NEW YORK -- The Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon, but will now have to wait to see if they'll have to spend time without Marcus Smart.

The Celtics guard was ruled out in the third quarter of the 113-104 win after taking a "direct blow to the abdomen" in attempting to take a charge against Knicks forward Kevin Knox.

"The only thing I heard is that it was, I don't know if it's his oblique, or right in that area, and they said, 'It wasn't as bad as in the past,'" Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "I don't know what that means. I'm sure we'll get more information in the next couple hours."

Smart, who was called for a blocking foul on the play, immediately began writhing in pain, and stayed down for a lengthy period of time. Eventually a timeout was called, and Smart was helped up off the ground. He then needed assistance to make his way back to Boston's locker room.

The "past" injury Stevens was referring to was when Smart ran into the hip of Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic back in April, causing him to miss about a month with a left oblique tear. It was a similarly benign play, and was followed by a similar reaction from Smart, down to grabbing at his left side and being in severe pain. Smart confirmed to NBC Sports Boston on his way out of the arena that he was hit in the "same spot" as he was back in April.

The Celtics are also expected to get an injury update Monday on the status of forward Gordon Hayward, who has been out for the past three weeks since undergoing surgery on a fractured bone in his left hand on Nov. 11. Hayward, who participated in non-contact, 5-on-0 portions of Saturday's practice and was shooting before the game Sunday while Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck looked on, is scheduled to have a FaceTime consultation with his doctor Monday to determine whether he can return to contact practice.

Boston said Hayward was expected to return in approximately six weeks when his surgery was announced.

ATLANTA – Terry Gray earned his 12th United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters Outlaw Thunder Tour National champion during the series’ 23rd season.

The veteran sprint car driver collected the National title plus two United Sprint Car Series regional series titles. In a year that saw a record 21 drivers win United Sprint Car Series main events, Gray made two visits to the victory lane and had 23 top-five finishes, plus 33 top-10 finishes and a record of perfect attendance during the 46 events to accumulate the most championship points.

Gray clinched the title during the two-day USCS Fall Brawl on Nov. 9-10 at the Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala., where he finished in the runner-up spot in a field of 31 entries in the 25-lap Saturday night preliminary main event.

During Sunday night’s season finale, he garnered a 10th-place finish to close out the season with the championship tucked away. He also will be recognized as the team owner of the car No. 10m driven by Morgan Turpen, who won the USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series championship.

‘We are very proud to announce Terry Gray is again our United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters National Champion,” said USCS Founder and President Pete Walton. “Gray has worked hard and is very professional in his approach to his goals and he and Morgan Turpen been very successful as a team this season. Both of those drivers have the work ethic that it takes to create champions and they are an example of what hard work and dedication and determination can accomplish. As a team always represent our series in a way that always makes us proud. Congratulations to Terry Gray Racing.”

Johnny Bridges finished in the runner-up spot behind Gray in the final USCS National standings. Bridges also had perfect attendance during the series’ 46 events and had two victories on the season at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C., on April 6 and at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn., on April 26. Bridges had a runner-up finish in the season’s final contest at Talladega Short Track on Nov. 10 to finish on a high note.

In addition to his runner-up standing in the USCS National point standings, Bridges garnered a second-place finish in both the USCS Southern Thunder and USCS Deep South regional series standings, as well as finishing in third in the USCS Mid-South regional series standings. It was Bridges first conquest of the entire USCS National Championship schedule since his 1998 rookie season.

The rest of the top-10 in the National Championship standings included Tony Agin, Jeff Willingham and USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series champion Turpen.

CONCORD, N.C. – Tyler Erb knew his start to the 2019 season wasn’t sustainable.

Erb, in his first season driving for Best Performance Motorsports, opened his season with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series by earning three victories in the first four races at Georgia’s Golden Isles Speedway and Florida’s East Bay Raceway Park.

The driver from New Waverly, Texas, didn’t finish outside the top-10 with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series until mid-April, but slowly his performance began to dip over the following weeks and months.

“It started out as good as it possibly could,” Erb recalled when discussing the start to his season. “We won the first race, won three of the first four and never ran out of the top-five for the first 10 or 15 nights. It’s not that we fell off, we came back to Earth.

