DALLAS -- After missing a pair of free throws late in the first half, Mavericks star Luka Doncic gritted his teeth, grabbed his jersey with both hands and tore it, splitting the "V" in the lettering on his chest.

"Just Hulk Hogan," Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard said. "He's a little upset; it's understandable. Sometimes all of us want to rip our jerseys, you know, go crazy, but we gotta keep our heads. But he's an unbelievable young player."

It was the most extreme example of Doncic struggling to deal with his frustration during a 129-114 loss to the Lakers on Friday night, the Mavs' fifth loss in a seven-game stretch.

Doncic spent much of the first half with his shoulders slumped and his head hanging as the Lakers led by as much as 22 points. He has admitted that he sometimes allows his emotions to negatively affect his play. That appeared to be the case in the first half Friday, when Doncic committed five turnovers and missed five free throws and the Mavs were outscored by 24 points in his 16 minutes.

"I played very bad," said Doncic, who finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 turnovers. "I felt like I don't know how to play basketball. I've got to get better -- a lot."

Doncic, a likely All-Star starter in his second season in the NBA, acknowledged that one of the areas that he needs to improve is how he deals with his frustration on the court.

"I'm competitive, and like I say, I've got to get better at a lot of points. A lot better," Doncic said. "I know I can get better. There's a lot of things. I'm 20 years old. I've got a lot of things that I can do better, I can learn better. So I'll get better."

Doncic wasn't the only member of the Mavericks whose frustration boiled over. Coach Rick Carlisle was ejected when he received his second technical foul with 9 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the game.

Carlisle's second technical foul was called because he profanely objected to LeBron James being allowed to call a timeout to challenge an out-of-bounds ruling after the Mavs had already inbounded the ball. Carlisle has been particularly aggressive with referees recently, both during games and through the media, especially regarding the physical defense played against Doncic.

"Look, in a leadership position, you've got to stand up for your guys," said Carlisle, who ripped off his suit coat and stomped into the midcourt tunnel while shouting at the officials after being tossed. "There's some things going on out there that are quite frankly shocking. Our guys are going through a rough time because of it, so I've got to stand up and defend them. That's another part of my job, and I'm going to do it."

Carlisle was empathetic when asked about Doncic's difficulties dealing with frustration, referencing the star's age and making a colorful comparison to himself as a 20-year-old.

"He is a guy that wants to win, and he gets frustrated," Carlisle said. "Those are emotions and feelings that are about winning and losing, and so I get it. I get it. He's going through a lot this year. He's going through just a lot of different situations -- some phenomenal performances and other nights where people are just taking physical liberties on him and beating the s--- out of him. He's learning how to deal with all that stuff, but it's not easy.

"You know, when I was 20 years old, I was walking around as a freshman at the University of Maine. I didn't know whether to s--- or wind my wristwatch. And this guy is a second-year player, and he's going to be a starter in the All-Star Game. I think we've got to understand that he's still young. He's mature beyond his years in terms of how he sees the game and his skill set and how he can do things out on the floor, but we're going through a rough stretch right now. Everybody needs to try to keep their emotions in check."

DALLAS -- While outdueling Luka Doncic on the court Friday night, LeBron James also managed to one-up Michael Jordan in the record books.

James passed Jordan for fourth place on the all-time field goals made list en route to a 35-point, 16-rebound, 7-assist night in the Los Angeles Lakers' 129-114 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

His fast-break layup with 6 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter was the 12,193rd made field goal in Game No. 1,234 of his career. Jordan had 12,192 in 1,072 games.

"Any time you're in a marathon and you're able to have feats throughout that marathon, I think it's just pretty cool to be linked with the greats," James said, referring to the grind of the regular season, during his on-court interview with ESPN's Jorge Sedano after the game.

"You said the name Michael Jordan; it just means so much to me. Any time I'm linked with his name, with his greatness and what he was able to do with the game. Hopefully, I continue to make him and all the other greats proud. Any time I'm linked with them. Hopefully, I can continue to make my family and my fans proud, as well."

Last season, James passed Jordan for fourth place on the all-time scoring list, an accomplishment that was dampened by the disappointment of a lost season for the Lakers.

Things are different this campaign, of course, with Friday's victory extending the Lakers' win streak to seven and improving their overall record to 31-7, good enough for first place in the Western Conference.

