The Houston Rockets will likely file an official protest regarding James Harden's dunk that wasn't counted in Tuesday's 135-133 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Houston had been optimistic in the wake of the loss that the NBA office would take action without a protest being necessary. However, sources said the Rockets are leaning toward filing a protest to ensure that the NBA office will have to make a ruling.

NBA rules require a protest to be filed within 48 hours after a game. Sources said the NBA office has started conducting an investigation that could take longer than the 48-hour window.

The Rockets contend that they should either be awarded the win -- because they actually outscored the Spurs in regulation -- or that the final 7 minutes, 50 seconds of the game be replayed at a later date.

League sources, however, scoffed at the suggestion that the Rockets would be awarded the victory.

Harden's breakaway dunk with 7:50 left would have given the Rockets a 103-89 lead. The ball whipped through the net and back over the rim before bouncing off, and the officiating crew mistakenly ruled that Harden missed the dunk and denied Houston coach Mike D'Antoni's attempt to challenge the call.

"When the play happened, Harden goes in for a dunk, and then the ball appears to us to pop back through the net," crew chief James Capers told a pool reporter Tuesday. "When that happens, that is basket interference. To have a successful field goal, it must clear the net. We have since come in here and looked at the play. He dunked it so hard that the net carried it back over the rim a second time, so in fact it did clear the net and should have been a successful field goal.

"As to could the play have been reviewed, it is a reviewable matter, but you have a window of 30 seconds to challenge the play during that timeout that he had and while they were protesting the call, trying to get clarification of it, that window passed. So therefore, it elapsed, and they were not able to do it."

D'Antoni, who spoke to the media before the pool report was released, had a different account of the referees' explanation immediately after the play.

"I have no idea," D'Antoni said. "I heard that they said the ball hit James and went back through, so it was a goaltend on James. I challenged that, and I didn't get a response. Then another guy said it wasn't a goaltend; it went out of bounds on us. And I said, 'Well, I challenge that.' Can't do that. You know, I don't know, to answer your question. I've got nothing. I can't tell you."

The most recent example of teams replaying part of a game happened on March 8, 2008, between the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks. In the previous game on Dec. 19, the Hawks unofficially won 117-111 in overtime, but the official scorer incorrectly ruled that Shaquille O'Neal fouled out, so they had to replay the final 51.9 seconds when the two teams met next.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The Lamar Jackson bandwagon now includes the pope.

Representatives from the Archdiocese of Baltimore gave a Ravens No. 8 jersey to Pope Francis during a visit in Rome on Tuesday. The jersey, which features Jackson's number, has "Francis" on the back and was autographed by coach John Harbaugh and the NFL Most Valuable Player front-runner.

#Blessed. ?

@archbalt is in Rome to meet with @Pontifex and brought him a custom Ravens jersey signed by @Lj_era8 and Coach Harbaugh! pic.twitter.com/sqgrDqursX

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 4, 2019

"It's great," Harbaugh said Wednesday. "Baltimore is the home of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church. It first started here in the New World, here in Baltimore. So, it's an honor to have Pope Francis here, obviously, especially as a Catholic. I appreciate that. And it's kind of neat."

Harbaugh added, "We'll see if he's wearing his jersey any time soon."

Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, who presented Pope Francis with the jersey, said, "The pope, of course, he's a big soccer fan, but the pope gave us a thumbs-up. [It] got a big smile out of him ... it was a really happy moment."

Jackson's popularity has exploded in his first full season as an NFL starting quarterback. He currently leads all players in Pro Bowl voting, receiving 83,000 more votes than second-place Russell Wilson. On the biggest shopping day of the year, Cyber Monday, Jackson outsold every other athlete in total merchandise on Fanatics, per a company official.

Jackson has led the Ravens (10-2) to the best start in franchise history, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to produce 2,500 yards passing and 950 yards rushing.

Now, Pope Francis could have a decision to make on which team to root for if the top two seeds meet in the Super Bowl: the Ravens vs. the Saints.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The San Francisco 49ers suspended radio analyst Tim Ryan on Wednesday after he said on a Bay Area radio station that Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson's dark skin helps him disguise a dark football when running fake handoffs in Baltimore's zone-read heavy offense.

Ryan will not broadcast Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints while serving the suspension. The Niners released a statement on the matter Wednesday evening from Florida, where they are practicing at IMG Academy in preparation to play at the Saints after losing 20-17 to the Ravens last week.

