Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed captain Harry Kane will be out until April with the England international set to have surgery on his left hamstring.

Kane, who has 11 Premier League goals so far this season, limped off during Spurs' 1-0 loss at Southampton on New Year's Day.

It means Kane will miss most of the remaining games in the Premier League with Spurs battling to finish in the top four, though he should be fit to captain England at Euro 2020 which starts in June.

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"Following ongoing assessment by our medical staff over the past week, we can confirm that Harry Kane will undergo surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his left hamstring," Spurs said in a statement.

"The striker suffered the injury during our Premier League fixture against Southampton last week and specialists have advised surgery after further review of the injury.

"The decision to undergo surgery is not expected to impact the timeframe that the England captain will be sidelined, with the expectation that he will return to training in April."

Spurs will be without their talisman for both legs of the Champions League round of 16 tie against RB Leipzig and crucial Premier League clashes against Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.

The England international has suffered three ankle ligament injuries since the start of the 2016-17 season and will now return to action two months before the start of Euro 2020.

England will face Croatia, Czech Republic and a play-off winner at Wembley in the group stages of the tournament in June.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho recently said the club will not look to sign attacking options in the January transfer window despite Kane's injury.

"Again everybody knows again the importance of Harry in the squad. I think irreplaceable, if you think about one player by one player, I think he's irreplaceable," he said.

"But we have to try solutions with the players we have. I come to work with the players that are available and I'm not thinking about the market."

A Sicilian man was banned from European sports events for five years on Thursday for directing racist chants at Brescia striker Mario Balotelli.

Verona police issued the ruling after reviewing evidence from the Hellas Verona-Brescia game on Nov. 3.

The 38-year-old man was also barred from frequenting areas that fans pass through on match days.

Balotelli angrily kicked a ball high into the stands and threatened to leave the field because of the racist chants directed at him during the game in Verona, which was suspended for several minutes.

Balotelli was also subjected to racist chants by Lazio fans during a game last weekend.

The former Manchester City and AC Milan striker was born in Italy to Ghanaian immigrants and has represented the Italian national team. He recently returned to Serie A after several seasons in France.

In normal circumstance, Zak Crawley would probably be looking forward to his trip to Australia on the England Lions tour.

And, in all truth, that's probably where he should be right now. He's 21, after all, and he has a first-class average that barely tops 30 with just three first-class centuries. Promising, for sure, but not quite ready for what may be the toughest job in the game: opening the batting in Test cricket.

But these are not normal circumstances. The injury to Rory Burns has robbed England of their most experienced opening batsman - yes, Burns has only played 15 Tests but a combination of his relative success and his maturity have seen him rise quickly in seniority - and Crawley has been the beneficiary. Having been drafted into the team to play in Cape Town at last notice - Burns injured his ankle the day before the game - Crawley would appear to have an excellent chance of retaining a place at the top of the order for the final two Tests.

England do retain other options. It remains possible that Joe Denly could be promoted to open the batting and Jonny Bairstow could be drafted in to replace Crawley. Equally, it is possible England could call up a replacement - probably Keaton Jennings, though James Vince could be another option - to move straight into the side.

But with Bairstow having had little chance to do anything to demand such a recall and the England management seemingly committed to providing extended opportunities for the younger players, it seems Crawley's position is pretty secure for the rest of the tour. Besides, it would be asking a great deal of any replacement to come straight into the side without acclimatisation.

"I'm taking one game at a time," Crawley said. "I'm putting all my focus on the Port Elizabeth Test now. Hopefully I can get a score there like Dom Sibley did in Cape Town and follow his footsteps and shore up my place in the side. But I'm not looking too far ahead.

"I knew the night before the game that Rory would be out for a number of weeks. So there were the usual nerves. But actually I was a lot better than my debut in Hamilton, so hopefully it'll be easier next time."

At this stage, the runs have not come. After two Tests - albeit, he only batted once on debut - he has an average of 10 and a top score of 25. And while he received a fine delivery in the first innings at Cape Town, he concedes that, in the second, he played "an average shot to a pretty average ball. It was a half-volley."

