There is never a dull moment when following the No.1 Olympic sport. Here are 10 of the craziest stories from 2019

Record-breaking results and championship-winning victories are not always rewarded with the greatest amount of coverage in athletics. Instead, quirky and off-beat moments catch the imagination of fans and swiftly snowball on social media. Below are some of the zaniest moments of the last 12 months.

Sportsmanlike stragglers

Braima Dabo became an unlikely hero on the opening day of the World Championships in Doha when he helped fellow 5000m runner Jonathan Busby in the final stages of their 5000m heat (see main image above).

Busby, of Aruba, found himself on jelly legs on the last lap but Busby, from Guinea-Bissau, came to his rescue by putting his arm around his shoulder and carrying him to the finish. “Anyone in that situation would have done the same,” said Dabo, whose sportsmanship made headlines around the world.

Mo versus Haile

Race week for the Virgin Money London Marathon in April was dominated by an amazing spat between Mo Farah and Haile Gebrselassie. The British runner told journalists that money, a watch and mobile phones were stolen from his room when he stayed at Gebrselassie’s hotel in Addis Ababa, but Gebrselassie hit back by accusing Farah of “disgraceful conduct”. It was a remarkable row and not the best preparation for the marathon itself, where Farah finished a disappointed fifth.

Infinitely entertaining

Few athletes made as much of an impact on social media this year than the magnificently-named Infinite Tucker. The 400m hurdler dived across the finish line Superman-style to beat Robert Grant in 49.38 at an event in Arkansas. “It wasn’t anything planned,” he said. “It was split second decision. I had a lot of emotions in my head.”

He went full Superman! @aggietrk's Infinite Tucker goes ALL OUT for the gold. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/gEr05kdPd9

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 12, 2019

GB relay team gaffe

The administrative cock-up of the year goes to the British team at the European Team Championships in Bydgoszcz after they incorrectly named a shot putter who wasn’t even at the event as one of their 4x400m runners.

Thrower Youcef Zatat was listed as part of the quartet instead of 400m man Rabah Yousif, which led to the team being disqualified before the race began. British Athletics described it as a “technical error” whereas Zatat saw the funny side and tweeted: “For those asking, 10000000% sure I would have run!”

Real-life Wonder Woman

One week after winning the world 50km title in Brasov, Alyson Dixon set a half-marathon world record for the ‘fastest woman dressed as a superhero’ with 78:27 at the Simplyhealth Great North Run. What’s more, she raised several thousand pounds for charity in the process.

Aly Dixon breaks the world record for fastest woman dressed as a superhero with 78:27. #greatnorthrun2019 #WonderWoman pic.twitter.com/jAdBkF7I7E

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) September 8, 2019

Ex-long jumper hits jackpot

Marquise Goodwin finished 10th in the long jump at the London 2012 Olympics but he won far more money and fame this year by winning a 40 yards sprint competition for NFL players. The 29-year-old American, who now plays as a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, won a cool $1 million after out-sprinting his American football rivals.

Fastest man in the NFL?@49ers WR Marquise Goodwin won $1MILLION over the weekend by winning the inaugural 40 Yards of Gold Tournament. ???

(via @DavidFurones_) pic.twitter.com/kv8UByNU5J

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) July 2, 2019

Premature celebration in Lausanne

Hagos Gebrhiwet is not short of experience. The Ethiopian won 5000m bronze at the Rio Olympics and has taken medals at two world championships. But at the Diamond League in Lausanne this year he inexplicably stopped with 400m to go. After raising his hands in victory, he then realised he had miscounted the laps and, after re-joining the race, went from first to 10th.

Hagos Gebrhiwet miscounts laps in Diamond League 5000m in Lausanne. He sprints to the finish line, celebrates as bell rings signaling one lap to go. Re-enters the race and finishes 10th. pic.twitter.com/MWDy8tcoIo

— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) July 5, 2019

Diamond disaster for triple jumpers

Triple jumpers like Christian Taylor and Will Claye were hopping mad at the idea of earning much less than other athletes at the Diamond League in Rome, so they pulled out of the meeting. Then, a few months later, they heard their event was not going to be part of the 2020 Diamond League finals at all. “Our sport is about unity and diversity and separating the events can only damage this sport we all love,” said Taylor, who created an athletes’ union called The Athletics Association to combat the changes.