“It’s not very often you get on a hot streak like a lot of those guys can do. JD (Jonathan Davenport) does it, Shepp (Brandon Sheppard) does, Scott (Bloomquist) has done it before, (Chris) Madden had a little streak. It’s just part of racing. It’s not easy to be the guy to beat every single night.”

Erb said he and Best Performance reached a low point in late July during events at Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway and I-80 Speedway in Kansas. At Lucas Oil Speedway during the Diamond Nationals the team struggled for speed, earning finishes of 16th and 21st.

A week later the struggles continued at I-80 Speedway, with Erb and company registering finishes of 15th and 25th on consecutive nights during the Silver Dollar Nationals.

“When we went to Wheatland and I-80 is when we had kind of our worst little stretch,” Erb said. “It wasn’t that we were slow. At I-80 I broke running third in a 100-lap race. Just a lot of bad things kind of all happened at once.”

After that low point, Erb said he and the team got back to work and put together several strong performances, which included a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway in September.

Erb and Best Performance ended the year with seven victories – six with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and a victory with the American Ethanol Late Model Tour at LaSalle Speedway in March.

When the team rolled into The Dirt Track at Charlotte in November for the Can-Am World Finals, Erb said he and the team were experimenting in an effort to get a leg up on the 2020 season.

“If we don’t try stuff now, when we go to Florida it’ll be hard to start over and try different things because we were so good,” Erb said.

The goal for next year is for Erb and company to improve upon the fourth-place finish he earned in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season standings this year. He plans to be back at Best Performance Motorsports next year and he see’s no reason why he and the team can’t be among the best in the country for the second-straight year.

“I think this was the best season we could have,” Erb said. “I let a lot of races kind of slide that I think we were in contention to win and I made a mistake or we had a flat tire or something like that. You’ll have that. For our first year with everybody being together, me driving for Eric (Brock) and everything with Randall (Edwards) and Colby.

“I think we had, for sure, out of everyone that races late models, I think we were definitely in the top-10 all year. Nothing to hang our heads about. It just gives us goals for next year.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is expected to miss four weeks with a shoulder injury.

The team said Werenski, 22, was hurt in the first period of Saturday night's 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders. Werenski has been bothered by shoulder problems in the past.

Werenski leads all Columbus defensemen in scoring this season with six goals and 10 assists in 26 games. His goal, assist and point totals rank third overall on the club.

Columbus' first selection, eighth overall, in the 2015 NHL draft, the Grosse Pointe, Michigan, native has registered 44 goals, 100 assists 56 penalty minutes in 263 career NHL games.

The Blue Jackets host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.

Arsenal's interim manager Freddie Ljungberg said Arsenal can still finish in the Premier League top four despite a 2-2 draw at Norwich City on Sunday that extended the club's winless streak in the league to six games.

Former Gunners' midfielder Ljungberg was in charge for the first time after Unai Emery's sacking on Friday and watched skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang twice level for his side.

There were plenty of positives for 42-year-old Ljungberg but Arsenal's defensive frailties would not have escaped him as struggling Norwich punished the visitors with goals by Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell in the first half.

Arsenal are enduring their longest winless league run in a single season since 1994 and are seven points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea in eighth spot. They have not won in all competitions for eight games but Ljungberg remained upbeat.

"100 percent," the Swede said when asked if Arsenal could still mount a top-four challenge. "People drop points here and there and we drop points, it's a crazy league at the moment. I hope and think Arsenal can finish in the top four."

Ljungberg said ideally he would have "five or six weeks" to get his ideas across to the players but with a home match against Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday before a trip to West Ham United the following Monday he does not have that luxury.

After Aubameyang's second equaliser early in the second half it was actually Norwich who looked the more likely winners as the game finished wide open. Ljungberg said tightening up all over the pitch was an area that his side needed to work on.

"We have problems in transitions, and that's what I will try to fix," he said, adding that he wanted Arsenal to have more possession and deny their opponents as many chances to shoot.