And yet there has been something about the way he has carried himself - his confidence in the field, his obvious fitness, his increasing calm in the second innings at Cape Town - that provides confidence. He may be "learning on the job", as his captain Joe Root put it, but he hasn't looked out of his depth. And it's clear the first taste he's had of Test cricket has left him wanting more.

Whatever happens, he has one great memory from his Test career. In taking the catch that all but clinched the second Test - a juggling effort in the slips that gave Ben Stokes his second wicket in as many balls - he played a part in a wonderfully dramatic final day. Even the manner in which he took that catch - accepting the need to parry the ball up and then plucking it one-handed at the second opportunity - suggested a certain cool in the heat of the moment.

"Stokes was bowling so fast," he said. "And we were so close to the wicket. It was just a matter of sticking my hand out and luckily I managed to make it go up in the air and get my other hand to it. It was a great moment when I saw it come down. It seemed to hover in the air. It lasted a lifetime.

"It was unbelievable when that last wicket fell. The whole experience was the best feeling I've had on a cricket field. The crowd singing for all five days was something I'll never forget. It was brilliant.

"You just want more and more of it. I can see why so many people work hard at this level. Once you get that buzz you want it every day of the week. I can't wait for the next Test. Hopefully it's the same again."

He does not think that Kagiso Rabada remembers him from their time at Kent. That's not surprising: by 2016, Rabada was already something of a star and Crawley was an 18-year-old member of the second team. He performed 12th man duties for the first team, but the pair did not play together.

Still, it tells you something about Crawley's innate self-confidence that he said, with just the hint of a smile, that he is looking forward to "taking him down" in Port Elizabeth.

"I thought I played him OK," he said. "And I loved it. It's always great shaping up against one of the best bowlers in the world and seeing how you go. I'm looking forward to playing him again at Port Elizabeth hopefully and taking him down."

If he manages that, he can start to think a lot more than one Test ahead.

Washington State coach Mike Leach is the new head coach at Mississippi State, Bulldogs athletic director John Cohen Thursday.

"Mike Leach is a proven winner who has established a culture of excellence for nearly two decades as a head coach," Cohen said in a statement. "An offensive genius and two-time national coach of the year, he has a track record of building programs to national prominence with accountability and a blue-collar approach. We are thrilled to welcome him and his family to the Mississippi State family and look forward to watching our football program grow under his leadership."

The deal is done. See you back in StarkVegas at Bryan Field at 3:15 PM with @Coach_Leach! #HailState pic.twitter.com/qMM06Hz29A

— John Cohen (@JohnCohenAD) January 9, 2020

Washington State coaches were informed about Leach's move on Thursday morning, a source told ESPN.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to be the head football coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs," Leach said in a statement. "I loved Washington State, but I am excited for the next chapter in the SEC. It's a privilege to be a part of the MSU family, and we look forward to getting down to Starkville shortly."

Leach had agreed in principle to a one-year contract extension through the 2024 season on Dec. 5, prior to the Cougars' appearance in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Before accepting the job at Mississippi State, Leach talked to Arkansas about its opening, sources told ESPN's Chris Low, and was close to landing the Tennessee job two years ago before John Currie was fired as the Volunteers' athletic director.

Leach will succeed Joe Moorhead, who was fired Jan. 3 after going 14-12 in two seasons with the Bulldogs. His stint ended with a 38-28 loss to Louisville in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl.

Sources said school officials were not only upset by the team's performance in the Music City Bowl, but also with the situation involving starting quarterback Garrett Shrader, who missed the game with an eye injury reportedly sustained during a scuffle at practice.

Overall, in 18 seasons, Leach, a two-time national coach of the year, has taken his teams to 16 bowls and his "Air Raid" passing attack has led FBS 10 times.

Leach went 55-47 in his eight seasons in Pullman and took the Cougars to a school-record five consecutive bowl games over the past five seasons. After a school-record 11-win season and a No. 10 national ranking in 2018, the Cougars went 6-7 in 2019, capped by a 31-21 loss to Air Force in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Prior to Leach's arrival, Wazzu did not appear in a bowl game for eight straight seasons and had won just nine games in four years under previous coach Paul Wulff.

Leach's 43 wins since 2015 marks the most for a Washington State coach during a five-year span. The Cougars have led the FBS in passing offense four times in the past seven seasons. In 10 seasons as the head coach at Texas Tech (2000-09), Leach guided the Red Raiders to a 84-43 record.