Running off with a piece of history

Eliud Kipchoge created history in Vienna when he smashed the two-hour barrier for the marathon and some spectators fancied taking home some keepsakes by grabbing some of the INEOS 1:59 branded advertising boards that lined the course. The organisers did not seem too bothered as it saved them the job of pulling them all down. Not all of the light-fingered fans kept their goods, though, as some of the boards were spotted for sale on eBay.

PB-friendly footwear

From the Belfast City Marathon being 460m too long to the Leeds Abbey Dash being 23m short, runners chasing PBs were left wondering what might have been at various events in 2019. One way to almost guarantee a fast time, though, was to splash out on a pair of Nike Vaporfly. The controversial shoes were one of the biggest talking points in the sport this year with statistics suggesting they offer several minutes’ advantage in a marathon and World Athletics promising to belatedly announce its verdict on them next year.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has described the Premier League's hectic festive schedule as a "crime" against some teams that are forced to play two matches in the space of 48 hours.

The league leaders, who won the Club World Cup title by beating Brazil's Flamengo last Saturday, take on second-placed Leicester City on Thursday and host Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, but other teams including Manchester City are not as fortunate.

The champions visit Nuno Espirito Santo's Wolves on Friday before welcoming Sheffield United on Sunday, prompting manager Pep Guardiola to write to the league to "thank" them for a demanding schedule.

"It is absolutely not OK," Klopp told the British media. "There's no reason why more teams do not get more than 48 hours between Premier League games.

"None of the managers have a problem playing on Boxing Day, but playing on the 26th and 28th is a crime. This year we play 26th and 29th and it's like a holiday."

Brighton, Everton, Watford and Manchester United all play twice within 48 hours this week.

"I understand all those saying it shouldn't happen. They're not moaning. They're telling," Klopp added.

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"We can say what we want but no one is listening ... sports science gives you nothing to deal with this.

"The body needs a specific amount of time to go again. But we ignore that completely."

Liverpool are looking to increase their 10-point advantage over Leicester, while the Foxes will aim to return to winning ways after their nine-match unbeaten run was ended by City.

Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's live updates on the Centurion Test. We've also got traditional ball-by-ball, too. If the blog doesn't load for you straight away, please refresh your page.

New Zealand drew the MCG's biggest non-Ashes Boxing Day crowd in cricket's professional era as its chief executive David White suggested they would happily be more regular guests for the showpiece day of the Australian Test match calendar after a 32-year wait for this opportunity.

Australia last hosted New Zealand for a Test match on Boxing Day in December 1987, and despite that match's healthy attendance of 51,087 on day one and 126,184 for five days, the trans-Tasman neighbours had been relegated to early season Test series' for the intervening years as Cricket Australia chased fixtures against countries that offered more lucrative overseas broadcasting deals.

ALSO READ: 'I'm still having therapy from that Boxing Day Test match in 1987'

However, the roll up of 80,473 to the MCG was the most sizeable Boxing Day attendance outside of England visits since 85,661 turned up to see Greg Chappell's team face the West Indies in 1975 - two years before the World Series Cricket split. It made a compelling visual and financial case for New Zealand to be invited to play Test matches during the holiday season more often.

"It's an event that's always been held in high regard by both Australians and New Zealanders, and I know a lot of Kiwis have been looking forward to being at the MCG today," White said. "The NZC and CA boards have an excellent relationship with a lot of bilateral exchanges in recent years and we're confident that will continue into the future."

The MCG crowd was not only large but also lively, with the vast New Zealand presence bringing plenty of extra noise and life to the occasion, from the playing of the national anthems and the roar when Trent Boult bowled Joe Burns in the day's opening over, to the chorus of boos that greeted the exit of David Warner and the entry of Steven Smith late in the morning session.

At the same time, the spectators were treated to an absorbing contest between bat and ball on an MCG surface that offered significantly more bounce and marginally more seam movement than those prepared for the past two years.

