LeBron James knows he is no good to the Los Angeles Lakers if he is not healthy, as the 39-year-old said he will prioritise his well-being over a playoff push.
The 39-year-old has been nursing an ankle issue for much of this season, though he returned from a one-game absence in emphatic fashion on Wednesday.
James finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists – his fourth triple-double of the season – to help the Lakers to a 136-124 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
"I got to be smart with it," said James, who has missed 10 games this season.
"If I'm not healthy, or [anywhere] close to being healthy, then it's not good for our ballclub anyway. It's not good for me."
James said he would have played in the Lakers' win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, had he been willing to take any risks.
"I mean, I would've probably tried to play yesterday [in Milwaukee] if that was the case," he added.
Explaining his thought process behind his load management for the rest of the season, James said: "Just be very strategic.
"Obviously, understanding and seeing how my ankle and my foot are feeling. But just being very smart about it, obviously.
"We are where we are, but our health has always been the most important for our ballclub. Not just one individual.
"But for me looking out for myself when it comes to injury and knowing my foot and knowing my ankle and how it reacts, and how it's been over the last couple of years, it's just always keeping a hefty eye on it."
The Lakers are on a five-game winning streak and occupy ninth in the Western Conference with nine regular-season games remaining.
Anthony Davis sat out of Wednesday's win with a knee issue, with coach Darvin Ham saying the Lakers would assess the situation further on Thursday.
Jalen Green scored 37 points and Dillon Brooks hit a pair of 3-pointers in overtime to lift the Houston Rockets to their 10th consecutive victory, 132-126 over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
Amen Thompson had 25 points and 15 rebounds and Brooks finished with 20 points for the Rockets, who remained one game behind Golden State in the race for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Houston’s winning streak is its longest since an 11-game run late in the 2017-18 season.
Josh Giddey tied a career high with 31 points and Jalen Williams added 23 and 10 assists for the Thunder, who remained tied with Minnesota and one-half game behind Northwest Division-leading Denver.
Oklahoma City played without All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who sat out with a bruised right thigh.
Brooks got Houston going in overtime with consecutive 3-pointers and Green’s 3 with 64 seconds left extended the Rockets’ lead to 126-120. Isaiah Joe nailed a 3 for the Thunder five seconds later, but Green made a layup and Thompson dunked with 26 seconds to go.
Streaking Lakers ride LeBron’s triple-double
LeBron James had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists and Rui Hachimura scored 32 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their fifth straight win, 136-124 over the Memphis Grizzlies.
D’Angelo Russell had 23 points and Taurean Prince added 15 for the Lakers, who stayed hot without Anthony Davis (knee) and pulled within 2 ½ games of idle Dallas for sixth in the Western Conference.
James returned after sitting out Tuesday’s double-overtime win over Milwaukee with a troublesome ankle and notched his fourth triple-double this season and 111th of his career.
Clippers get disputed win over 76ers
Kawhi Leonard completed two 3-point plays late in the fourth quarter and made a block at the rim on the final possession to give the Los Angeles Clippers a controversial 108-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Leonard stuffed Kelly Oubre at the rim with five seconds left and the Clippers holding a one-point lead.
The officiating crew after the game said a foul should have been called on the play that would have sent Oubre to the line with a chance for the winning points.
Leonard bounced back from a 1-for-8 shooting first half to finish with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Paul George scored 22 points. James Harden had 16 points and 14 assists in his return to Philadelphia.
Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points for the 76ers, who dropped their fourth in five games.
Defending champion Daniil Medvedev saw off a late challenge from Nicolas Jarry to book a Miami Open semi-final rematch with Jannik Sinner.
Medvedev beat Sinner in last year’s Miami final, but the Italian came from two sets down to claim the Australia Open title in January.
World number four Medvedev cruised through the first set against Jarry 6-2 but had to battle his way through a tie-break win in the second set as the Chilean fought his way back into the match.
“The first set I thought I was playing a good level, not doing anything extra, just enough to win,” Medvedev said.
“Then he started to play much better and it was tough rallies, tough points. He served better and it was just a matter of a few points in the tie-break.”
