Paul Coughlin has re-signed for Durham after his two-year spell at Nottinghamshire was blighted by a series of injuries that limited his to ten appearances for the club.

Coughlin, 27, captained Durham's T20 side in 2017 and was part of the England Lions squad the following spring, but he found himself considering giving up the game altogether during his time on the sidelines, and will return to his boyhood club for the 2020 season.

ALSO READ: Wounded Lion Coughlin keen to make up for lost time

"I would like to thank Mick [Newell], Peter [Moores] and the club for their understanding," said Coughlin.

"Unfortunately, I suffered a couple of serious injuries while at Notts which meant I spent most of the last two years with the physio James Pipe and undergoing rehab with Liam Price [the club's strength and conditioning coach]. I am very grateful for all the work they did with me.

"During these periods of injury, I questioned whether I even wanted to continue playing cricket professionally.

"The support I received from Notts during this period was excellent and I am disappointed I was unable to repay them with performances on the field. However, for personal reasons I felt I needed a fresh start. I am very excited to be returning home to Durham and I hope this move will help me get my career back on track."

Coughlin's departure at the end of the 2017 season was controversial, and led Sir Ian Botham, Durham's president, to call for a football-style compensation system whereby clubs are rewarded financially for developing young players.

But after dislocating his right shoulder diving in the field during a Lions game in Antigua, Coughlin did not bowl for the first team in 2018, playing three T20s as a specialist batsmen.

He continued his rehabilitation with a spell playing in the Everest Premier League in Nepal, but broke a finger on his Championship debut in April, and then suffered a serious hamstring strain in his first 50-over game for the club in May.

He returned to fitness in time to play four late-season Championship games, but ended the campaign with a batting average of 23.85 and 11 wickets at 48.18.

"Paul's time with us was blighted by injury to an extent that nobody could have predicted," said Moores, Nottinghamshire's coach.

"It was really unfortunate, of course for him because he was desperate to get going, and also for the club because he was set to be a big signing for us, at an important time having lost a number of senior players at the back end of 2017.

"The desire he showed to get back playing and the way he approached his rehab was second to none. He became a hugely popular person within the group and someone everyone was desperate to see get the success his effort and talent deserved.

"Hopefully now, back at Durham, he can put his injury woes behind him and play some good cricket for them."

Marcus North, Durham's director of cricket said: "We are delighted that this opportunity has presented itself for Durham to bring one of its home-grown players back to the club.

"Paul is an outstanding all-round player who will add quality to the Durham squad in all formats. We are all excited to welcome him back at the club following two years away and look forward to Paul having a huge impact here at the Emirates Riverside."

Britain's Katie Boulter has been beaten by world number 646 Joanna Garland in Thailand on her return from injury.

Boulter, 23, was competing on the ITF Tour, having not played since April because of a back stress fracture.

She lost a tight first set on a tie-break but was then dominated by her Taiwanese opponent in the second, losing 7-6 (7-2) 6-1.

Boulter was injured in a Great Britain Fed Cup tie against Kazakhstan but said in October she is now pain free.

She was the British number two and ranked 85th in the world before the injury, but has now dropped to 352nd.

Nicholas Pooran has agreed a return to Headingley for next summer's Vitality Blast, after impressing during his brief spell at the club in 2019.

Pooran, one of the rising stars of West Indies cricket, will be available for the majority of Yorkshire's North-Group matches in 2020, subject to international commitments.

"I'm very happy to be returning to Headingley for next season's T20 Blast," he said. "I really enjoyed my short stint there after the World Cup and feel I have a bit of unfinished business with the weather winning in a couple of the games I was scheduled to play in 2019.

"I look forward to catching up with my team-mates in 2020."

A member of the West Indies squad at this summer's World Cup, Pooran top-scored with 63 in defeat against the eventual champions, England, at Southampton, before making a brilliant 118 in a spirited run-chase against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street.

He subsequently featured in three of a scheduled five Blast matches for Yorkshire, including a memorable 67 off 28 balls to defeat Leicestershire at Grace Road. His innings helped Yorkshire to 255 for 2 - the second highest total in English T20 history.

In the Caribbean Super League, Pooran helped guide the Guyana Amazon Warriors to a perfect 10 from 10 - winning all the club's group-stage matches before losing out to Barbados Tridents in the final.