According to CricViz, the amount of seam movement on offer over the first two sessions of day one stood at 0.58 degrees, compared to 0.52 degrees for the same sessions of Australia's Test match against India in 2018 and 0.47 degrees against England in 2017. Overcast and somewhat muggy conditions also aided the New Zealand bowlers in their pursuit of bend through the air, fetching 1.7 degrees of swing in the first 30 overs versus 0.9 degrees of swing for the corresponding period of the India Test.

Whether this was enough movement to ensure a result remained up in the air by the close of day one, as the Australian top order fought their way into a decent position through the efforts of Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner and Matthew Wade remained to be seen. Even so, there was still useful movement on offer for the likes of Colin de Grandhomme with the old ball late in the day.

Stuart Fox, the MCC chief executive, has stated bluntly that the pitch needed to reap early wickets because it was unlikely to deteriorate. "Ours haven't shown that [deterioration], so that's why we're trying to liven up things at the earlier stages of the game - the lateral seam movement is quite important," Fox said recently. "Age has been a bit of a factor with the pitches. As we move forward the next three years we'll have new pitches here that hopefully there might be a new brand of cricket for the MCG."

Warner, who had started his innings fluently, was noticeably discomforted towards the end of his innings when he was struck on the chest by a prancing delivery from Boult, and he did not look comfortable again before edging a full delivery from Neil Wagner into the slips cordon six balls later.

LOS ANGELES -- After the Clippers had erased a 15-point third-quarter deficit and silenced the home crowd in the final seconds, Patrick Beverley let out multiple screams, directed mostly at the Lakers' fan base.

Beverley didn't score a point in the fourth quarter, but his five rebounds -- including a key offensive rebound -- and what amounted to the game-winning block on a LeBron James' 3-point attempt with 3.6 seconds left helped lift the Clippers to a 111-106 victory.

The 6-foot-1 Beverley finished with eight points. But his nine boards equaled the Lakers' leading rebounders.

"F---ing heart," Beverley said when asked why he is such a ferocious rebounder.

Beverley's play was the essence of what the Clippers had discussed at halftime, when Doc Rivers asked his players to figure out what the biggest adjustment needed to be. With the Lakers carrying a 63-51 advantage and all the momentum into intermission after Anthony Davis was flying all over the court making hustle plays, Rivers decided he wouldn't be the only voice in the locker room.

"It was interesting," Rivers said. "I think they knew. I asked them to talk; I didn't talk much. I asked them, 'What did you all see?' They said, 'They're playing harder.' I said, 'So that's the easiest adjustment we can make all year if that's true.'"

The Lakers led 68-53 with 9:26 remaining in the third quarter, and the Lakers' home crowd that had waited 65 days for the highly anticipated Christmas Day rematch between these two teams was hyped. The Clippers took the season opener against the Lakers, but that was a home game for Rivers' team.

This time, Staples Center was nearly all purple and gold, and the Lakers were eager to not only stop a three-game losing streak but also beat their in-house rivals in the marquee holiday game.

But once again, Kawhi Leonard was too much for the Lakers to handle.

On opening day, Leonard scored 30 points, 15 coming during a first-half tear in which he hit seven consecutive shots at one point.

On Wednesday, Leonard had 35 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 17 points in the final 20-plus minutes to turn the game. He buried 3 of 4 3-pointers during that stretch to again get the better of James (23 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds) and Davis (24 points).

The Clippers outscored the Lakers 33-18 to turn that 15-point deficit into a tied game entering the fourth quarter.

"We came out, we weren't playing hard, we were basically coasting through the game, that first part," Montrezl Harrell said of the Clippers' halftime adjustment. "They were taking it to us. ... We were doing more complaining than playing. I think that second half we just came out, said, 'Forget everything. We want to go out here and play our way of basketball, we're gonna compete and we're gonna be that hard-playing team. If they still beat us with that, then hey, we just gotta live with it.'"

With the Clippers trailing by five with just under six minutes left in the game, Beverley grabbed an offensive rebound and hit Paul George for a 20-foot jumper that cut it to three. In the final 4:02, Beverley came up with four rebounds. And with the Clippers trying to protect a 109-106 lead and the clock ticking down, James went to tie the game with Beverley on him only to see Beverley swipe the ball out of James' hands.

That's when Beverley let the pro-Lakers crowd repeatedly hear his reaction to what ended up as the game-winning stop.

