Joe Root believes there is now a greater "outside" impression that he is the right leader to take the Test team's fortunes forward into a new era, after overseeing England's second away win in consecutive matches in their innings-and-53-run win over South Africa at Port Elizabeth.

Though Root himself starred with the ball with four second-innings wickets in the third Test, he turned the praise onto two of his new-look team's youngest players, Ollie Pope and Dom Bess, who, at the age of 22, played crucial roles with bat, ball and in the field to deliver a 2-1 series lead with only Friday's fourth Test at the Wanderers to come.

The pair's efforts followed the maiden Test century that Dom Sibley recorded in England's second-Test win at Cape Town two weeks ago, and with the injured Jofra Archer also chipping in with a five-wicket haul in defeat at Centurion in December, England have now had four players aged 24 or under with a significant milestone on this tour.

And with England now on the verge of their first series win since Chris Silverwood took over as head coach in October, Root believes that the quality and range of the performances augurs well for the rapid development of his squad.

"That is a really strong effort," Root told Sky Sports, "and a strong message to the rest of the guys that that anyone's capable of doing something special out here. And that breeds confidence within the whole group."

England's victory was founded on their first-innings total of 499 for 9, in which Pope's maiden Test century came for the most part in a 193-run stand for the fifth wicket with Ben Stokes, before Bess's five first-innings wickets pushed South Africa towards the follow-on.

"I think this game has been a brilliant template for us moving forward," said Root. "Big first-innings runs, a big partnership in there, and then really driving the game. I couldn't be more proud of the group, and for the young lads to be stepping up yet again, and showing that they're more than capable to perform at this level."

Asked if he felt as if this was "his team", Root replied: "It absolutely does, and it has done for a while. I think the fact that we're starting to see results now might make it look like that from the outside, but I very much feel like the guys are listening to my message, the way we want to play the game. And now, because we're starting to see results, it's really feeding through the group and long may that continue."

At the age of 29, and with more than 7400 runs in his 91-Test career, Root is living proof of the rewards that are on offer to England's young players if they seize their opportunities in the Test team, just as he himself did with a fifty on debut in Nagpur at the age of 21. And as a consequence, Root believes that the squad newcomers are particularly eager to absorb the message from the team's leadership.

"More than anything, they're very willing to listen and very willing to learn," Root said. "Not that the other guys aren't, but they haven't seen any other way, if you like, and we've got a really clear direction of how I want to take the team forward. The guys that have come in have responded really well to that, and when you start seeing results that starts really hammering home the message.

"But it's not just the youngsters," he added. "It's the senior guys that are still learning as well. Broady, yesterday and this morning, was finding different deliveries and being open-minded enough to not just run and bowl seam-up, but legcutters and cross-seam balls, and trying different things. At his age, to still now be finding ways to take wickets on flat ones, is really impressive."

One of the more memorable off-field moments of the Test came when the cameras panned to Root in the dressing room when Pope, on 74, was reprieved via DRS after an on-field lbw. The captain's desire to see his young player push on to his maiden hundred was tangible, and Root admitted it was an important achievement for the team that he went on to do so.

"I think everyone's been in that position where you desperately want something," he said. "You could see how he's a wonderful talent, you know he's got such a brilliant game on him, and when you see someone with that ability, once they believe it themselves then I suppose the sky's the limit for them.

"You don't want to get to that position where other players have been, with five, six, seven fifties, and the feeling that it's never going to come. But for Ollie to do that this week was a massive marker for himself and for Test cricket in general really, seeing a very talented young player show that he's ready for this. He wants to be very hungry for runs and make it count when he gets in."

ALSO READ: 'Wanderers Test could be my last' - du Plessis

Bess's achievement was, in its own way, even more remarkable, given that he hadn't been part of England's original squad, as well as his lack of consistent opportunities at county level since making his Test debut against Pakistan in 2018. He claimed each of the first five wickets to fall in South Africa's first innings - a remarkable feat for any bowler let alone an offspinner - before adding Anrich Nortje on the final morning for match figures of 6 for 87.

"He's had a remarkable journey but he works incredibly hard at his game," said Root. "He's gone and played on loan [from Somerset to Yorkshire] at different times to make sure he's getting the cricket that he needs, and he probably could do with more if we're being brutally honest, as could a lot of spinners around in the English game. But he's been given an opportunity to go away and work at his game with guys like [Rangana] Herath, and he's come back with a lot of different deliveries that he didn't have last time he played for England.