Sinner reached his fourth semi-final of the year as he eased past Tomas Machac 6-4 6-2 in 91 minutes.
“Physically I feel good. I’m just happy to compete,” Sinner said.
“We practise very hard to be in these positions and I’m really happy I can play once again in the semis here at such a special tournament.
“It’s special for me, I made my first Masters 1000 final here, so I’m really happy to be back in the semis.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 23 shots and Nikita Kucherov scored to take over the NHL scoring lead as the surging Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins, 3-1, on Wednesday.
Mitchell Chaffee and Brayden Point also had goals for the Lightning, who improved to 7-0-1 in their last eight games to move within two points of Toronto for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Point, who has six goals and two assists in the last four games, and defenseman Victor Hedman both returned after missing one game with lower-body injuries.
Danton Heinen had the lone goal for Boston, which lost its third in four games and missed an opportunity to jump over the Rangers and take over the league lead in points.
Kucherov’s empty-net goal capped the scoring and gave him a league-leading 124 points, one more than Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon.
Senators score 5 in 1st in win over Sabres
Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists and Joonas Korpisalo stopped 34 shots as the Ottawa Senators rolled to a 6-2 rout of the Buffalo Sabres.
The Senators scored five times in the first period to chase starter Ukko-Pekka Luukonen, who allowed the first four goals on nine shots. Devon Levi stopped 31 of 32 shots the rest of the way.
Artem Zub, Boris Katchouk, Drake Batherson, Jakob Chychrun and Brady Tkachuk all scored in the opening period to help Ottawa win its third straight.
JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton had second-period goals for the Sabres, who have lost three of four and remained eight points behind the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
The Philadelphia 76ers entered play Wednesday with 10 games to go before the post-season.
They believe they'll have reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid back on the court before they begin their play-off run.
76ers coach Nick Nurse said before Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers that it's likely the seven-time All-Star will be back before the end of the regular season.
"I think there's a very good likelihood that he will return before the play-in/play-offs," Nurse said.
Embiid has missed 27 games since suffering a meniscus injury in his left knee on Jan. 30 against the Golden State Warriors.
The injury required surgery on Feb. 6.
"He's doing lots of skill work and things like that and just trying to continue to advance and that stuff," Nurse said.
Embiid was enjoying another MVP-calibre season before his injury, averaging an NBA-leading 35.3 points per game, 11.3 rebounds, a career-best 5.7 assists and 2.49 blocks.
He won the MVP last season averaging 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.35 blocks.
At the time of his injury, the 76ers were 29-17 and in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Since then, they've gone just 10-16, sliding into eighth in the East.
After tallying the fewest sacks in the NFL in 2023, the Carolina Panthers have upgraded their pass rush.
The Panthers signed Jadeveon Clowney to a two-year, $20million deal with a max value of $24million on Wednesday.
The top overall pick of the 2014 NFL draft, Clowney has bounced around from team to team the past few seasons as it looked like his best years were behind him.
The 31-year-old, however, is coming off a resurgent 2023.
Playing in all 17 games last season for the Baltimore Ravens, Clowney racked up 9 1/2 sacks - matching his career high from 2017.
He also registered 19 quarterback hits and 79 QB pressures - tied for seventh most in the NFL.
He joins a Carolina team that had a league-low 27 sacks last season and had the NFL's worst record at 2-15.
Clowney, who grew up about 20 minutes from the Panthers' home stadium, spent his first five pro seasons with the Houston Texans before spending the last five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and Ravens.
From 2019-2022 in his first four seasons since leaving Houston, he totaled just 14 sacks.
In 126 career games, he has 52 1/2 sacks, 128 QB hits and 15 forced fumbles.
Guenther Steiner has warned Red Bull their dominance of Formula One will end just as Mercedes’ did.
Red Bull have won the last three constructors’ championships with Max Verstappen completing a hat-trick of drivers’ titles, in the process breaking the strangleholds imposed by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in previous years.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has endured a miserable start to the new season with his car lasting just 17 laps of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix as team-mate George Russell crashed out to leave the Brackley and Brixworth-based team 71 points adrift of Red Bull after just three races and pile the pressure on boss Toto Wolff.
