Stephen Curry is in "good spirits" but will undergo an MRI on the left shoulder injury that forced him out of the Golden State Warriors' 125-119 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

Curry sustained the injury with 2:04 left in the third quarter as he attempted to strip Jalen Smith of the ball, immediately clutching his shoulder but continuing to run down the court.

The Warriors called a timeout where Curry was assessed by training staff, later heading into the locker room and being ruled out in the fourth quarter.

"He's going to get an MRI tomorrow," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "He was ruled out midway through the fourth. Training staff told me he wasn’t going to play the rest of the night. We'll see how he is tomorrow."

On the pain Curry was feeling, Kerr added: "I didn’t ask about that. I trust their judgement and they said he's not going back in. I just checked in with him briefly but haven’t had a chance to go into detail."

Kerr said 34-year-old eight-time All-Star Curry seemed upbeat in their brief interaction.

 "Steph is always a guy with a great outlook on life so he was in good spirits," Kerr said. "We'll hope for the best."

The reigning NBA Finals MVP had 38 points on five-of-10 three-point shooting with seven rebounds and seven assists until the injury ended his game.

Golden State, who slumped to 2-13 on the road this season, had fought back from a 74-54 half-time deficit but could not overcome the Pacers without Curry.

"Just stunning," Kerr said about Curry's performance. "He basically put us on his shoulders for the minutes he was out there.

"He was generating so much offense, he was getting to the line, he was getting the ball to other people, he was absolutely brilliant.

"I thought the guys did a great job of fighting throughout the third quarter before he got hurt and then after."

Curry is averaging 29.6 points on 49.7 per cent field-goal shooting and 43.2 per cent three-point shooting with 6.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists this season.

The San Francisco 49ers can clinch a first NFC West title since the 2019 season with a road victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, and will almost certainly look to the ground game to help them do so.

San Francisco crushed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 in Week 14 in a dream first start for rookie quarterback Brock Purdy. That victory, combined with the Seahawks' surprise home loss to the Carolina Panthers, gave the 9-4 Niners a two-game lead atop the division.

The 49ers beat the Seahawks 27-7 way back in Week 2, their largest win over Seattle since a 38-7 triumph in Week 4 of the 1988 season. If they complete a season sweep of Seattle for the first time since 2011, the 49ers will have a three-game lead and the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Seahawks with three games remaining, securing them a second successive trip to the postseason.

Kyle Shanahan's team went all the way to the NFC Championship Game last season, surrendering a fourth-quarter lead to the Los Angeles Rams, and the 49ers look to have the potential to contend for the Super Bowl again this year, even after losing their top two quarterbacks, Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, and being forced to turn to Brock Purdy, the last pick in this year's draft.

The Niners are on a six-game winning streak, with their last four victories each coming by at least 13 points. They are the only team to win four straight games, all by 13+ points, this season.

In the 28-point win over the Tom Brady-led Bucs, Purdy became the first quarterback to beat a former Super Bowl-winning QB by more than 10 points while making his first career start. Purdy is looking to be the sixth Niners QB to win his first two career NFL starts.

Purdy picked up where he left off in the 49ers' Week 13 win over the Miami Dolphins, in which he replaced the injured Garoppolo, going 16 of 21 for 185 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another score. He continued to display poise, decisiveness, accuracy and the ability to defeat pressure. Through just under two full games, Purdy has a well-thrown rate that is superior to that of Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence, the former Iowa State signal-caller delivering an accurate, well-thrown ball on 83.3 per cent of his pass attempts.

But in the famously raucous road environment in Seattle, the 49ers have plenty of reason to take the game off the arm of Purdy against a Seahawks run defense that has allowed 677 rushing yards over its last three games.

The 49ers averaged 6.1 yards per rush last week against the Bucs, with Christian McCaffrey and rookie Jordan Mason each excelling on the ground.

McCaffrey had 119 yards rushing and a touchdown on 14 carries, as well as two receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown, while Mason averaged 5.1 yards per carry as the 49ers cruised in the second half after building a 35-0 lead.