"He's come back into this team, worked very well with Jeetan [Patel, spin-bowling coach], and he thinks very well about the game. He's very smart for a youngster."

Looking ahead to the Wanderers on Friday, Root admitted it was hard to say whether Archer would be fit after missing the third Test with an elbow injury, but said that the squad was fully focused on finishing the job they have started, and signing off from the Test series on a high.

"It'd be a great achievement for this group of players [to win the series] and I think more than anything it would be a massive step in the right direction," he said. "I think we're nowhere near the finished article, we're very aware that we've got a lot of learning to do, but we've got a lot of youngsters that are willing to do that. And we've just got to keep looking to get better."

An lbw appeal during a Ranji Trophy match could end up having an impact on India's tour of New Zealand. Ishant Sharma will be hopeful the MRI scan he takes on Monday evening will not reveal a fracture or a tear, after he twisted his ankle and hobbled off the field during Delhi's match against Vidarbha at Feroz Shah Kotla. ESPNcricinfo understands he was in considerable pain and his ankle was swollen.

Ishant is all but out of the last two days of the match. An ankle injury is serious because it leaves an athlete almost immobile during rehabilitation. However, there is cause for optimism in that Ishant's first match on the tour of New Zealand - the three-day warm-up game before the first Test - starts on February 14, which gives him nearly three weeks to recover. The first Test begins on February 21. It is estimated that such an injury - should there be no tear or break - takes about two weeks to heal.

Ishant suffered the injury on the second afternoon, during his third over of the second innings, after Delhi had fallen behind Vidarbha by 16 runs. It appeared that he twisted his ankle as he turned around to appeal. He was attended to by the Delhi support staff before limping off the park on his own steam, which could be a positive sign. Ishant is scheduled to fly to New Zealand in the first week of February. The fourth seamer in the squad for New Zealand will be Ishant's opposite number in this match, Umesh Yadav, who took two wickets to help bowl Delhi out for 163.

This was going to be Ishant's last match before he went to New Zealand, with India's team management monitoring workloads closely. Losing him in this match, though, leaves Delhi with little hope of an outright win on a pitch that is slowing down.

Four short of the feat of 100 Tests - only one India fast bowler has managed that - Ishant has enjoyed a late revival over the last three years. He credits it to a recent change in his bowling by which he has been able to pitch the ball fuller without losing any pace. His combination with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami has turned India into a feared fast-bowling unit even in away conditions.

"Having a bunch of fast bowlers like this, who can just bowl out any opposition anywhere, is a brilliant thing to have in Indian cricket," India's captain Virat Kohli recently said. "[It's] something that we haven't quite relied on in the past, but I think them taking the attention away from the spinners in India is a huge statement, so I think that's what makes us feel that when we travel now, we have it in us to win a series, and not just one-odd Test match here and there. So I think it's been hard work, persistence, learning the game, thinking about the game that's got them to where they are and they deserve it fully."

West Indies U-19s 267 for 7 (Anderson 86*, Young 66, Goldsworthy 2-28, Qadri 2-46) beat England U-19s 184 for 9 (Clark 38, Young 5-45, Nedd 2-35) by 71 runs (DLS method)
Scorecard

For the second game in a row, allrounder Nyeem Young led the way as West Indies defeated a higher-seeded team at the Under-19 World Cup. After his half-century against Australia downed the 2018 runners-up on Saturday, Young returned on Tuesday to smash a 41-ball 66 and then take five wickets to defeat England and virtually confirm his team's spot in the quarterfinal.

Young walked in at 138 for 5 after England had sent West Indies in, and joined No. 3 Kevlon Anderson in a 101-run partnership for the sixth wicket, off just 76 balls. Anderson remained not out on 86 off 105 balls as West Indies closed at 267 for 7.

Young smashed five fours and four sixes, including one that broke the glass window of the media centre, while Anderson hit three sixes and six fours. Before their partnership, offspinner Hamidullah Qadri and legspinner Lewis Goldsworthy had kept West Indies' run-rate in check with regular wickets.

England's chase began positively, the openers putting on 53 before wicketkeeper-batsman Jordan Cox succumbed to the temptation of playing the reverse sweep, gloving the shot to first slip in the 14th over. His partner Ben Charlesworth was dismissed soon after for 36.

