Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the 2023 Australian Open.
The 25-year-old Japanese is a two-time Australian Open winner (2019 and 2021), but tournament organisers confirmed on Sunday she will not be adding to that tally in 2023.
No reason has yet been cited for Osaka's decision, although she has not played since pulling out of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September.
Osaka endured a difficult 2022 at grand slams, losing in the first round at both the French Open and US Open, while she was bundled out in the third round of last year's Australian Open and did not compete at Wimbledon due to an Achilles injury.
The former world number one's withdrawal follows that of men's top seed Carlos Alcaraz and seven-time major winner Venus Williams due to injury.
Reigning women's singles champion Ash Barty has also since retired following her triumph in January last year.
Osaka is currently ranked 42nd in the world and will be replaced by Dayana Yastremska in the main draw.
Chicago Bulls' All-Star guard Zach LaVine says he "feels like me again" after scoring a combined 77 points in back-to-back games capped by his side's 126-118 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
LaVine starred with 41 points including 11 three-pointers in Friday's 126-112 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, following that up with 36 on 12-of-21 shooting against the Jazz.
That marks the best form that the 27-year-old has achieved this season after undergoing arthroscopic left knee surgery in the offseason.
"First couple of back to backs, I played and didn't feel great," LaVine told reporters.
"[Now] I feel great. Legs feel healthy. Felt springy at the beginning of the game. It's good to feel like me again."
On Friday, LaVine hit 11 of his 13 three-point attempts (84.6 per cent), joining Stephen Curry as the only players in NBA history to hit at least 11 three-pointers in a game at over 80 per cent efficiency.
LaVine shot another six-of-12 from beyond the arc against the Jazz, including three in a row to push the Bulls' lead to eight.
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan encouraged LaVine to take on more three-point attempts.
"For us to generate more threes, he can be a big part of that," Donovan said.
"Then he's got to find a balance between shooting those threes and obviously getting downhill and either getting to the basket or passing and creating offense for others."
Chicago's win over the Jazz made it three in a row, along with eight victories from their past 11 games, during which they have the fourth best offensive rating in the NBA.
"It always helps when your best players are playing well and you're focused on the other end," LaVine said.
"We're playing well. We're making big plays. I'm not saying we're playing perfect, but we're competing.
"We're coming to each game with a certain type of energy and confidence and we need to keep taking it game by game. We're not trying to look ahead and get ahead of ourselves."
Head coach Andy Reid says the Kansas City Chiefs will enjoy a much-needed break after clinching the AFC's No.1 seed with their 31-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Reid secured the top seed for the sixth time as an NFL head coach, with the Chiefs beginning their postseason campaign with a divisional round game in a fortnight at Arrowhead Stadium.
There is uncertainty after that should the Chiefs progress to the AFC Championship Game which may be played at a neutral venue following the NFL's decision on the cancelled Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game.
For now, Reid was delighted for his side to earn a break for the first time since their Week 8 bye as they aim for a second Super Bowl title in four seasons.
"I think it's a good thing," Reid told reporters about earning the top seed. "You've still got to take care of business. Our guys understand that.
"We'll give them a few days off next week and get them back in towards the end of the week and get some practice in there and start the regular week after that.
"Just take a step back and get yourself where you feel stronger and healthier, mentally and physically it's a good thing."
Reid was delighted with a strong display against the Raiders in a game where they were always in control, as Patrick Mahomes set the tone on the second play from scrimmage, a 67-yard completion to Justin Watson.
"We needed that," Reid said. "We really hadn't put it all together. I thought this was a good time - if I had to pick a time to do it, this was a good time to do it.
"We strive for it every week, but it seemed like it all kind of came together today, which is a plus."
MVP candidate Mahomes ended his regular-season with 5,614 total yards when he was removed in the final minutes, with 41 passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns.
"It's important," Mahomes said about earning the top seed. "Getting that bye, it's like winning a playoff game.
"Now we need to focus on watching tomorrow and this next week and seeing who we play and come up with our best football."