"We all got a glimpse of what a special player he is [last season]," said Andrew Gale, Yorkshire's first-team coach. "He is box office. In T20 cricket, you always look down the team sheet to see who can win you a game, and Pooran is a guy that can win you a game on his own.

"We saw how well he played at Leicester. I thought that he was going to get us over the line in the Roses game as well where he played really well. He showed us what he is about.

ALSO READ: 'Didn't want to finish my career plodding along' - Malan joins Yorkshire

"We brought Nicholas in for what we could afford last year. With more funds available, we wanted to bring somebody in for a longer period of time. To get him for a major chunk of the competition is a big plus for us. He fitted into the dressing room really well.

"Nicholas brings you two places in the team as he keeps wicket as well. When he is on with the bat, he is as explosive as anyone in world cricket."

Pooran's unveiling comes in the same week that Dawid Malan completed his own move from Middlesex to Yorkshire, and Gale anticipated the two players would have a significant impact for the club.

"In both players you are getting proven players in the T20 format, and proven match winners," Gale said. "It certainly gives us lots more experience in our line-up.

"I felt that last year, we missed out on close games when the pressure was on. At the back end of games, we couldn't get over the line, and bringing in experienced players helps you with that. It brings a calmness and coolness under pressure. Getting these two guys should give us that calmness."

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire's Director of Cricket, said: "From the end of his time with us last year, we said that we wanted to keep in touch and keep him as an option for this summer.

"We are pleased that it has worked out that way. He is a player with an incredible talent and such an explosive player. We feel that he will be a great addition to our T20 Blast squad.

"We are adding quality to our squad. We want to make a real effort to win the competition. Bringing in Dawid and Nicholas is a massive boost to the quality of the squad. We have some talented batsmen already at the club, but these two additions are really making us, on paper, a strong outfit."

NEW YORK -- A year ago, Kentucky was sent home from the Champions Classic in a daze after getting blown out by Zion Williamson and Duke.

This time around, the Wildcats are heading home with a win over the preseason No. 1 team in the country.

No. 2 Kentucky, behind a stellar performance from freshman guard Tyrese Maxey, knocked off top-ranked Michigan State on Tuesday 69-62.

Maxey came off the bench in his first career game to deliver 26 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including the game-clinching 3-pointer with just over a minute left.

"I shot that shot 1,000 times in high school. I shot it 1,000 times this summer," Maxey said. "I have confidence in myself because I put in the work."

Maxey, a five-star recruit coming out of high school, provided much-needed offensive spark for Kentucky on a night when the rest of the team shot 12-for-38 from the field and 3-for-11 from 3-point range. He knocked down three 3-pointers and grabbed five rebounds.

"I didn't start him because I told him I wanted [him] to come in firing," Calipari said. "I want you to watch what's happening, and you get in there, and you let it go."

"What I saw today is what I saw in high school," Calipari added. "I [had] not seen it to this point. I'm in practice, where's the sniper that I recruited? ... But the two days prior to this, all I talked about was you be that sniper -- play. We need you to get baskets for us."

The much-hyped point guard matchup between Michigan State's Cassius Winston and Kentucky's Ashton Hagans didn't disappoint, as Winston finished with 21 points and four assists, but Hagans had his moments (11 points, three assists) and made life difficult for Winston. Winston's floater and free throw with 1:27 remaining cut Kentucky's lead to two, but Maxey's pull-up 3 came on the next possession.

Michigan State struggled to generate consistent offense throughout the night, especially with Winston picking up four fouls and sitting on the bench for stretches in both halves. The Spartans shot only 29.6% in the first half and went 5-for-26 in the game from 3-point range.

"I love the fact that we shot 39% today and won," Calipari said. "Those are my games. Because we guarded.

"You saw we got our running game going, so I thought they were wearing down a little bit," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo told ESPN after the game. "We just couldn't sustain it. When we got rebounds and ran, we were pretty good. I thought Cassius was a little tired tonight. I was surprised because he's in really good shape. ... They have things to work on. I have more things to work on than they do."

That's a different sentiment than Kentucky felt last year, when the Wildcats were blown out by 34 at the hands of Duke. But last year, Kentucky didn't dwell on the loss -- "That's been in the past," Hagans said -- and Calipari doesn't want to overhype Tuesday's win, either.

"I told these guys, I've been on all sides of this," he said. "In all those years of what we're talking about, at the end of the year, we were one of those teams. And that's all this is. This was a learning experience for all four teams here."

