Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said the team can never take Luka Doncic for granted after he brought up 10,000 career points in their Christmas-Day win over the Phoenix Suns.

Doncic reached the milestone in style, scoring 50 points in a 128-114 road win as he became just the fourth player in league history to post a half-century of points on Christmas Day, after Bernard King, Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry.

Having entered the game 11 points short of bringing up five figures, he has reached 10,000 points in just 358 games. Only Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and George Gervin have done so in fewer outings.

Doncic's big moment came early on when he hit a 34-foot three-pointer in the first quarter, and Kidd heaped praise upon his talisman after his dominant outing.  

"As I've always said, we can't take him for granted when he's feeling it," Kidd said. "You're just trying to get him the ball as much as possible. 

"You're also trying to figure out how to get him some rest because we weren't going to take him out there in the second half, so we needed to ask him or someone to be able to run the offense.

"I thought he did a great job of letting other guys bring the ball up, but when he's going like that, you've got to get him the ball, and you trust your quarterback's going to do the right thing."

Asked how it felt to reach the landmark, Doncic said: "Always, when this kind of award comes with a win, it's even more fun.

"It was a tough road game, and we won. So, outside of the 10K and 50 points, we won the game. So, I'm really happy.

"I love playing in these environments, especially away. It's fun for me. When you make a shot, the whole gym is quiet, so that's the best feeling in the world."

Doncic's mammoth performance proved Grayson Allen's 32-point haul for the Suns redundant, with Kevin Durant also tacking on 16 for the hosts.

Phoenix are now 14-15 and sit 11th in the Western Conference, having lost five of their last six games including each of their last three in a row.

Star guard Devin Booker said of the Suns' slump: "We just have to get it together. 

"That's on me, that's on coach, that's on KD, all the leaders that we have in here to make sure that we're prepared."

Nicky Henderson’s Jango Baie battled on gamely to see off Favour And Fortune to win the William Hill Formby Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.

The race was formerly registered as the Tolworth Hurdle and was being run for the first time at Aintree instead of Sandown.

That was a move that did not go down too well with Henderson at the time, although he may have a different take now after the four-year-old, having just his second race under rules, provided James Bowen with a first Grade One success.

In a race which highlighted the ups and downs of racing perfectly, Bowen’s brother Sean, riding Gordon Elliott’s Farren Glory, seemed to be travelling best of all before falling in the home straight.

Jango Baie (17-2) had beaten Ben Pauling’s Tellherthename narrowly on their respective hurdling debuts at Ascot and the two met again. But Pauling’s charge, having jumped and travelled well until the home straight, soon dropped away.

It was Cannock Park who led for much of the journey and he did not give way until the second-last when the front two pulled away, with Jango Baie winning by two and three-quarter lengths after a good tussle.

Bowen told Racing TV: “It went well, I travelled well, he was a bit keen but he was a lot keener the last day.

“He finished his race off really well and I think he’ll probably want a bit further in time.

“Sean looked to be going really well and at the time I didn’t know what he had left, he did look to be going well, though.

“The best I’d done in a Grade One was finishing third on Top Notch in the Long Walk (2018), that’s the closest I’d been before today.

“He hit the line hard and he’s obviously improving, he’s a Grade One horse now so hopefully he’ll have some nice targets.”

Il Est Francais put up a sparkling jumping display to win the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on his British debut at Kempton.

Part-owned by an Englishman in Richard Kelvin-Hughes, ridden by one in James Reveley and trained jointly by another Englishman in Noel George, he was representing France in no uncertain terms.

Still only five, Il Est Francais had carried almost all before him in France and from an early stage had most of his rivals under pressure with his cruising speed and accurate jumping.

Whether meeting fences on a long or short stride, the 13-8 chance made only one semblance of an error over the three miles and Reveley, son of former trainer Keith and a multiple champion jockey in France since moving there, always knew what he had underneath him.

Paul Nicholls’ Hermes Allen briefly looked a threat but once Il Est Francais was asked to put the race to bed, he soon opened up a distance between them again and in the end won by 11 lengths.

