Sports

MIAMI — Eastern Conference leaders the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their first home loss of the season with a surprise 135-124 defeat to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

Cleveland's second loss of the season came afer a strong second half display from Atlanta with De'Andre Hunter scoring 26 points off the bench, Jalen Johnson adding 22 points and Trae Young contributing 20 with a career-high 22 assists.

Young put the game beyond the Cavs with a 39-foot three pointer to make it 129-122 with 1:43 remaining just moments after he had turned the ball over.

Johnson said Young's assists had been crucial to the victory and that he deserved more credit for his role on the team.

"He was really getting off the ball and finding everyone... a lot of people don't necessarily talk about him even though he's leading the league in assists, but they don't talk about him as the playmaker," Johnson said.

The win moves the Hawks to 8-11 on the season and Young said the team had shown what they were capable of.

"They are a really good team who have been playing well all year and I feel we have been a little inconsistent but the times that we have played well, we've played really well," he said.

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 for Cleveland and Evan Mobley put up 22 points and 12 rebounds, but the Cavs missed out on a chance to become the first team to start with an 18-1 record.

Serbian Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to a convincing 122-103 win at the Utah Jazz with 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Denver had come back from an early 12-point deficit with a 21-4 run midway through the game turning the contest in their direction.

The Houston Rockets needed overtime to beat the 3-14 Philadelphia 76ers, with Alperen Sengun scoring 22 points and claiming 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Half of Turkish center Sengun's points came in overtime where the Rockets made sure of moving to 14-6.

"My teammates trusted me in overtime and I didn't want to fail them," Sengun said. "It was ugly but a win is a win in the NBA."

James Harden scored 43 points for the Los Angeles Clippers as they beat the struggling Washington Wizards 121-96.

Harden scored 23 of his points in the first quarter and left the game late in the third quarter with the Wizards already condemned to their 13th straight defeat.

"We have to continue to find ways to win," said Harden of the 12-8 Clippers.

"Defensively we need to do a lot better, sometimes we get a little too comfortable... we just need to continue to get better as a unit."

The Miami Heat defeated the Charlotte Hornets 98-94, with Tyler Herro scoring 27 points and Duncan Robinson draining six 3-pointers in the win.

"He's a shot-maker, he's not afraid of the moment," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Herro.

Bam Adebayo claimed 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Heat while LaMelo Ball had 32 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte.

Miami's star Jimmy Butler left the game in the third quarter with a tight back and did not return.

The Hornets were closing in on the lead but Herro made a 29-foot 3-pointer and then grabbed Ball's attempted pass to Brandon Miller for the crucial turnover.

Led by Anthony Davis with 19 points and 14 rebounds, the Los Angeles Lakers ended the San Antonio Spurs four-game winning streak with a 119-101 victory.

LeBron James helped with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds while France's Victor Wembanyama top scored for the Spurs with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite being without injured Slovenian star Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks had a comfortable 129-114 win over the New York Knicks with Kyrie Irving scoring 23 points.

Dennis Schroder top scored with 29 points as the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Phoenix Suns 127-117. Kevin Durant put up 30 points and 8 rebounds for the Arizona team.

BERLIN — Heidenheim host Premier League giants Chelsea in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday, the latest milestone in the German club’s rapid rise from fifth division to European football.

Even just a few seasons ago, few Germans would have known much about the club from the 50,000-strong town of Heidenheim an der Brenz, located in southern Germany between Munich and Stuttgart.

Two-time Champions League winners Chelsea are a symbol not only of Premier League largesse, but of modern football.

Since taking over in May 2022, Chelsea’s American owners are estimated to have spent more than 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) on transfers alone.

The magnitude of the unlikely journey is not lost on Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt, who has been with the club all the way from the non-professional ranks.

In an interview with AFP, he said the idea of welcoming Chelsea to Heidenheim’s 15,000-seat Voith Arena on Thursday would have been “unthinkable” just a few months ago.

“But in the end, that is now the case,” he said. “We’ve earned this through our strong debut season in the Bundesliga.”