LeBron James scored 37 points and Russell Westbrook added 23 points and 15 assists off the bench as the Los Angeles Lakers sneaked past the Sacramento Kings 136-134 on Saturday.
The win made it five straight victories for the Lakers, who were missing Anthony Davis (foot), as they improved to 19-21.
Dennis Schroder hit two free-throws with 3.1 seconds remaining before De'Aaron Fox missed a 43-foot attempt on the buzzer. Fox had squared the game up at 134-all with a 14-foot shot with 7.1 seconds remaining.
James' driving layup and one with 48 seconds left had earned the Lakers the lead which they never gave up.
The four-time NBA MVP scored 10 fourth-quarter points, shooting at 50 per cent for the game, finishing with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Schroder added 27 points with four-of-five from three-point range, while Thomas Bryant added 29 points and 14 rebounds.
Westbrook played 34 minutes, making a strong contribution, becoming only the second player to reach 20 points, five rebounds and 15 assists off the bench since starters were first tracked in 1970-71.
Fox scored 34 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field, with Domantas Sabonis having 25 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Doncic triple-double in Mavs win
Luka Doncic had his ninth triple-double of the season with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the Dallas Mavericks beat the New Orleans Pelicans 127-117.
Dallas raced to a 34-15 quarter-time lead with Christian Wood starring early to finish with 28 points, while exciting rookie Jaden Hardy scored 15 for the second straight time.
The Pels, playing without leading scorers Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum, were led by Jonas Valanciunas with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Tatum guides Celtics past Spurs
Jayson Tatum scored 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting as he lifted the Boston Celtics past the San Antonio Spurs 121-116.
Tatum scored a tiebreaking jumper with 33 seconds left, while Jaylen Brown added 29 points and Malcolm Brogdon contributed 23 off the bench.
The Spurs pushed the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics all game, with eight players scoring double digits for the home team, led by Zach Collins with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The Jacksonville Jaguars clinched the AFC South division on the back of Saturday's 20-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans where they rallied from a double-digit deficit to extend their win streak.
The victory completes a remarkable turnaround for the Jags, who lost five straight earlier in the season yet rallied to 4-8, before securing five straight wins to top the division ahead of the Titans (7-10).
Tennessee scored the first 10 points of the game but the Jags hit the lead for the first time with 2:51 remaining in the fourth quarter when Rayshawn Jenkins forced a fumble from Titans QB Joshua Dobbs which Josh Allen scooped up for the go-ahead touchdown.
That TD marked a brilliant second-half performance by the Jags' defense, who had four sacks for the game, allowing only three points after trailing 13-7 at half-time.
Jacksonville clinched their fourth division title and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 season, having only won four games in the previous two years.
Jags QB Trevor Lawrence was not at his best but threw 20 of 32 passes for 212 yards, including a touchdown pass to Christian Kirk late in the second quarter. Kirk had 99 yards on six receptions.
The Titans had opened up a 10-0 lead from Dobbs' TD pass to Chigoziem Okonkwo with 5:32 left in the second quarter.
Dobbs completed 20 of 29 passes for 179 yards with one TD and one interception from Tyson Campbell, his third of the season, leading to Riley Patterson's field goal to make it 16-13.
Running back Derrick Henry ran for 109 yards on 30 carries for the Titans, who missed the playoffs after seven straight losses.
Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa continued his excellent run at the Tournament of Champions on Saturday with an eight-under-par 65 helping him pull six strokes clear.
The 25-year-old American carded rounds of 64 and 66 on his first two days to lead by two shots at the halfway mark, backing that form up on the third day with an eagle on the par-five fifth hole.
Morikawa and playing partner Scottie Scheffler had traded eagles on the fifth to set the standard early at the Kapalua Plantation Course on the island of Maui.
The 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship winner finished his round with four birdies from the final five holes to open up a significant gap at the top of the leaderboard.
Morikawa remains bogey-free across 54 holes, with his six-stroke lead equalling the largest 54-hole lead of the season, alongside Russell Henley at the World Wide Technology Championship.
Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler and J.J. Spaun are next best on 18 under. Fitzpatrick carded a seven-under-par 66 to surge up the leaderboard, while Scheffler and Spaun went four under on the third day.
Jon Rahm and Tom Kim are both a further stroke back at 17-under-par overall. Kim moved into joint second after an eagle on 15th but slipped back after following that up with a bogey.
Max Homa enjoyed the round of the day, carding a 10-under-par 63 although he was not helped by an unlucky bounce from a sprinkler head on a good approach on the 17th, leaving him to settle for par.
The Kansas City Chiefs clinched the number one seed in the AFC playoffs as Patrick Mahomes made history in an easy 31-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
With Monday's game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals cancelled following the cardiac arrest suffered by Bills safety Damar Hamlin, the Chiefs knew they could clinch the top seed with a victory in Las Vegas.
Mahomes set the tone on the second play from scrimmage, a 67-yard completion to Justin Watson, which was soon followed by a two-yard toss to Jerick McKinnon after some vintage play outside the pocket from the Chiefs quarterback.
The Chiefs were ruthless in taking advantage of a Jarrett Stidham interception as Mahomes led a three-play drive capped by a two-yard touchdown plunge from Ronald Jones III.
A second-quarter red-zone stand from the Kansas City defense seemed to sap the energy out of home crowd that struggled to outnumber the Chiefs fans in attendance at Allegiant Stadium.
The Chiefs' superiority was summed up on the subsequent 12-play drive from Kansas City when the visitors scored a touchdown on a trick play to Kadarius Toney after they broke the huddle bouncing around in a circle in unison. That score was called back by penalty, only for the Chiefs to hand the ball to Toney for an 11-yard touchdown on the next play.
From there, it was over as a contest, with Isiah Pacheco's fourth-quarter rushing touchdown adding gloss to the scoreline and Mahomes ending his regular-season with 5,614 total yards when he was removed in the final minutes.
Kansas City will get the week off while the rest of the AFC playoff teams contest the Wild Card round and will have home advantage throughout the road to the Super Bowl unless the Bills beat the New England Patriots on Sunday and go on to face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
In that scenario, the game that will decide the AFC representative in the Super Bowl will be played at a neutral site as part of changes approved by NFL owners following the cancellation of the Bills-Bengals game.
Damar Hamlin is thankful for the "overwhelming" love he has received since the Buffalo Bills safety suffered a cardiac arrest on Monday.
Hamlin's message came in his first social media post since collapsing after tackling Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter of Monday's game.
The 24-year-old was resuscitated on the field and remains in a critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, though updates from the hospital have been positive, revealing he is breathing unaided and has spoken to his Bills team-mates.
After the Bills confirmed Hamlin was showing further improvement on Saturday, Hamlin shared an Instagram post expressing his gratitude for the support he has been given.
"When you put real love out into the world it comes back to you three times as much," Hamlin said. "The love has been overwhelming.
"But I'm thankful for every single person that prayed for me and reached out. We brung the world back together behind this.
"If you know me you know this only gone make me stronger. On a long road keep praying for me!"
After the Bengals-Bills game was suspended following Hamlin's collapse, the NFL confirmed on Friday the matchup would not be resumed, with owners approving plans for changes to the playoffs.
The Elite 1 Caribbean Basketball League - Winter Season gets underway on Saturday at the National arena at 6:00 pm. Defending champions Elite Horizon will try to stave off competition from the likes of Elite Waves, Elite Rivers and Elite Storm.
The league will feature double-headers on Saturdays and Wednesday until the final week when matches are scheduled for Friday January 27 and Sunday January 29 with the top two teams competing for the title.
Paulton Gordon, President of the Jamaica Basketball Association welcomed the start of the league while saying that it is very good for the local basketball scene as it gives opportunities to many local players who get to play with professionals and get exposed to the game at a higher level than is currently available in Jamaica.
League President Wayne Dawkins was very optimistic about staging the league in Jamaica for the second time, following up on the Summer League last year. He said that the quality of the players who are drawn from Jamaica (50% of each team are Jamaicans), the USA, Canada, Barbados and Nigeria (who are all professionals) are ready to play ball and entertain the Jamaican audience while creating opportunities for the local players to improve on their game and eventually get contracts abroad.