But asked about their difficulties, former Haas team principal Steiner said: “Obviously they are struggling a little bit at the moment. For me, they are a good team, I think they’re a good team. It’s just like it’s competition.
“Mercedes was dominating for a long time and you cannot always be dominating, you shouldn’t expect that. Now we say Red Bull is dominating – it will come to an end, like Mercedes came to an end.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘Mercedes is not doing well’ – Mercedes is still in the top four at the moment or top five, they just need to do a little bit better. But it’s how competitive this sport is and you cannot take anything for granted.
“Obviously Toto would love to dominate the sport forever, but nothing is forever. I think it’s good for the sport and shows also how quickly it goes up and down.
“Mercedes is still doing OK, they’re still scoring points. Sometimes you forget there are 10 teams and not only three which are allowed to win. I think all 10 should be allowed to win and those are the things you learn when you are outside of the sport like I am now.”
Hamilton, who is in the midst of his worst start to a campaign, will join Ferrari ahead of the 2025 campaign, leaving a huge gap to plug.
Steiner, speaking after being announced as an ambassador for May’s Miami Grand Prix, was asked if Carlos Sainz – winner in Australia just 16 days after undergoing surgery for appendicitis – would be at the top of his list if he was in charge at Red Bull or Mercedes.
He replied: “Toto has no urgency to sign anybody because everybody is waiting until that seat is filled, but I’m sure a lot of people are speaking to Carlos at the moment.”
Kikkuli could be Juddmonte’s “dark horse for the year” as he prepares for the early stages of his three-year-old season.
A half-brother to the mighty Frankel and by the owners’ Classic-winning sire Kingman, he is the last foal out of Kind and is fittingly trained at Beckhampton by Harry Charlton, the training facility from which Kind blitzed her way to two Listed victories during her on-track career.
With such a regal bloodline, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the colt’s Newmarket debut towards the end of last season, where Kikkuli showed plenty of promise to keep on for second behind subsequent Listed scorer Zoum Zoum.
The third from that seven-furlong maiden, Balmacara, has recently given the form a timely boost and connections are hopeful there is plenty of untapped potential still to be seen from Kikkuli this term.
“Harry is happy with the horse and feels like the horse has done well from two to three, he has got a lot stronger and is training nicely,” said Juddmonte’s European racing manager Barry Mahon.
“His debut is good form and I think Kikkuli was ready for a day out that day. Harry had said he was far from the finished article.
“It’s good form and we would like to think there could be some improvement to come, so he could be a dark horse for the year.”
Kikkuli is set to stick to calmer waters for the time being with the goal of shedding his maiden status in the early stages of the campaign, while the hope from his team is that he could blossom into a big-race contender by the time Royal Ascot arrives later in the summer.
“We will probably start off low key with him and go for a maiden or a novice and then just see how we go,” continued Mahon.
“If he is going to make into good horse, then it will be probably from Royal Ascot time onwards he will be stepping into those good races.
“But if we can get a maiden or a novice done in the next six weeks or so it would be great and we can just move up slowly from there.”
Oisin Murphy is aiming to repeat last year’s All-Weather Championships Finals Day heroics when he returns to Newcastle on Good Friday.
The 28-year-old enjoyed a fantastic afternoon at Gosforth Park 12 months ago, walking away with a treble in some of the most valuable races on the bumper card and all for his long-time training ally Andrew Balding.
Murphy is back in the north east with a stacked book of rides and as well as linking up with Kingsclere handler Balding, he will also get the leg-up from John and Thady Gosden, Rod Millman and Roger Varian over the course of the afternoon.
One of the Irishman’s best chances of success is the Juddmonte-owned Fire Demon, who is the general favourite for the BetMGM All-Weather 3 Year Old Championships Handicap.
However, Murphy is full of respect for some of the other leading contenders in the six-furlong event having partnered David Evans’ track-and-trip scorer Blue Prince in his last two starts.
