Guus Hiddink admits the absence of Diego Costa is a major blow to Chelsea's hopes of taking advantage of Manchester United's struggles when they travel to Old Trafford on Monday.

Hiddink took charge of his first game since being installed as Chelsea interim manager, overseeing a frustrating 2-2 draw against Watford at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki passed Shaquille O'Neal for sixth place on the NBA all-time scoring list Wednesday, scoring 22 points to help defeat host Brooklyn 119-118 in overtime.

The 37-year-old German sank a jumper over Andrea Bargnani 2:09 into the second quarter to push past the 10 points he needed to overtake O'Neal, who finished with 28,596 points.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry raised the tension levels for his Christmas showdown with Cleveland's LeBron James, saying he considers himself the world's best basketball player.

In an interview published Wednesday, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player told Time magazine that in the next year, "you should expect me to keep getting better."

While the rest of Europe hibernates over the Christmas holiday period, England indulges in an orgy of football, with Boxing Day the highlight of this secular and often maligned tradition.

With barely any time to digest the Christmas turkey, teams come out the next day to play as part of a series fixtures running into the first days of 2016.

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has labeled the surprise leaders as the Premier League's Forrest Gump.

Ranieri's side are in first place at Christmas just 12 months after being bottom of the table and the former Chelsea boss wants Leicester to maintain their pace at the top, likening their stamina to Tom Hanks' film character Forrest Gump, who ran across America.

Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 28 points and the Raptors held off a late rally to beat visiting Dallas 103-99 Tuesday in an NBA thriller.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry added 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while center Bismack Biyombo scored nine points and grabbed a career-best 20 rebounds and Luis Scola added 15 points and nine rebounds for Toronto.

U.S. captain Michael Bradley has been voted the 2015 U.S. Soccer Federation Male Player of the Year, the organization announced Tuesday.

The 28-year-old midfielder won the award for the first time in his career and enjoyed success at the club and global level, captaining Toronto FC to the Major League Soccer playoffs for the first time in team history.

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah will be sidelined for at least two weeks with a sprained left shoulder, missing at least six games, the NBA team announced Tuesday.

Noah suffered the injury when he was tangled up with Brooklyn center Andrea Bargnani during Chicago's 105-102 home loss to the Nets on Monday.

Wilfried Bony has slammed Manuel Pellegrini for failing to start him in Manchester City's defeat at Premier League title rivals Arsenal.

Ivory Coast striker Bony had scored three in four games while City's star forward Sergio Aguero was out with a heel injury.

Austria's Marcel Hirscher narrowly avoided serious injury when a drone fell to the ground during Tuesday's alpine skiing World Cup slalom won by Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen at the Italian resort of Madonna di Campiglio.

The drone, being used to film television pictures of the course from above, crashed to the ground just centimeters away from the 26-year-old Austrian during his second run.