Jalen Brunson savoured a savaging of the Golden State Warriors and insisted the New York Knicks are only getting started after their winning streak reached eight games.

Recruited in July from the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson is averaging a career-best 20.8 points and 6.2 assists with the Knicks, and his numbers against the Warriors were in keeping with that strong form, posting 21 points and five assists.

His latest impressive display came in a 132-94 drubbing of last season's NBA champions, who were without Stephen Curry for a third successive game due to a shoulder injury and lost for the 15th time in 18 road outings this term.

Brunson told TNT: "This is great. We want to keep stacking wins, keep getting better. We've got a lot more to do, a lot more to prove.

"This is only the beginning for us, we've got to keep going. I'm learning as I'm going, my team-mates trust me, the coaching staff trusts me, I trust them. We're growing every day, we're getting better every day.

"We've got to keep fighting and can't be complacent."

The Knicks have shot up to sixth in the Eastern Conference by turning a 10-13 record into an 18-13 standing, putting them in playoffs contention for now.

With six players in double figures for points, led by Immanuel Quickley's 22-point haul that included five three-pointers from six attempts, the Knicks won by their biggest margin in the last two seasons.

They have the longest current winning streak in the NBA, but Brunson is taking nothing for granted at this stage. The Knicks have had just one top-10 finish in the Eastern Conference in the last eight seasons, and this campaign remains in its early stages.

Asked what else the Knicks have left to work on, Brunson said: "Everything. We can't be complacent at all, we've just got to keep grinding, staying focused.

"This is only game 31, and we've got to have our eyes on the prize."

The New York Knicks extended their winning run to eight games to shoot into playoffs contention while they compounded the Golden State Warriors' road woes with a 132-94 rout on Tuesday.

The reigning champions, missing 2022 NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry for a third straight game with a shoulder injury, slumped to 3-15 on the road this season, sitting 15-17 overall.

Offseason Knicks addition Jalen Brunson scored 21 points with five assists, while Immanuel Quickley top scored off the bench with 22 points. Julius Randle had 15 points with 12 rebounds and five assists.

The Knicks, who never trailed in the blowout win, had six players reach double-digit scores, with the 38-point triumph their largest margin of victory in the last two seasons.

The victory also means the Knicks boast the longest active win streak in the NBA, having conceded an NBA-best 97.8 points per game during the streak.

The Knicks, who had not beaten the Warriors at home for almost a decade, hit 11 triples in the first half, finishing the game with 17-of-40 three-point shooting, led by Quickley with five.

Jordan Poole scored a team-high 26 points for the Curry-less Warriors, who had James Wiseman play 22 minutes, scoring four points with three rebounds.

The Knicks improved to 18-13 overall to sit sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Markkanen shoots Jazz past Pistons

Seven-foot Finnish power forward Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high nine three-pointers in his 38-point haul as the Utah Jazz won 126-111 over the Detroit Pistons.

Jordan Clarkson had 12 points within 1:51 of gametime but it was Markkanen who stole the show, matching his career-high points output.

The game was the Jazz's third in four evenings, with Malik Beasley adding 17 points off the bench while Clarkson finished with 21. Jarred Vanderbilt had 18 points with 13 rebounds.

Nuggets take over in the west

The Denver Nuggets moved into top spot in the Western Conference with a 105-91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies led by another Nikola Jokic triple-double.

The back-to-back NBA MVP recorded his sixth triple-double of the season, putting on a brilliant passing display, with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists.

The Nuggets (19-11) defense kept the Grizzlies to 44.4 per cent shooting and only 19.2 per cent from beyond the arc, with Ja Morant top scoring for Memphis with 35 points along with 10 assists.

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has been placed on injured reserve, ending his season due to a right ankle injury.

Taylor suffered the injury on the Colts’ first possession of the game on a 13-yard reception in Saturday's 39-36 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Last season's NFL leading rusher's campaign is over as players must a minimum of four games on injured reserve, with the 4-9-1 Colts out of playoffs contention.

Taylor has battled ankle soreness all this year and has missed three games this season due to ankle issues.

Taylor entered Week 15 ranked 11th in the league with 861 rushing yards in 10 games. His 86.1 rushing yards per game this season ranks fourth in the NFL.

Carlos Correa’s megadeal with the San Francisco Giants is not a done deal just yet apparently.

The Giants postponed a press conference on Tuesday to introduce the star shortstop over a medical issue that arose during Correa’s physical, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.