Maxey, who turned 19 on Monday, called Tuesday's win an "amazing birthday celebration." However, his biggest personal highlight wasn't his 26 points or his game-clinching shot.

"Looking up at the zeroes and seeing we were ahead of the other team and won," Maxey said with a smile.

Kentucky hosts Eastern Kentucky on Friday, and Michigan State heads home to face Binghamton on Sunday.

CHICAGO -- With LeBron James catching his breath after playing nearly the entire third quarter and Anthony Davis sitting on the bench right beside him, saddled with four fouls, the Los Angeles Lakers relied on an unlikely lineup to key a fourth-quarter comeback against the Chicago Bulls.

When Kyle Kuzma, Quinn Cook, Alex Caruso, Dwight Howard and Troy Daniels stepped onto the court to begin the fourth Tuesday, L.A. trailed by 13. Three minutes and 48 seconds of game time later, the Lakers led by 3. L.A. used the 16-0 surge to guide them to a 118-112 win, their sixth victory in a row.

"That's the Kuz we know," James said of the Lakers' third-year forward who pumped in 11 of his 15 points in the final frame.

Kuzma was playing in just his third game this season after being sidelined for nearly three months with a stress reaction in his left ankle suffered during USA Basketball training camp.

He sprung to life Tuesday night by making a 3 on the Lakers' first possession of the fourth.

Up to that point, he was 1-for-13 from 3 on the season. He finished the fourth quarter by making five of his eight shots in the period.

"Just confidence," Kuzma said. "Anytime, at least for me, shots go in, I get more and more confidence, and I feel like that's kind of the gist of what happened tonight."

In Kuzma's first two games back, he totaled just 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting. The first half was going in the same direction for him, as he shot 1-for-6 from the field with three turnovers, before he finally found his footing.

"He was kind of rushing a little bit and had some turnovers and just was playing a little fast," James said. "The one thing for him, he can't try to just get it all the way back in the first couple games. I think it will slowly continue to get back. ...

"Kuz is going to be a great piece for our team. He showed that tonight, why. Offensively and defensively he was just so in tune and everybody else that was on the floor as well."

The loss dropped the Bulls to 2-6.

Bulls coach Jim Boylen, who elected not to call a timeout during the 16-0 run, took responsibility for the fourth-quarter collapse.

"I've got to do a better job of getting guys to understand winning basketball, and they're a young group, so that's what I've got to do," Boylen said.

As well as Kuzma played, Cook, Howard and Caruso were right there with him in importance during the comeback. Cook scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth, including the go-ahead 3 with 8:53 remaining to give L.A. back the edge. Howard put up six points, five rebounds and a blocked shot, and Caruso had four points and two steals.

"Anytime our bench comes in and does great things, I want to be the first one off the bench cheering those guys on right on the court, jumping up and down, because it gives them confidence as well," said Davis, who admitted that James, DeMarcus Cousins and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope kept him encouraged when his Chicago homecoming got off to such a rocky start with him shooting just 2-for-9 in the first half. "So we're one big team. No matter who is on the floor, we got to have guys come in and play, and we should be able to throw anybody in the fire, and we did that tonight. Plenty of guys stepped up."

It was such a group effort that James' brilliance was overshadowed. The 17-year veteran finished with 30 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to tie his personal best of three straight triple-doubles, becoming the first Laker to accomplish the feat since Magic Johnson in 1987.

"Washed King," Davis said to James, teasingly after the game.

"Washed," James said. "Super washed."

Then Davis broke out a falsetto voice: "I'm LeBron James, and I can't do anything anymore except record triple-doubles."

The triple-doubles coincided with a 3-0 road trip for the Lakers, who will return to L.A. with the best record in the league.

"It comes with team success for me," James said. "Triple-double means absolutely nothing to me if it's not in a win. This is three wins for us, and I feel pretty happy about the way we performed."

It was a night where he was helped by his teammates just as much as he helped them.

"Those guys came in and gave us a huge push," James said. "And we needed every minute of it."

SALISBURY, N.C. – Alex Bright stayed patient during Tuesday night’s 30-lap non-winged micro feature at Millbridge Speedway, and it paid off with a $2,000 check during the TRD Micro Showdown opener.