After the game, a reporter asked how the feat would cause others to reflect on James' legacy in the future.

"I think my legacy will speak for [itself] when I'm done," he said. "I don't really talk about my legacy."

Next up on the all-time field goals made list at No. 3 is Wilt Chamberlain (12,681). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15,837) is first, and Karl Malone (13,528) is second.

James also passed Artis Gilmore to move into 50th on the all-time rebounding list, upping his career total to 9,176 boards.

He will enter Saturday's game at the Oklahoma City Thunder needing three assists to pass Isiah Thomas for No. 8 on that all-time list.

"He's just special. You know what I mean? There's not enough adjectives, really, to describe LeBron James," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. "He's a guy that's going to be setting milestones or breaking records every few games, seemingly, probably, for the rest of his career. So it's pretty awesome."

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Los Angeles Lakers could be without the bulk of their starting lineup Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

LeBron James is out because of an illness and flu-like symptoms and Danny Green also will miss the game because of a sore right hip, the team announced.

Anthony Davis, who missed Friday's win in Dallas because of a bruised buttocks injury suffered earlier in the week versus New York, is considered questionable. Avery Bradley, who played through an illness against the Mavericks, is listed as probable.

James, 35, has played in all but one game so far this season for L.A., which the Lakers lost.

The act of ranking baseball's right fielders is something that should be feared, like launching a political position amid soused uncles at the Thanksgiving table, mistakenly sending a personal email to your entire office, or raising Megxit at Buckingham Palace. If you pick Aaron Judge over Mookie Betts, you'll be persona non grata with Red Sox Nation. A high placement for Ronald Acuna Jr. over some of the more accomplished stars at the position promises to obliterate your Twitter feed.

But here we are on the last day of these positional assessments, weighing Judge's power against the hitting acumen of Christian Yelich. Here we are, measuring the fielding excellence of Betts against Cody Bellinger, who could probably win Gold Gloves at three different positions if that were his thing. Here we are, trying to understand what's possible for Acuna, and how much more Bryce Harper will provide in his marriage with the Phillies.

Rain, wind and mud puts athletes to the test in Scotland as cross country scores are settled

The wind blew, the rain fell and the mud deepened, but fine racing was also in plentiful supply despite the extremely challenging conditions at the Run Stirling Cross Country International.

Home Countries International, Celtic International and Scottish Inter-District titles, as well as British Athletics Cross Challenge points, were up for grabs during a breathless day of competition in the heart of Scotland which really did fit the description of sport ‘in the raw’. With the 7.3km multi-terrain Great Stirling Castle Run also being staged alongside the cross country events, it meant that almost 3000 hardy souls took on the elements at the King’s Park venue.

Welshman Kris Jones made light of the heavy going, however, and was the final winner of the day as he took the men’s senior race with a second-half charge that saw him break the tape over the 8km course in 25:33, 10 seconds ahead of Scotland’s Jamie Crowe, while local favourite and one-time race leader Andrew Butchart couldn’t recover from a mid-race fall and was pipped for a podium place right on the line by England’s Adam Hickey. Lachlan Oates’ ninth-place finish, however, meant that Scotland took the senior men’s Home Countries team title for the first time in eight years.

The conditions were perfect for Jones, part of Great Britain’s gold-medal winning team at the European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon alongside Butchart and Hickey, who put his international mountain running and orienteering skills to fine use.

“I’m really happy to come away with a win there. It’s amazing,” he grinned.

“I think I’m quite a versatile runner and, with the orienteering, I’ve run on tougher stuff than this but it’s about just keeping smooth and not using too much energy so I tried to do that as well as I could.”

Jones, who lives in Scotland, added: “Andy put a dig in with two laps to go and he got a quite a big gap quite quickly – maybe 10 metres – and I thought ‘that’s it, he’s gone’ but over the course of the lap he started to come back to me and I thought that whenever you catch somebody you’ve got to go and push past them. I did that and I’m just really happy that was the win.”

Ben Greenwood won the under-23 race, coming eighth overall in 26:29 and leading Scotland to Celtic International team gold.

In the senior women’s race, Kate Avery continued her fine cross country season as she led the England team to the Home Countries title, covering 8km in 29:20 to come home 11 seconds ahead of team-mate Abbie Donnelly, with Wales’ Bronwen Owen third in 29:39.