Some of the players involved include USA's Tyran Walker, his countryman Brandon Armstrong and Jamaicans Antjuan McFarlane and Duante Millis. Bobby Gray, MVP of the last season, also returns.
Damar Hamlin continues to make steady progress as he recovers from his cardiac arrest even as the Buffalo Bills safety remains in a critical condition.
The 24-year-old collapsed after colliding with wide receiver Tee Higgins during Monday's NFL encounter with the Cincinnati Bengals, and had to be resuscitated on the field.
Fears for the 2021 sixth-round pick have been calmed by regular updates, revealing he is breathing unaided and has spoken with team-mates.
The Bills offered another update on Saturday, confirming Hamlin continues to show improvement.
"Per the physicians at UC Medical Center, Damar is making continued progress in his recovery yet remains in critical condition," a Bills statement read.
"He continues to breathe on his own and his neurological function is excellent."
The NFL confirmed the Bengals-Bills match would not be resumed after it was originally suspended and then postponed following Hamlin's exit at Paul Brown Stadium.
Buffalo, who are first in the AFC East with a 12-3 record, head into their final regular match of the season against the New England Patriots on Sunday, with plans approved by owners for playoff changes.
Edge rusher and highly regarded NFL draft prospect Jared Verse will delay the start of his professional career and return to Florida State next season, he announced on Saturday.
Verse declared his intention to return to campus for his redshirt junior season by posting a video of highlights and a simple message to his Twitter account: "We're not done yet. See y'all in 2023."
In his first year with the Seminoles after transferring from Albany, Verse emerged as one of the best pass-rushing defensive lineman in college football in 2022 by tallying nine sacks.
Verse had been viewed as a top-20 prospect in the 2023 draft class.
The announcement comes in the wake of starting quarterback Jordan Travis and leading rusher Trey Benson also committing to another year in Tallahassee under head coach Mike Norvell.
After a middling start, Florida State finished the season with six straight victories, including wins over rivals Miami and Florida, as well as a Cheez-It Bowl win over Oklahoma to finish the season 10-3 (5-3 ACC).
With perennial power Clemson facing questions at quarterback next season, Florida State will be gunning for a first ACC title since 2014.
Despite Verse staying in school, NFL teams eager to add defensive line talent in the draft will have plenty of options in what is viewed as a deep edge rusher class led by Alabama's Will Anderson Jr.
Eddie Jones believes Steve Borthwick is well-equipped to succeed him as England coach.
A difficult 2022 bookended by Six Nations frustrations and a dismal November international period saw Jones let go less than a year before the World Cup.
Borthwick, who was an assistant to Jones with Japan and then England, has since taken the reins with his own number two Kevin Sinfield.
Reflecting on the appointment of his former colleague, the 62-year-old was effusive in his praise, adding that he takes pride in having helped to shape his path to the top job.
"Steve Borthwick was there [from 2016] until 2020," he told The Guardian. "He then wanted his own career.
"One of my jobs was to get England to win again, which I did, and also to produce the next head coach.
"So I look back with satisfaction because Steve will do a bloody good job. He's outstanding."
Jones, a famously outspoken figure within the game, departed last year after a tough period suggested his chances of repeating 2019's run to the World Cup final was a tall order.
The former Australia coach acknowledged he made errors, adding: "I don't have any regrets, but there were a couple of mistakes, a couple of decisions I probably rushed."
Asked whether his decision to criticise England's reliance on the public school system for players was such a call, Jones agreed in that assessment, though he defended his stance.
"That was one of my mistakes," he added. "Once you get that group offside you're in trouble. But diversity is so important and sport's not sheltered from that."
Tallon Griekspoor clinched his first ATP Tour title by fighting back to beat Benjamin Bonzi 4-6 7-5 6-3 in Saturday's final at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune.