Correa and the Giants agreed last week to a 13-year, $350 million contract with a physical pending before the deal became official. One source told The Associated Press that the news conference was put on hold because the sides were awaiting results of testing, while a second person said a medical issue arose during Correa’s physical.

Correa, 28, has dealt with durability issues during his eight-year career, playing at least 150 games in a season just once.

He has made seven trips to the injured list since 2015, with a torn ligament in his thumb, lower back soreness and a fractured rib. Correa, however, played 58 games in the shortened 60-game season in 2020, followed by 148 contests in 2021 and 136 last season.

It remains to be seen whether the team simply wants to conduct further tests or if there is evidence of something that could lead to the deal being called off or even restructured.

Correa hit .291 with 22 homers and 64 RBIs last season for the Minnesota Twins after spending his first seven seasons with the Houston Astros.

He has a .279 career average with 155 home runs and 553 RBIs and has excelled in the postseason, batting .272 with 18 homers and 59 RBIs in 79 games.

Correa signed a $105.3 million, three-year deal with the Twins in March but opted out after one year and became a free agent again.

His deal with the Giants would be the fourth largest in baseball history in terms of total money. Only Mike Trout ($426.5 million, 12 years), Mookie Betts ($365 million, 12 years) and Aaron Judge ($360 million, nine years) have bigger contracts.

The Giants made a run at signing Judge and have been desperate to add a marquee player to a team that went 81-81 last season, a year after winning a franchise-record 107 games and the NL West.

Reigning NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry will plot out a timeline for his return from a left shoulder injury in the new year.

Curry suffered a shoulder subluxation in last Wednesday's 125-119 loss to the Indiana Pacers, with initial reports stating he would miss a "few weeks".

The 34-year-old point guard has avoided surgery and is hopeful of plotting out his return soon.

"This is an interesting one just because I haven’t had an injury like this on the shoulder, so it's a wait and see approach," Curry said on the Warriors' bench during NBA on TNT's coverage of the game with the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

"I'm still in the early healing process, so I'm nowhere near picking up a basketball yet. It'll be a few weeks.

"Maybe we'll get to the new year and I'll start to key in on a timeline from there."

The Warriors are 15-16 overall, sitting 11th in the Western Conference, coming into Tuesday's road game. Golden State have a 3-14 road record this season.

The reigning champions have won two of their past seven games, including managing one win from the two games since Curry's injury.

Curry is leading the NBA this season in three-pointers made, with 5.0 per game. The four-time NBA champion is averaging 30.0 points shooting at 50 per cent with 6.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists this season.

The chances of Odell Beckham Jr. signing for the Dallas Cowboys are "diminishing", according to owner Jerry Jones.

Beckham has been a free agent since leaving the Los Angeles Rams, with whom he tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the team's Super Bowl triumph last season.

The Cowboys have been closely linked to a move to sign the wide receiver, with Beckham undergoing a physical with the team earlier this month.

However, it was reported the Cowboys had concerns over Beckham's recovery from his injury, and the team signed former Indianapolis Colt T.Y. Hilton last week to add veteran depth to their receiving core.

Hilton was inactive as the Cowboys clinched a place in the postseason with three games to go, despite a shock loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

With just three games left of the regular season, Jones feels the chances of Beckham joining the team are getting lower by the day.

"As of this morning we don't have anything," Jones told 105.3 The Fan. 

"The reality is though that time is moving on down the road relative to playing in the playoffs and so every day diminishes our chances of going forward."

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has refused to rule out quarterback Jalen Hurts from playing in Saturday's blockbuster with the Dallas Cowboys despite a sprained right shoulder.

Hurts injured his throwing shoulder late in the third quarter of the Eagles' 25-20 win over the Chicago Bears but was able to finish the game.

Sirianni said the team will prepare Hurts and backup QB Gardner Minshew to play against the Cowboys. He also declined to put any timeline on Hurts' injury.

"I don't put anything past Jalen Hurts, as far as his mental and physical toughness, so there's a chance he could play this week," Sirianni told reporters.

"He is one of the toughest guys I know, and he heals fast — he's a freak. His body is not like, pardon me, yours or mine."

Hurts has been pivotal to the Eagles' sensational 13-1 season and is one of the leading candidates for league MVP with career highs of 3,472 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns and 13 rushing TDs. The 24-year-old also ranks fourth in the NFL in quarterback rating (104.6).

Sirianni said Hurts' availability was about the injury healing, rather than pain tolerance.