Avery, another team gold medal winner from Lisbon, now also moves to the top of the Cross Challenge standings.

Scotland, headed by fourth-placed Mhairi Maclennan, took Home Countries silver while the women’s under-23 race was won by Ireland’s Clare Fagan, 14th overall in 31:04.

“My plan was to sit in and then pick it up as I went but I just felt so uncomfortable behind because you couldn’t see where your feet were going and the ground looked fine but actually your foot was half deep in mud so I just went to the front and controlled the race,” said Avery.

.@KateAvery12 speaks with @euancrumley following her senior women’s race win at #RunStirling pic.twitter.com/YVB73UHqG3

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) January 11, 2020

There was an historic start to the day as Scotland’s under-20 women won Home Countries International team gold for the first time ever.

Megan Keith, in her last year of high school, will spend the coming week sitting prelim exams but was fully focused on finishing top of the under-20 class here as she clocked 26:14 for the 7km course, while her Scotland team-mate Cera Gemmell was second in 26:25, with England’s Olivia Mason third in 26:32. Eloise Walker completed the gold winning home trio in fourth place with a time of 27:23.

In the men’s under-20 contest, England athletes occupied three of the top four to take team honours, with Thomas Keen finishing first in a time of 23:38, coming home just in front of team-mate Matthew Stonier (23:41) and North of England’s Josh Dickinson (23:43). Tomer Tarrango completed the England line-up in fourth thanks to his 23:47.

There were dominant performances in both of the under-17 races, with Scotland’s Anna Hedley clocking 22:40 for 6km to finish 39 seconds ahead of Ireland’s Emma Landers, with Scotland East’s Pippa Carcas third in 23:11. Mansfield Harrier Jenson Connell enjoyed a winning margin of 20 seconds as he took the men’s contest in 19:39 ahead of Middlesbrough AC’s Archie Lowe, while Scotland East’s Jack Patton was third in 20:10.

Freya Murdoch and Alden Collier were the under-13 girls and boys winners respectively.

Full Run Stirling results can be found here.

See the January 16 edition of AW magazine for full coverage.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Claressa Shields, who has already unified two women's world titles at super middleweight and then collected all four major belts to become the undisputed middleweight champion, made history on Friday night at the Ocean Casino Resort.

Shields, moving down in weight yet again, thoroughly dominated Ivana Habazin en route to a near-shutout decision to win a pair of vacant junior middleweight world title belts in the main event of a Showtime tripleheader.

Shields, who scored a knockdown in the sixth round, won 100-89, 100-90 and 99-89 and then placed a purple crown on her head. ESPN also scored it 100-89 for Shields.

Shields, who still holds the undisputed middleweight title, won a world title in a third weight class in just her 10th bout, setting the record for fewest number of fights needed to win belts in three divisions for a female or male boxer. Pound-for-pound king and unified lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko won a title in his third division in his 12th fight in May 2018, and flyweight titlist Kosei Tanaka matched the mark in September 2018.

"This feels great -- I did it in 10 fights," Shields said. "Now I'm No. 1, the fastest boxer in history to become a three-division world champion. I was [trying to punish her]. I wanted victory."

Besides the satisfaction of making history -- what Shields calls "herstory" -- she also ended her feud with Habazin that goes back to August, when the fight was supposed to take place in Shields' hometown of Flint, Michigan, but was postponed when she dislocated her right knee during training in late June. Habazin expressed doubts about the injury, saying she thought the real reason the fight was postponed was because Shields was having trouble making weight.

The fight was rescheduled for Oct. 5, also in Flint, but at the weigh-in the day before the bout, Habazin's trainer, 68-year-old James Ali Bashir, was attacked and seriously injured. He was hospitalized with head and facial injuries and the fight was called off. Shields' brother, Artis Mack, 28, was later arrested and is awaiting trial on one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.

And so the fight was eventually scheduled for a third time on Friday night with Bashir, still recovering, unable to train Habazin and being replaced by former pro welterweight Steve Upsher Chambers, though Bashir was on hand to wrap Habazin's hands.