Both Griekspoor and Bonzi were taking part in their first Tour-level final after strong campaigns in India, and it was the Frenchman who took the opener, holding firm before clinching the vital break in the 10th game.
The crucial game came at the same point in the second set, with Griekspoor converting his second break point of a back-and-forth game to snatch the momentum before levelling things up.
Griekspoor was on top from there, breaking again in the third game of a tight decider – in which he was forced to save a further two break points – before repeating the trick to finish the job.
Asked how he mustered his response after a disappointing start, the Dutchman said: "I don't know. I think even in the first set I played well, I just played two bad games and made it hard for myself.
"All I did was keep fighting for every point, keep trying to play my best tennis. It worked out well, it was all good in the end.
"There were more nerves than usual, but it wasn't too bad. We both played really well with our service games. The nerves are always there, but I'm pleased with how I handled it today."
New Barbados Netball Association (BNA) President Dr Carmeta Douglin has announced the establishment of a new coaching structure for the national senior team as they get ready for the Netball World Cup in South Africa this summer.
Dr Douglin told the SportsMax Zone Thursday that the BNA is taking applications for an international coaching director who will work with a three-member local coaching staff.
“That person will come and work with our coaches to really help our netball. It’s a whole team, it’s not just a coach and an assistant coach so we are putting a lot of effort in and we do expect to get some results coming out of that,” Dr Douglin said.
The local three-member panel will comprise a shooting coach, mid-court coach and defensive coach, with one of them to be appointed the head coach. That three-member panel is expected to be confirmed by mid-January and the international coaching director should be chosen by month-end.
“So we will have three local coaches supported by the international coaching director, four persons in our coaching arena and they will be working closely together to develop plans going forward,” said Dr Douglin, who was elected new BNA president early last month after topping unseated President Nisha Craigwell 24-19 at the BNA’s annual general meeting.
Barbados qualified for the 2023 Netball World Cup as No.2 behind winners Trinidad and Tobago at the Americas Netball World Cup qualifying series last October in Kingston, Jamaica.
Currently ranked 14th in the world, Barbados are joining automatic qualifiers Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago as the three Caribbean countries set to compete at the July 28 to August 8 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
Barbados will contest Pool B in Cape Town alongside World No.3 England, Malawi and Scotland. Reigning champions, World No.1 and 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallists Australia are in Pool A with Tonga, Zimbabwe and Fiji, while Pool C has World fourth-ranked Jamaica, South Africa, Wales and Sri Lanka, and Pool D is headed by five-time world champions and World No.2 New Zealand, Uganda, Trinidad and Tobago and Singapore.
Novak Djokovic clinched a 6-3 6-4 win against Daniil Medvedev in the Adelaide International semi-finals on Saturday, overcoming an injury scare to tee up a final meeting with Sebastian Korda.
Djokovic made a fast start by breaking in Medvedev's second service game, though there was concern when the 21-time grand slam winner required a lengthy medical timeout at 5-2 up in the opening set.
With Djokovic's long-awaited return to the Australian Open just over a week away, the sight of the Serbian clutching his left hamstring was an unwelcome one, but he eventually returned to the court to take the opener 6-3.
Having shown his staying power in a low-key start to the second set, Djokovic claimed the vital break following some excellent work at the net in the seventh game, though Medvedev was ultimately the master of his own downfall after producing a double fault at break point.
Djokovic then faced break point in the next game as Medvedev desperately tried to claw his way back into the contest, but a huge second serve eventually saw him hold off the Russian, who was unable to trouble him thereafter.
Speaking court-side after teeing up his 131st ATP Tour final, Djokovic played down concerns over his hamstring issue, saying: "Thankfully, it was nothing too serious.
"If it was, I wouldn't have been able to continue. I just tried with a medical timeout and some anti-inflammatories and I just settled in.
"The more the match went on, the more my hamstring was warmer, I guess, and bothering me less. So hopefully tomorrow it will be okay."
Asked whether he considered retiring in order to save himself for the first grand slam of the year, Djokovic added: "I can't say it didn't cross my mind today on the court.