"I will just try to do small building blocks and try to change things in a slow tempo, so hopefully we can understand it and practice it. But right now we have players who need to recover and we probably only get one and a half [training sessions] again before the next game.

"That's football, for me I just try to make it as simple as possible for the players and hopefully we can get better."

While Norwich remain second from bottom, they played with a verve that suggests they can survive in the top flight.

"A draw wasn't a fair result," manager Daniel Farke said. "I'm pretty proud of the performance. It was a great day and my players left their hearts on the pitch."

The Canaries face a huge game away at third-bottom Southampton on Wednesday.

"It will be tough for us and we have to be at our best again," City' German coach added. "We have to deliver on a weekly or daily basis in this festive period, that's what we're trying to do."

MANCHESTER, England -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the league table is "not the biggest concern" even after he watched his Manchester United team draw 2-2 with Aston Villa to slip closer to the relegation places than the top four.

United are ninth in the Premier League, six points off 18th and eight points adrift of Chelsea in fourth, after managing only a point against Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday.

"I wouldn't have sat here and talked about us being fifth if we had got that one goal extra, so the league table at this point is not the biggest concern because it is so tight," Solskjaer told a news conference.

"I just need to make sure that we get performances and get three or four performances after each other -- and results.

"What I can say is so far we have had the lead in so many games and we haven't been able to win those games, six or seven times we've been 1-0 up, or 2-1 or 3-2 like last week [against Sheffield United].

"We should be better at seeing those games into wins."

United came back from 1-0 down to lead Villa 2-1 before Tyrone Mings scored an equaliser for the visitors, who had arrived at Old Trafford with the worst away record in the league.

It was the third time in eight days Solskjaer's team had squandered winning positions after the draw at Sheffield United and defeat against Astana.

"I think there's loads of evidence these boys are closer to winning games than losing games and we have to tip those margins in our favour," said Solskjaer.

"The first half wasn't good enough. We're disappointed in that because all the boys stayed here while the young boys and us went over to Kazakhstan, so we should have been coming out of the traps quicker. First half wasn't good enough, second half was what we want to see."

After the disappointing draw with Villa, United face former boss Jose Mourinho and Tottenham on Wednesday before heading to the Etihad Stadium to play Manchester City on Saturday.

Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba were both absent against Villa, but Solskjaer is not ruling out the pair featuring against Spurs.

"We've still got two days," he said.

"We need to look at everyone here as well. Let's see. Hopefully we can see one of them on the pitch, but they're working hard behind the scenes."

MANCHESTER, England -- At the start of a week that could prove a defining one for his reign at Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needed a win on Sunday. He did not get it.

Aston Villa, newly promoted from the Championship, turned up at Old Trafford having lost 20 of their previous 24 away games in the Premier League. They left with a 2-2 draw. Next up for Solskjaer is Tottenham and Jose Mourinho on Wednesday and then a derby with Manchester City three days later.

Ninth in the table and closer to the relegation places than the top four, these are nervous times for the Norwegian. We have reached the point where he is living off the goodwill of executive vice chairman Ed Woodward and the Glazers. It is United's worst start to a season since 1988.

To put it into context, Solskjaer's United have taken 26 points from the 22 league games since he was appointed permanent manager in March. Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by Tottenham after collecting 25 points from his last 22 games in charge. Unai Emery was dismissed by Arsenal having taken 28 points from his final 22 games.

"The decision has been taken due to results and performances not being at the level required," Arsenal said in their statement. "Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing," was Tottenham's official reason for getting rid of Pochettino.

Even framed within United's recent history, Solskjaer is in uncharted territory. Mourinho took 35 points from his last 22 games before he was sacked. Before Louis van Gaal got the axe, it was 37 points from his last 22. David Moyes managed 36 points in his last 22 games in charge.

Solskjaer is still trying to stay positive.

"I think there is loads of evidence these boys are closer to winning games than losing games," said the United manager. "Of course we have to tip those margins in our advantage. The first half wasn't good enough. We should have been coming out of the traps quicker."

He was right, and for 45 minutes, Villa had the run of Old Trafford. They had the game's outstanding player, Jack Grealish, strolling around picking pass after pass. After 25 minutes, he had been fouled four times.