"We just got waves of defenders," George said. "And our smallest guy tonight got the biggest stop of the game."

LOS ANGELES -- A collision with Patrick Beverley in the first quarter of the Lakers' 111-106 loss Wednesday night to the Clippers caused LeBron James to aggravate a nagging groin injury and could cause the Lakers star to miss some game time moving forward.

"I felt healthy going into the game," James said after finishing with 23 points on 9-for-24 shooting, with 10 assists and 9 rebounds. "I got kneed in the groin taking a charge from Pat Bev and it kind of set me right back to where I was five days ago."

Last Christmas, James suffered a torn left groin against the Golden State Warriors -- the first major injury of his career -- and it derailed both his and his team's season.

The injury that James is currently dealing with is on the right side of his groin and is far less dire than the injury he sustained to the left side of his groin last season, but it could worsen with overuse. James told ESPN the contact with Beverley caused the groin area to "flare up," and James' play clearly suffered from there -- 10 of his 15 misses were on 3-pointers, the most 3s he's ever missed in a game in his 17-year career, and he attempted just four foul shots as his drives to the lane were limited.

James was coming off both the groin discomfort and a thoracic muscle strain -- a pull in the rib cage area -- which caused him to miss his first game of the season in Sunday's 128-104 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Even though the Lakers are now riding a season-worst four-game losing streak, several members of the organization have already approached James about the urgency to sit out and rehab his groin injury until he feels fully recovered, sources told ESPN.

The Lakers have a back-to-back set coming up on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday followed by the Dallas Mavericks at home on Sunday. James, who has repeatedly rejected the notion of load management already this season, is officially listed as day-to-day by the team.

"To be honest, I haven't even thought about Portland just yet," said James, who turns 35 next week. "I'm always around the clock with my body, getting my treatment. If I'm feeling great, I'll be in the lineup. If I'm feeling well I'll be in the lineup. ... We'll see what happens."

The Lakers are anticipating needing him for six more months of basketball should they make a deep postseason run, and their priority is the big picture.

"It's still another game," forward Kyle Kuzma said after the loss. "We're in December. We got a couple more months of basketball."

Not that the Lakers were completely comfortable with the defeat, of course.

After leading by 12 points at the half and by as many as 15 in the third quarter, there was a sense that they'd blown a golden opportunity to even up the season series with their Staples Center cohabitants 1-1.

"We gave that one away," Anthony Davis said after putting up 24 points, six rebounds and two blocks. "We had the game, we were in control of the entire game, even though we let them get back in it we were still leading by, I think, seven with six minutes to go. That's a game you've got to close out so, like I said, we gave that one away."

Indeed, James' 22-foot step-back jumper with 6 minutes, 39 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter put the Lakers up by seven, and the Clippers responded with a 13-2 run in the next four minutes to take control.

"We just beat ourselves, plain and simple," Kuzma said. "Obviously credit to Clippers for making shots down the stretch. But we just beat ourselves."

The Lakers had possession with 19.2 seconds left, trailing by 3 with a chance to tie it, but James lost the ball out of bounds after Beverley poked at the ball during James' shooting motion with 3.6 seconds on the clock.

The ball was originally called out on Beverley. But after an officials' review, the call was overturned and the referees determined that the ball was last touched by James. The play was registered as a missed shot by James rather than a turnover.

"I was surprised by the overturn," James said. "I didn't feel like the ball went off my hand. But that's the way it went."

While James preached about the Lakers' need for the team to "just be better" as the season progresses, there was still major confidence coming from another corner of the locker room.

"We're still the best team," center Dwight Howard said. "After tonight, let it go. It's just another game. Of course we all wanted it. I think everybody in L.A. that's a Lakers fan wanted to see us win tonight. But like I told you guys a couple days ago, we want to be the best team in June. We want to be the team that's holding up the trophy and I think when we do that, nobody will remember the game that we lost on Christmas."

LOS ANGELES -- A nervous energy pulsed through Staples Center during the intracity showdown between the Lakers and Clippers on Wednesday. A somewhat hobbled LeBron James appeared tentative for the Lakers in the opening half, while the Clippers threw the ball around the gym with impunity. As the game tightened after halftime, the intensity heightened with each possession, many of them frenetic fire drills.