"But you just can't calculate on the court. At this stage of my career, every match counts, every match is a present in a way, so I just try to give my best and win wherever I am."
Yoshihito Nishioka also struggled with an injury in the day's other semi-final, but the world number 36 was less fortunate than Djokovic as he retired midway through his clash with Korda.
Korda took a close opening set via a tie-break after Nishioka ranted at a second umpire in as many days, raging when a point was replayed following an error from a line judge.
Nishioka saw his serve broken in the first game of the second set before calling a medical timeout after seeming to struggle with a leg injury, and his subsequent retirement ensured Korda advanced to his fifth ATP Tour final.
The Minnesota Vikings will finish the season with at least 12 wins, have arguably the finest receiver in the NFL and produced the largest comeback in NFL history last month.
At worst they will be the third seed in the NFC playoffs, and yet it is hard to think of a double-digit win team heading into the playoffs with so few outside the organisation believing they can contend to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
That will be of no concern to the Vikings, but their 2022 resume emphatically illustrates why they are not being taken seriously as potential Super Bowl champions.
Minnesota's season has been one defined by dramatic finishes in close games. Indeed, 11 of the wins the Vikings have claimed his season have been by a one-score margin, including their comeback from 36-0 down to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15.
Their sole double-digit win came in Week 1, when the Vikings eased to a 23-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers, a triumph cancelled out by their 41-17 defeat at Lambeau Field last week.
That loss left them with a point differential of minus 19. The current record for worst point differential in a season with at least 12 wins in NFL history is +21 by the 13-7 Frankford Yellow Jackets in 1925.
The 1925 championship was not decided by a playoff system -- only the most avid of NFL historians would know from memory that the Chicago Cardinals were awarded the title after the Pontsville Maroons were suspended from the league -- and there is a more recent comparison that reflects more kindly on the Vikings.
Minnesota's average margin of defeat this season stands at 22.3 points. That would be the largest average margin of defeat for an NFL team since the 1997 San Francisco 49ers (23.7).
San Francisco went 13-3 that season, which the 49ers finished as the NFC's top seed, and progressed to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost to the Green Bay Packers.
Whether the Vikings have what it takes to imitate them and go deep into the playoffs despite the heavy defeats that have served to increase concerns about their viability as contenders remains open for debate.
It is a debate that is unlikely to be settled by their Week 18 regular-season finale with the three-win Chicago Bears, but they do have points in their favour, the most notable of which is a cast of pass-catching weapons that ranks 11th in the NFL in win rate against pass coverage.
Justin Jefferson, who is ninth in the NFL in combined open percentage (49.3) against man and zone coverage (min. 100 matchups), is the headline act. Having a receiver who can get open as frequently as he does is an obvious asset for a playoff team, one which has thrived in large part because of his 27 receptions of 20 yards or more.
He is supported by a true number one tight end in T.J. Hockenson and another excellent route-runner in veteran Adam Thielen.
While the Vikings have a cast of weapons that is the envy of many in the NFL, they also have a defensive front that boasts the pass-rush talent to limit opposing aerial attacks.
Minnesota's defense is sixth in the NFL in pass rush win rate, yet the Vikings' success in that regard has not resulted in defensive solidity. To the contrary, their 33 sacks for negative yardage are tied for 20th in the league and their success rate against the pass of 45.5 per cent is the fourth worst in the NFL.
And, even with the substantial merits of Jefferson and Co, there is reason to worry whether the Vikings can keep up with top-end playoff competition if they cannot stop their opponents.
The Vikings' pass protection took a hit with the loss of right tackle Brian O'Neill to an Achilles injury and at center they are down to third-stringer Chris Reed.
If those injuries prevent Minnesota from adequately protecting Kirk Cousins, then it is unlikely to bode well for the playoff fortunes of a quarterback who has struggled when the defense knows he is passing.
Cousins has averaged minus 0.02 yards over expected in expected passing situations, according to Stats Perform data, which is 16th among quarterbacks with at least 100 such attempts.