George trains in partnership with Amanda Zetterholm, while the winner is jointly owed by Haras De Saint-Voir, who also bred the gelding.

Kala Conti upstaged her better-fancied stablemate Mighty Bandit to provide Gordon Elliott with a third victory in the last four runnings of the Mercedes-Benz South Dublin Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown.

The Cullentra handler saddled Zanahiyr and Fil Dor to claim back-to-back wins in the Grade Two contest in 2020 and 2021, while subsequent Triumph Hurdle heroine Lossiemouth struck gold for Willie Mullins last season.

Having made a big impression on his hurdling debut at Punchestown, Mighty Bandit was the 13-8 favourite to double his tally in the hands of Elliott’s stable jockey Jack Kennedy, with Kala Conti rated his biggest threat by bookmakers at 7-2.

The latter was narrowly beaten by the reopposing Nurburgring in a Grade Three at Fairyhouse last month, but under a positive ride from Danny Gilligan turned the tables in determined fashion – digging deep to beat the Mullins-trained Kargese by three-quarters of a length, with Nurburgring a close-up third and Mighty Bandit disappointing in ninth.

“It was a good performance, she was tough,” Elliott said of the winner. “She didn’t lose much in defeat the last day, only that she got beat. We’re happy today.

“I’d say she likes a good gallop, she’ll stay very well.”

Of Mighty Bandit, he added: “Jack said he thought he was cantering everywhere but he just cut out. We’ll get him checked out and see.”

Pep Guardiola says people want Manchester City to fail “more than ever” after the club won the fifth trophy of a remarkable year.

City return to domestic action at Everton on Wednesday having added the FIFA Club World Cup to their previous 2023 successes in the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and European Super Cup.

It is a unique achievement in English football, yet Guardiola won six trophies as Barcelona boss in 2009 when the Catalan club won La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup titles.

“It is a business you get credit when you win,” City manager Guardiola said ahead of his side’s trip to Goodison Park.

“You don’t win you are nothing, zero, what you have done in the past.

“As much as you win they want you to fail. More than ever. I felt than when we won the sextuple in Barcelona.

“It’s normal. They don’t want (us to win). In these 14-15 years what we have won, the titles, is unbelievable.

“People say ‘how good they play, how genius it is’. But they give credit just because we win. They don’t have to look further than that.”

City swept aside Brazilian opponents Fluminense 4-0 on Friday to win their first Club World Cup.

The victory crowned a successful five days in Saudi Arabia for City, with Guardiola saying the trip “created incredible team building and team spirit”.

But patchy domestic form over the past month – only one win in six games with four draws and a defeat – has left City off the Premier League pace, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham filling the top four positions on Boxing Day.

Guardiola said: “In the moment you don’t win you are going to get doubts, absolutely everything.

“But that is what is nice. That is OK. Doubt again, we’ll see what happens.

“I said before when we played incredibly well against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Tottenham and don’t win.

“It’s a real proof they don’t care the way we play. We played the best levels quite similar to these (past) eight years and we don’t win. It’s a ‘disaster and crisis’.

“Of course we have bad moments like Aston Villa, who were better. But what’s the problem?

“They can play better so we have to accept it and move forward. The reality is we are happy, but they are waiting for us around the corner (to fail).”

Guardiola spent Christmas with his family in Barcelona before returning to England.

Although he described himself as satisfied after lifting the Club World Cup – “I have a feeling that the job is done, we have everything” – he has quickly turned his thoughts to Everton and nothing else.

“Never at the start of the season when I arrive do I think how many titles we are going to win,” said Guardiola. “Never, never. It’s a horrible approach.

“Nothing else exists than Goodison Park. The greatest athletes forget as quick as possible the success. They celebrate it, but around the corner is another competition.”

City are hoping Rodri will be fit despite the Spain midfielder sustaining a heavy blow to his ankle against Fluminense, while doubts persist over the availability of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku.

