LeBron James acknowledged everything went wrong for the Los Angeles Lakers after their last-gasp 116-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Andrew Nembhard hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer at the Crypto.com Arena to help his side secure victory after fighting back from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Defeat marks a second in four matches for the Lakers, who bounced back from their loss to the Phoenix Suns last week with back-to-back wins over the San Antonio Spurs.
James, who posted 21 points in a tough outing, says he and his team-mates ultimately failed to shut the match down and ensure a hungry Pacers side could have no way back.
[You have] just got to finish the game, he stated. Everything has to go wrong in order for you to lose a game like that.
Former Portsmouth striker Aruna Dindane wants to return to the Premier League following a spell in Qatar.
The Ivorian played at Fratton Park in a loan spell during the 2009-10 season but failed to earn a permanent contract at the club, as they were relegated from the English top-flight.
Dindane has been plying his trade in the Middle East for the past two seasons but feels he still has a lot to offer to a club in England.
The 32-year-old becomes a free agent at the end of the current campaign and it is reported that West Brom, Swansea and Southampton will be interested in signing the former Ivory Coast international.
I am a free agent at the end of the season, he said.
I have contacts to return to the French Ligue 1, but I want to play in the P…
Tottenham have reportedly agreed to a 1.5-million-pound deal to sign Lewis Holtby from Schalke this month.
The midfielder had already signed a pre-contract agreement to join Spurs on a free transfer in the summer but the clubs have now agreed a fee to accelerate the move before the close of the January transfer window.
Football website Goal.com understands Holtby will join the north London club on a four-and-a-half-year contract with the further option of a one-year extension.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been locked in talks with Schalke general manager Horst Heldt over the last two weeks before finally agreeing a deal on Sunday night as the Londoners look to bolster their squad to aid their push for a top-four finish.
The two sides could also pla…
Marco Silva says the ambition on show at Watford was the key reason he agreed to become the club s new head coach.
Silva, who succeeds Walter Mazzarri, signed a two-year deal at Vicarage Road just two days after it was announced he was leaving Hull City following the club s relegation from the Premier League.
Firstly I really like the approach of the board and the owner, Silva said. They showed me the project and I like the ambition.
The club want to improve for the next seasons and this is what I try to fight for in my career as well – to always improve, to do a good job and to ensure a good connection between the manager and the club.
The ambition this club has is really important to me. I m excited. It s a good challenge and I m really happy.
…
Benevento secured promotion to Serie A for the first time in their history with a 1-0 win over Carpi at Stadio Ciro Vigorito on Thursday.
After a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Serie B play-off final, George Puscas first-half strike proved decisive to send them into the top flight alongside SPAL 2013 and Hellas Verona.
It is a second successive promotion for Benevento, who were founded in their current form in 2005 and finished the regular season in fifth.
Inter loanee Puscas fired into the roof of the net after 32 minutes when he was picked out at the near post by wing-back Lorenzo Venuti, who did brilliantly to get past his man and drive in along the byline.
4 Benevento are the 4th side from Campania to have been promoted to Serie A after Napoli, Sale…
The contract between Arsenal and Sokratis Papastathopoulos has been terminated early, the north-London club have .
Having previously played for the likes of AEK Athens, Genoa, AC Milan and Werder Bremen, the Greek centre-back joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2018, for a fee believed to have been around €20 million.
Between then and now, Sokratis played a total of 69 games in all competitions for the Gunners, scoring six goals. His first season at the Emirates went relatively well he started 25 Premier League games and was an important part of a rather fragile back line. However, his significance gradually dropped and practically disappeared when Mikel Arteta replaced Unai Emery at the helm.
This term he hasn t played for the first team at…
Wolfsburg have signed Manchester City striker Lukas Nmecha on a season-long loan.
The 20-year-old was born in Hamburg and has represented both England and Germany at Under-21 level, featuring as part of Stefan Kuntz s squad when they finished as runners-up in this year s European Championship.
Nmecha made three senior appearances for City in 2017-18 – all as a substitute – before spending 2018-19 with Preston North End in the Championship.
He only scored four times in 44 appearances for Preston but was on target twice for City during their pre-season tour of Asia last month.
Best of luck to as he joins on a season-long loan.
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
It had been my aim to play in the Bundesliga and in my home coun…
Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck twice and Ollie Watkins scored a debut goal as England started their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 5-0 thrashing of San Marino at Wembley.
Gareth Southgate was able to celebrate his 50th match as manager of his country with a Group I victory which should have been much more emphatic on Thursday.
James Ward-Prowse opened the scoring with his first senior international goal before Calvert-Lewin and Raheem Sterling got in on the act in a first half that saw England waste a host of clear-cut chances.
Calvert-Lewin doubled his tally early in the second half and substitute Watkins was on target on his Three Lions bow on another tough night for a San Marino team sitting at the bottom of the FIFA rankings, with much bigger test…
Prediction: Draw
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
We re edging towards the end of the current international break and a whole host of teams have already booked their place at next year s FIFA World Cup. Of course, we still have plenty of places left to fill between now and next winter, and home nation Wales will hope to take a big step towards qualifying themselves when they play host to Belgium on Tuesday evening.
Wales
The Welsh have had to endure some tough times off the pitch as of late and on it, they ve been okay at best. They re picking up big wins here and there but they aren t quite pushing themselves to the limit in the way they did at the start of their Euro 2020 campaign. They ve got the star power necessary to make waves in the play-offs, but t…
Wolves have alleged one of their players was subjected to discriminatory abuse during their Premier League game at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The club reported the matter to the officials and stadium authorities at Selhurst Park and a supporter was subsequently ejected from the ground. Police have also been informed.
The player affected has not been named.
A statement from Wolves read: “We are very disappointed to report that one of our players was the target of discriminatory abuse by an opposing fan during today’s game with Crystal Palace.
We are very disappointed to report that one of our players was the target of discriminatory abuse by an opposing fan during today’s game with Crystal Palace.
— Wolves (@Wolves)
“We reported t…