Murphy said: “I had a great day at Newcastle on this card last year. It’s a little bit more competitive this time and many of the races are handicaps.
“Fire Demon won well at Kempton and seems in good shape since the race. He seems to be improving, but I actually respect Blue Prince and Sommelier a lot – Blue Prince has already won there and I feel it will suit Blue Prince a lot more than Lingfield where I was just beat on him last time.”
Murphy will donning the blue and white silks of King Power Racing for Balding aboard recent Kempton winners Fivethousandtoone and Teumessias Fox.
It was in the King Power silks Murphy teamed up with Balding to land the Easter Classic through Notre Belle Bete in 2023 and synthetics specialist Teumessias Fox is fancied to repeat the dose.
“Teumessias Fox Fox loves the all-weather and goes well fresh. He has a lot going for him, he’s easy to ride and I would hope he would put up a bold show,” continued Murphy.
He went on:”Fivethousandtoone won really well at Kempton last time and is in great shape and is moving well. It’s a competitive race, but he’s fairly treated by the handicapper on past form and hopefully he will go well.”
Millman’s Just A Spark and the Gosdens’ Vaguely Royal are two other rides, and he will will finish the afternoon aboard another King Power Racing-owned candidate, the Varian-trained Fantastic Fox in the BetMGM All-Weather Championships Mile Handicap, with the six-year-old course-and-distance winner arriving having won three of his last five.
Next month’s Alleged Stakes has been identified as a potential comeback target for last season’s Derby third White Birch.
John Joseph Murphy’s grey kicked off his three-year-old campaign in the best possible fashion by winning the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown and was beaten only a neck into second place by The Foxes on his next appearance in the Dante at York.
The Ulysses colt ran another fine race in defeat when placed behind Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel in the premier Classic at Epsom, and while he disappointed in the Irish Derby, he rounded off his season with a creditable fourth place in a Group Three at Leopardstown in September.
George Murphy, assistant to his father, reports White Birch to have wintered well and hopes he will return to competitive action at the Curragh on April 6, granted suitable conditions.
“He’s in full work and looks super, he’s training very nicely,” he said.
“He’s a fine, big, tall horse so you’d hope he could improve from three to four. He’s doing everything nicely at the moment.
“I’d say that (Alleged Stakes) could be an option, but if the ground is completely bottomless we might just hold off for another bit. We’ll just see what the weather does over the next couple of weeks, but that’s definitely in our minds at the moment, to go for the Alleged.
“It’s got to the stage where you nearly can’t remember a good day it’s been raining for so long, but it’s surely got to turn at some stage.”
Should White Birch come through his return with flying colours, a return to Group One company in the Tattersalls Gold Cup on May 26 could be on his agenda.
Murphy added: “There’s a few races, those two (Alleged Stakes and Tattersalls Gold Cup) are high up on the list at the moment, but it’s been so difficult with the weather you just don’t know which way things are going to go over the next fortnight.
“We’ll play it by ear for the moment, but we’ll probably start over a mile and a quarter and explore going a bit further as the year goes on, that’s the way we’d be looking at it.”
Harry Cobden feels he finally has a chance of getting involved at the business end of the Randox Grand National after confirmation he will keep the ride on the 2022 winner, Noble Yeats.
Since the retirement of Sam Waley-Cohen, son of owner Robert, Sean Bowen had been riding the Emmet Mullins-trained nine-year-old, and he was on board when he ran a brave race to finish fourth to Corach Rambler last year.
With Bowen on the sidelines through injury earlier this year, his championship rival Cobden picked up the ride in the Cleeve Hurdle, which they won, and he maintained the partnership in the Stayers’ Hurdle.
While unplaced there, connections have decided to stick with Cobden for Aintree.
“I’m really looking forward to riding Noble Yeats in the Grand National. He’s trained by a very shrewd man in Emmet Mullins who knows how to ready a horse for this race as he did so well a couple of years ago when Sam Waley-Cohen rode him to victory,” said Cobden in his blog for Planet Sport.
“I’m glad I’ve had a couple of goes on him now because it does take a bit of time to understand how best to ride him. I know plenty about him, but I’ll definitely watch his two National runs back before the big day.