Mauricio Pochettino admitted his Chelsea players are falling well short of the targets set for them in pre-season as they seek respite from their sporadic Premier League form at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

Results at Stamford Bridge have been the only bright spot in recent weeks with three straight wins in west London during December, meanwhile fortunes on the road have taken an alarming downturn.

Defeat against Wolves at Molineux on Christmas Eve was their fourth away loss on the spin following reverses at Newcastle, Manchester United and Everton, and has left the team facing the likely prospect of failing to qualify for Europe for a second season.

A Carabao Cup semi-final against Championship side Middlesborough in January could open the door to a possible route into the Europa Conference League, but a current league placing of 10th sees them trailing the top four by 14 points.

Pochettino admitted it is not what he anticipated approaching the midway point of his first Chelsea campaign.

“We’re so far away (from the target),” said the Blues boss. “Our target was to be on the top, even if no one believed us. But in the circumstance, we are fighting for different things.

“We are Chelsea, because our history demands us to be at the top. At the moment, being realistic, we need to increase the way that we compete if we want to win more games.

“We need to compete better than (against Wolves). I think the performance from the beginning of the season has not been bad. We can say it’s very good. But in terms of competing, we are in the bottom. That’s why we are not in a better position in the table.

“In football you need to have the knowledge, the quality, the set-up. But at some point in football in 90 minutes, you need to compete. You need to show in the way you play football. We need to improve there, and that’s about having all the players (fit), spending time with them together.

“We need to finish well, winning the (Palace) game, then to go to Luton (on December 30) and then start the new year with different feelings.”

Pochettino confirmed that Enzo Fernandez will miss the meeting with Roy Hodgson’s side having sat out the loss at Molineux.

Moises Caicedo is likely to return after illness prevented him traveling to Wolves, though Lesley Ugochukwu has a hamstring injury that forced him off on Sunday.

It means Chelsea’s injury woes show no sign of abating.

“The frustration is there, the disappointment,” said Pochettino. “The medical staff are working so hard to anticipate and try to avoid these types of problems.”

Edward O’Grady believes he has found a horse to send him back into the big time after No Flies On Him made an impressive debut under rules in the opening race of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival.

While no stranger to top-level success having trained the likes of Golden Cygnet, Sound Man and Back In Front, the veteran trainer has not saddled a Grade One winner since 2011.

Having won his sole start in the point-to-point field, when he beat the Formby Novices’ Hurdle winner Jango Baie, the JP McManus-owned No Flies On Him was prominent in the market at 3-1 for the TRI Equestrian Maiden Hurdle.

Ridden positively from the outset by Mark Walsh, the Westerner gelding found plenty in the straight to score by a length and three-quarters.

“We’re absolutely thrilled with him,” said O’Grady.

“I chose him as a three-year-old at the Derby Sale, JP very kindly let me pick one out. He in turn then sent him for a proper education, to boarding school with Derek O’Connor, who did a fantastic job with him. Then he came back to me this autumn.

“He has a wonderful pedigree – his great grandmother is the dam of Makybe Diva, who won three Melbourne Cups.

“He looks like a very promising horse. I’ve had a lot of swans in the last few years and they’ve all turned out to be geese, but I think this fella might stay a swan.

“He’ll have to be entered in a Grade One anyway and, fingers crossed, I think he might just get there.

“Hopefully he stays lucky, stays right and healthy. I’ve been waiting for one like this for too long, thank God the number six bus has arrived and I’d love if a second one would arrive in a hurry!”

McManus and Walsh were widely expected to complete a quickfire double in the following Thorntons Recycling Maiden Hurdle, with the highly-touted Naas bumper winner Mirazur West already prominent in ante-post lists for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival ahead of his hurdling bow.

However, after racing keenly on the front end, the 5-6 shot was unable to fend off the challenge of Gordon Elliott’s King Of Kingsfield (15-8), who was opening his account over timber after three successive runner-up finishes, including when chasing home stablemate Farren Glory in the Grade One Royal Bond at Fairyhouse three weeks ago.

Elliott said: “That was great. We were riding him all wrong and the last day we changed our minds in the Grade One.