Among those to welcome Leach to his new job on social media was Lane Kiffin, the new coach for rival Ole Miss.

Welcome to the state old pirate and friend!! ⁦@Coach_Leach⁩ ⁦@SEC⁩ #swingursword #eggbowl https://t.co/4r4hUsOoC9

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) January 9, 2020

Mississippi State visits Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl on Nov. 26. The annual game is traditionally played on Thanksgiving night.

Leach's new job also comes with an immediate, if not unusual, home-field advantage.

Earlier this season, Leach, as part of College Football's 150th anniversary celebration, was asked what was the worst visitors' locker room that he's ever been in. Without hesitation, he answered: "Mississippi State."

He described a locker room in which the walls, floor and ceiling were all concrete, and "there was no furniture, there was no benches, there was no lockers." In addition to 37 nails in the wall, Leach said there were two toilets, side by side and without seats, in the middle of the locker room. Between them: one roll of toilet paper.

"The ultimate touch of brilliance," Leach said.

NEW YORK -- Kyrie Irving may be starting to see the end of his injury road.

After missing nearly two months with a right shoulder injury, Irving said he expects to be re-evaluated within the next week. Being cleared to play, Irving said, is a hopeful next step.

"We just see where we end up in the next few days," Irving said Thursday. "Realistically, we will re-evaluate tomorrow. See how I feel tomorrow. Then go Saturday -- probably another practice."

Irving did not pinpoint a date for his return, but said that he's assigned a self-imposed deadline of one week.

"Hopefully I get some game reps in addition to practice probably in the next week or so," he said. "It could be less than that, but I'll give myself a week."

In order for Irving to play, the Nets medical staff would need to agree with Irving's timeline. Irving did not say whether the Nets doctors think it's realistic for him to return within a week.

Irving was able to fully participate in practice for the first time on Thursday morning, including working through 5-on-5 contact drills. Head coach Kenny Atkinson said Irving played with both the starting group and the second unit.

Irving said a week-and-a-half ago that he began to do 2-on-2 work with coaches and has slowly ramped up his workload. Irving said he has no limitations "other than just keeping my shoulder maintenance program going before I get on the floor."

"That's the thing I have to keep consistent throughout the season and probably for the rest of my career," he said.

Irving spoke to reporters on Jan. 4 for the first time since mid-November. On that Saturday, Irving said he had a cortisone shot in his shoulder on Dec. 24. He said then that he was hopeful the medication would stave off the need for surgery, but at the time Irving said he was unsure of the cortisone's effect.

On Wednesday, Irving said he was cautiously optimistic that the cortisone shot was working.

"After the cortisone, it gave me a great stepping stone to work my way to getting back on the floor," he said.

Despite his extended absence, the NBA announced that Irving is second in All-Star voting for Eastern Conference guards. Irving has racked up over 1.3 million votes so far.

"I think I've put in a lot of work in this league to be up there whether I'm playing or not," Irving said "And if you want to see an all-star game, I'd vote for myself as well. I'm going to go out there, we're going to put on a show. But at the same time, there is a respect level I have for all the guys that have been playing throughout the season and they're as much as deserving of being in that spot."

Dallas Mavericks power forward Kristaps Porzingis recently had a platelet-rich-plasma injection as part of the treatment for the soreness in his right knee that has sidelined him since New Year's Eve, sources told ESPN.

The Mavs commonly use PRP injections to stimulate or assist healing and address symptoms such as pain in a variety of injuries, a source said, adding that the team occasionally uses it as part of preventative maintenance. The injections use elements of the patient's own blood, not medicine.

Sources said the injection is not a factor in Porzingis' continued absence, but the soreness in his right knee has not subsided enough for him to be cleared to play. An illness this week has delayed Porzingis' recovery, preventing him from going through the quality workouts that are a critical part of the process.

The Mavs are committed to taking a cautious approach with the 7-foot-3 Porzingis, who was recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee when Dallas acquired him from the New York Knicks in a blockbuster trade last season. The Mavs originally planned for Porzingis to sit out one game of back-to-backs in the early part of the season, but he rested only one game in total before being sidelined by the right knee soreness.