Since his debut for the 49ers in Week 7, McCaffrey is averaging 106 scrimmage yards per game, the seventh-most in the NFL. With versatile wide receiver Deebo Samuel out with a high ankle sprain, McCaffrey is the undisputed focal point of the offense.

On a short week in what is sure to be a hard-fought divisional game, the 49ers might not be able to rely too heavily on McCaffrey, meaning Mason may see a larger share of the workload. 

The Niners clinched the NFC West and the number one seed in the conference in the regular-season finale in Seattle in 2019 with a dramatic late goal-line stand.

They will need their defense, ranked first in the NFL by success rate (35%) to stand tall again versus a dangerous Seahawks' offense led by Geno Smith, but if the 49ers can control possession and move the ball on the ground against a defense that appears ill-equipped to stop McCaffrey and company, San Francisco will be a strong position to punch their ticket to the postseason.

A disappointing season for the Arizona Cardinals took another turn on Wednesday with general manager Steve Keim taking an indefinite, health-related leave of absence from the team.

Keim is in his 10th year as the Cardinals' GM and has been with the team in some capacity since 1999, when he was hired as a regional scout.

He was signed to a contract extension through 2027 in March after Arizona finished last season 11-6 before a wild card loss to the eventual champion Los Angeles Rams.

"Out of respect for privacy - which is required by law - the team will refrain from commenting further," the Cardinals said in a statement.

Keim's duties will be handled on an interim basis by VP of Personnel Quentin Harris and VP of Pro Personnel Adrian Wilson.

At 4-9, the Cardinals will miss the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons, and will remain without a postseason victory since 2016.

Star quarterback Kyler Murray was lost to an ACL tear in Monday night's defeat to the New England Patriots and is expected to have surgery after Christmas.

In 2018, Keim was suspended for five weeks and fined $200,000 by the team following a guilty plea to extreme DUI.

Deshaun Watson is "excited" ahead of his first home game for the Cleveland Browns, but added "I can’t control what the reaction is going to be".

Watson has played two games for the Browns since returning from his 11-game ban for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy for allegedly committing sexual assault.

The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback left the Houston Texans for the Browns in the offseason on a five-year deal worth $230million guaranteed.

Watson did not play in the 2021 season as accusations emerged from more than two dozen women of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct during massage sessions, leading to the NFL-imposed ban and a record $5m fine in August.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's game against AFC North rivals the Baltimore Ravens, Watson said he is unsure how the fans at FirstEnergy Stadium will welcome him, having been booed in his first game back on the road to the Texans a fortnight ago.

"I am not even sure," he said. "My main objective for this weekend is going out there and just showing this crowd and showing the Cleveland fans and this city that we are going out there to compete, and this season is not over for us.

"I can't control what the reaction is going to be. I am not sure what it is going to be. Like I said, I am excited to go out there, play football and get back in the old school uniforms and the white face masks and things like that and have a little bit of fun and just try to make the Saturday something special for Cleveland."

After a disappointing comeback against the Texans in Week 13, Watson followed up with a slightly improved showing against the Cincinnati Bengals last week, albeit in a 23-10 defeat.

The 27-year-old completed 26 of 42 passes, throwing for 276 yards with one touchdown pass as a 13-yard effort found David Njoku in the third quarter.

Watson agreed that he has more to give, and vowed to improve as the Browns look to improve on their 5-8 record.

"I am not close to where I [want to be] at, and I don't want to be where I was in 2020 – I want to be better," he said. "I have a long way to go. I want to continue to improve. I want to be that player whenever I step on the field that no one can stop us.

"That is my mentality, but we have to continue to go out there and continue to show that and try to do that and not just talk about it but actually prove it on the field. I am nowhere near where I want to be. This team also is nowhere near where we want to be. We have to continue to just keep growing and finish the season strong."

The NBA and players' union have announced an extension from Thursday's deadline to give notice of plans to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) put out a joint statement on Wednesday on the agreement that moves the deadline to February 8, one day before this season's trade deadline.

The statement clarified that the extension is part of their ongoing efforts to reach a new agreement, but if either party exercises the opt-out, the CBA's term will end on June 30 2023.

That creates a potential work stoppage after the 2022-23 NBA season, with the playoffs due to take place in April and May, followed by the Finals in June.