“Jack (Kennedy) was delighted with the way he settled and he jumped well, so we’re very happy.

“He’s not a bad horse and to be honest he had disappointed me up until now as I always thought he was a proper horse. He might just come good now, I’d say the ground could be key to him as well.”

When asked if he could return to Leopardstown for the Dublin Racing Festival, he added: “I’d imagine he’ll head for a Grade One there all being well.”

Steven Naismith expects his buoyant Hearts players to embrace the hostility of Easter Road on Wednesday evening as they bid to maintain their impressive recent form with an away win over city rivals Hibernian.

The Jambos go into the second Edinburgh derby of the season two points clear in third place in the cinch Premiership with a game in hand after winning six of their last eight league matches.

Hibs are unbeaten in the last three meetings between the teams but Naismith feels his Hearts team has enough big characters to deal with the size of the occasion and the “abuse” that is set to come their way from the home support.

“Derby games are always good,” said the Hearts boss. “As players you always enjoy them. I certainly went into them seeing them as an opportunity as an individual.

“But for us as a team it’s another good opportunity to get three more points and continue the consistency in results. It’s also against your rivals, so it’s easy to get up for it and be ready for it, and we will definitely be ready

“I liked playing at Easter Road as a Hearts player, I enjoyed the abuse I got and tried to use it to my advantage, and I would imagine it will be the same on Wednesday night.

“We have got characters in our changing room, guys who are brave on the ball and guys who know how to play the game, so we are going there with loads of confidence.”

Former Rangers, Everton and Scotland forward Naismith, who also played in the Old Firm and Merseyside derbies, believes the Edinburgh equivalent is also among Britain’s “proper” derby matches. He enjoyed hearing the Hearts supporters singing “bring on the Hibees” during their 2-0 win over St Mirren at Tynecastle on Saturday.

“Not every player gets to play in a proper derby, and this is a proper derby,” said the Hearts boss. “Against St Mirren, the Gorgie Ultras (Hearts fans) carried the crowd towards the end and really kept it going. It was a good atmosphere and it all added into the mix of the derby.

“We are in a good run of form , we are confident and we have a good, healthy squad. We are in a good place.”

Much of the feelgood factor around Hearts at present stems from the form of captain Lawrence Shankland, who has already struck 15 goals this term after notching 28 last season.

“I came off the back of a season last year when I scored a lot of goals,” he said. “I then had a wee dry spell after the European games earlier this season but I always believed I would be back scoring goals and I’m glad to see them going in.”

Shankland feels his team are in good fettle ahead of the derby after back-to-back 2-0 wins over Celtic and St Mirren.

“We’ve had two very good results,” he said. “Obviously Parkhead was a a big one for us and it was important to back it up against St Mirren.”

Sam Thomas hailed Iwilldoit as “the horse of a lifetime” as he goes in search of a second win in the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow.

Gold Cup-winning rider Thomas has been training since 2015 and Iwilldoit has provided him with two of his biggest wins to date.

Not content with winning this marathon contest in 2021, some 383 days later without the aid of another run he landed the Classic Chase at Warwick.

His comeback this year was over hurdles at Aintree, a pleasing effort in a Pertemps qualifier where he finished two lengths behind the useful Gentleman At Arms.

The 10-year-old will now return to fences and Thomas is hoping he will be in his element when partnered by 7lb claimer Dylan Johnston.

“We’re absolutely over the moon with him and he’s in great form,” said Thomas.

“He had a prep run at Aintree a little while ago now and has had plenty of time to recover from that. He’s since had a couple of away days and is in a really good place, we’re really happy with him.

“He will want it as soft as possible and we have decided to claim off him as well, taking 7lb off his back. We just feel if we’re ever going to go and win it again – he’s not getting any younger – we just want to do everything we can to give him every chance.

“Dylan was put to me by Olly Murphy a while ago and I’ve since used him on another horse. He’s a very good young lad and has a wise head on young shoulders. It’s a lot of responsibility for a 7lb claimer in a big race and the last thing we want to do is put any pressure on a young lad, but he looks like he will be fine.

