3-pointers to help Golden State take a 65-50 lead into the break.

The Warriors held a 16-point lead after three quarters and were up 20 with just under four minutes left when coach Steve Kerr cleared his bench.

Jabari Smith Jr. scored 24 points for the Rockets, who dropped their third straight following an 11-game winning streak.

Knicks rally past Kings to end skid

D had 35 points and 11 assists and Josh Hart added a season-high 31 points as the New York Knicks overcame a 21-point deficit in a 120-109 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Hart shot 14 of 19 from the field, had nine rebounds and eight assists and Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points to help New York snap a three-game skid and tie Orlando for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.

De’Aaron Fox had 29 points, seven boards and seven assists for the Kings, who failed in a bid to tie New Orleans and Phoenix for sixth in the West.

Sacramento raced to a 46-25 lead while making 19 of its first 28 shots, but the Knicks responded with a 16-2 to get back in it.

Clippers hold off Nuggets

Paul George had 28 points and Ivica Zubac scored the final six points for the Los Angeles Clippers in a 102-100 win over the Denver Nuggets.

James Harden tallied 20 points, eight assists and six rebounds and Zubac finished with 14 points and 15 boards as the Clippers snapped a five-game home skid despite the absence of Kawhi Leonard, who sat out his second straight game with a sore right knee.  

Nikola Jokić notched his 24th triple-double of the season with 36 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, but the Nuggets couldn’t come all the way back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter and dropped one-half game behind Minnesota for the Western Conference lead.