His dart forward after 11 minutes took him past Andreas Pereira before bending an exquisite strike beyond David De Gea and into the top corner. It will be in the running for goal of the season. Grealish really should be playing for England.

It took United more than 20 minutes to register a shot on target, and even that was a tame effort from Anthony Martial at Tom Heaton's near post. The frustration inside the stadium was already bubbling. Trezeguet had a goal ruled out for offside, and as the resulting free kick was being taken, the home fans roared United forward with a simmering anger.

One supporter in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand stood to scream at Solskjaer to "get that Pereira off," but he had barely time to sit down when Juan Mata and Fred worked a short corner to the Brazilian to whip a wonderful first-time cross toward the back post. Marcus Rashford headed against the post and Heaton was unlucky to see the ball rebound off his back and into the net. United went in at half-time level but it said everything about the performance that MUTV's analysis at the break centred on how fortunate they had been.

At least they started the second half like a team who had been given a week to prepare with all XI spared the gruelling midweek trip to Kazakhstan.

Martial and Aaron Wan-Bissaka forced Heaton into saves, but there was nothing the former United keeper could do when Fred's cross flicked off Wesley and reached Victor Lindelof at the far post. The Swede's header looped back across goal and inside the post for his first goal of the season.

Disaster averted. Or not quite. The lead lasted less than two minutes, and United have now squandered winning positions three times in the past eight games.

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Tyrone Mings was in so much space in the penalty area when he smashed his volley past De Gea that he didn't want to celebrate fearing VAR would make him look silly. He needn't have worried as the replays showed he was being played onside by Brandon Williams, who had been slow to get out.

Confidence is fragile, and United have kept just one clean sheet in their past 13 games. Aston Villa started the day with the worst away record in the division and yet they left disappointed that they only came away with a point.

Solskjaer's plan is clear, and it is no accident that United have the youngest average starting XI in the Premier League at just over 25, but there is no getting away from the fact that results -- two wins from six games in all competitions and four wins from 14 league games -- have been poor.

Gary Neville has urged his former teammate to "protect himself" by spending money in January, particularly on a midfield that has looked threadbare since the summer. Solskjaer sees it differently and insists his focus is on the club's future and not his own short-term prospects. But much like Mourinho's availability cast a shadow over Van Gaal during the Dutchman's final months, Pochettino's presence is lingering over Solskjaer.

The long-term vision is admirable but, if nothing else, results including another setback against Villa have given Woodward and the Glazers a decision to make. A week that serves up both Tottenham and City does not offer much respite.

Boston College fired coach Steve Addazio on Sunday after seven seasons at the school, sources told ESPN.

Addazio led the Eagles to bowl eligibility in six of seven seasons, but he never won more than seven games at the school. He finishes his career at 44-44 overall and 22-34 in ACC play, with a 1-3 mark in bowl games (the First Responder Bowl last year was a no contest because of extensive weather delays). Boston College won at Pittsburgh on Saturday to even its regular-season record at 6-6.

Yahoo! first reported Addazio's dismissal Sunday, adding that wide receivers coach Rich Gunnell will serve as Boston College's interim coach. The Eagles will learn their bowl destination next Sunday.

Athletic director Martin Jarmond didn't hire Addazio, who received a two-year contract extension late last season, although industry sources said the school considered making the change a year ago. Addazio came to Boston College after two seasons as Temple's coach.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars benched Super Bowl-winning quarterback Nick Foles after a terrible first half against Tampa Bay in a 28-11 loss on Sunday.

Gardner Minshew, the team's sixth-round draft pick who subbed for an injured Foles earlier in the season, took over to start the second half, and though he performed slightly better, could not rally the Jaguars out of a 25-point hole.

Foles turned the ball over on the Jaguars' first three possessions -- the first quarterback to do that since Chicago's Mike Glennon in 2017 -- and then registered three consecutive three-and-outs. The Jaguars had just 105 yards of offense and five first downs before the half.

Minshew finished with 147 yards on 16-of-27 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception in the second half.