“He’s been amazing for us and he would be a horse of a lifetime for any yard really. We’ve won some nice, big races with him and fingers crossed we can keep him in one piece and this might not be his last Welsh National yet.”

Joe Tizzard will saddle The Big Breakaway, an eight-year-old who finished second in the race last year and is regular in these staying chases.

His most recent outing was in the Becher Chase at Aintree earlier in the month, where he was pulled up when not taking to the task over the Grand National fences.

The chestnut has had a day’s hunting to reignite his enthusiasm and Tizzard would love to see him go one better than last year to take the trophy run in memory of his late sister Kim Gingell.

“He let us down a bit in the Becher Chase, he just didn’t take to it – simple as that – but he didn’t have a hard race,” he said.

“He went hunting on Saturday and he proved last year that he’s capable of running a massive race.

“It’s the last year of the race being run in memory of Kim, so we will have the blinkers back on him and hope he runs a massive race. I think he has a big one in him, but he has let me down and we left the blinkers off over the big fences and now they are back on.

“He proved last year with a lot of weight he is capable of doing it, it just all needs to click.”

Fergal O’Brien’s team is in good form and he runs Autonomous Cloud in the race, a seven-year-old who made a winning start to the term when taking a Uttoxeter chase by six and a half lengths in November.

“He had his prep run at Uttoxeter a few weeks ago and if you could have planned a prep run, you couldn’t have planned it any better because there were three of them in a line and unfortunately one fell at the third-last and brought down the other one, so he had a gallop round for three miles but didn’t have a hard race,” O’Brien explained.

“That was ideal and he’s been training really well and we’re very happy with him.

“I think he had five or six runs as a novice over fences and he’s a lovely horse. If he’s not one for this Welsh National, he could be for another Welsh National or another National, he’s a beautiful horse.”

Gavin Sheehan is also in good from and he looks to extend a fine run with a ride on Jamie Snowden’s Super Survivor.

“I’m looking forward to him, he’s a lovely horse and had a great prep run,” he said.

“He ticks a lot of boxes for the race and hopefully it goes well on the day.”

Other notable contenders include Gary Moore’s Nassalam, winner of the Welsh National Trial earlier in the month, and the Paul Nicholls duo of Complete Unknown and Truckers Lodge.

Everton boss Sean Dyche has played down the potential impact of Manchester City’s successful expedition to Jeddah.

Man City return to Premier League action on Wednesday with a trip to Goodison Park after they spent the past week in Saudi Arabia competing and subsequently winning the Club World Cup.

It was a welcome distraction for Pep Guardiola’s champions, who have endured recent domestic struggles with only one win from their last six league fixtures, but Dyche will tell his squad to ignore such talk.

“Sides like that, they are so used to it,” Dyche said of City’s trip halfway across the world.

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“You think of the last five or six years under Pep and all the travelling they’ve done, all the things they’ve won, all the competitions, I’m not saying they are used to everything and this is probably slightly different, but at the end of the day I don’t think, I might be wrong, that they are travelling economy!

“I think they’ll be well looked after, so I won’t over-egg the physical side of it and they have so many good players, I still think they will put out a side that is a very strong side.

“And if it does help, then great and we’ll take all the help we can get but the main focus will be on us performing and not too much focus on them and what they have to do.

“In my experience of Man City, whenever you think of moments like that (poor form), they put out a side and deliver a performance.

“I will certainly make sure the players are ready and forget all of that, all the noise, all the news saying they are not doing this or that.

“Trust me, I’ve seen them a number of times and when you’re on the pitch with them, even when they make changes or they are stretched, they find a very strong side and a way of playing.”

Everton’s hopes of taking points off Man City have been dented by a growing injury list during a busy December schedule.

Key midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure recently picked up a muscle injury and Idrissa Gueye was forced off during Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Tottenham.

Both are unlikely to feature against City, which would result in Andre Gomes’ earning his first start of the season and Dele Alli is still building up his fitness after a recent returning to training.