ESPN reported that the NBA is eager to implement an upper spending limit to replace the luxury tax, to contain the payrolls of large-market contenders such as the Golden State Warriors and the Brooklyn Nets.

The winner of a unification bout between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will face off against Daniel Dubois, promoter Frank Warren has said.

A long-awaited clash between the two men who hold the four divisional heavyweight belts is expected to take place in 2023, despite Usyk being ordered to take mandatory defences.

The WBA has ordered Usyk, its 'super' champion, to defend his belt against Dubois, the 'regular' champion, while the IBF has ordered the Ukrainian to face off against Filip Hrgovic.

Neither would stand in the way of a unification bout, Warren says, with the winner of that clash going on to face Dubois, as the WBA has priority over the IBF in the rotation system.

"They've ordered it, but a unification will come first. And that's what we're working on, which is obviously the fight with Tyson and Usyk," he told talkSPORT.

"So, the winner of that will have to fight our man Daniel. Tyson is our man as well, and he'd have to fight Daniel.

"All the governing bodies will basically go for a unification fight, it's the first time in 25 years we would have had a unification of all the belts in the heavyweight division. That will take priority.

"But what they are saying afterwards, all the fighters, including Joe Joyce, who are number one or interim champions or in Daniel's case heavyweight champions, they will have to make their mandatory defences.

"They've been sitting around for ages for these fights and they [the governing bodies] will order them.

"Once the unification fight has happened then the winner has to start taking care of the mandatories or vacating a particular title, which would be their choice.

"If we can't get the Usyk fight on, which I doubt very much because I think we will get it on, then Usyk will have to defend his title against Daniel. But I don't think that will be a problem with Tyson."

Some leagues may have started playoffs last week, but with the arrival of Week 15 in the NFL, the fantasy postseason is now firmly in full swing.

The playoffs are a time when you need your star players to deliver, but that is not always possible.

Injuries or bad matchups can put stars in disadvantageous situations, and often fantasy managers are left needing to rely on lesser lights to help them secure glory.

Ahead of the start of a week in which several NFL teams will look to punch their postseason ticket, Stats Perform has picked out four somewhat under-the-radar players, and a defense, who are in a position to help fantasy managers enjoy playoff success.

Quarterback: Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings vs. Indianapolis Colts

The Vikings aren't exactly a sleeper team at 10-3, but as they lost to the Detroit Lions last week, you may have missed that their quarterback had an exceptional statistical game.

Cousins completed 75.6 per cent of his passes (31 of 41) for 425 yards and two touchdowns.

Indianapolis possess a stout defense, but the Colts will provide opposing offenses with opportunities. The Colts' opponents have had 148 drives, tied for the fifth-most in the league. Cousins might have to work harder this week, but the chances for him to have a decisive impact in the fantasy playoffs will certainly come. 

Running Back: Jordan Mason, San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks

Yes, it's very much Christian McCaffrey's backfield in San Francisco, but on a short week having already lost Deebo Samuel for much of the stretch run due to a high-ankle sprain and an MCL sprain, the 49ers are likely to share the load a little more as they seek to clinch the NFC West title.

Mason will be the man to get the lion's share of carries that are not given to McCaffrey. He had 56 yards on 11 carries in San Francisco's dominant win over Tampa Bay in Week 14 and is averaging 5.5 yards per carry over the last three games, including five rushes of at least 10 yards.

If you are in the playoffs but in a bind at running back, Mason is an intriguing option against a Seahawks defense that has allowed 677 rushing yards over its last three games.

Wide Receiver: Zay Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Dallas Cowboys

The Jaguars remain in with a shot, albeit a small one, of reaching the postseason, with quarterback Trevor Lawrence showing continued signs of developing into the quarterback many have believed he could become since high school.

Eyebrows were raised in the offseason when the Jaguars handed a lucrative contract to Jones, but he has become a favourite target of Lawrence in recent weeks.

Over his last four games, Jones has 43 targets, tied for the sixth-most in the NFL since Week 10. In that span, he has two eight-catch games and an 11-reception performance. He went for 77 yards and a touchdown in last week's win over the Tennessee Titans, two weeks on from a 145-yard effort against the Baltimore Ravens. Against a Dallas defense that struggled to contain the Houston Texans last week, Jones is an extremely strong points per reception play.