"He’s an unbelievable competitor, [has] unbelievable toughness, which is why every time there's a question about Jalen, the first thing that you get, regardless of how he’s playing or whatnot, is about his leadership ability and his toughness both mentally and physically," he said.

"So, it'll be more about the healing with Jalen than it will be about the pain, because he can play through anything."

Either way, Sirianni was bullish in 26-year-old Minshew's ability to cover Hurts, should be deemed unavailable.

Minshew spent two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars before moving to the Eagles in 2021, where he has had limited opportunities, playing only seven times, with only two starts.

"He's what you want out of your backup quarterback, to be ready with limited reps," he said.

"Now, we're able to do things differently here, then I think in most places I've been — we take a lot of time, we have a lot of developmental reps."

Saturday's game sees the Eagles take on the 10-4 Cowboys, who allowed a season-high 40 points against the Jaguars in Week 15.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is also under some pressure, having thrown two interceptions in the overtime loss to the Jags.

Andy Murray has conceded he is just one major injury from being forced to retire, though the three-time grand slam winner remains keen to play on.

Murray underwent two hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019, causing him to spend much of the last four years on the sidelines.

However, Murray returned to the top 50 of the world rankings after making two tour-level finals in 2022, while his run to the third round of the US Open represented his joint-best grand slam campaign since Wimbledon 2017.

The two-time Wimbledon champion saw rival Roger Federer retire from the sport in September after struggling with a knee injury, and while he acknowledges fitness concerns could force his hand, Murray is not yet looking to follow suit.

"If my body is in good shape and I'm still able to compete consistently, I'll keep playing," Murray said.

"But I can't look so far in advance with the age I'm at and with the issues I've had. If I was to have a big injury, I probably wouldn't try to come back from that."

Murray has been training with coach Ivan Lendl in a bid to ensure he enters next month's Australian Open in peak condition, having missed three of the last five editions of the tournament.

"I spent three weeks in Florida, getting my body right and getting some work done on my game and it went really well," he said.

"I'm certainly in better shape than I was. A lot of work was done in the gym, trying to build up my endurance and my stamina a bit and I'm hoping that's going to help me next year.

"I wasn't happy with how last season went – certainly the last six months or so from a physical perspective – but my ranking still went from 125 to 50 in a year. 

"I'm hoping that this year, with the work I've done, things will continue to improve and I'll still be motivated to get out there and compete."

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks have each contended for and won titles in the past 10 years, but they have very rarely both been good at the same time.

LeBron James led the Cavaliers to four straight NBA Finals between 2014-15 and 2017-18 as they enjoyed an epic rivalry with the Golden State Warriors.

But Cleveland were tied for the second-worst record in the league the following year, with James in Los Angeles, as Central Division rivals Milwaukee came to prominence with the NBA's best record in Giannis Antetokounmpo's first MVP year.

The Bucks have since had control of the division and again lead the Eastern Conference through 30 games at 22-8.

Yet now there is a challenge from the Cavs, who are a competitive 21-11 and have won four straight games ahead of hosting the Bucks on Wednesday.

Having already shown real signs of progress last year in reaching the play-in tournament, Cleveland have kicked on again after a trade for Donovan Mitchell that they hope will turn them into a serious player in the East.

So far, that looks to be the case, with Mitchell's career-high 29.3 points per game leading the team – and ranking eighth in the NBA – while he has produced in big games against the Boston Celtics.

The Cavs are 2-0 against the second-placed Celtics this season; however, they are 0-2 against the Bucks, who will be intent on batting away their division rivals ahead of Christmas.

PIVOTAL PERFORMERS

Cleveland Cavaliers – Jarrett Allen

The Cavaliers will hope the physicality of Allen can be the missing piece against the Bucks. He has played only 12 minutes against Milwaukee so far this season, absent for the first game and withdrawn injured in the second having scored only a single point.

Since returning from that hip injury earlier this month, Allen has averaged 14.9 points and 9.3 rebounds, with 26 rebounds across his past two outings.

Milwaukee Bucks – Giannis Antetokounmpo

Nobody likes playing against Antetokounmpo, but only against the Brooklyn Nets and the Utah Jazz has he averaged more points per game across his career than against the Cavaliers.

Although the Cavs have spoken of Evan Mobley having the potential to become a player in the Giannis mould, neither he nor his team-mates have a fix for the 'Greek Freak' when he is in form – as he was in scoring 38 points in their last meeting.

KEY BATTLE – Can Cavs keep focus after halftime?