Porzingis was a late scratch before the Mavs' Dec. 31 road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was not listed on the injury report but had received treatment on his knee after he said he overextended it on a play in Dallas' loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 29. Porzingis informed the team's medical and athletic training staff during warmups that his right knee didn't feel right and he was pulled from the starting lineup.

Porzingis has missed all four games of the Mavs' current homestand. He expressed optimism last week that he'd return before the end of the homestand, but that is no longer the expectation with a back-to-back against the Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers looming on Friday and Saturday. He has been officially ruled out for both games.

The Mavs are 2-3 during the stretch without Porzingis, who is averaging 17.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. Dallas has particularly struggled with interior defense during the elite rim protector's absence.

"Look, we miss him on both ends, but until he's back, there's no point in talking about what we're missing with him not being out there," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after Wednesday's loss to the Denver Nuggets. "A lot of teams are going through health issues right now. He's doing better all the time. There's nothing imminent on him, but he's doing better."

Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Beilein made an emotional apology to his players Thursday morning, insisting he regrets referring to the team as "a bunch of thugs" in a Wednesday film session, league sources told ESPN.

Beilein also met with general manager Koby Altman on Thursday, sources said. Altman talked individually with players to get a sense of how they viewed verbiage in Wednesday's film session and how accepting they were of Thursday's apology, sources said.

"There was really positive reinforcement from the guys this morning and last night," Beilein told reporters after Thursday's shoot-around in Detroit. "Very understanding, but it's something that certainly they understand that it was serious. Something that shouldn't have happened."

The Cavaliers are planning to continue with Beilein, who is in the first season of a five-year contract, sources said.

After stunning his players with the comment Wednesday, Beilein reached out to players individually to insist he instead meant to use the word "slugs."

It remains a significant question whether Beilein can seize the respect of a locker room that sources say was always teetering prior to the racially-charged verbiage.

Delivering the term thugs to a group of largely young African American men carries obvious racial connotations, and Beilein acknowledged to ESPN in a telephone conversation Wednesday night that he understood that.

"Yesterday in a film session, I used a word -- meant to say slug; thug came out. It was brought to my attention a couple of hours later," Beilein told reporters Thursday. "Talked to all the players afterward, explained the situation. We met about it today; I apologized about it today as well. It was never intended, and players understand that now.

"It was something I have to learn from, just enunciate better, just be clearer with what my words are. They all know it, they understand it. But it's something that's unfortunate that we'll get past."

Beilein was wrapping up what had been an off-day film session in Detroit and a hush fell over the room when his players and staff heard the words come out of his mouth, sources said.

The Cavaliers players left the room initially stunned and were increasingly disturbed as they dispersed out of the meeting, league sources said. Altman was alerted to the issue in the aftermath of the meeting and reached out to Beilein for clarification.

Beilein held the film session at a Detroit hotel on Wednesday and largely derided his players for poor decision-making and execution, sources said.

The Cavaliers visit the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night.

Beilein's first pro season at 66 years old has been partly defined by his struggle to connect with players and adjust to a dramatically different NBA environment than what he had experienced in 40-plus college seasons.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

While the Milwaukee Bucks have put some distance between themselves and the rest of the Eastern Conference, there's still a significant playoff race to watch near the top. Approaching the midpoint of the season, the next five teams are separated by just 4.5 games, with 18 games left on the schedule that pit two of those teams against each other.

"They're gonna be impactful," Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse said, hours before his team won one of these games against the Boston Celtics in late December. "They're really going to become impactful later on in the year, when you look back.

"There's going to be jockeying for position, there's no doubt about it."

On Thursday, the third-place Celtics visit the fifth-place Philadelphia 76ers in another of those matchups. Assuming the Bucks are out of reach, the winner of this five-way battle gets to avoid facing one of the other four teams in the first round, instead drawing a potential matchup with the Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic or one of the other losing teams at the bottom of the East playoff race. It also guarantees avoiding Milwaukee until the conference finals.