Bright spent most of the race as the chaser, trailing outside polesitter Austin Quick from lap two to lap 20, but used a perfectly-timed turn four slide job to wrest the lead away with 10 to go and never looked back.

Once he got out front, Bright opened up a 1.235-second margin on his way to the victory over Quick, with fast qualifier Chase Cabre completing the podium.

The win was Bright’s first victory at the sixth-mile dirt oval, and he credited “getting up on the wheel” with helping him get the job done on Tuesday night.

“I really think the car was there the entire race. Just, once he got me, I figured out that I needed to get on the gas a little bit more and drive it a little bit harder,” Bright said. “I adjusted the shocks a little bit, but I pretty much just started driving her harder and it worked. This No. 20 Rodota Trucking & Excavating/Evo/Lineman Motorsports Hyper was a rocket tonight and hopefully we can get it going well tomorrow with a wing on it also.”

While Bright wouldn’t give away any trade secrets, he did note that he took a few lessons away that will serve him well in Wednesday night’s $5,000-to-win winged micro feature.

“I learned a lot about the track and how it might end up, but car wise, I think it’s going to be a clean slate for everyone tomorrow,” Bright said. “I’m looking forward to that and ready to put on a show again.”

Quick qualified second in his flight, won his heat race and his qualifier, but ended up second when it mattered most.

“Being able to follow someone, honestly, was where he got me,” noted Quick. “When you run second you can get not so comfortable and see where you can judge your speed better. So that’s where he snookered me. His corner entry was way better than mine. I just got comfortable and was like, ‘all right, I don’t really feel anyone and don’t really hear anyone, so I think I’m good here.’ And that’s my fault for not searching enough.

“At the end of the night, that’s where the race was lost.”

Behind the show position, Brian Carber crossed fourth and Emerson Axsom was fifth.

Two major incidents marred the 30-lap non-winged main event, with a four-wide scramble going wrong in turn one on the 11th lap and sending Nash Ely into a double flip in the center of the corner to start.

That crash was followed by a vicious incident on lap 14, where Brent Crews smacked the outside wall off the fourth corner and started flipping down the frontstretch, before being clipped by James Morris just before the start/finish line.

Morris then went for a series of rolls in his own right before coming to rest on the inside of the first turn.

Both Crews and Morris climbed from their cars under power and walked away from the accident scene.

Those two crashes brought the H3 Photography Flip Count to four through two days of competition.

Wednesday’s TRD Micro Showdown program will be headlined by a $5,000-to-win winged micro sprint feature, with Intermediate and Open outlaw karts joining in the fun.

Pit gates open at 3 p.m., with the drivers meeting set for 5:15 p.m. and hot laps starting at 6 p.m.

To view complete race results, advance to the next page.

Karnataka Police's Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested 29-year-old batsman Nishant Shekhawat for his alleged involvement in fixing matches in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL).

The Indian Express reported that Shekhawat played an intermediary role between bookie Manoj Kumar alias Monty, and Bengaluru Blasters bowling coach Vinu Prasad, who was arrested alongside Blasters batsman M Viswanathan in late October.

Shekhawat allegedly lured Viswanathan into a fix with the help of Prasad during the 2018 season. Shekhawat was a player with the Shivamogga Lions franchise at the time.

The report stated that the police discovered Viswanathan was allegedly tasked with scoring fewer than ten runs in 20 balls in a 2018 fixture against Hubli Tigers, a fix in which he allegedly confirmed participation by changing bats and rolling up his sleeves. Viswanathan made 9 off 17 balls in that innings.

Shekhawat is the fifth man, and second player, to be arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption in the league, which began with the arrest of franchise owner Ali Asfak Thara and the suspension of his franchise Belagavi Panthers last month. Drummer Bhavesh Bafna, who was outed by a cricketer he allegedly approached, is the other person who was arrested, and is being monitored by the BCCI's anti-corruption unit since he also played the drums during Royal Challengers Bangalore's home games at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The 13 members of the College Football Playoff selection committee reminded everyone in its first ranking that last year is irrelevant.

Defending national champs?

Say hello to the bubble, as No. 5 Clemson is behind two Big Ten teams and two SEC teams.

No. 1 Ohio State earned the top spot, followed by No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Penn State.