A third-wicket stand of 51 between Tom Clark and Jack Haynes kept England in the chase, but they stumbled following Clark's departure, as Young's short-pitched deliveries sent back Dan Mousley and Haynes in the 33rd over. A passing shower paused the game for around thirty minutes, with England 40 runs behind the DLS par, and when play resumed, Young struck again, dismissing Joey Evison and Goldsworthy for single-digit scores, and then having England captain George Balderson caught at long-on to complete his five-for.

At that stage, England needed 117 from 71 balls, with just two wickets in hand. With lightning in the background, the game was halted once more in the 44th over, by which time England had lost their ninth wicket, and were 71 runs behind the DLS par. Play never resumed, and West Indies wrapped up a comprehensive win.

Apart from Young's five-for, the left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd picked up 2 for 35. Jayden Seales, who took a four-wicket haul against Australia, went wicketless but conceded just 21 runs in his ten overs.

England's next game against Australia is now a virtual pre-quarterfinal, while West Indies are favourites to top Group B, left to play only Nigeria later this week.

Australia Under-19 62 for 0 (Fanning 30*) beat Nigeria Under-19 61 (Olaleye 21*, Sangha 5-14, Simpson 3-11) by ten wickets
Scorecard

Scorecard

Nigeria's first ever match at a World Cup was one to forget, as they were bowled out for 61 before going down by ten wickets against Australia in Kimberley in what was a rude awakening for the newcomers to the fold.

Their top scorer, opener Olayinka Olaleye, made 21 runs in 53 balls, surviving nearly 20 overs against some hostile pace bowling led by Bradley Simpson, but was eventually dismissed by legspinner Tanveer Sangha. Sangha, who had taken 4 for 30 against West Indies on Saturday, cleaned up the Nigerian tail thereafter to finish with 5 for 14 and get to the top of the wicket-takers' chart for the tournament.

Australia then chased the target down in 7.4 overs with openers Sam Fanning and Jake Fraser-McGurk hitting eight fours to complete a dominant performance.

The game was one of two being played in Kimberley on the day and had very few fans in attendance. Most of those present cheered for Nigeria, and their first four of the World Cup, struck by Olayele through third man, elicited massive roars from the stands. In all, they struck six fours in an innings that lasted 35.4 overs, two of them coming from Olayele, the only one to reach double figures.

Sangha was impressive, bowling stump to stump instead of looking to turn the ball like in the game against West Indies. His sliders had two batsmen out bowled trying to cut, while wicketkeeper Patrick Rowe assisted with a catch and a stumping for two more wickets. The only time a Nigeria batsman looked to attack Sangha was when Olaleye gave him the charge, but he was caught at first slip by captain Mackenzie Harvey.

The early breakthroughs, however, had come from Simpson, who came into the Australia side in place of Matthew Willans, who is down with a groin injury. Simpson's double-strike with the new ball had reduced Nigeria to 10 for 3, and his third scalp ended the innings in the 36th over.

India will focus on starting their T20I series against New Zealand, which will kick off the month-long, all-format tour of the country, with "intensity", Virat Kohli said on the eve of their departure to Auckland.

In the short ODI series at home against Australia, India batted first with mixed results in the first two matches, before sealing the third one in a chase. One way or other, Kohli said, India wanted to go into the New Zealand series with clarity and purpose.

"We want to bat well when we bat first and in case we're defending a low total, we should be able to do that as well," Kohli said. "[...] Clarity of mind is really crucial because we're playing in conditions that are not ours, so we have to take even more intensity into that series to put the home team under pressure, set that sort of template from game one and build from there.

"We can't afford to ease into the series after two games, because then it keeps getting tougher and tougher, so we'll look to make a mark in the first game that we play, play expressive cricket and be sure of what we want to do."

ALSO READ: 'The last six or eight months have been a revelation' - Kohli

India lost their first ODI against Australia by ten wickets before coming back to win the series 2-1. Kohli said that during the huddle ahead of the final ODI against Australia in Bengaluru on Sunday, the team discussed going to New Zealand on a happy note, and beating a team like Australia was vital ahead of a tough tour.

"It's important. We spoke of that at the huddle, that this is the last game we're playing in the series and if we win, you go on a tour on a happy note," Kohli said. "If you lose, it can go under the radar, you can brush it aside as 'oh it's just one loss', but when you win and win under pressure - the last two games were tough wins - it boosts your confidence which we're carrying forward, so looking forward to the New Zealand tour."

India last toured New Zealand almost exactly a year ago and began with a 4-1 win in the ODI series, but New Zealand won the T20I series that followed. That tour came in the lead up to last year's ODI World Cup, and the number of matches in each format are reverse this year, with the T20 World Cup scheduled for later in the year.

