LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James has been ruled out of the Los Angeles Lakers' game at Minnesota on Friday night due to soreness in his left foot. James will miss his second straight game when the Lakers return from a four-day break to face the Timberwolves, the Lakers announced Thursday. The top scorer in NBA history was away from the team this week with an excused absence attributed to “personal reasons,” coach JJ Redick said Wednesday. It's unclear whether James will even make the quick round trip to Minnesota before the Lakers' next game at home against Memphis on Sunday. James missed his first game of his record-tying 22nd NBA season when the Lakers beat Portland at home last Sunday. That absence also was attributed to his foot injury. James is averaging 23.0 points, 9.1 assists and 8.0 rebounds for the Lakers (13-11), who have lost seven of 10 after a 10-4 start. The Lakers upgraded starter Austin Reaves to questionable for the game at Minnesota after he missed LA's previous five games with a pelvic bruise. Anthony Davis is listed as probable with left plantar fasciitis. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
By the final whistle, the chants were impossible to ignore. As the New England Patriots walked off the field following their embarrassing 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at home, what few fans remained were calling for head coach Jerod Mayo’s job . “Fire Mayo! Fire Mayo! Fire Mayo!” Mayo’s rookie season in New England has been a rough ride. But calls for Mayo’s job have largely been limited to internet comments and calls into sports talk radio. Saturday’s loss represented a new low. Fans at Gillette Stadium were working together to make that refrain ring throughout the team’s home field. After the game, Mayo was asked if he could hear the chants -- and how he felt about it. “Look. you hear those things,” Mayo said. “But at the same time, they pay to sit in those seats and we’ve got to play better. If we play better, we don’t have to hear that stuff.” With the loss, the Patriots fall to 3-13 on the season. After a close loss last week generated positivity in New England, the air was sucked out of the room with Saturday’s performance. What does that mean for Mayo’s job status? The seat is hot. But the expectation for now is that Mayo and his staff will return next year. Still, the pressure is on. But Mayo says that’s nothing new. “I’m always under pressure. It’s been that way for a very long time. Not just when I became the head coach of the Patriots. I’m okay – look, again, I always do what’s best for the team.” More Patriots ContentI'm A Celeb's worst-ever Bushtucker trials - from live spider meal to 'drowning' in a tubeVictor Wembanyama Shows off Chess Skills in New York City, Goes 2-1 Against Locals
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville has approved a five-year contract extension through June 2030 for athletic director Josh Heird, whose 2 1/2-year tenure has included the hirings of two men’s basketball coaches and football coach Jeff Brohm. The university’s Board of Trustees on Thursday authorized President Kim Schatzel to execute the deal, three days after the University of Louisville Athletic Association board approved the agreement. Heird was named interim AD in December 2021 before being elevated to the full-time job the following June. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a week
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ANALYSIS: Sluggish Spurs show that Angeball just ain't what it used to be Postecoglou savours a return to hostility in Glasgow but performance of his side doesn't augur well for his future Spurs fail to sparkle as too many big-name players continue to let their under-pressure manager down Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport By CALUM CROWE Published: 22:43, 12 December 2024 | Updated: 23:09, 12 December 2024 e-mail 32 shares View comments The second half wasn’t yet two minutes old. Yet, already, the Ibrox crowd had decided to clear their throats and break into song to offer their thoughts on Ange Postecoglou ’s job prospects. Sacked in the morning, you’re getting sacked in the morning. Postecoglou stood motionless on the touchline, unflinching with his hands in his pockets, as it echoed around the stadium. Trailing 1-0 to a goal from Hamza Igamane and staring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat in the city he once called home, there might even have been a few Tottenham fans tempted to join in. At that point, Postecoglou was a man on the brink. A manager under major pressure amid a dismal run of results, his life expectancy as Spurs boss was shortening by the minute. His team had been awful. Second-best all over the pitch to a vibrant Rangers side, this wasn’t the slick attacking style of football for which Postecoglou became renowned during his time in Glasgow. Truth be told, this was a poor imitation of what was once known as Angeball in these parts. Ange Postecoglou went through the full range of emotions on his return to Ibrox The former Celtic manager embraces Rangers boss Philippe Clement at full-time Another former Celtic man, goalkeeper Fraser Forster, denies Cyriel Dessers a goal With a squad assembled for multi-millions of pounds, it was proof that money doesn’t always guarantee success. Throughout his two years spent in this city, Postecoglou’s Celtic team were miles better in this stadium that anything Spurs produced last night. But