“Connections are quite keen for the ground to dry up a bit as he’s probably slightly more effective on a sounder surface, so let’s hope there isn’t too much rain between now and the race.”
He went on: “To have a genuine chance in the National is fantastic. Every other ride I’ve had in it hasn’t really had much going for it, so to know he stays the trip and has plenty of experience over the fences is great and I’m very excited.
“I haven’t had much success in the National itself, but I won the Topham a couple of times aboard Ultragold, so I do know the sort of horse required to go well around there. Unfortunately I don’t often get to the second circuit in the big race itself, so let’s hope that changes this year!
“It’s the biggest and most well-known race of the season and it would be amazing to win it. To me it’s only second to the Gold Cup and of course I’d love to win it. I’m very lucky to have a horse this year that has a proper chance and I can’t wait to have a crack at winning it on him.”
Barbadian driving sensation Zane Maloney is focused on consistently improving his performances, as he seeks to continue building on his sweep of the Formula Two season-opening events.
Maloney’s comments followed another positive weekend in Melbourne, Australia, where he again made the podium after finishing third in the feature race, on the heels of a 10th place finish in the sprint a day earlier.
This latest podium adds to the 20-year-old’s sprint race and feature race victories on the opening weekend of the season in Bahrain.
“Satisfied but of course we just need to keep making steps forward. I think we have showed the last three rounds that Bahrain wasn’t a fluke. We have had the pace each round. We just need to keep working on it,” Maloney said in a post-race press conference.
“I think qualifying from my side is much better than last year. I just need to keep improving that. We have always been fast in the race and made good moves, so we just need to keep going. Everyone is catching up, so we need to keep performing well,” he added.
In the feature race in Melbourne, Maloney, who drives for British team Rodin Motorsport, finished third behind 19-year-old French-Algerian driver Isack Hadjar and 20-year-old Estonian Paul Aron.
Two weeks ago in Jeddah, Maloney trailed in seventh in the feature and just missed out on a podium place in the sprint race when he ended fourth.
He was left ruing his luck again last Saturday when a costly error left him down the field instead of near the podium.
“Should have been a podium. From my side, I made a big mistake which lost me lots of places. But the second half of the race was really good from my side, so I am pleased with that. Happy to be back on (the podium after a) bit of a chaotic race. For sure the pace has been good all year so far. I think we have proved that each round. It is cool to have a clean Feature Race,” Maloney reasoned.
The Bajan sensation’s next assignment will be the May 16-18 Grand Prix at Imola.
Joe Tizzard’s Eldorado Allen will be one of just a handful of British horses flying the flag for the home side in the Randox Grand National at Aintree.
The grey has some solid form in staying chases to his name, winning the 2022 Denman Chase and finishing second in the Charlie Hall and the Betfair Chase during the same season before coming home fourth in the Coral Gold Cup earlier this term.
He reverted to hurdles for a sole outing in January and was last seen pulling up on heavy ground in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival.
Tizzard is therefore hoping conditions will be quicker in Liverpool come the National as he believes the gelding has become more comfortable on a firmer surface throughout his career.
“He is (an intended runner), he’s had a couple of poor runs and as he’s got older he wants better ground,” the trainer said.
“I tweaked his wind after his hurdle run but if you go back to his Coral Gold Cup form where he was fourth, he ran a good race in that.
“He was staying on really well, he’s a horse that’s got a bit of class, he gets into a nice rhythm.
“I wouldn’t mind it drying out a bit, I don’t mind admitting I’d like a bit of decent soft ground for him.
“He’s got a chance of running a nice race, it’s no more than that and it’s a privilege to have a runner in these nice races.
“The horse has taken us to some special days out and there’s no reason why he couldn’t get into a nice rhythm and be bang there three out and get us all excited.”
Eldorado Allen has run at Aintree several times but never around the Grand National course, so Tizzard will take him to David Pipe’s yard at Nicholashayne to school over National-type obstacles.
“I’m preparing him as normal in his work but I will take him down to Pipe’s and give him a pop over the fences,” he said.