"[On the last tour] we were very positive in how we played, very sure of what we wanted to do," Kohli said. "The thing about playing away is if you're able to put the home team under pressure, you can enjoy your cricket. You have to win at home, there's that sort of feeling. So if you bring out your A game, you can really put them under pressure.

"That's what we did last year, squeezed them in the middle overs, picked up wickets, and the spinners were outstanding. Looking forward to take that same intensity into the series. We've played really well in 2020, want to continue that."

Baylor and Gonzaga were the only two teams in the top five that took care of business last week.

That doesn't mean they didn't move around, too.

The Bears (15-1) leaped over the Bulldogs and into the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll on Monday, using wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State to give the Top 25 its seventh team on top this season. That matches the record set in 1983 for the most No. 1s in the history of the poll, which dates to the 1948-49 season.

Gonzaga (20-1) was merely a victim of its conference schedule. The Bulldogs blew out Santa Clara and BYU, but just enough voters considered those wins to be less impressive than the Bears' perfect Big 12 start. Baylor received 33 first-place votes and had 1,591 points from the 65-member media panel while Gonzaga received 31 first-place votes for 1,588 points.

"It takes a team to win," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team also reached the top of the poll two years ago. "As a coach, you're just really proud when different people step up, especially guys that have been working hard."

The rest of the top five looks a whole lot different after Duke, Auburn and Butler all lost both of their games last week.

Kansas (14-3) rose three spots to No. 3 after victories over Oklahoma and Texas, the latter requiring a big comeback in Austin. San Diego State (19-0) remained perfect with wins over Fresno State and Nevada, and Florida State (16-2) barged into the fifth spot after it beat reigning national champion Virginia and survived overtime to best Miami.

The Seminoles haven't lost since playing Indiana in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge the first week of December.

Louisville, which tasted the top spot earlier this season, jumped five spots to sixth after beating Pittsburgh in overtime and handling the Blue Devils. Dayton was next, followed by Duke, Villanova and Seton Hall to round out the top 10.

Duke also lost to Clemson earlier in the week, sending coach Mike Krzyzewski's team tumbling five spots.

"We just have to get older," he said after the Blue Devils' 79-73 loss to the Cardinals on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. "I'm really up on my team. It's a long journey. I've never told you that we're great. It's a process for us, playing these two teams. Getting beat, we have to learn from it and move on. It's a long journey."

Krzyzewski's team wasn't alone in getting a tough lesson last week. Fourth-ranked Auburn fell all the way to No. 16 after losing a pair of blowouts to Alabama and Florida, and fifth-ranked Butler was bounced all the way to 13th after the Bulldogs followed up a loss to Seton Hall by getting soundly beaten by DePaul.

"It's the time of the year when we should be trying to elevate our play, and we're not," said Tigers coach Bruce Pearl, whose team had won its first 15 games. "Obviously, there's a pretty big price on our head being ranked fourth in the country. And so I think we have to respond to the step-up that we saw this week from both Alabama and Florida."

Here's a closer look at the other big news in another fresh Top 25:

RUTGERS ON THE RISE

The Scarlet Knights bounced back from a loss to Illinois by beating Indiana and Minnesota at home, running their record at the RAC to 13-0 this season -- the best start in school history. That was enough to get Rutgers (14-4) into the poll at No. 24 for the first time since the final poll of the 1978-79 season. And with Seton Hall at No. 10, the state of New Jersey has two teams ranked for the first time since the Pirates were joined by Princeton in the last poll of the 1990-91 season.

OTHER NEWCOMERS

Iowa, which has been in and out of the poll all season, made the biggest jump back in at No. 19 after its win over then-No. 19 Michigan. The Hawkeyes were joined by No. 22 Arizona -- which beat a ranked team in Colorado -- and No. 25 Houston, which romped through SMU and then-No. 16 Wichita State last week.

ON THE WAY OUT

The Shockers dropped all the way out after losing to Houston and Temple. The Wolverines also fell out, along with Big Ten rival Ohio State and Creighton, whose one-week stay ended with a loss early last week to Georgetown.

BUCKEYES BUMMER

No team has been falling as steadily as Ohio State, which was 9-0, was ranked in the top five and received first-place votes just six weeks ago. The Buckeyes have lost six of their last nine games, and five of their last six, to complete their tumble from the poll. Their lone victory in the last few weeks was against lowly Nebraska.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees announced Monday that he is retiring after 47 years coaching football, including 16 in the NFL.