Two of the Cavaliers' three worst quarters this season in terms of points differential were the two third quarters they have played against the Bucks. They represented two of Milwaukee's four best quarters of the year.

The Cavs, again on a four-game winning run, had dominated the first half of the teams' most recent meeting, up by 11 before losing the third quarter 35-10 as they were blown away by the Bucks' title0calibre intensity.

Cleveland must show they are capable of going toe-to-toe with such opposition if they are to be a genuine threat this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Cavaliers may have struggled badly in Milwaukee this season, but they won their final two home games against the Bucks last year, providing hope of another win at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where they are a league-leading 15-2 in 2022-23.

The Bucks have a 130-97 all-time lead in the series, although the Cavs have a 60-53 advantage in Cleveland.

Boris Becker described his time in prison as “the loneliest moment I've ever had” but "I believe I rediscovered the human in me" after he was released last Thursday.

Six-time grand slam singles champion Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in jail in April after being found guilty of hiding £2.5million worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts when he was declared bankrupt in 2017.

The German reportedly spent the first few weeks of his sentence at Wandsworth Prison in London before being moved to the low-security Huntercombe prison in Oxfordshire in May.

The 55-year-old served just eight months of his sentence before being allowed out and has returned to his homeland, with reports he is not allowed back in the United Kingdom for a decade.

In an interview with Sat.1 that was broadcast on Tuesday, the tennis legend has opened up on the dark days he has experienced but says he has learned a "very expensive" lesson.

"In prison you are a nobody, you are only a number. Mine was A2923EV," he recalled when breaking his silence. "I wasn't called Boris, I was a number. And nobody gives a s*** who you are.

"When the cell door closes, the whole world collapses. This is the loneliest moment I've ever had. 

"There is only you with your thoughts. There's a carousel in your head, of course. You try to breathe calmly. I was afraid, I didn't cry.

"I believe I rediscovered the human in me, the person I once was. I've learned a hard lesson. A very expensive one. A very painful one. 

"But the whole thing has taught me something very important and worthwhile. And some things happen for a good reason."

Recalling the day of his release, Becker, who lived in London before he was sent to prison, said: "From six o'clock that morning I sat on the edge of my bed, and hoped that the cell door would open. 

"They came to get me at 7.30am, unlocked the door and asked: 'Are you ready?' I said: 'Let’s go!' I had already packed everything beforehand."

With Mike White still not cleared to play, the New York Jets will once again start Zach Wilson at quarterback on Thursday against the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars in a game both teams need to win to stay in the AFC playoff picture.

Jets coach Robert Saleh made the announcement on Tuesday, saying White is still being evaluated as he recovers from broken ribs.

That means Wilson will be back under centre for a second straight start after being benched for the previous three games in favour of White.

Wilson had an uneven performance last Sunday against the Detroit Lions in his first start since Week 11. He threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns but again struggled with his accuracy, completing just 51.4 per cent of his 35 passes while also throwing an interception in a 20-17 loss.

That defeat marked the third in a row for the Jets, dropping them to 7-7 on the season and into ninth place in the AFC standings.

While New York's season is slipping away, Jacksonville have won back-to-back games to improve to 6-8 and pull within a game of the Jets, making this clash significant in the AFC playoff hunt.

It also pits the top two picks from last year's draft up against one another, with Wilson set to square off against Trevor Lawrence.

Lawrence, the number one overall pick in 2021, has been instrumental to the Jaguars' recent success, compiling 14 touchdown passes to only one interception in his past six games.

Wilson, meanwhile, has six TD passes and six interceptions in eight games all season.

LIV Golf players will be able to play in the 2023 Masters provided they meet the tournament's existing entry criteria.

Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel joined the controversial Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway LIV Golf series this year, but will be eligible to compete at Augusta next April due to being former Masters champions.

Cameron Smith has been invited to play due to his Open triumph this year, while Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka can also tee off in Georgia as a result of their major successes.

Augusta National Golf Club Fred Ridley said in a statement: "From its inception in 1934, the purpose of the Masters Tournament has been to benefit the game of golf.

"Each April, the Masters assembles the world’s leading golfers to compete for the Green Jacket and a place in history.

"Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it.

"Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honour the tradition of bringing together a pre-eminent field of golfers this coming April.

"Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament.

"We have reached a seminal point in the history of our sport. At Augusta National, we have faith that golf, which has overcome many challenges through the years, will endure again."

Mickelson did not play in the Masters this year as he took time out from the sport after coming in for huge criticism over comments he made about Saudi Arabia's human rights record before joining LIV Golf.