“I couldn’t live with myself if we didn’t do it and he went and tipped over at the first or something like that, you’d question yourself, so we’ll go down and we’ll jump eight or 10 National fences and that’ll be it.”
Tizzard’s runner is likely to be one of the smallest ever British contingent to line up in the race, but the trainer is not overly concerned by the situation and does not expect it to be permanent.
“That is where we are at the moment, I don’t like to ever get too negative about this sort of stuff,” he said.
“It wasn’t that long ago that were was barely an Irish runner but that is how it’s gone, there are two Irish trainers with a lot of entries but that happens every day in Ireland.
“It’s how it is at the moment but things will change, there’s no point in English people entering horses that they don’t think are good enough or the right type for the race.
“I’m sure if we had the horses then the English trainers would be running them, as simple as that, you’ve only got to look at our result from Cheltenham this year and see there are two are three horses that will be in the Grand National next year and that will increase the numbers.”
Liam Davies vowed to knock Dennis McCann out and “put him in his place” if the pair were to face off in the super-bantamweight division.
Newly crowned IBO champion Davies celebrated a recent stoppage victory over Erik Robles Ayala in Birmingham.
The Telford fighter admitted he would be open to a possible bout after McCann called him out, following his points victory over Brad Strand for the British title earlier this month.
“I think it would be a great build-up wouldn’t it? And I think it would be an even better knockout for me on the night for sure,” Davies told the PA news agency. “I’ll put him in his place.
“I think that’s probably the biggest fight for me in Britain and the one which makes most sense.
“He just had a good win for the British title and so maybe he has some confidence now to take the fight. He’s called me out after (the fight) but I don’t know if it’s all for the cameras.”
McCann’s victory over Strand came after a clash of heads with Ionut Baluta last summer forced the bout to end in a technical draw.
Davies believes he is a step above the 23-year-old and that McCann’s manager Lee Eaton might be wary of booking a fight.
“These guys play the cameras well and say what everyone wants to hear but I think when it comes down to it, there’s proof that they don’t really want to take the fight so I don’t think it’ll happen,” he added.
“If they want to have a dance I’m here and just let me know where and when you want me there and I’ll see them all there.
“If I boxed McCann I’d beat him and I don’t think I’d get much credit for it.
“I want to be involved in big fights and I think he needs to fight and beat Baluta to prove he’s on my level in my eyes.
“Southpaws are perfect for me and they know this. Every single southpaw I’ve fought I’ve dropped and Mr Lee Eaton is going to keep him away from me.”
Davies has also eyed a showdown with WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO super-bantamweight king Naoya Inoue in the future.
He said: “I need a big name now and another step up which I’m ready for.
“Inoue is the biggest fight. I look at that fight and I know it will be a really hard fight and he’s the best but I’m trying to be the best and so I have to try and beat him, don’t I?
“It’s a massive ask but if they rang for the fight I’ll take it 100 per cent with everything to gain and nothing to lose at all.”
Old friends were reunited in Dubai on Wednesday morning, with Frankie Dettori and John Gosden on track together at Meydan.
Dettori brought the curtain down on his British career at the conclusion of Champions Day at Ascot, but is now settled in California and enjoying winners at Santa Anita and beyond.
His association with Gosden goes back many years and of the great successes they have enjoyed, a particularly remarkable one has been Lord North. Now an eight-year-old, Lord North will on Saturday bid for a fourth victory in the Dubai Turf – and Dettori was in the saddle for a spin on the training track ahead of the big day.
Gosden watched on intently and was pleased with what he saw, both from his horse and his jockey.
“Frankie looks in very good form, he’s riding fitter and lighter than I’ve ever seen him,” he said.
Gosden and his son Thady have four runners on World Cup night, with Nashwa (Hollie Doyle) joining Lord North in the Turf, Trawlerman (Kieran Shoemark) going for the Gold Cup and Emily Upjohn (also Shoemark) in the Sheema Classic.
The absence of a certain Japanese superstar is a boost for all in the Sheema Classic, but Gosden knows that the requisite luck will be required for all his runners.