In other words, in clear passing situations, Cousins is failing to elevate those around them, and he is getting little support from a run game that many expected to perform at a much higher level than it has displayed this season.
The Vikings' run success rate of 34.6 per cent is comfortably below the average of 37.5, with an O-Line that ranks 23rd in run block win rate struggling to open holes for Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattinson.
There is no doubting Minnesota's talent, especially on the offensive side of the ball, yet the questions that have surrounded Cousins throughout his career persist and there are enough holes elsewhere on the roster to justify the doubts about their prospects as contenders. Football is not played on spreadsheets, but the numbers from an extremely curious campaign will be tough to dispute until the Vikings give the NFL world reason to.
Lucia Bronzetti downed Valentini Grammatikopoulou to seal Italy's place in the final of the inaugural United Cup.
Despite losing to Poland in their City Final in Brisbane, Italy claimed a place in the Sydney play-offs as the best-placed runner-up.
Having led 2-0 overnight, Italy were pegged back by Stefanos Tsitsipas' battling 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win over Matteo Berrettini.
That put the pressure on Bronzetti's meeting with world number 199 Grammatikopoulou.
Yet despite losing her two previous matches against Grammatikopoulou, world number 54 Bronzetti made no mistake, cruising to a 6-2 6-3 victory.
Italy will now face the United States, who beat Poland 5-0 in their semi-final, in the final on Sunday.
Coco Gauff marched into ASB Classic final with an emphatic defeat of Danka Kovinic, while Linda Noskova upset Ons Jabeur to set up an Adelaide International showdown with Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff beat Kovinic 6-0 6-2 to move into her first hard-court final since claiming the title in Linz back in October 2019.
The top seed from the United States won the first eight games of a one-sided semi-final, making another statement just over a week before the Australian Open gets under way.
Gauff took only 73 minutes to dispatch seventh seed Kovinic and will face qualifier Rebeka Masarova in the final on Sunday.
Spaniard Masarova reached her first WTA Tour final courtesy of a 6-3 6-3 victory over Ysaline Bonaventure.
The 130-ranked Masarova, a junior French Open singles champion in 2016, served with assurance and struck 16 winners to break new ground.
It was also a memorable Saturday for Czech teenager Noskova, who claimed the scalp of world number two Jabeur with a 6-3 1-6 6-3 victory in Adelaide.
It was the 18-year-old Noskova's second win over a top-10 opponent this week, having also knocked out Daria Kasatkina.
Second seed Sabalenka will be a strong favourite to deny world number 102 Noskova the title on Sunday after she saw off Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3 6-2.
LeBron James claimed it does not feel right to match records when it comes in "a losing effort".
James is averaging 28.9 points per game this season for the Los Angeles Lakers, and amassed 25 points in Friday's 130-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
That victory made it four wins on the bounce for the Lakers, who have begun a bounce back from a dismal streak of one win in six.
But the Lakers remain 12th in the Western Conference with an 18-21 record for the season.
James, who turned 38 last month, is closing in on the all-time regular-season points record, held by former Milwaukee Bucks and Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who accumulated 38,387 across a long career.
Yet James is not interested in achievements if they come when the team are struggling.
"I want to win. [The losing is] not sitting well with me," James told ESPN.
"I don't like having accomplishments, and it don't feel right, when it comes in a losing effort.
"We sit here right now as a franchise and as a team that's below .500. We've been playing some good basketball as of late, but we want to and I want to win at the highest level.
"Breaking records or setting records or passing greats in a losing effort has never been a DNA of mine."
James was instrumental for the Lakers against the Hawks, adding 10 assists and seven rebounds to his tally of points.
Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Nunn also impressed for the Lakers, who were depleted by injuries. Indeed, James himself had only just recovered from illness.
Westbrook said: "There are going to be times where guys go down, unfortunately, and we have a group of guys that have just been preparing themselves for when it's their moment to play and play well.
"[It] seems like we've been hitting a good stride of figuring that out."
Coach Darvin Ham said: "It's motivating them to step their games up. They know I'll put anybody out there, and if they're playing the right way, they'll play a significant amount of minutes."
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