Not only is the honeymoon over, but you're starting to notice things: the toilet seat left up, the remote control lost somewhere in the couch every night and far too much time spent playing Candy Crush. But to some degree it was predictable.

Jose Mourinho always felt like a rebound relationship for Tottenham -- a impulse Vegas wedding, even -- after the steady years of the Mauricio Pochettino era. It doesn't mean it will necessarily end badly and after 12 games in less than two months, any early readings need to be taken with a barrel of salt, particularly since Mourinho represents a handbrake turn from his predecessor. But as Liverpool's record-breaking bandwagon rolls into town on Saturday, it's one of those situations where you either jump-start the campaign or electrocute yourself because the cables are all wrong.

Jurgen Klopp's crew, runaway leaders at the top of the Premier League table, are undefeated in the competition for more than a year and have dropped points just once in the past 10½ months Because they played the kids in the FA Cup against Everton (and won) last weekend, it effectively means their starters have gone nine days without a match. Given they're almost all internationals, it will be roughly their longest stretch between games since the summer.

Time off affects teams in different ways. Rhythms get broken, workloads change. What's good in the long run fitness-wise might affect you short-term, which is why Mourinho can sell his players on the idea that they're ripe for a sucker punch. After all, they need to stumble at some point, right?

That's reason speaking, though some might say it's grasping at straws. Because the vibe at Spurs isn't great right now and neither, for that matter, are the numbers. One clean sheet in 12 games. One win in their past five in all competitions. It's true that the gap separating them from fourth place and a Champions League return next year has contracted, from 11 points to just six, but bear in mind that six of the nine league games they played were against sides in the bottom half of the table. They lost to Manchester United away, lost to Chelsea at home and their win at Wolves was a classic "smash-and-grab" with a last-ditch Jan Vertonghen winner.

Then there's the elephant in the room: Harry Kane's injury, which will keep him out until April. Heung-Min Son came up trumps when the Spurs captain went down injured last February with four goals in four games, but that was a different Tottenham playing a different brand of football. Oh, and they could still call upon Fernando Llorente as a Plan B. He didn't score much or move much but he filled space, tied up defenders and brought a wealth of experience. Now their first option off the bench up front is Troy Parrott, who is 17 years old and has all of six Premier League minutes under his belt.

Figuring out how to plug the Kane-shaped hole is obviously Mourinho's top priority. And the uber-confident, cock-of-the-block Mourinho of yesteryear filled you with confidence that he'd find a tactical solution. With this version, you're not so sure.

It's not just the way it ended (badly) in his three previous jobs. There's also a certain duality at work. When he took over from Pochettino, he radiated humility and Zen, talking about how he'd joined a club whose squad was perfect with the best stadium, best training ground and best Academy around. He talked about learning from past mistakes and about finding empathy at White Hart Lane.

Yet the past 10 days have shown signs of the old Mourinho creeping back. (Not the really old one, aka the one who was the Gold Standard and dominated, but the one we saw implode in the past five years.) At Middlesbrough the football was too light -- "like a beach ball." Tanguy Ndombele, the club's record signing is "always injured. He's injured, he's not injured, he plays one match, next week he's injured again, he then plays another match ... You think he has a player but he is in the evolution process." Southampton's goalkeeping coach, to whom he "was rude," is "an idiot." Moussa Sissoko is "not a central midfielder." Ryan Sessegnon, who cost £25m ($30m) over the summer, is "not ready to play left-back."

What's Portuguese for deja vu?

Sure, there are tons of mitigating circumstances. The sense of drift inside Tottenham had set in way before his arrival. Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose -- three mainstays under Pochettino -- are all just a few months away from free agency, which is a recipe for instability. Hugo Lloris has been out since early October and isn't expected back until February. Ben Davies is injured, as is Sissoko. Harry Winks looks injured. Victor Wanyama has played more for Kenya than for Spurs this season and while he's not injured, he's evidently not part of the plan.

But Mourinho is on a monster contract that pays him nearly twice his predecessor precisely because he's meant to be Mr. Fix-It. Supposedly, he can figure this stuff out and right about now, against a Liverpool side marching towards the history books, would be a great time to start. It doesn't even matter if it's the grumpy, irascible Mourinho of old or the New Age empathetic Mourinho we saw at his unveiling who does it.

Sydney Thunder v Hobart Hurricanes in Sydney

Our XI: Callum Ferguson, Usman Khawaja, Alex Ross, Caleb Jewell, Matthew Wade, Ben McDermott, Matthew Gilkes, Scott Boland, Chris Morris, Daniel Sams, Qais Ahmad

NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about a late injury (or other relevant updates).