“We hope for luck in running, particularly in the Sheema Classic in which there’s no Equinox, which helps matters,” he said.
Jez Litten may have past and present ties to Hull KR’s biggest rivals but he insisted he would be at the “wrong club” if winning the Good Friday derby was not among his chief aims for the season.
Litten began his career with Hull FC as a teenager in 2017 but being behind the likes of Danny Houghton in the pecking order led to him crossing the divide, temporarily at first then permanently in 2020.
He retains a connection to his old club as younger cousin Davy is on the books of the Black and Whites, although the pair, as is customary in the week leading up to the Hull derby, are refraining from any form of communication with each other.
The elder Litten has bagged family bragging rights once already this year following the Robins’ 22-0 win in February’s season opener and hopes to make it a double when the teams collide at Craven Park.
“With me and Davy, it’s an understanding,” the hooker said. “It’s not like we speak on the Sunday night and then say ‘that’s it, I’ll see you next week’. It just happens, it’s not awkward or anything.
“I’ll see him after the game and we’ll have a good chat. The one who’s been beaten will get picked up by the other one, put an arm round their shoulder and that’s it, really.
“You always want to win a derby and if it’s not up there as the most (important win of the season), then you’re playing for the wrong club. I want to win them but I do want to beat everybody as well.”
Having been born in Hull and lived there all his life, Litten, who made his full England debut 11 months ago, admitted he was occasionally overawed by the clashes between KR and FC.
“You can never get over it fully because we live in Hull and (know) just how big the derby is,” the 26-year-old said.
“Something I really try to focus on when I play a derby, if I do my job right and the team do, hopefully we can get the win.”
Rovers recorded a statement 40-0 victory over Salford in the Challenge Cup last week and have been drawn in the quarter-finals to face Leigh, their conquerors in last year’s showpiece.
Hull have, by contrast, had an exacting past couple of weeks after shipping 50 points in heavy defeats by Leigh and Huddersfield – although Litten is taking nothing for granted.
“We don’t look over there too much,” Litten added. “It only takes one week for stuff to click and then you’re back to winning ways. They’ll be looking to do that this week and we’re expecting them to be at their best.”
It was a sentiment echoed by KR head coach Willie Peters, who expects Mikey Lewis to overcome his concussion protocols to feature, although England centre Oliver Gildart will miss out.
“I understand that with where we sit and they sit, naturally there’s got to be a favourite but we honestly don’t look into that,” Peters said.
“If you do then it’s instilling more pressure into the team and my job is to take it away from them.
“There’s enough expectation in a derby – they’ll have that as well but I’m not going to worry too much about what they do. Both teams are expected to win and that’s how we look at it.”
Agenda emerged as yet another potential Classic contender for Aidan O’Brien after opening his account with a wide-margin victory at Dundalk on Tuesday evening.
A promising third on his sole juvenile start over seven furlongs at the Curragh in October, the son of Galileo was an 11-10 favourite to go a couple of places better on his return to action in County Louth.
A slow start suggested the three-year-old still has plenty to learn, but his latent ability shone through in the latter stages of the extended 10-furlong contest and in the end he was thoroughly impressive in beating Huxley, not too far behind O’Brien’s star colt City Of Troy in a Curragh maiden last season, by just under five lengths.
Agenda holds an entry in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on June 30, while stable representative Chris Armstrong raised the possibility of him crossing the Irish Sea for a possible Derby trial at Chester’s Boodles May Festival.
He said: “It was (a lovely performance stepping up in trip), he had a lovely run as a two-year-old at the Curragh in a race that worked out nicely.
“He has the makings of a lovely horse, he’s still very babyish and raw. I think there is plenty of improvement but, when he gets there, he could be a nice one.
“We’ll probably look at a trial for him next, he might be one for Chester.”
Agenda was providing jockey Wayne Lordan with his first winner since returning to the saddle earlier this month, having been sidelined since suffering multiple injuries when unseated from the fatally injured San Antonio in the Irish Derby last July.
“Wayne gave him a lovely ride and it is great to get Wayne back on a winner,” Armstrong added.