There was a lot of drama between Shields and Habazin over the past six months, but there was none in the fight because Shields (10-0, 2 KOs), 24, the two-time Olympic gold medalist who has declared herself the greatest female boxer of all time, cruised from the opening bell to the final one.

Shields, her hair dyed blue, got off to a strong start and never let up as she forced Habazin back with pressure and jabs in the first round. She carried the second round also, but took exception when Habazin (20-4, 7 KOs), 30, a former welterweight world titlist from Croatia, shoved her into the ropes at the bell to end it and gave her a long stare before returning to her corner.

Shields boxed and moved and forced her jab into Habazin's face, but she also fired power shots when she got in close, bouncing several right hands off Habazin's head in the fourth round.

Shields continued to hammer Habazin in the sixth round -- the round she predicted she would stop her in -- and she nearly did when she landed a left hook to the body to knock Habazin down.

Shields did as she pleased against Habazin, who did not throw many punches and when she did could barely land anything solid. Her five-fight winning streak came to an end in her American debut.

"I just want to become a better fighter. That's all. I want to grow women's boxing," Shields said. "I want to share a card with Deontay Wilder and Errol Spence. Andre Ward [who was ringside] said, 'Sis, take her to the body.' I was throwing all body shots in the first minute and then boom, she went down."

According to CompuBox, Shields landed 141 of 516 punches (27%) and Habazin connected with just 49 of 285 (17%).

Shields was expected to return to the middleweight division for her next fight in May or June to defend her undisputed crown against Alicia Napoleon Espinosa, but Napoleon Espinosa lost a close decision to Elin Cederroos in a super middleweight unification bout on the undercard.

"I'd love to face Elin Cederroos. I'd love to fight her," said Shields, who said this week that she would cross over and fight in an MMA bout before the end of the year. "None of these girls are ready for me."

Ennis dominates, stops Eyubov

Blue-chip welterweight prospect Jaron "Boots" Ennis notched his 15th consecutive knockout victory in an utterly one-sided fourth-round demolition of Bakhtiyar Eyubov.

Ennis (25-0, 22 KOs) said beforehand that he wanted the fight -- the highest-profile bout of his career so far -- to be a coming-out party and he sure looked good.

His speed, size and power advantages were obvious immediately as he battered Eyubov throughout the first round. Ennis repeatedly banged Eyubov to the body with both hands and then went upstairs and knocked him down with a combination to the head midway through the round. Ennis dropped him to his knees seconds later with an onslaught of punches and laid a beating on him with accurate, fast punches.

It was a surprise Eyubov made it out of the round, but he came back for more punishment in the second round, which Ennis happily dished out.

Eyubov (14-2-1, 12 KOs), 33, of Kazakhstan, took a massive uppercut to close the third round and there was conversation in the corner about stopping the fight. It continued, but not for long. As Ennis, 22, the big crowd favorite fighting only an hour from his hometown of Philadelphia, continued to dominate in the fourth round, referee Earl Brown had seen enough and stopped it at 34 seconds.

"We knew he was coming to fight and bring pressure so we mixed it up," said Ennis, the younger brother of former pros Derek and Farah Ennis. "He was a good fighter but he wasn't really that strong. I was getting hit a little too much, but that's how we did it to get the knockout. We were just setting him up for power shots. I just had to calm down, that's all. I was too hyped. Once I calmed down and got into my rhythm that was it.

"He was taking a lot of punishment. I appreciate him taking the fight because a lot of guys don't want to fight me."

Cederroos unifies super middleweight titles

In a close fight that featured plenty of back-and-forth action, Elin Cederroos knocked Alicia Napoleon Espinosa down in the second round and went on to win a unanimous decision to unify two women's super middleweight world titles.

All three judges scored the fight 95-94 with the knockdown being the difference between Cederroos winning and a draw.

"I'm so happy. I showed that I can box and take a war," Cederroos said. "But when I relaxed the punches just came. It feels so wonderful. Alicia was a great opponent. She's so professional. We had a fight in the ring and I hope now we are friendly."

The loss knocked Napoleon Espinosa (12-2, 7 KOs), 33, of Lindenhurst, New York, out of a spring fight with Shields that had already been agreed to for Shields' undisputed middleweight title as long as they both won.

Cederroos did not sound too interested in taking her place. When asked about possibly fighting Shields, Cederroos laughed.