The tough decision came the day after the Titans' 35-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

"It's been 47 years, I told the team today that 721 games is a lot of games to coach. It's time. I just feel like it's a great time for us. I want to spend time with my wife. She's been very supportive. It's been a great ride," Pees said.

Pees, 70, ended a short retirement in January 2018 to become the defensive coordinator on Mike Vrabel's staff after Vrabel was named the Titans' head coach. Just weeks earlier, he had retired as the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator after six seasons.

Pees spent 10 total seasons as a defensive coordinator with the Ravens and New England Patriots. The veteran coach is one of eight defensive coordinators in NFL history to coach in a Super Bowl with two different teams. He was a part of a Super Bowl-winning staff for both the Ravens and Patriots.

He broke into the NFL as a linebackers coach with the Patriots in 2004 where he coached Vrabel. When Vrabel got the Titans' head-coaching job, he said he had to have Pees as defensive coordinator.

"After my first call home, my call was to Dean Pees," Vrabel said. "I asked Dean, knowing he was in the process of retiring, but I wanted him to be a part of this to help me lead our defense and our team with his knowledge to help us get this thing going."

Pees said he didn't have to interview with Vrabel.

Known for elaborate schemes and his ability to confuse quarterbacks, Pees has drawn praise from many players whom he coached. Perhaps the best endorsement came from veteran defensive back Logan Ryan, who called Pees 'a literal genius.'

Pees felt a special connection to the Titans' players and coaches. He was especially thankful that his return to coaching included having his son, Matt, on the staff as a defensive assistant.

Having returned from temporary retirement in Baltimore, Pees joked that this time he's done for good. There won't be a return -- not if Vrabel can help it.

"I talked him out of retirement once. I didn't have the heart to talk him out of it again," Vrabel said.

Conor McGregor came into 2020 saying he wanted to treat the year like a season and fight at least three times following a lengthy layoff. That remains the plan, according to his longtime coach John Kavanagh.

McGregor knocked out Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds in the main event of UFC 246 on Saturday night in Las Vegas. He came out of the bout completely unscathed --Cerrone didn't land a single strike. Kavanagh said Monday on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show that he believes McGregor will step into the Octagon again before summer.

"I'd be very surprised if he doesn't compete before the summer," Kavanagh said. "... He's definitely gonna be competing before the summer."

McGregor said in the post-fight press conference Saturday that when he fights next is more important right now than whom he fights. In reality, both are major questions.

Kavanagh laid out a possible plan for McGregor on Monday. Khabib Nurmagomedov is scheduled to defend his lightweight title against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn. If someone were to get injured and withdraw from that bout, McGregor would stay ready so that he can step in, Kavanagh said. McGregor has said several times he doesn't believe that fight will happen.

If Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson does go on as planned, Kavanagh proposed that McGregor then fight someone like Justin Gaethje in a welterweight bout "within a few weeks" of April 18.

"Then you're kind of on the same timeline for a fight [against the Nurmagomedov-Ferguson winner] a couple of months after that," Kavanagh said.

The coach said if it were up to him, McGregor would stay at 170 pounds where he fought Cerrone and only cut to 155 if a belt was on the line. That would avoid damaging weight cuts.

"Otherwise, why would he do it?" Kavanagh said. "Stay at this weight, don't cut weight and then when the big one comes along then shed the last 15 pounds [for a title bout]."

Kavanagh prefaced it by saying all of this was his own personal preference. McGregor's manager Audie Attar was also on Helwani Show on Monday and he wasn't firm about a timeframe or an opponent for McGregor's return. Attar did say it was "absolutely" a possibility McGregor is back before summer.

"A prepared Conor McGregor is a Conor McGregor I think everyone wants to see," Attar said. "... Let's see what motivates him. That's the most important thing.

"It could be Jorge [Masvidal]. It could even be [former featherweight champion Jose] Aldo. Right now what we need to do still is enjoy the moment, process everything that happened and get back to work."

Masvidal was in the front row at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. He wants to fight McGregor next and his year in 2019 made him one of the biggest stars in the sport. McGregor, though, didn't really call him out and Masvidal has plenty of doubts about whether or not he is the opponent McGregor wants next. Masvidal said if McGregor doesn't want to fight, then welterweight champion Kamaru Usman would be next for him.

"All I know is that [McGregor] doesn't want the fight," Masvidal said. "We're moving on. ... He sealed Usman's fate now. This guy doesn't want to f---ing fight, man.