The lights always shine brighter on Christmas, but this matchup felt more May than December -- like Game 1 of a high-stakes playoff series featuring two elite teams feeling each other out for the long haul.

The Clippers ultimately prevailed 111-106 behind Kawhi Leonard's brutal efficiency and Patrick Beverley's gutsy strip of James in the closing seconds, capping a rousing comeback. Yet the takeaway from Los Angeles is that the Clippers' victory is but a preamble to a much richer story.

"It's a long season," James said. "It's a marathon."

Leonard agreed.

"It does nothing," Leonard said when asked what his team's victory meant to the Lakers-Clippers rivalry. "It's one game out of a season. Whoever won this game was not going to win the L.A. championship or anything. Both teams got their eyes on the biggest prize."

Leonard isn't deflecting or downplaying, and his sentiment is the Clippers franchise's official position. The Clippers are well aware that the only commonalities between the two organizations is a city and a building. The Lakers embrace their storied history (16 championships and a claim as one of the most prestigious brands in global sports), while the Clippers seek to reverse theirs (decades of abject failure in the shadow of an odious owner who was ejected from the NBA).

Nine weeks into the season, the Lakers and Clippers are two teams getting to know each other while they also get to know themselves. Prior to the Christmas contest, coaches Frank Vogel and Doc Rivers talked in similar terms about the nascent quality of their teams.

Vogel stated that both the Lakers and Clippers are at "a continuity disadvantage," given the massive influx of new talent into both locker rooms. Only three of the 10 starters on Wednesday began last season with their respective teams. Meanwhile, Rivers noted that his squad enjoyed its first practice of the season with a fully healthy roster on Tuesday.

When will the Clippers achieve maximum chemistry?

"It's going to take a minute," Rivers said.

In the evolution of any champion, there's a period when the product is still in its incubation stage. Wednesday's game, while entertaining and not without a few transcendent moments befitting a matchup featuring arguably four of the NBA's 10 best players, was further evidence of Vogel's and Rivers' claims.

The Clippers started in their zone defense but quickly abandoned it when the Lakers pushed the ball up the floor before the Clippers could get set. Early on, the Clippers' offense appeared less systematic and fluid than provisional and gummy, with a spate of sloppy turnovers.

For the Lakers, James missed his first seven field goal attempts and appeared to be hampered by recent injuries. He sustained a hit to the groin area by Beverley in the first quarter, an event that he said set him back in his recovery. Kyle Kuzma paced the Lakers in the first half with 19 points, but the team stopped attacking in the second half, even as the Clippers fell into the penalty early in the fourth quarter. James and Anthony Davis combined for 23 shot attempts after intermission -- but only seven originated in the paint.

The Lakers coughed up a 15-point lead in the second half, as the Clippers chipped away behind their steady defense and a combination of individual exploits that is becoming familiar: Leonard exacting damage on wing pick-and-rolls with more power than finesse; Montrezl Harrell dominating around the rim; big offensive rebounds; and though it wasn't his most efficient night, a handful of timely plays by Paul George, including a jumper following a board by Beverley with five minutes remaining and the Clippers trailing that Rivers called the biggest play of the game.

"We gave that one away," Davis said. "We were in control the entire game. We let them back in it."

The coup de grace occurred inside of 10 seconds remaining and the Clippers leading by three points. As James held the ball overhead for several seconds with the clock winding down, the 6-foot-1 Beverley crowded him with fierce intensity.

Beverley is the NBA's liveliest wire, an irritant who loves nothing more than guarding the ball and jawing with opposing players. Having already drawn a technical foul for taunting Danny Green, Beverley now squared up against James. Though an errant swipe at the ball by Beverley could land James at the foul line with a chance to tie the game, Beverley assumed the risk. As James took a single dribble to his right, stepped back and elevated for the shot, Beverley poked at the ball, sending it out of bounds. Initially ruled Lakers ball, officials overturned the call.

"He won us the game on that possession," George said.

Following the game, Beverley went home to a Christmas dinner prepared by his mother, who surprised him that morning after missing her flight on Tuesday. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer gleefully skipped through the concourse, still buzzed from the comeback. Rivers was buoyant, while George insisted that it doesn't get better than a Lakers-Clippers matchup on Christmas Day.