"I'm focused on this fight. I'll go home to Sweden to get back to training," she said. "I want more belts. I need to build up my name."

Cederroos (8-0, 4 KOs), 34, who began boxing after having two children, had clearly lost the first round and was getting dominated in the second round when she landed a clean left hook with 20 seconds left to drop Napoleon Espinosa into the ropes.

Napoleon Espinosa's most effective weapon was her right hand and she landed a solid one in the opening seconds of the seventh round to briefly knock Cederroos off balance.

The eighth round was action-packed as they slugged it out from bell to bell with each woman taking punishment. In the back-and-forth ninth round, Cederroos opened a cut over Napoleon Espinosa's right eye, which dropped blood down her face throughout the 10th round. Later in the 10th, Cederroos, who was making the first defense of the vacant belt she won in March and fighting in the United States for the first time, began bleeding heavily from her nose as they closed the fight trading shots.

Napoleon Espinosa, who was making her third defense, did not agree with the decision but did not complain.

"I didn't think I lost," Napoleon Espinosa said. "I thought that it was fairly close but I thought I was ahead. It is what it is, but I don't think that I lost this fight. Congratulations to my opponent. I know she was strong, but I wanted a tough fight."

NEW YORK -- As New Orleans Pelicans rookie forward Zion Williamson walked out of the tunnel and onto the court at Madison Square Garden on Friday evening, all the eyes in the arena turned to him.

There was a certain buzz floating around as a few hundred fans with passes to watch warm-ups pulled out their phones and started to snap up the 19-year-old.

Williamson walked out, a smile on his face, and went to work. Children screamed his name and begged for dunks. Media members jostled for position on the baseline getting ready to film a slam or two.

All the while, Williamson went about his business: short jumpers from the corners and wing, working on pick-and-rolls with Pelicans staffers and shooting a few free throws.

He ended it with what has become a staple of his workout -- a between-the-legs dunk. The attempt comes with a stipulation: If Williamson makes it, the Pels' staffers have to do 20 pushups. If he misses, Williamson has to get down and do the pushups.

On Friday, Williamson took his two steps and converted the dunk, much to the screaming delight of those already in attendance.

About 90 minutes earlier, Williamson went through the conditioning phase of his rehabilitation process. He participated in 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 drills with a mix of New Orleans staffers and players, including center Jahlil Okafor, guard Frank Jackson and general manager Trajan Langdon in what could have easily been a small Duke alumni game.

After getting his work in, Williamson reunited with another ex-Blue Devil, RJ Barrett of the New York Knicks. The two former teammates hugged and shared a laugh.

This was supposed to be their first regular-season meeting as professionals. Instead, when the game started, Williamson found himself in his familiar spot on the bench. While Barrett was scoring 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting in the Knicks' 123-111 loss, the No. 1 overall pick was wearing a jacket over his hoodie, still awaiting the OK from the New Orleans front office and training staff to make his NBA debut.

"He's making progress," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said of Williamson on Friday morning. "He's practicing. He's playing 5-on-5. We're trying to gauge exactly when it would be a good situation to put him out there. Even when we do, it'll be very limited minutes to start."

Williamson hasn't played since Oct. 13 in the preseason, when he put up 22 points and 10 rebounds against the San Antonio Spurs.

It was after the contest with the Spurs that the rookie first started to feel pain in his right knee. An MRI later showed damage to his meniscus. He underwent surgery on Oct. 21, the day before the regular season commenced.

Coincidentally, the first preseason game Williamson sat out due to the knee pain was in the same place he sat on Friday night: Madison Square Garden, against the Knicks. After seeing the hoopla that preceded that game and Williamson's lone summer league appearance (also against the Knicks), Gentry joked that the Pels certainly weren't going to have him debut Friday.

"Come back in this city? You gotta be kidding me," Gentry said with a laugh. "That's all the pressure in the world, coming back in this city."

Putting any added strain on their star rookie is exactly what the Pelicans have been trying to avoid this season. Prior to the preseason, Gentry, team vice president David Griffin and others in the organization repeatedly said the Pelicans were Jrue Holiday's team and that Williamson wasn't in New Orleans to be the savior of the franchise.

The team wanted to bring the rookie along slowly, and it is why the Pels have taken their time with the recovery process after initially putting a time frame of six to eight weeks on his return.