Dyche said of Dele: “No, not yet. No, he’s not close yet.

“We knew when we skimmed down the squad in the summer, obviously trying to balance things financially and the money, there is a challenge with that.

“You can’t have people everywhere so you try to fill the slots the best you can and use what money is available to get a more balanced squad.

“When there are runs like this and these games, they often put pressure on the squad and that’s the way it goes, but we’ll deal with it the best we can.”

Michael O’Sullivan is looking to end a brilliant 2023 on a high when Marine Nationale makes his eagerly-awaited chasing debut at Leopardstown.

It has been a stellar year for the young Irishman who turned professional in September 2022 and on joining forces with burgeoning handler Barry Connell, struck gold on the big stage numerous times.

Connell’s Good Land and Espanito Bello provided notable triumphs, but the ace in the pack was Marine Nationale, who gave O’Sullivan a taste of the big-time when winning the Royal Bond before following up in style at the Cheltenham Festival.

The classy Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner now embarks on a novice chase campaign, with the Paddy Power From The Horses Mouth Podcast Beginners Chase on December 27 the first port of call for the unbeaten six-year-old.

“He didn’t put a foot wrong and so far he is unbeaten in his career and obviously I am very lucky to be involved with him,” said O’Sullivan.

“He’s ran five times and won two Grade Ones, so it’s going to be hard to top last season, but we are very much looking forward to getting him over fences.

“It’s going to be a tougher ask and the horse is going to have to train on again, but we’re looking forward to it. It will be great to get him back on the racecourse and hopefully it goes well.

“All has gone well (so far), he’s very straightforward and hasn’t put a foot wrong. We just keep our fingers crossed all goes to plan.”

The belated chasing debut could be the first step on a journey connections hope takes them back to the Festival in March, where a rematch with Supreme runner-up Facile Vega in the Arkle could be on the cards.

“If he is as good as last year and hopefully we can get to March and get him to Cheltenham in the form he was last year, then you would be very much looking forward to that,” continued O’Sullivan.

“If it was a carbon copy (of the Supreme) that would be great, but that is going to be very hard to do. We’ll be trying our best.”

It was Marine Nationale that kick-started O’Sullivan and Connell’s association when they combined to claim a Punchestown bumper in May 2022.

Few could predict the success the duo would enjoy over the next 18 months, as O’Sullivan turned professional and repaid his loyal boss in spades as he swiftly became one of the weighing room’s brightest stars.

“After turning professional last September, I couldn’t have asked for it to have gone much better than it did,” added O’Sullivan.

“I was very lucky to come across some very nice horses for good people and got lots of support.”

O’Sullivan’s claim would quickly evaporate as he became one of the go-to men in the riding ranks and finished the season picking up rides for the likes of Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott, scoring aboard the latter’s Jazzy Matty at the Cheltenham Festival.

However, he saved his best performances in the saddle for those trained by Connell with the duo striking at Grade One level three times – twice with Marine Nationale and once with the talented Good Land.

“To win three Grade Ones in my first season as a professional, I’m under no illusion how lucky I am to come across those horses,” said O’Sullivan.

“Some people will go through their whole career looking for a Grade One horse and to find horses of that ability and for Barry to put his faith in me and for things to have gone so well, I will always be very grateful.

“It was a case of right place, right time for me and in racing you need a lot of luck and I was lucky I got a break and thanks to him, other trainers and owners have had the faith to put me up as well.”

The culmination of O’Sullivan’s terrific breakthrough season came at the Cheltenham Festival when an opening day double was highlighted by an ice-cool display in the saddle aboard Marine Nationale, a statement performance from man and horse at the very beginning of racing’s biggest week.

“It was the stuff dreams are made of and it is what you have been getting up as a kid to do,” reflected the rider.

“For that dream to come true was amazing and that whole week was magical. I was going there with some nice chances and high hopes of getting a winner, so to win the first race, the Supreme, in front of the crowd and with the atmosphere was amazing and then the other winner was a bonus.”