Captain: Matthew Wade Wade brought solidity and energy to a struggling batting order against Brisbane Heat on Thursday, and looks in brilliant touch coming into the second half of the tournament as Hurricanes look to put together a winning streak.

Vice-captain: Callum Ferguson Ferguson has been among the most in-form batsmen in this edition of the BBL. He had a brief dip a couple of matches ago but looked himself again against Melbourne Stars.

Hot picks

Scott Boland
Boland's entry into the Hurricanes team and the tournament was delayed with niggles, but he has begun with some force, taking five wickets in two games - two wickets in his first match against Perth Scorchers, three against Brisbane Heat on Thursday. With James Faulkner out, Boland is the Hurricanes' de facto strike bowler now.

Daniel Sams
Sams is currently the bowler with most wickets this season. Only in two out of eight games has he not taken at least two wickets. He is a straight pick against a vulnerable batting line-up.

Usman Khawaja
Khawaja has been batting with a good strike rate and scored big when he has got off to a start. As opener, his batting position also makes him a top pick as Hurricanes try to figure out their bowling combinations.

Value picks

Matthew Gilkes
Gilkes has quietly settled into a No. 4 role in the Thunder line-up and his 41 against the Stars was a vital contribution. He is also the wicketkeeper and so offers points in two disciplines.

Caleb Jewell
Jewell has got into the 20s three times in his last four innings and while he's not been rapid on every occasion, he is being backed at the top of the order and could be an innings away from making a substantial score.

Point to note
Sydney Thunder have lost three matches in a row and will now play on a ground that has been hard to gauge - it was an early-140s kind of surface in the first match there this season, but the 8-over innings on Monday produced 119 runs. Even out your combination to try and cover for all these realities. Having said that, Hurricanes have lost D'Arcy Short to the Australian team, and Faulkner and Riley Meredith to injury.

January 11: Perth Scorchers v Brisbane Heat at Perth

Our XI: Chris Lynn, Tom Banton, Josh Inglis, Liam Livingstone, Max Bryant, Mitchell Marsh, Jimmy Peirson, Ben Laughlin, Fawad Ahmed, BenCutting, Jhye Richardson

NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about a late injury (or other relevant) updates.

Captain: Tom Banton

Perth has been a high-scoring venue this season and Banton is well placed to exploit these conditions at the top of the order, especially with the form he is in.

Vice-captain: Liam Livingstone

Livingstone has seemingly had a fifty in him every three innings or so this season, but he looked particularly good against Melbourne Renegades in a 102-run opening stand with Josh Inglis. With an in-form partner and good conditions on his side, he might buck that scoring trend he's made this season.

Hot picks

Josh Inglis
Inglis has been in superb form this season and made an impression every time he's had an extended stay in the middle. He has a well-rounded game - only 24 of his 51 in the last match came in boundaries - and offers points with his wicketkeeping too.

Mitchell Marsh
Marsh has strung together a few decent scores in his last few innings and even picked up two wickets against Renegades in his last outing. A good bet for most matches, a no-brainer at Perth.

Chris Lynn
Lynn is in explosive form and will be looking to put behind the disappointment of his struggle and subsequent run out against Hobart Hurricanes on Thursday.

Value picks

Ben Cutting
Teams keep Cutting around for clutch situations and hard-hitting lower-order batting. He showed a mix of both against Hurricanes, coming in during a wobble but seeing the team through with a Man-of-the-Match performance. He also took a wicket and is a known gun fielder.

Max Bryant
The 20-year-old has shown some serious skill and power at the top of the order and brought serious value with his season strike rate of 151.76. A nice option to round off your XI.Point to note
Teams batting first this season at the Perth Stadium have managed to score more than 170 on every occasion, and a chasing side is yet to register a win.

ESPNcricinfo's live updates on all the action from the Ranji Trophy 2019-20. If the blog doesn't load for you straightaway, please refresh your page.

DURHAM, N.C. -- The former women's basketball coach at the University of North Carolina has been charged in connection with an accident that killed an elderly pedestrian, police said Friday.

Durham police said in a news release that Sylvia Hatchell, 67, was cited for misdemeanor death by vehicle and unsafe movement violation.

Betty Colby, 89, was struck by a vehicle about noon Monday in the parking lot of a fitness center, police said. The impact knocked Colby backward, and she hit her head on the pavement, investigators said.

Colby died Wednesday, according to the news release.

Investigators also said that neither speed nor impairment were factors in the accident.