Williamson himself told reporters a week ago that if it was up to him, he would have come back before Christmas, but he understands what the Pelicans are trying to do. The ultimate goal would be to have Williamson healthy for a full 82-game season.

Just over a year ago, Williamson sat inside the locker room in New York after making his Garden debut as a member of the Duke Blue Devils. Then a freshman with just 11 college games under his belt, Williamson battled foul trouble but still finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds in an 11-point Duke victory over Texas Tech.

Multiple Knicks players were in attendance that night, as was team president Steve Mills. After the game, with the Knicks headed toward another trip to the lottery, Williamson was asked about potentially making the Garden his home.

"Forty-one games at the Garden, I mean, it would probably be incredible," Williamson told reporters at the time.

Now, 13 months later, he is staring down the reality of playing fewer than 41 games total in his first NBA regular season -- and none at Madison Square Garden. For now, the Zion Williamson show remains on hold.

All 31 teams have passed the midpoint of the 2019-20 NHL season, but nothing is settled. After you check out our midseason grades on each team, fixes for a handful of teams in the playoff hunt, our rundown of the biggest shocks of the first half and a look at which teams have the greatest chance for a second-half turnaround, join our panel as we buy or sell another batch of hot topics.

This week, we're looking at:

• The Lightning's chances in the Atlantic

• Scoring expectations for the Hurricanes' newest signing

• The Red Wings' options in the (likely) event they have the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft

• The chances that a team in the red in goal differential makes the playoffs

• Whether a goalie with 45 or fewer starts can win the Vezina Trophy

1. The Tampa Bay Lightning are back on track, and will win the Atlantic Division.

Emily Kaplan, national NHL reporter: Sell. The Lightning have woken up from their sleepy early-season struggles and are starting to look like themselves again (since Dec. 1, Tampa Bay has the most points in the league and ranks second in expected goals). They'll ride this hot streak, but I still think it's Boston's division to lose.

Chris Peters, hockey prospects analyst: Sell. The Bruins have built up just enough of a cushion to keep their distance. I think the Lightning are going to get close, though, particularly since only 15 of Boston's remaining 37 games are at home, where the Bruins have been nearly unbeatable in regulation this season.

Ben Arledge, NHL editor: Buy. The Bruins have a seven-point cushion, but the Bolts have two games in hand, so I'll go bold here. Have we already forgotten that last season's Blues went from dead last in the NHL in early January to a team that finished one point back in the Central (and eventually won the Stanley Cup)? There's more than enough time to make up ground when you have a roster like Tampa Bay's -- as long as it remains healthy. And after nine consecutive victories, Boston's rearview mirror is getting awfully full of Nikita Kucherov & Co.

Sachin Chandan, fantasy hockey editor: Sell. There's no doubt Tampa Bay is the hottest team in the division, but Boston has come away with points in 36 of its 44 games played so far, and very rarely loses in regulation. As we head into the time of the season when three-point games become more frequent, it will be difficult for the Lightning to pull ahead, unless they win their two head-to-head matchups in March.

2. Justin Williams will score higher than 0.50 points per game this season.

Kaplan: Buy. The Hurricanes don't necessarily need him to do it -- at midseason, they were the only team in the league with four players at 37 points or more -- but a refreshed Williams will thrive in a shortened season. Plus, Carolina's system naturally sets up excellent high-danger chances for everyone.

Peters: Buy. Williams has had two seasons (out of 20) where he was under 0.50 points per game: an injury-shortened 2008-09 campaign and his rookie season. Coming off of an extended rest, joining a team that has a lot of solid offensive weapons and probably not forgetting how to play the game over the past few months makes me believe Williams will maintain career scoring norms.

Arledge: Sell. Williams is going to contribute, but I'd pause on him scoring more than a point every other game. For one, you can call it rest, but the truth is he has not played at all for six-plus months. It's going to take him time to even get back up to speed. And at 38 years old, you wonder if he's going to snap back into high-end form after such a long layoff. Secondly, I'd question his role. Williams was on the wing on either the Canes' first or second line right into the playoffs last season and led the team in regular-season power-play goals. But you have to assume he's destined for the third or fourth line and limited -- if any -- man-advantage time this turn around, at least for the first bit as he gets rolling again.