Coach Doug Marrone's decision to go with Minshew may be for this week only as a way to spark a stagnant offense. If it's for the rest of the season, however, it creates an interesting dilemma in 2020. If the Jaguars have an open QB competition and Minshew wins the starting job, what do they do with Foles?

He has a dead cap hit of $33.875 million if released before June 1, but that number drops to $21.375 million if he's released after June 1. A post-June 1 trade would save the Jaguars $15.875 million and include a dead cap hit of $6.25 million.

The Jaguars signed Foles to a four-year, $88 million contract with a franchise-record $50.125 million guaranteed in March, and owner Shad Khan said it was his dream to land the player who led Philadelphia to a Super Bowl LII victory over New England. Foles threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns and also caught a touchdown pass to earn MVP honors.

Foles didn't even make it to halftime of the 2019 season opener before being injured. He suffered a broken collarbone on the Jaguars' 11th snap when Kansas City defensive lineman Chris Jones landed on him after Foles let the ball go on what would be a 35-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark.

Minshew stepped in for Foles and had an impressive debut: 22-of-25 for 275 yards and two TDs with one interception. Minshew started the next eight games and led the Jaguars to a 4-4 record, throwing for 2,285 yards and 13 touchdowns with four interceptions.

His attitude, attire (jorts, headband, aviators) and mustache -- coupled with his freewheeling style of play -- led to Minshew Mania erupting across the country. That came to a crashing halt against Houston in Week 9, however, when Minshew turned the ball over four times (two interceptions, two fumbles) and led the Jaguars to just one field goal in a 26-3 loss at Wembley Stadium in London.

Minshew had his problems holding on to the ball, too. At one point he led the NFL with seven lost fumbles but is second now behind the New York Giants' Daniel Jones (10). He fumbled once on Sunday but the Jaguars were able to recover the ball.

CINCINNATI -- The drought is over.

The Cincinnati Bengals beat the New York Jets 22-6 on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium for their first win of the season. Coming into Sunday's game, Cincinnati was the lone remaining winless team this season. With four games remaining after this weekend, the Bengals were at risk of joining the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns as the only teams to go 0-16 in NFL history.

But after a strong performance against the Jets, Cincinnati will avoid those footnotes. Sunday's win was also the first victory for rookie coach Zac Taylor.

Before Sunday, the Bengals were mired in their worst start to a season in franchise history. Cincinnati lost the first 11 games of the season, surpassing the 10-game losing streak at the start of the 1993 season. The Bengals also dropped 13 consecutive games dating back to last season, which was also a team record.

Against the Jets, Cincinnati's offense was bolstered by the return of veteran quarterback Andy Dalton, who was reinserted into the starting lineup after spending three games on the bench. One day after the Bengals' 16-10 loss to the Steelers in Week 12, Taylor said he was going back to Dalton because he felt the ninth-year player out of TCU gave the Bengals the best chance to win.

Dalton delivered in a performance that yielded multiple personal records. He was 22-of-37 passing for 243 yards and one touchdown. His 17-yard scoring pass to Tyler Boyd in the first quarter was the 196th of his career and broke Ken Anderson's record for most career passing touchdowns by a Bengal. Dalton also broke Anderson's mark for most career completions in franchise history.

The loss was historically significant for the Jets (5-7), who had their three-game winning streak snapped. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Jets are the first team in NFL history with multiple losses in one season to teams who entered the matchup 0-7 or worse -- the Jets lost to the Dolphins in Week 9, giving Miami their first win of the season.

New York's offense struggled against a Cincinnati defense that ranked near the bottom of the league in several statistical categories, including total defense.

The Jets were held to 271 yards. Cincinnati sacked quarterback Sam Darnold four times, with defensive end Carlos Dunlap accounting for three of those. Darnold was 28-of-48 passing for 239 yards.

Of course, some of the 39,408 in attendance might want Cincinnati to keep the winning to a minimum. The Bengals entered Week 13 with a 63.8 percent chance to finish the year with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, according to ESPN Stats and Information. Miami, the team with the second-best odds at 16 percent, beat the Eagles on Sunday to improve to 3-9.