Hatchell resigned as women's basketball coach last April after an external review found she had made "racially insensitive" comments and applied "undue influence" regarding players' ability to compete through medical issues. The review conducted by a Charlotte law firm also revealed "a breakdown of connectivity between the players and Hatchell" after 28 interviews of current players and program personnel.

Hatchell didn't immediately return a text message from The Associated Press on Friday night. Wade Smith, an attorney who has worked with Hatchell previously, responded to a text from the AP that he hadn't been in contact with Hatchell. He offered no additional comment.

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was not fined for the hit on Carson Wentz that knocked the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback out of Sunday's NFC wild-card game, according to ESPN and multiple reports.

Clowney went in for a hit on Wentz early in the first quarter of the game and made contact with Wentz's helmet and upper back as they slammed into the turf. Wentz left with a head injury a short time later and did not return, playing only eight snaps in Philadelphia's 17-9 loss to visiting Seattle.

Clowney was not penalized for the hit.

"[Wentz] was a runner, and he did not give himself up," referee Shawn Smith said after the game. "We saw incidental helmet contact, and in our judgment, we didn't rule that to be a foul."

Several Eagles were critical of the play. Left tackle Jason Peters confronted Clowney on the field.

"I just told him, 'Man, that's a dirty play,'" Peters said. "And he's like, 'My bad,' and we just kept playing.

"I just kept reminding him, 'Man, stay off my quarterback.'

Tight end Zach Ertz said, "I thought it was late. I kinda knew something was wrong right away -- just the way he got up. Devastated for my guy."

Clowney said he was not attempting to injure Wentz.

"It was a bang-bang play," Clowney said. "I don't intend to hurt anybody in this league, let me just put that out there. I've been down the injury road; it's not fun. My intention was not to hurt him. I was just playing fast."

When he was asked Thursday what he thinks of all the strong opinions about his hit on Wentz, Clowney said. "I'm past that.

"I'm on to Green Bay. Just looking forward to this game."

The Seahawks will meet the Packers in Green Bay in Sunday's NFC divisional playoff game.

ESPN's Adam Schefter, Tim McManus and Brady Henderson contributed to this report.

DALLAS -- Anthony Davis won't play against Dallas in the opener of a road back-to-back after the Los Angeles Lakers star bruised his buttocks against the New York Knicks.

The team made the announcement several hours before the Lakers played at the Mavericks on Friday night.

Davis was injured on a nasty fall in a 117-87 win over the Knicks in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. An MRI exam showed no major concerns, although Davis was extremely sore.

Davis made the quick two-game trip that wraps up Saturday at Oklahoma City.

Both leading men -- L.A.'s LeBron James and 20-year-old Dallas phenom Luka Doncic -- will be without their star sidekicks for the final regular-season meeting.

Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis has already been ruled out for the final two games of a six-game homestand because of a sore right knee. The 7-foot-3 Porzingis is missing his sixth straight game and won't play against Philadelphia on Saturday either.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle has said Porzingis might return during a two-game trip to California next week.

LOS ANGELES -- Paul George will not travel to Denver with the LA Clippers this weekend and will miss at least two games with a strained left hamstring.

George sat out Friday night's game against the Golden State Warriors and will miss Sunday's game at Denver after suffering the injury in practice on Wednesday, according to head coach Doc Rivers.

Rivers said he did not think that George's hamstring injury is a serious one.

"When he went down I started to think about Allen Iverson immediately like, why did we practice?" Rivers said before the Clippers played the Warriors. "But it's a mild hamstring injury and he'll be back. We'll keep evaluating him and he'll be back soon, I think."

Last Thursday, George felt tightness in his left hamstring during a game against the Detroit Pistons and did not play in the second half of that win. He sat out the Clippers' loss to Memphis at home on Saturday before returning to score 32 points in 26 minutes in the Clippers' 135-132 win over the New York Knicks last Sunday.

With a rare four-day break between games, the Clippers were off on Monday and Tuesday before practicing on Wednesday. Rivers said George strained his left hamstring while playing defense in that practice and was held out of Thursday's practice.

"Just guarding," Rivers said of how George strained the hamstring. "Nothing violent which you knew it wasn't bad. He felt something and he walked over to me and said I think I feel something in my hamstring."

After playing the Warriors and Nuggets, the Clippers play Cleveland at home next Tuesday.

"When PG went out I wasn't sure what it was," Rivers added. "When he told me it was a hamstring I just thought go get it checked. I actually thought I'd see him the next day and then I realized it was a real hamstring [injury]."

Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka has agreed to a multiyear contract extension, league sources told ESPN.

The Lakers announced Friday that they had promoted Pelinka to the VP title, and sources say that included the negotiation of an extension onto the original five-year deal Pelinka signed in 2017.