Chandan: Buy. As Ben points out, the long layoff could be rough on the veteran Williams, but I think for Williams to average 0.5 points per game, he would likely need to get to the 20-point mark. If you assume that means 10 goals and 10 assists, he would need to match his career shooting percentage of 9.6 over four shots per game. Then he'd need his new linemates to combine for 10 goals on which he gets an assist. Both of these situations are realistic to me.

3. Quinton Byfield is a better fit than Alexis Lafreniere for what the Detroit Red Wings need.

Kaplan: Sell. Have you watched the Red Wings play this season? Their biggest need is talent, plain and simple. I have no doubt Byfield is talented, but from what I've heard, Lafreniere is more of a sure thing.

Peters: Soft sell. If the draft were tomorrow, the best player available would be Lafreniere. That said, there has been a growing belief among some scouts I talk to that there is potential for Byfield to become a dominant No. 1 center. If the Red Wings share that belief, they might go with the 6-foot-4, 215-pound pivot who skates like the wind and has some great hands as a one-two punch with Dylan Larkin. It's still Lafreniere, but there's a long way to go.

Arledge: Sell. Detroit is 11-30-3 with a minus-72 goal differential. It'll end up being among the worst seasons we've seen in years. Don't overthink it and try to fit a pick to position. Take the best talent available, and that's Lafreniere. Now the Red Wings just have to hope they actually get that top spot in the lottery and even have a chance to make this call.

Chandan: Sell. Should the Red Wings get the No. 1 overall pick, they have to take the best talent on the board and figure the rest out, especially given that they need talent up and down the lineup.

4. A team with a negative goal differential will make the playoffs.

Kaplan: Buy. I think this season it's possible considering how many wacky (and high-scoring) games we've seen. Heck, two of the Western Conference playoff spots are currently being held by teams with negative goal differentials (Edmonton and Calgary).

Peters: Buy. It will be only one, but with how bad the bottom of the Pacific Division is right now, there's a pretty decent chance one of the top three teams in that division sneaks in with a negative goal differential. What a weird season out West.

Arledge: Buy. We haven't seen one since 2016-17 (Ottawa, minus-2), but with the way the West is shaping up, you have to assume someone will sneak in with a red number. But I'm with Chris; it'll be only one.

Chandan: Sell. Currently, the wild-card positions in the West look tumultuous, but I can easily see the positive differential Vancouver Canucks snagging a playoff spot over the negative Calgary Flames, and then it comes down to Edmonton climbing out of the red. As long as the Oilers avoid any more four-goal losses, I feel confident in that take.

5. A goalie in a timeshare (45 starts or fewer) will win the Vezina Trophy.

Kaplan: Buy. A split share in net is a growing trend in the NHL this season -- and, along with canceling morning skates, the league's version of the load-management trend. Even though the Vezina typically goes to a guy with a ridiculous workload, I think we'll have to readjust the standards to fit the modern NHL. It's looking like Tristan Jarry (who still has five fewer starts than teammate Matt Murray) is working his way into the conversation.

Peters: Sell. Since this is an award voted on by the general managers, I think it's going to take more time before they shed the voting norms. The timeshare goalies will get more consideration than ever before, but if you hold up what Connor Hellebuyck has done amid all the concerns about Winnipeg's blue line, in a true No. 1 role, it's hard not to give him more credit than those that have had more even splits. I still think the voters will look at goalies in bigger roles before anointing a timeshare goalie.

Arledge: Sell. My current pick is Dallas' Ben Bishop (.928 save percentage and 2.24 goals-against average), who has 29 starts and is on pace toward 54 on the season. It'd be difficult to imagine one of 20 or so goalies -- 21 hit the 45-start mark last season -- won't stand out by season's end. But I'd also venture to guess at least one split-time tender makes the finalist list, with top performers on the Coyotes, Bruins, Islanders and Penguins. Arizona's Darcy Kuemper was certainly trending that way before an injury stole what will likely be a month of his season.

Chandan: Sell. As an end-of-season award, counting stats matter quite a bit. Though a high-percentage goalie such as Jarry or Tuukka Rask might enter the discussion, the likely Vezina nominees will be high-volume goalies with high win totals, such as Hellebuyck or Jordan Binnington.