It's clear that the eye test matters to this group, as the Buckeyes' sheer dominance outweighed LSU's résumé, which includes wins against Texas, No. 10 Florida and No. 11 Auburn. Texas was not ranked by the committee, which could be a problem for No. 9 Oklahoma. The one-loss Sooners aren't out of it but clearly need some help. (Of course, with LSU and Alabama facing off this weekend, and Ohio State and Penn State squaring off later in the season, these rankings should change in a hurry.)

Georgia earned the No. 6 spot ahead of No. 7 Oregon as the committee's top one-loss team, and the Bulldogs' best wins were against No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 10 Florida. No other Pac-12 teams were ranked besides No. 7 Oregon and No. 8 Utah.

Undefeated Baylor was ranked No. 12 behind two-loss Auburn, while undefeated Minnesota was No. 17. No. 20 Cincinnati was the highest-ranked Group of 5 team, which also adds to No. 1 Ohio State's résumé, but it's a crowded race for a New Year's Six spot. No. 21 Memphis, No. 22 Boise State, No. 24 Navy and No. 25 SMU are all in the mix.

Here's how the College Football Playoff and New Year's Six games would look if they were played today:

No. 1 Ohio State would face No. 4 Penn State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, while No. 2 LSU would face No. 3 Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. The selection committee doesn't want to put the No. 1 team at any geographic disadvantage, so Ohio State would get to go to Atlanta, which is closer to home. The committee also doesn't worry about rematches in the semifinals.

Because the Big Ten champion and its second-highest ranked team are both in the semifinals, No. 13 Wisconsin would go to the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual, where it would face No. 7 Oregon because the Rose Bowl also is guaranteed the Pac-12 champion if it's not in a semifinal.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl, which is guaranteed an SEC team against a Big 12 team, would take No. 6 Georgia against No. 9 Oklahoma, as they are both the highest-ranked teams available from each conference.

The Capital One Orange Bowl is guaranteed the ACC champion, which would be No. 5 Clemson, in this case, against a team from the SEC, Big Ten or Notre Dame. Clemson would face No. 10 Florida, as it is the highest-ranked team available.

The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic would feature No. 8 Utah against No. 20 Cincinnati, which is guaranteed a spot as the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion.

(All games can be seen on ESPN and the ESPN App)

Saturday, Dec. 28
Noon ET: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 8 Utah vs. No. 20 Cincinnati (AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas)

4 or 8 p.m. ET: College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Penn State (Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta)

4 or 8 p.m. ET: College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Alabama (State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona)

Monday, Dec. 30
8 p.m. ET: Capital One Orange Bowl: No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 10 Florida (Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida)

Wednesday, Jan. 1
5 p.m. ET: Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual: No. 7 Oregon vs. No. 13 Wisconsin (Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California)

8:45 p.m. ET: Allstate Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans)

Defending champion Clemson entered the season as the overwhelming preseason No. 1, and without losing a game or superstar quarterback Trevor Lawrence or any of their other standouts, the Tigers find themselves No. 5 in the first College Football Playoff ranking.

As improbable as that might have seemed back in August, the selection committee made a resounding statement with its first selections on Tuesday: The Tigers are not only being held to a higher standard than everyone else, but they are also being punished for playing in the ACC.

Specifically, they are being punished for a one-point win over North Carolina.

It is obvious when you compare the résumés of Clemson and No. 3 Alabama. Neither the Tigers nor the Crimson Tide have beaten a team ranked in the top 25. They share the same "best" win: Texas A&M. Clemson has beaten more Power 5 teams than Alabama has. Clemson has beaten more teams with winning records than Alabama has. Clemson's opponents have a better overall win percentage than Alabama's.

What is very clearly holding Clemson back is a closer-than-expected 21-20 road win against North Carolina, which currently has a losing record. The Tigers have been in several other close games against ACC opponents in years when they made the College Football Playoff, and it didn't seem to hurt them as much (last year's 27-23 win over Syracuse, for example). The difference this season is what appears to be overwhelming agreement that the ACC is the worst among the Power 5 conferences.

It doesn't help that No. 19 Wake Forest is the only other ranked ACC team. It doesn't help that Syracuse has had a dreadful season one year after winning 10 games. It doesn't help that Florida State and Miami are average at best.

Nothing, it seems, helps Clemson: Not a better schedule than Alabama's to this point. Not a win margin of 29.4 points (that includes the one-point win over North Carolina). Not seven games in which it has scored 40 or more points. Not a 24-game winning streak or its title as defending champion. Not even the advanced metrics, such as FPI and SP+, which both rate Clemson higher than Penn State.