“It will be a special evening that our club and our fans deserve.”

Schmidt’s story is so intertwined with that of Heidenheim, it is inseparable.

With Heidenheim in the fifth division of German football, Schmidt became coach just after retiring from the club as a player in 2007, agreeing to do so for a two-week period only.

Since then, he has driven the club up the German football pyramid until a first-ever promotion to the top flight before the 2023-24 season.

In the time Schmidt has been in charge at Heidenheim, German giants Bayern Munich have gone through 12 different coaches, while winning 13 Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues.

In September 2023, on his 16th anniversary at the club, he became the longest serving coach in Bundesliga history and celebrated with a 4-2 win over Werder Bremen, Heidenheim’s debut top-flight victory.

Upon their arrival in the Bundesliga, they were widely tipped for a swift relegation. Schmidt not only kept them up but piloted them to eighth spot and a Europa Conference League placing.

One of the many highlights of their first top-flight season was coming from two goals down to beat Bayern 3-2 at home in April.

With plenty taking notice of Heidenheim’s sharp rise, the club’s next challenge was to rebuild after several key players were picked off in the summer.

Winger Jan-Niklas Beste, who last season became the club’s first player called up for Germany, moved to Benfica.

Tim Kleindienst, who has since made his Germany debut and has two goals in four games, left for Borussia Moenchengladbach.

“It was clear we could not replace these players one-on-one, because they were key players for us. You can see that with Tim Kleindienst, who is now a German international and has played for Germany from the start in the past few games.”

Without the money to bring in big name stars, Heidenheim brought in a mix of experienced lower division players and young talents.

One such talent is Bayern loanee Paul Wanner, who has five goals and two assists in all competitions this season.

Still just 18, Wanner has shown so much promise he is already subject to a tug-of-war between Germany and Austria.

While acknowledging the ebbs and flows that come with playing while still a teenager, Schmidt recognises Wanner’s quality.

“If his development continues like this and he stays injury free, he can go all the way to the top.”

‘Clear underdogs’

Heidenheim started the Bundesliga season on fire and were top of the table after two rounds, before falling back to earth and now sit 15th.

In the Conference League however, they are one of six teams, including Chelsea, to have won three from three.

“Chelsea are the absolute favourites and anything other than winning the Conference League would be a huge surprise. They have incredible individual quality and potential [and are] third in the Premier League.”

Despite being “clear underdogs”, Schmidt said his team can pull off a huge surprise of their own.

“We have to fight back with a strong mentality to have a chance.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Boston's Kristaps Porzingis and Ja Morant of Memphis made triumphant and long-awaited NBA returns from injuries on Tuesday, while Kyrie Irving scored 32 points to spark a Dallas victory at Atlanta.

Porzingis had 16 points, hitting 5-of-6 from inside 3-point range, with six rebounds, two blocks and two assists in 23 minutes for the reigning champion Celtics in a 126-94 home rout of the Los Angeles Clippers.

"Good to go and looking forward to many, many great wins," Porzingis said.

Latvian center Porzingis had been sidelined for five months following left ankle surgery last June after being injured in the NBA Finals.

"It has been killing me inside not to be able to be out there," said Porzingis. "But it was worth the wait to come back now and finally be with my guys.

"It has been maybe a couple weeks I've been nearing the finish line of starting to play and as I was ramping up I was getting more and more antsy to be out there finally. And here it is."

Asked about his ankle, Porzingis said, "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did have a couple flat tires on some lobs but I was still able to finish it and I'm happy with the game, happy with the win and with each game I'm only going to find my rhythm more and more."

Jayson Tatum and reserve Payton Pritchard each scored 20 points to lead the Celtics while Derrick White had 19 and Jaylen Brown added 17.

"No matter who is in or out on this team, we're an unbelievably built team," Porzingis said. "It's like nothing, whoever is out, we can still win any game."

Ivica Zubac led the Clippers with 23 points and 10 rebounds while James Harden had 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

At Memphis, Morant was back to his fast-breaking, slam-dunking top form to spark the Grizzlies over Portland 123-98.