Halfway through the Sony Open, Brendan Steele and Cameron Davis have handled the winds best at Waialae Country Club and share the lead. Here's what you need to know:

T-1. Brendan Steele (-6)

T-1. Cameron Davis (-6)

T-3. Cameron Smith (-5)

T-3. Keegan Bradley (-5)

T-3. Russell Knox (-5)

T-3. Ryan Palmer (-5)

T-3. Sam Ryder (-5)

T-3. Collin Morikawa (-5)

T-3. Bo Hoag (-5)

T-3. Rob Oppenheim (-5)

T-3. Rory Sabbatini (-5)

Click here for full leaderboard.

A day after 22-year-old phenom Collin Morikawa grabbed the solo lead, tied atop the leaderboard are two players ranked outside the top 300 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Davis (310) and Steele (403), who are at two different stages in their career.

Davis, a 24-year-old Australian, is coming off a rookie season on Tour in which he needed to retain his card via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Steele, a three-time Tour winner and 12 years older than Davis, was inside the top 50 in the world just two years ago.

With marquee names such as Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed missing the cut, the weekend will feature less star power, leaving the stage for the veteran types like Steele, Bradley and Knox, and unproven types like Davis, Hoag and Oppenheim.

After brilliant ball-striking led to a bogey-free round Thursday, Morikawa carded three bogeys in his second round. Two late birdies, at Nos. 17 and 18, got him to even par on the day, but at 5 under, Morikawa is no longer in the lead.

Instead, Steele totaled six birdies and an eagle, closing his round with five birdies and a double bogey in his final six holes, to rise to the top of the leaderboard. Davis had a less up-and-down round, making five birdies, including two in his last two holes.

Sabbatini joined the 5-under group thanks to an incredible second shot into the 18th green. From 232 yards, Sabbatini hit it to 21 inches to set up the tap-in eagle.

There weren't a ton of low scores again Friday, but four players tied for third – Smith, Knox, Oppenheim and Hoag – managed to shoot the round of the day, 5-under 65. That foursome combined to make just three bogeys while Oppenheim went bogey-free.

A week ago, Thomas and Reed were battling in a playoff at Kapalua. On Friday, they were packing their bags as each finished at 3 over. Thomas' second-round 71 included two double bogeys while Reed shot 5-over 40 on the front nine before shooting 74.

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted the "culture" at the club is still not right and re-stated his intention to build a squad at Old Trafford that put the team before themselves.

Solskjaer revealed Jesse Lingard played through an illness to start against Manchester City on Tuesday while Harry Maguire made himself available despite carrying a hip problem.

The United manager praised the pair for being willing to play through the pain barrier but said the job of filling his squad with similar characters was not over.

"That's the culture that we're working towards, that we have players who always put the team in front of themselves," said Solskjaer. "For me I'm in a process of building a squad with the right culture and I'm still not finished with that."

Solskjaer jettisoned Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez in the summer despite leaving himself short of options heading into the new season.

Former United defender Gary Neville has suggested the Norwegian needs to "protect himself" by spending the club's money in January rather than risk the sack because of poor results. Solskjaer, however, insists he isn't interested in simply keeping his job.

"I am not going to protect myself," said Solskjaer "I am going to do what is best for the club, what I think and we feel is right for the club and I will never put myself before the club. I could never ever do that, that's not me. I am working for Man United, not for me.

"I have those conversations with Ed [Woodward] all the time and we are looking at how we are going to look in one month's time, five months' time, in the longer period, he knows my feelings and we know our feelings. I am very happy with these players.

"You wouldn't put yourself in a situation where you've done something that you regret in 18 months' time. We've got to do due diligence -- character of players, quality of players that are the right fit into this squad."

While trying to sign new players, Solskjaer is also attempting to keep the players he has. He is keen for Ashley Young to stay at Old Trafford despite the 34-year-old entering talks with Inter Milan about a move to Serie A, either this month or at the end of the season. The United boss also says he has no concerns about Lingard's future after speculation he signed up with agent Mino Raiola.

"Jesse is working for Man United," said Solskjaer. "Whoever he speaks to and gets his advice from is none of my business and Jesse knows what we expect from him.

"I have a great open relationship with Jesse, we talk freely so I don't speak to the agents of many players."