Then there was Leonard in his multicolored sweater, ready to head into the night less than half an hour after the buzzer. Whatever fondness Leonard might have for the special occasion of Yuletide basketball, he wasn't conveying it.

"It was another road game," Leonard said. "Christmas didn't have nothing to do with it."

Rivalries, holidays, regular-season clashes between two contenders? None of it holds his interest, not when you've been where he has been.

December 26: Perth Scorchers v Sydney Sixers in Perth

Our XI: Josh Inglis, Josh Philippe, Liam Livingstone, Daniel Hughes, James Vince, Cameron Bancroft, Mitchell Marsh, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Fawad Ahmed, Sean Abbott

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

Captain: Mitchell Marsh

The Scorchers captain scored a sluggish 33-ball 32 against Sydney Sixers in their match earlier this season. It was in difficult circumstances, but he will look to make amends, put on a show like the 22-ball 56* against the Melbourne Renegades. He can, and might earn points with the ball too.

Vice-captain: Liam Livingstone

Livingstone's 29 against the Renegades showed streaks of brilliance, but it was his 26-ball 69 against the Adelaide Strikers that showed why he's so valuable in a fantasy team. He hits more sixes than fours and has a strike rate of over 200 when he gets going.

Hot picks

Chris Jordan

Perth's always been kinder to bowlers than the other BBL grounds, and Jordan's variations and two overs at the death make for a potent combination. He can swing the bat too if his team collapses. He also fields in the catching hotspots of the ground.

Josh Inglis

Opens the batting for the Scorchers and enters the game having scored a 27-ball 50 against the Strikers in his last game. Inglis is also a good wicketkeeper who gives you the opportunity to earn bonus points for catches and stumpings.

Josh Philippe

Fresh off an IPL contract with Royal Challengers Bangalore, the youngster has had a couple of brisk starts in the BBL that haven't been built on. But his 44-ball 81 against the same opponents in their earlier game cannot be ignored. We'll back him for a repeat.

Value picks

Sean Abbott: Bowls at the death, so although he can be expensive on days, he can also get you cheap wickets. With the bat, he's more than useful and often comes in six down.

Fawad Ahmed: The 37-year-old legspinning T20 specialist can stifle the run-scoring in the middle overs. Perth's just the surface for a wristspinner like him and his captain will likely use him as a wicket-taking option here.

Daniel Hughes: A string of three low scores doesn't do justice to Hughes' skills in T20 cricket. He's been unlucky, dismissed by part-timer Matt Renshaw in one game and run-out by Qais Ahmed in another, but Hughes has the ability to anchor the Sixers line-up if Philippe, from the other end, brings out the fireworks.

Point to note

Both teams have more losses than wins so far and are in the bottom half of the table. The last time they met, Philippe's 81-ball 44 helped the Sixers beat the Scorchers in Sydney.

LOS ANGELES -- Kawhi Leonard scored 11 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and had 12 rebounds to help the LA Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-106 on Wednesday night in the NBA's marquee Christmas game.

Montrezl Harrell had 18 points off the bench, Paul George added 17 and the Clippers improved to 2-0 against the Lakers this season.

Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers with with 25 points. LeBron James had 23 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, and Anthony David had 24 points. The Lakers have lost four consecutive games.

The Lakers had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but video review showed James touched the ball last after Patrick Beverley knocked it away as James went up for a 3. George hit two free throws for the final margin.

Lou Williams made two free throws -- after a questionable foul call against Davis for tapping the swingman after his transition layup rimmed out -- to give the Clippers a 105-103 lead with 3:29

Leonard, who had a 3 to cap a 7-0 run and tie it at 101 with 5 minutes, 14 seconds remaining, then made four late free throws.

TIP-INS

Clippers: Williams had six points and seven rebounds. ... The Clippers had a 50-42 edge in rebounds.

Lakers: The Lakers' bench outscored the Clippers' backups 49-36. ... James played in his 14th Christmas Day game, second in NBA history to Kobe Bryant at 16.

UP NEXT

Clippers: Host Utah on Saturday night.

Lakers: At Portland on Saturday night.