what unfolded in the final half-hour may well have saved his job. With the game threatening to spiral out of control, Postecoglou made a triple substitution which helped turned the game. It was 30 minutes of tension and drama as Spurs picked themselves up off the floor, equalising through Dejan Kulusevski, before Rangers thought they had won it at the death through Cyriel Dessers. When Dessers was flagged for offside and his goal was ruled out, Postecoglou breathed a sigh of relief. He remains a long way from turning this ship around. Tottenham have still only won once in their last eight games in competitions. But a defeat at Ibrox last night could well have prompted the Spurs board to send him a P45 rather than a Christmas card. The fact he lives to fight another day will be of immense relief, despite the fact his team rarely flickered into anything above the ordinary. Postecoglou had spoken pre-match about the fiery reception he was likely to receive as he returned to this particular neck of the woods in Glasgow. Postecoglou's substitutions saw his side belatedly come to life, but all is not well at Spurs He wasn’t wrong. As Tottenham’s team bus pulled up outside the main doors of Ibrox on Edmiston Drive, a group of Rangers fans had gathered to wish him the best of British. A wry smile came over Postecoglou’s face as he hopped off the bus and into the stadium, the big Aussie seemingly humoured by some of the remarks aimed in his direction. He wasn’t the only member of the Spurs camp with past Celtic connections. Playing in goal for the visitors was Fraser Forster. Forster won seven trophies across five seasons throughout his various spells at Parkhead. Perhaps it was he who was in charge of the pre-match choreography. Kulusevski hails his equaliser after dragging Spurs back into the contest German forward Timo Werner was a peripheral figure and was deservedly subbed at half-time As the Tottenham players huddled together in front of their fans in the corner of the Broomloan Stand, Ibrox erupted in into a crescendo of boos and jeers. Postecoglou would have demanded a response from his players on the back of their capitulation against Chelsea last weekend. Having led 2-0 early in the piece, they eventually crashed to a 4-3 defeat and arrived in Glasgow on a run of just one win in their last seven games in all competitions. But the flying start so associated with Postecoglou’s style of football was conspicuous by its absence. Spurs looked rattled and unsure of themselves. Roared on by a raucous home crowd, Rangers pounced on every second ball and pressed Tottenham to the point of distraction. Postecoglou had said recently that Tottenham’s current injury woes are the worst he has ever encountered in 25 years of management. They were without both first-choice central defenders in Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven due to injury, with Radu Dragusin and young Archie Gray depositing. A midfielder by trade, 18-year-old Gray is the grandson of former Scotland international Frank and the great-nephew of Leeds United and Scotland winger Eddie. Whilst there were moments when he looked tidy and composed, there were too many others when his desire to overplay saw him lose the ball in bad areas. Hamza Igamane was an impressive presence for Rangers up front and deserved his goal Igamane celebrates after his fairy-tale introduction to life at Rangers continued Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport Advertisement He wasn’t alone in that regard. As Rangers grew stronger, Postecoglou grew more animated on the touchline, furious at some of the slack play from his team. Early in his tenure at Celtic, there was a video which went viral on social media which saw Postecoglou berating certain players for playing too many backward passes. It’s a trait he hasn’t lost. Timo Werner and Pedro Porro were two who were caught in the crosshairs as Angry Ange took aim from the technical area. His blasts were not unwarranted. Particularly in the case of Werner, Spurs were as good as a man down. The German looked like he hadn’t ever played football before, so it was no surprise to see him hooked at half-time as Postecoglou looked to shake things up. Yet, whatever choice words may have been uttered inside the Spurs dressing room at the break, they plainly didn’t work. Within two minutes of the restart, Rangers were ahead when the excellent Igamane steered a brilliant finish low into Forster’s far corner. The decibels inside Ibrox rose immeasurably, with Postecoglou copping it as the Rangers supporters taunted their former tormentor from across the city. Rangers were good value for it, too. Sharper all over the pitch, a lead of more than one goal would not have been unjustified. They were pegged back when Kulusevski reversed a neat finish into Jack Butland’s far corner and, for a spell, Rangers had to hang on. But they got there and nobody would be able to claim to a point was ill-deserved. The only tinge of regret for Philippe Clement and his players was the failure to take all three. After the final whistle had blown, Tottenham fans were kept behind in the stadium and aimed chants at chairman Daniel Levy, telling him where to go. On a night when his return to Glasgow threatened to go badly wrong, Postecoglou could be glad that it wasn’t him on the receiving end of those chants. Share or comment on this article: ANALYSIS: Sluggish Spurs show that Angeball just ain't what it used to be e-mail 32 shares Add comment