Let's handicap this unusual and somewhat surprising race:

All projections via ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI)

Miami Heat

Projected record: 55-27
Projected seed: No. 2 (38.8% likelihood)
Record against other four teams: 6-2

Season to date: The Heat have been an NBA afterthought for the past few seasons, without star talent or playoff success. Those days appear over. After acquiring Jimmy Butler in July and jettisoning Hassan Whiteside to open up playing time for Bam Adebayo, Miami now has two All-Star-level pieces surrounded by a cast of under-the-radar finds and young players -- a formula Pat Riley has employed repeatedly during his quarter century at the helm of the franchise.

Injuries to watch: Justise Winslow has been out for the past month with a bone bruise in his back and has played only 10 games this season. At age 33, Goran Dragic could be a leader for this year's Sixth Man of the Year award, but he missed nine games with a groin injury and is playing with a knee brace.

Trade targets: As usual, Miami is a subject of trade speculation. The problem is the Heat have relatively little of value they would be willing to deal. Would they move Winslow or promising rookie Tyler Herro to upgrade at power forward, for instance? That's the kind of calculation Miami has to make over the next four weeks.

High-profile games:

• LA Clippers (home 1/24, road 2/5)

• Boston (home 1/28, 4/11, road 4/1)

• Philadelphia (home 2/3)

• Milwaukee (home 3/2, road 3/16)

• Indiana (road 3/20, home 4/7)

• Toronto (home 4/14)

Schedule breakdown: The Heat, beneficiaries of playing in a division with four sub-.500 teams, are tied with Denver for the eighth-easiest schedule thus far, per ESPN's BPI, and have the third-easiest schedule going forward.

Present and future outlook: The Heat are back. Miami has reestablished its identity as a hard-nosed team full of grinders surrounding a couple of tentpole stars now that Adebayo has emerged as one of the best young centers in the league. That alone makes this season a success.

But the Heat have always been aggressive. Whether they can find a way to upgrade the roster once again will determine if they can leap from the lottery to the upper echelon of the East in a single season.

Boston Celtics

Projected record: 55-27
Projected seed: No. 3 (27.0% likelihood)
Record against other four teams: 3-4

Season to date: Coming off a disappointing season, followed by the departures of Kyrie Irving and Al Horford in free agency, Boston has exceeded expectations overall but has hit a skid of late, struggling in wins over the Hawks and Bulls before dropping back-to-back games to the below-.500 Wizards and Spurs.

Still, Kemba Walker has been the stabilizing presence Boston needed. Jaylen Brown signed a contract extension in October and immediately began outplaying it, putting him in the All-Star conversation. Jayson Tatum's all-around game has already made him an advanced-stats darling at age 21. Gordon Hayward has looked very good when healthy. Daniel Theis has admirably replaced Horford at center, playing to a level no one saw coming. And Brad Stevens has restored his reputation after it took a hit for the first time last season.

Injuries to watch: Hayward's health is a constant subject of scrutiny after he missed virtually all of his first season in Boston with left leg and ankle injuries and then spent last season trying to regain his All-Star form. He has missed time this season with a broken bone in his hand and a sore left foot that has required multiple cortisone shots to address a nerve problem. That latter issue bears watching going forward. The same goes for center Robert Williams III's hip, which has kept him out for the past several weeks with no timetable for his return.

Trade targets: The Celtics seem unlikely to make a move at the 2020 trade deadline for a couple of reasons.

One, team president Danny Ainge rarely makes in-season deals. The only two he's made in recent years are the Isaiah Thomas trade in 2015 and the move to dump Jabari Bird's guaranteed contract last year.

Two, the Celtics have shown no interest in trading any of their five high-profile perimeter players (Walker, Brown, Tatum, Hayward and Marcus Smart), and they are the only players on the team making more than $5 million per season. While Boston has lots of draft capital to move in prospective trades, the lack of filler salary would make a deal difficult.

For all of the focus on whether Boston should upgrade at center, the Celtics could actually use another wing player to deepen their rotation. Regardless, their most likely path to enhancing the roster is via the buyout market.

High-profile games:

• Philadelphia (road 1/9, home 2/1)

• Milwaukee (road 1/16 and 3/12, home 4/5)

• LA Lakers (home 1/20, road 2/23)

• Miami (road 1/28, 4/11, home 4/1)

• LA Clippers (home 2/13)

• Indiana (road 3/10, home 4/8)

• Toronto (road 3/20)

Schedule breakdown: To date, the Celtics have had the NBA's easiest schedule, according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index. Boston has the eighth-hardest remaining schedule. Among Eastern Conference teams, only the Hornets have a more difficult closing stretch.