“He’s a big part of the team and we have got to say a massive thanks to the paramedics who attended to him at the Curragh, to Jennifer Pugh and all her team, all the various consultants, doctors and physios.
“It has been a long road back for him, especially for his wife and his kids at home. In fairness, he got the best of care and he worked hard over the winter on his fitness.
“He has been back with us in the first week of January riding out. Hopefully, it is a good season ahead for him.”
Austin Reaves notched a triple-double and drilled a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 37.8 seconds left in the second overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 128-124, on Tuesday despite the absence of LeBron James.
Reaves had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 47 minutes, Anthony Davis tallied 34 points and 23 rebounds in 52 minutes and D’Angelo Russell had 29 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.
The Lakers, who never led in regulation, overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter and won their season-best fourth straight game with James sidelined with an ankle issue.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points, a season-high 21 boards and 11 assists and Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Bucks, who had won six straight at home.
Reaves’ 3-pointer with 38 seconds left in the second OT snapped a tie and Lillard missed a 3 before Antetokounmpo missed two free throws. Russell then sank a pair from the line and Davis sealed the win with two free throws with two seconds left after Malik Beasley’s 3 drew Milwaukee within two.
Doncic keeps Mavericks rolling
Luka Dončić scored 26 of his 28 points in the first half and the Dallas Mavericks cruised to their fifth straight victory, 132-96 over the Sacramento Kings.
Doncic added 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals and Kyrie Irving had 24 points and eight assists for Dallas, which has won nine of 10 to move into sixth in the Western Conference.
De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting and Domantas Sabonis had 12 points, 11 boards and nine assists for his 55th consecutive double-double, tying Jerry Lucas for the longest streak in franchise history.
Thunder ride late run past Pelicans
Jalen Williams scored 26 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a game-ending 12-0 run to rally for a 119-112 win over the New Orleans Pelicans after blowing a 20-point lead in the third quarter.
Josh Giddey added 25 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24, including a tying 3-pointer with 89 seconds left.
Zion Williamson had 29 points and 10 assists for the Pelicans, who led 112-107 with 3:11 to play before missing their final five shots.
The Thunder won for the fifth time in six games to pull within a half game of idle Denver for the top spot in the Western Conference.
Roman Josi scored 40 seconds into overtime to cap a stunning comeback and the Nashville Predators extended their point streak to 18 games with a 5-4 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
The Predators scored three times in the third period to erase a 4-1 deficit before Josi’s goal gave them their sixth straight win and a 16-0-2 mark since a regulation loss to Dallas on Feb. 15.
Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists to reach 40 goals for the second time in his career. He has seven goals and seven assists during a seven-game point streak.
Ivan Barbashev, Brett Howden and Shea Theodore scored first-period goals for Vegas and Mark Jankowski’s tally in the second made it 4-1.
The Golden Knights, who had won three straight, pulled within one point of Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division and are six points ahead of St. Louis for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Rangers clinch playoff berth
Adam Fox scored 36 seconds into overtime after a wild third period and the New York Rangers became the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Alexis Lafreniere scored twice and Vincent Trocheck had a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who took over the NHL lead with their 100th point and gave coach Peter Laviolette his 800th victory.
The teams combined for seven goals in the third period with Philadelphia’s Tyson Foerster scoring with 3:31 left to forge a 5-5 tie.
Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who are winless in four straight road games (0-2-2) and have a one-point lead over Washington in the race for third in the Metropolitan Division.
Bruins beat Panthers to move atop Atlantic
Trent Frederic and Pavel Zacha scored late in the third period to rally the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers, moving them into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.
Carter Verhaeghe scored midway through the third period to give Florida a 3-2 lead but Frederic scored on a power play with 4:22 remaining and Zacha put Boston ahead just over two minutes later.
Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak also had goals for the Bruins, who avoided a third straight loss and lead the Atlantic with 99 points, two ahead of the Panthers.
Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart also tallied for the Panthers, who dropped to 1-4-1 in their last six games since losing star defenseman Aaron Ekblad to a lower-body injury on March 9.
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