Tight End: Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans @ Los Angeles Chargers

Finding a reliable fantasy tight end can be difficult at any point of the year, but it is key for fantasy managers hoping to prevail in the playoffs.

Okonkwo is enjoying an increasingly prominent role in the Titans' passing attack and has 10 receptions on 11 targets for 113 yards and a touchdown over his last two games.

The Chargers kept the Miami Dolphins in check last week, but they are still very susceptible to the pass, and Okonkwo is likely to be a weapon the Titans look to as they aim to exploit that vulnerability.

Defense/Special Teams: Washington Commanders vs. New York Giants

The Commanders have flown under most people's radars this season but are in position to sneak into the playoffs in part thanks to an impressive defense.

Washington's defense ranks tied third in the NFL by success rate allowed and, in a critical matchup with their NFC East rivals in primetime, faces a New York offense that over the last three weeks has averaged just 5.6 yards per pass play (sixth-worst) and 3.8 yards per rush (ninth-worst). If you have the Commanders' defense or are in a position to acquire it, do so.

Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball could make his return against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

Ball has only played three games this season after suffering an ankle sprain in pre-season, before sustaining another in November's clash with the Indiana Pacers when he stepped on the foot of a fan sitting courtside.

The 21-year-old – who was named NBA rookie of the year in June 2021 – has missed 24 games in all this campaign with the two ankle injuries, averaging 19.3 points, 7.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds across the three games he was able to participate in.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Ball has been "upgraded to questionable" for the game with the Pistons and is "hopeful" of playing, with the intention being for him to warm-up pre-game to "see if he's ready".

Ball made 75 appearances for Charlotte last season, averaging 20.1 points per game as well as 7.6 assists and 6.7 rebounds.

Largely without Ball, it has been a poor 2022-23 for the Hornets so far, sitting on 7-20, though they host the only team with a worse win percentage than them on Wednesday when the 7-22 Pistons come to Spectrum Center.

Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is "among the best in the world," according to club legend Marek Hamsik.

The Georgia international, who arrived from Dinamo Batumi in July, has played an instrumental role in Napoli's impressive start to the season, with Luciano Spalletti's side eight points clear at the Serie A summit.

No player has been directly involved in more goals this term than Kvaratskhelia (11 - scored six, assisted five), with his tally only matched by team-mate Victor Osimhen, who is the leading marksman in the Italian top flight (nine).

Unbeaten after 15 games, Napoli's surge has been all the more impressive considering three key players left in the close season, with Kalidou Koulibaly joining Chelsea and all-time top scorer Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne departing on free transfers. 

But Hamsik - the club's record appearance maker (520) - is delighted at how the likes of Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen have stepped up to the plate, along with defender Kim Min-jae.

"Kvara has incredible dribbling ease and he is among the best in the world," the 35-year-old told DAZN. 

"It's incredible to see this Napoli team without the three most important players. 

"Everyone needs symbols, someone to represent the club. For the fans, it was a shame [when those players left].

"But I must say it's good how Napoli took players who play great, getting good results like Kim, Kvara, Osi, and also reduced the wage bill."

Now plying his trade with Turkish side Trabzonspor, Hamsik spent 12 seasons at Napoli and became the club's all-time leading scorer with 121 goals, though he has since been surpassed by Mertens (148) and Insigne (122).

The former Slovakia captain revealed he declined several offers to move away from Naples, but has no regrets over those decisions.

"There were teams that wanted me," he added. "The first was Milan with [Massimiliano] Allegri in 2012, then [Walter] Mazzarri at Inter.

"There was Juve - there were a few calls with [Pavel] Nedved, but I never thought about it.

"I never needed to change. I was happy and renewed five times in 12 years, which is quite a number. The club gave me what I wanted, I was happy, my family too, and the fans loved me more and more."

Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey is expecting a "tough year" in the 2023 Formula One season due to punishments issued for the team's budget cap breach.

The constructors' championship winners were handed a $7million fine by the FIA and a reduction of aerodynamic testing time in the wind tunnel, which Newey says will cost the team.