Morant scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half and added 11 assists while Jaren Jackson Jr. had 21 points for Memphis.

Morant has missed the past eight games for the Grizzlies after suffering a hip injury in a fall against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 6.

In Atlanta, Irving scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half to lead the Dallas Mavericks over the host Hawks 129-119.

Jaden Hardy added 23 points while Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie each added 22 for the Mavs. Jalen Johnson scored 28 to lead Atlanta, which has lost three in a row.

Ivey wins for Detroit 

Detroit's Jaden Ivey scored the last of his team-high 25 points on a floater at the final buzzer to give the Pistons a 102-100 victory over visiting Toronto.

Tyrese Haliburton scored 34 points and passed off 13 assists to lead the host Indiana Pacers over New Orleans 114-110.

Germany's Franz Wagner scored 21 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 95-84 victory at Charlotte despite LaMelo Ball's game-high 44 points for the Hornets.

AMMAN —  Wihdat and Hussein hope to keep their momentum when they play upcoming Round 5 matches of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League Two.

Wihdat top Group C ahead of their away match against Sepahan Isfahan whom they beat 2-1 earlier. During their unbeaten run they beat Tajikistan’s Istiklol 1-o twice, held UAE’s Sharjah 2-2. In other group matches, Sepahan upset Sharjah 3-1 after losing 3-1. Sharjah beat Istiklol 1-0 and Sepahan beat Istiklol 4-0.

For Jordan league champs Hussein, their home game against UAE’s Ahli Dubai is vital as they seek to maintain their Group D lead and reverse their earlier 3-1 defeat. They so far beat Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi twice as well as Kuwait Club 2-1. In other group matches, Ahli held Kuwait 3-3 after they earlier beat them 4-1, Nasaf upset Ahli 2-1 and Kuwait held Nasaf 0-0.  

Going into Round 5, Hussein will miss their star goalie Yazeed Abu Laila who injured his jaw in the Jordan-Kuwait World Cup qualifier, while Wihdat will try to make up for their defeat to Salt in the Jordan Shield Cup final.

Clubs are playing in 8 groups in the 21st edition of the competition, with the top two in each group moving to the quarters of the second tier Asian event that has replaced the AFC Cup. The top tier Asian clubs competition is now branded Asian Champions League Elite.

It is Hussein’s 1st and Wihdat’s 13th time in the competition which was won three times by Jordanian clubs. Faisali won two back-to-back titles in 2005-2006 and Shabab Urdun won once in 2007, Wihdat reached the semis in 2006, 2007 and 2011. No Jordanian clubs played in the 2022 season.

Last season, Wihdat failed to advance beyond Round 1 at the AFC Cup as Faisali were eliminated from the Champions League. In past editions, Wihdat played in the top tier Asian Champions League twice and were eliminated in the group stages in 2021 and 2022. None of the Kingdom's clubs had ever made it past the ACL preliminary round where Faisali played in 2020 and 2018,  Wihdat in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 and Shabab Urdun in 2014. 

AMMAN — Jordan’s basketball team plays Palestine in Jeddah on Monday in its second match of window 2 of Group D qualifiers for the 31st FIBA Asia Cup 2025.

Jordan tops Group D after overcoming Iraq 73-64 on Friday as Saudi Arabia beat Palestine 73-66 to maintain second spot ahead of their home match against Iraq.

The Kingdom has an unbeaten streak after scoring two wins in window 1, when they beat Palestine 73-46 and Saudi Arabia 79-64. In other matches, Iraq beat Palestine 75-72 while Saudi Arabia overcame Iraq 64-58. Window 3 will be played in February 2025  -- Jordan vs Saudi on February 21 and  Jordan vs Iraq on February 24.

Jordan lately won 12th edition of the King Abdullah Cup (The King’s Cup) as part of preparations for the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, beating beat Palestine, Syria and Qatar to retain the title.