Present and future outlook: This Celtics team has made a remarkable turnaround from last season's disappointment, making a case for the value of team chemistry. That alone has this season feeling like a success. But now that the Celtics have the second-highest probability of getting the No. 2 seed in the East playoffs -- and potentially avoiding both the Bucks and the Sixers on the path to the East finals -- fans in Beantown are beginning to dream bigger.

Toronto Raptors

Projected record: 54-28
Projected seed: No. 4 (29.0% likelihood)
Record against other four teams: 2-6

Season to date: Toronto has stayed in the thick of this race despite the departures of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green and a rash of injuries. Coach Nick Nurse has tried combinations he probably never imagined he would. And yet somehow it has worked.

Injuries to watch: Where to start? Pascal Siakam, who was beginning to look like a borderline MVP candidate, is out indefinitely with a strained groin. Ditto for Marc Gasol with a hamstring injury and Norman Powell with a shoulder injury. A thumb injury and a sprained ankle sidelined Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, respectively, for several weeks. Fred VanVleet has played through nagging injuries but is now expected to miss extended time with a right hamstring strain, and Patrick McCaw missed the first 20 games of the season after having knee surgery.

Trade targets: Toronto could go in wildly different directions between now and the trade deadline. Ibaka and Gasol have large expiring contracts that, if Toronto decides to be a seller, could be flipped elsewhere. The Raptors signed Lowry to a one-year extension in the fall that likewise makes him a very attractive target for contenders.

Or the Raptors could be buyers, pouncing while Siakam, Lowry and their depth and infrastructure keep them positioned for another run to the NBA Finals.

High-profile games:

• Philadelphia (home 1/22, road 3/18)

• Indiana (home 2/5 and 2/23, road 2/7)

• Milwaukee (home 2/25 and 4/3, road 4/1)

• Boston (home 3/20)

• LA Lakers (home 3/24)

• Miami (road 4/14)

Schedule breakdown: The Raptors have had the 10th-hardest schedule in the league so far, according to ESPN's BPI, by far the most difficult of any of these five teams. That leads to Toronto having the league's second-easiest schedule the rest of the way, behind only the Hawks.

Present and future outlook: The Raptors entered the season as defending champions but without any expectations of a repeat, due to Leonard's departure. Yet Toronto has played like a team with a point to prove. The next four weeks will reveal whether the Raptors are still in win-now mode.

Philadelphia 76ers

Projected record: 52-30
Projected seed: No. 5 (38.6% likelihood)
Record against other four teams: 5-4

Season-to-date: On Christmas Day, the Sixers dominated the Bucks. They proceeded to lose their next four games, with Joel Embiid declaring that losing was "taking a toll" and Brett Brown excoriating his team. Yet Philadelphia remains in the top 10 in net rating, and the Christmas game is a reminder of what this team, picked by many to win the East, can be.

Injuries to watch: Al Horford has missed time with knee tendinitis, the same issue that plagued him last season. Matisse Thybulle has been out for a couple of weeks with a right knee sprain and bone bruise, but the promising rookie has begun to practice and should be back fairly soon. Josh Richardson has had lingering issues with his hamstring. Embiid has played in 31 of 38 games and remained largely healthy, although he's dealing with a dislocated finger at the moment.

Trade targets: The Sixers are all-in with this powerful but flawed group, 37 years since their last NBA title. Shooting and playmaking are clear needs, so it will be surprising if Philly doesn't make a move by the deadline.

High-profile games:

• Boston (home 1/9, road 2/1)

• Indiana (road 1/13, home 3/14)

• Toronto (road 1/22, home 3/18)

• LA Lakers (home 1/25, road 3/3)

• Miami (road 2/3)

• Milwaukee (road 2/6, 2/22, home 4/7)

• LA Clippers (home 2/11, road 3/1)

Schedule breakdown: Philadelphia has had the 13th-easiest schedule thus far, according to ESPN's BPI, and it has the fifth-easiest remaining schedule. If the 76ers need to make a late playoff push, they'll be helped by an April schedule that sees them play just one game out of eight against a team that currently has a winning record.