Another dominant year for Red Bull is therefore unexpected, with the punishment opening the door to Ferrari and Mercedes to dethrone two-time drivers' champion Max Verstappen.

Newey has conceded that the team are set for a difficult period in the 2023 season, particularly with regulation changes that will result in "significant aerodynamic change".

"There's no testing, it's very difficult to put an answer to say that [the punishment] will cost us so many tenths of a second per lap," he said.

"But the reduction of internal testing means we can therefore evaluate less, less different components, less different ideas.

"If we're really smart and always puts on the right things on the model, then it doesn't make much difference. But that's not how it works; there are always some parts that you hope will work and don't and vice versa.

"So, it's difficult and it's a restriction for sure that will affect us.

"I think then there's a regulation, a small regulation change over the winter, which is lifting of the floor edge by 50 millimetres, which of course, sounds tiny, but in reality, it's quite a significant aerodynamic change.

"So, like all teams were working to reduce the deficit from that in addition to the normal development that goes on from year to year, I think we've obviously had a good year, particularly in the second half of the season. We do have the best car.

"But Ferrari won't be resting, and they will be kind of sorting out where the weak areas that they had a couple of reliability problems with, and they made a couple of pit wall mistakes. So, they'll be right back.

"And then, of course, Mercedes. They were quite a long way off the pace and evolving. But then they won the last race but one, so we know they will be right there. It's going to be a tough year for sure."

The 2023 Formula One season begins in Bahrain in March, with a record-breaking 24 races scheduled across the year.

LIV Golf has added three new events to the circuit's 2023 schedule, which will take place in Arizona, Oklahoma and West Virginia.

Last month, the controversial Saudi Arabia-backed tour announced stops in Mexico, Spain, Singapore and Australia would be included on the calendar next year.

Wednesday's addition of three competitions to take place in the United States means LIV Golf has now revealed half of its 14 planned events for 2023.

A statement from the circuit said: "LIV Golf today announced three new championship venues that will host tournaments as part of the 2023 LIV Golf League schedule. 

"The Gallery Golf Club in Tucson, Arizona (March 17-19), Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma (May 12-14), and The Greenbrier in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia (August 4-6) will welcome many of the sport's biggest stars in the groundbreaking LIV Golf League teeing off in 2023."

LIV Golf chief executive and commissioner Greg Norman added: "LIV Golf's expansion to new US markets adds to the growing excitement for the league launch in 2023. 

"More fans across the country and around the globe will experience the LIV Golf energy and innovative competition that has reinvigorated the sport.

"These championship courses will contribute to the transformative season ahead for players, fans and the game of golf."

LIV added that final rosters for the rebranded LIV Golf League will be announced in 2023, with 12 team franchises set to compete across 14 events for a total of $405million in prize purses.

Former world number one Jason Day will not be making an imminent defection to LIV Golf, but has not ruled out departing the PGA Tour in the future if his view changes.

The Australian, who won the 2015 PGA Championship for his only career major to date, is close friends with countryman Cameron Smith, who made the switch after winning The Open Championship earlier this year.

With several of the sport's leading stars having defected to the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway, a bitter civil war has been sparked between the two tours.

While stating he would not follow Smith to the Greg Norman-headed competition immediately, Day refused to completely chalk off a switch down the line, while adding he remains saddened by the split.

"I definitely would say no, I wouldn't go as of now," he told the Palm Beach Post.

"[But] who knows in a year's time, you might think differently.

"I don't blame some of the guys for going because there's quite a lot of money these guys are earning. I understand it.

"For me, it just depends on how you feel about major championships. I know that's all up in the air right now if they're going to play or not, and they don't have world ranking points out there.

"It's disappointing there's a divide on both sides. All those guys out there are my friends.

"Some of the friendships fractured between some of the guys who have been more outspoken [but] I don't mind the guys leaving."

Day suggested a potential way to harmony would be to stage the PGA Tour from January through August, and then have the LIV competition follow to complete the year.

"I honestly wish the tours could join somehow," he added. "That would be great. I think that could potentially work if you want to do it. That would be fun."