A total of 24 teams are playing Round 1 qualification matches for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in three windows, while also battling for qualifying spots for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup alongside hosts Qatar who automatically advanced. The top two teams of each qualifying group move to the FIBA Asia Cup and the six third-placed teams will play another qualifying round for the final four places. The 31st FIBA Asia Cup will be hosted in Saudi Arabia from August 5-17, 2025.

Jordan previously qualified to the FIBA Asia Cup (formerly FIBA Asia Championship) 16 times with their best position finishing runner-up in 2011. In 2023, Jordan won a historic first ever team medal when they won silver at the Asian Games. In addition, they played at the FIBA World Cup for the third time after earlier playing in 2010 and 2019. Alongside the junior men's team in 1995 and 2025, basketball has been the only Jordanian team to reach a World Cup in a team sport.

MÁLAGA, Spain — Rafael Nadal said early Wednesday he had left a sporting and personal 'legacy' after retiring from professional tennis, as tributes flooded in for the 22-time Grand Slam winner.

The 38-year-old's glittering and historic career came to a close as Netherlands defeated Spain in the Davis Cup and Nadal gave an emotional speech that ran over 10 minutes long to more than 10,000 fans in Malaga.

After 23 years in the game and many struggles with injury, Nadal retires as the second-most successful men's singles player of all time.

"I leave with the peace of mind that I have left a legacy, which I really feel is not just a sporting one but a personal one," Nadal said at his retirement ceremony.

"I understand that the love I have received, if it was just for what happened on the court, would not be the same."

Nadal said he hoped people would remember him for more than just his record-breaking achievements on the court, including 14 French Open titles and a record 81-match unbeaten streak on the red dirt which made him the 'King of Clay'.

The Spaniard never smashed a racquet on court during his career and was adored for his positive attitude.

"The titles, the numbers are there, so people probably know that, but the way that I would like to be remembered more is like a good person, from a small village in Mallorca," continued Nadal.

"I just want to be remembered as a good person, a kid that followed their dreams and achieved [even] more than what I had dreamed."

Nadal was celebrated with a video montage on the many screens around the Martin Carpena arena in Malaga featuring many tennis greats.

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Serena Williams among others left messages in the video, alongside former football stars including David Beckham, Raul and Andres Iniesta, who retired from playing in October.

"Your tenacity, your fighting spirit, the energy that you brought, the power, is something that will be studied and transferred to many generations coming up," said Djokovic, who has the record of 24 Grand Slam men's singles titles and is the last of the 'big three' still playing.

"Congratulations on the most incredible career, it was such a privilege to play with you but also against you," said Federer, Nadal's greatest rival, who retired in 2022 with 20 Grand Slams.

'Eternal' -

Nadal's last match was a 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Botic van de Zandschulp in the first singles rubber of Tuesday's Davis Cup quarter-final, and although Carlos Alcaraz forced a doubles decider Spain were eventually defeated to bring the curtain down on his career.

"I'm not tired of playing tennis, it's just that my body has reached a moment where it doesn't want to play any more, so I have to accept the situation," said Nadal.

The Spaniard welled up during the Spanish national anthem at the start of the match and admitted it was "an emotional day".

World number three Alcaraz, 21, is one of the game's brightest talents and a player some hope can become Nadal's heir.

"His legacy is going to be eternal," Alcaraz told reporters.

"He has been great for tennis, for the sport in general, it is difficult -- at least for me -- to feel that I should continue the legacy that he has left.

"It is difficult, almost impossible, I will just try to do my best, right now it's time to say great things about Rafa...

"It is just great to have had Rafa in tennis, in Spain and in my life."

Spain's Davis Cup captain David Ferrer also paid tribute to Nadal.

"There are people who will be remembered for their achievements in life, others until the end of their days, and others eternally," said Ferrer.

"You will be remembered eternally."

Nadal thanked fans in Spain in his speech but also around the rest of the world where he found many admirers.

In Paris, where he won a record 14 French Open titles and earned the nickname the 'King of Clay', his image was projected onto the night sky in front of the Eiffel Tower.

"I am crying as we speak... Rafael Nadal... What an absolute icon of sport period! There will never be another one like Rafa!" wrote former world number one Boris Becker on social media platform X.