The selection committee has made clear that it will judge each team based on this season and this season alone. Clemson is not going to get some sort of pass for winning the national title last season, even if the Tigers are the first defending champs to be outside the top four in the initial rankings. But the committee also has emphasized the "eye test," and the thought was that overall schedule strength would be one among many factors it considers.

Since a lousy first quarter against Louisville on Oct. 19, Clemson has outscored its opponents 160-31. Two of its past three wins have come against ACC teams with winning records. Lawrence has not thrown an interception in his past seven quarters, and the Clemson offense seems to have hit its groove. And oh, by the way, the starters have played a complete game twice this season.

After the North Carolina victory, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney defended his program, saying, "It's not easy to win. I know we're supposed to destroy everybody, like nobody else has scholarships, nobody else has coaches. It doesn't work that way. We're just normal people. There's nothing special about us. We're not perfect. We don't coach perfect. Unfortunately, we don't play perfect every down, every game, but we found a way to win an ugly game."

The truth is nobody wants to see Clemson win an ugly game against competition others deem unworthy. There appears to be little that Clemson could have done to avoid this scenario, except beat North Carolina by 30. But even then, you have to wonder whether the Tigers would be any higher than they are now, given the expectation level relative to that of the competition. Having their starters play every snap in every game likely would not have made a difference.

During his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Swinney questioned why Alabama always gets the benefit of the doubt for beating up on its conference opponents, but Clemson does not.

"It is just the same ol' spin," he said.

He added that he wasn't sure if he would even watch to see where his team was ranked.

"It just doesn't matter," Swinney said. "If we're 2, 3, 4, 15 -- it just doesn't matter. It's not worth the brain cells. We just go to work and try to have a good Wednesday practice."

Granted, all of this will change once LSU and Alabama play this weekend. Penn State has a tough game on Saturday at undefeated Minnesota, and then the Nittany Lions face No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 23 in Columbus.

If Clemson wins out, the Tigers are almost assuredly in. But these rankings reveal that there is no margin for error for the defending champs. It is hard to envision a scenario in which they can overcome a loss, the way they did in their 2016 championship season, unless there is absolute chaos down the stretch.

No matter what Swinney says, Clemson needs to be perfect. But even then, there will be questions about how good this team is if it does, indeed, make it back to the playoff.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- In a powerful pregame moment Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Thunder presented custom city-edition jerseys to the families of the 168 people killed in the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah bombing.

Following a short video presentation, the families took the floor moments before tipoff and held up jerseys displaying No. 95 and the name of their loved one on the back.

"It was amazing. Just 10 out of 10, bro," Thunder center Steven Adams said. "Just something unbelievably special."

The Thunder's city jersey is a collaboration between the Thunder, Nike and the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The uniform features plenty of symbolism, including the gold coloring representing the "Gates of Time" from the memorial (9:01 and 9:03), a picture of the Survivor Tree on the belt (a 90-year-old American elm that survived the blast and now stands at the heart of the memorial) and a number of other subtle nods.

"You know for a lot of guys on our team, some of them weren't even born then," Chris Paul said. "And for me, I was 10 years old and I remember that. I remember being at school. It's tough. And then playing here my first two years knowing how much that event impacted the city. My grandparents and parents were here for the last home game, and I sent them over to the memorial. For my grandparents and parents to get a chance to experience that, it's very emotional."

Tuesday marked 168 days until the 25th anniversary of the bombing, which happened on April 19, 1995. Prior to Sept. 11, it was the deadliest domestic terror attack in United States history, killing 168 and injuring at least 680 more.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is only a few blocks from Chesapeake Energy Arena and features 168 empty chairs facing a shallow reflecting pool.

"The memorial does a really great job of paying respect to those who lost their lives. They're not forgotten," Adams said. "And the Thunder does a great job of keeping them alive in that way, if that makes sense. It was touching, mate."

The Thunder have been closely aligned with the Oklahoma City National Memorial since arriving in OKC, with each new team employee, including players, taking a tour of the museum to learn of the significance of the event to the identity of the city. Thunder general manager Sam Presti serves on the memorial's executive committee.

"I think the team does a great job of making sure every player goes over and sees that and understand what they're playing for when they're here," Paul said.

The Thunder will wear the city edition uniform for the first time on Jan. 9 against the Houston Rockets.