Present and future outlook: The up-and-down nature of this season has made it hard at times to remember what this team can be when it is healthy and engaged. And the Sixers' lack of consistency could leave them in an undesirable position come April, as Philadelphia could find itself starting every playoff round on the road.

Indiana Pacers

Projected record: 47-35
Projected seed: No. 6 (70.8% likelihood)
Record against other four teams: 3-3

Season to date: Victor Oladipo's continued absence as he recovers from last January's knee surgery makes Indiana's presence on this list impressive. Coach Nate McMillan has blended newcomers and holdovers nicely, with Malcolm Brogdon taking on playmaking responsibilities and the combination of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner holding up better than expected -- they are at plus-7.0 per 100 possessions when they play together.

Injuries to watch: Oladipo, who hasn't played since Jan. 23, 2019, is targeting Jan. 29 against the Chicago Bulls as his return date. Brogdon, meanwhile, has missed several games due to back spasms and has a history of nagging injuries. For this team to advance, it likely needs both guards healthy and playing at a high level.

Trade targets: Teams around the league have been watching the Turner-Sabonis pairing since last season, wondering if and when the Pacers might decide to break it up to recalibrate their roster. If such a trade were to happen this season, it would likely include Turner, given the difficulty of trading Sabonis' poison-pill deal due to the extension he signed before the season. All in all, a major trade by the Pacers appears unlikely.

High-profile games:

• Philadelphia (home 1/13, road 3/14)

• Toronto (road 2/5 and 2/23, home 2/7)

• Milwaukee (home 2/12, road 3/4)

• Boston (home 3/10, road 4/8)

• Miami (home 3/20, road 4/7)

• LA Clippers (road 3/30)

• LA Lakers (road 4/1)

Schedule breakdown: The Pacers have had the fourth-easiest schedule thus far, according to ESPN's BPI but will have the 12th-most difficult schedule from now until the end of the season. In the eight games between Oladipo's slated return and the All-Star break, the Pacers will face the Raptors twice and host the Mavericks and Bucks.

Present and future outlook: A healthy Oladipo might be the biggest addition any of these teams will make in the next four weeks. If he can return to form, Indiana can make a run. Regardless, the Pacers have shown they will, at the very least, be a tough out for the team that gets matched up with them in Round 1.

The New York Mets just can't quit Tim Tebow.

Despite hitting just .163 with four home runs in 77 games at Triple-A Syracuse in 2019, the Mets have extended a spring training invitation to the 32-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner. He's one of eight non-roster invitees the club announced on Thursday.

Tebow begins his fourth full season in the Mets organization and owns a career batting line of .223/.299/.338 with 18 home runs and 327 strikeouts in 287 games. His 2019 season ended on July 21 with a laceration to his pinkie on his left hand. His 2018 season also ended early when he missed the final two months with a broken bone in his right hand.

Tebow, who works for the SEC Network as a football analyst during his baseball offseason, isn't a legitimate prospect, given his age and lack of production. The Mets have received criticism in the past for giving Tebow playing time in the minors over other players who might actually help the Mets in the future.

Tebow, however, remains popular among fans -- helping boost ticket sales for both home and road games -- and teammates, who have expressed throughout his minor league career that they enjoy having him around.

Tebow's best season in the minors came in 2018, when he hit .273/.336/.399 at Double-A Binghamton -- not terrible, but as a left fielder with poor range and below-average speed, the profile isn't that of a future major leaguer, even if he were 22 instead of 32.

Earlier in the offseason, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen did not rule out the possibility of Tebow playing for the Mets this season. "[He's] one step away," Van Wagenen said. As a non-roster player, Tebow would have to be added to the 40-man roster if he ever got called up to the majors, which would potentially mean removing another player.

Among the other non-roster invitees were left-handed pitcher David Peterson, the club's first-round pick in 2017 who had a 4.19 ERA at Double-A in 2019, and 22-year-old lefty Kevin Smith, the organization's minor league pitcher of the year in 2019 after posting a 3.15 ERA between Class A and Double-A.