"I would take a lot more pleasure in dismantling Usman's face than I would Conor's. I would have a sincere joy inside of me, like a kid at Christmas opening numerous gifts, if Usman was the guy I got to baptize."

Usman was also at UFC 246 and spoke about an injury to his thumb. It's unclear when he might be able to compete next. Usman sustained the injury in his TKO win over Colby Covington last month at UFC 245.

If McGregor doesn't want the fight and Usman is injured, Masvidal's manager Abe Kawa said that would open the door for a rematch with Nate Diaz. Masvidal beat Diaz by TKO at UFC 244 last November to win the mythical BMF title at Madison Square Garden.

"We are patient individuals," Kawa said. "Patience is a virtue. We're going to be patient and wait."

NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is being held out of Monday's matinee against the Philadelphia 76ers in the hope that resting his tight right hamstring will prevent another extended absence.

Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said that Irving first presented with the hamstring symptoms on Sunday. He underwent treatment to try to loosen the hamstring, Atkinson said. When Irving was still tight on Monday, the Nets quickly pulled him from the lineup.

"I don't think you want tightness to go to a strain," Atkinson said. "With these things you want to err on the side of caution."

Irving has already missed 26 games this season with a right shoulder impingement.

The Nets have been plagued with so many injuries this year that Atkinson has a running joke about the need to bring his mother's medical text books to his press conferences. The Nets are also without Wilson Chandler (left hamstring tightness), DeAndre Jordan (dislocated finger) and Kevin Durant (Achilles).

A law firm representing Chandler Parsons says the Atlanta Hawks forward suffered potentially career-ending injuries in an automobile accident caused by a drunk driver last week.

The Hawks announced last Wednesday that Parsons had been placed in the NBA's concussion protocol after suffering a concussion and whiplash in the crash, but did not disclose any further details.

The law firm Morgan & Morgan, however, said Monday in a statement that Parsons "suffered multiple severe and permanent injuries including a traumatic brain injury, disc herniation and a torn labrum."

The firm said the driver who caused the crash, who is not identified in the statement, was arrested and charged with DUI. The driver allegedly caused a three-car crash, including Parsons' vehicle, at approximately 2 p.m. ET and admitted to drinking, according to the law firm.

"Chandler was seriously injured in this crash, which never should have occurred," Morgan & Morgan said in its statement.

"The at-fault driver created utter chaos on the roadway, needlessly endangering the lives of countless motorists; he now stands charged with DUI, admitted drinking, had alcohol in the car with him, passed out after causing a three-car crash at 2:00PM on a Wednesday in a busy intersection, seriously injuring and potentially ending Mr. Parsons' career as a professional athlete."

Parsons, 31, has been plagued by chronic knee injuries since signing a four-year, $94.8 million deal with the Memphis Grizzlies in July 2016, appearing in just 100 games in four-plus seasons over that stretch.

Parsons has played in just five games this season for the rebuilding Hawks, who acquired him from the Grizzlies in a trade last summer.

"Chandler is having a difficult time accepting the consequences of the defendant's reckless conduct on the roadway," Morgan & Morgan said.

"Chandler was in peak physical condition at the time of the wreck. He is now working with a team of doctors to regain his health, and at this time, his ability to return to play is unclear. Our focus right now is on helping him make a full recovery, while we also work to hold any and all responsible parties fully accountable."

Los Angeles Lakers star big man Anthony Davis is available to play Monday against the Boston Celtics after missing the past five games with an injured backside.

Davis will be on a minutes restriction against the Celtics, a league source tells ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

The Lakers also listed veteran point guard and former Celtics star Rajon Rondo (finger) as questionable.

The Celtics are expected to have both Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown back in the lineup Monday, after each sat out Saturday against the Phoenix Suns.

Walker alerted the team Friday night that his knee was bothering him, and he had an MRI on it Saturday that came back clear. But after sitting out against the Suns, he said Monday after participating in shootaround he expects to play.

Brown sat out each of the past two games with a right thumb sprain. He declined to speak at shootaround, but Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he expects Brown, who is averaging 20 points and 6.9 rebounds, to be available against the Lakers.

Davis suffered a bruised backside when he hit the floor hard on his tailbone area after trying to block a shot by the New York Knicks' Julius Randle on Jan. 7. He missed the rest of that game, which Los Angeles won 117-87.

The Lakers have gone 4-1 in Davis' absence.

Davis is averaging 27.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists this season, his first with the Lakers.

ESPN's Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.