Pelinka had been hired as the GM under former president Magic Johnson, who resigned in April. Pelinka has played a role in calming the tumult surrounding the Lakers in the aftermath of Johnson's departure and moving the franchise back into the elite of the NBA.

In successive offseasons with Pelinka as GM, the Lakers acquired two superstars -- LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- who have played the biggest roles in elevating the Lakers to championship contention.

Pelinka's hiring of Frank Vogel as head coach and the addition of role players including Danny Green and Dwight Howard have so far played a significant part in the Lakers' current status as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

"Well certainly I'm happy for him," Vogel said before his team played the Dallas Mavericks on the road Friday. "Obviously he was under fire when I took the job. And a lot of it undeserved. I admire the fact that through all of that, he's really just stuck to doing the work, committing to the work and making great decisions. And he not only assembled a great roster, he really rebuilt a whole department when you look at hiring the medical team and changes to his scouting staff, the head-coaching hire was a brilliant one obviously, but the entire coaching staff, [too]. All those things he's done, he's just done a great job with that, and my relationship is just fantastic. It's a great working relationship. We collaborate. He gives me a lot of feedback. A lot of ways to move the needle. And he listens to me. So we're off to a great start."

Pelinka signed a five-year contract as GM in 2017, leaving a successful career as a player agent. His clients had included Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

"I think people should really sing Rob's praises a lot," Bryant said on Showtime's "All The Smoke" series this week. "Because they were killing him. ... Being able to stay the course. And Rob and I have talked about that stuff. When he and I talk, we don't talk about this move or that move, it's more so him as a friend. It's just saying, 'Rob, you've been there with me. Now it's just you going through it. You know how we handle it, it's you just stay the course.' All this storm is going on and you just stay here -- just do your job, do your job, do your job, do your job.

"But man, I mean what he's done with that team in two years? From the contracts that they once had and were tied up to what they have on this roster now? I mean, they're the biggest team that I've probably ever seen. Their length, speed, old-school big, tough, tough, athleticism. So, they look fantastic."

ESPN's Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- Cody Bellinger, the reigning National League Most Valuable Player, secured an $11.5 million contract for the 2020 season, according to sources, setting a new record for a first-year arbitration-eligible player.

The 24-year-old's 2020 contract beat the $10.85 million deal that Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant secured two offseasons ago. Bellinger's new salary is more than 19 times larger than the $605,000 he made in 2019, when he batted .305/.406/.629 with 47 home runs and 15 stolen bases in his third season in the major leagues. The Los Angeles Dodgers' star outfielder joined Johnny Bench, Fred Lynn and Dustin Pedroia as the only players to collect MVP, Gold Glove and Rookie of the Year awards before turning 25.

Several of Bellinger's teammates, however, still seek clarity.

The Dodgers avoided arbitration with only five of their nine eligible players before the formal exchange of numbers on Friday night, setting up the strong likelihood that they will take part in at least one arbitration hearing for the first time since 2007.

Among the unsigned players are two of their most dangerous left-handed hitters, Max Muncy and Joc Pederson. Muncy, a 29-year-old infielder who has collected a .927 OPS and 70 home runs over the past two seasons, filed for $4.675 million and the Dodgers countered at $4 million. Pederson, a 27-year-old outfielder who has averaged 25 home runs and an .818 OPS since 2015, filed for $9.5 million and the Dodgers countered at $7.75 million.

Arbitration hearings will take place in Phoenix at some point between Feb. 3 and 21. Teams and players are allowed to agree on a new contract right up until the scheduled date of a hearing, but the Dodgers are among the many teams who impose a strict "file-and-go" mandate -- if a contract is not agreed upon before the exchange of numbers, the sides will settle their differences in front of an arbitration panel. An exception is made for multiyear contracts, but the Dodgers have not yet decided whether to pursue any with their unsigned players, a source said.

Also without a 2020 contract are late-inning reliever Pedro Baez and utility man Chris Taylor. Baez filed at $4 million and the Dodgers countered with $3.5 million; Taylor filed at $5.8 million and the Dodgers countered at $5.25 million.

Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager recovered from elbow and hip surgeries to play a full season in 2019 and will make $7.6 million in 2020, nearly double his salary as a first-year arbitration-eligible player last season. Utility man Enrique Hernandez ($5.9 million) and starting pitchers Ross Stripling ($2.1 million) and Julio Urias ($1 million) also settled with the Dodgers.

Players traditionally make around the minimum in their first three years of major league service, then qualify for arbitration in Years 4 to 6 -- increasing their earnings each season -- before becoming eligible for free agency.