"We are disappointed in Tim Ryan's comments earlier this week, and have suspended him for the upcoming game," the statement said. "We hold Tim to a high standard as a representative of our organization and he must be more thoughtful with his words. Tim has expressed remorse in a public statement and has also done so with us privately. We know Tim as a man of high integrity and are confident he will grow and learn from this experience."

Ryan made the comments early in an interview on the "Murph and Mac" show on KNBR radio in San Francisco on Wednesday morning when discussing Jackson's success running the ball against the Niners. KNBR is the Niners' radio partner and broadcasts all of the team's games.

"He's really good at that fake, Lamar Jackson, but when you consider his dark skin color with a dark football with a dark uniform, you could not see that thing," Ryan said on air. "I mean you literally could not see when he was in and out of the mesh point."

Jackson led Baltimore to the win against the Niners after rushing for 101 yards and a touchdown in 16 carries and throwing for 105 yards and a touchdown on 14-of-23 passing. Much of that production in the running game came on the zone-read plays that have become a staple of Baltimore's offense with Jackson and offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

Jackson gained a career-high 70 yards on zone-read runs, the most a quarterback has rushed for on those plays since Robert Griffin III in 2013, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Ryan also issued a statement Wednesday, apologizing for his comments.

"I regret my choice of words in trying to describe the conditions of the game," Ryan said in the statement. "Lamar Jackson is an MVP-caliber player and I respect him greatly. I want to sincerely apologize to him and anyone else I offended."

According to the team's release, representatives from the Niners reached out to the Ravens, explained what happened, apologized for Ryan's words and said "the matter is not being taken lightly."

Ryan, who played in 58 games over four years as a defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears in the early 1990s, has been the Niners' radio analyst since 2014 after spending 12 seasons in that same role for Fox television.

The 49ers have yet to determine who will replace Ryan on Sunday's broadcast from New Orleans.

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has branded Scott McTominay "undroppable" after the midfielder's performance in the 2-1 win over Tottenham.

McTominay missed three games through injury but made himself available to face Spurs after completing just one training session 24 hours before kick-off.

"You can almost say he is undroppable at the moment," said Solskjaer.

"The physical presence he gives us, the leadership he gives us in midfield, he also releases Fred.

"He trained yesterday [Tuesday] and that was just a light session with the reserves but he's a tough boy.

"There was no chance he was going to say 'no thanks' if he felt OK.

"It's probably the first time I've really really pushed players that haven't had the foundation but he's so fit anyway."

Solskjaer also lauded the impact of Marcus Rashford, who scored both United goals to make it 12 in his last 13 games for club and country.

"The boy is 22 and he played like he was in his back yard or playground with his mates," said Solskjaer.

"He's played all the games, more or less this season. The boy is getting fitter and fitter, more and more experienced. What a performance. Two goals, he creates them himself, he should have had two more, bur for great saves by the keeper."

United moved up to sixth in the table after ending a run of three games without a victory on Jose Mourinho's return to Old Trafford.

With some questioning Solskjaer after the club's worst start to a season since 1988-89, the win was a major boost.

"The three points are massive for us. We've had too many draws this season and given too many points away from winning positions," Solskjaer said.

"We've made decisions that we had to and we're looking to build this club to be better again and I can't think short-term when I'm trying to do that," he said.

"When we turn the corner and win three or four games on the run, they will get that Man United feeling again."

Solskjaer faces another big test on Saturday when his team travel to the Etihad Stadium to face champions Manchester City and he may have to do it without Anthony Martial, who did not feature against Tottenham because of injury.

"I don't know [about Martial] for Saturday -- not sure," said Solskjaer. "Of course, you want to have your first XI all the time. I've been able to do that once against Chelsea, maybe Wolves but it's a squad game. With the injuries we've had it's made it hard for us.."

Jose Mourinho conceded his former club Manchester United had deserved their 2-1 Premier League victory over his new team Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday and hailed the performance of Marcus Rashford.

Mourinho took over as Spurs manager last month, nearly a year after he was fired by United.

"I think they deserved the victory by their first half. We didn't start well at all," said Mourinho, whose side fell behind to a seventh-minute goal from Rashford.

"I think for the first 30 minutes they were the best team, and I think because of that, for this strong 30 minutes where we were not there, and also because of the way we conceded the second goal, I think they deserved to win," he added.

Mourinho noted that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side, held by Aston Villa and Sheffield United in their last two league games, had delivered their best displays against the top-rated teams.

"United results against the best teams this season have been good. Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester," he said.

"For the way they play it is easier for them. They are not afraid to have a defensive approach. It is easier for them against better teams, against teams who want more of the ball," he added.

The Portuguese, sacked by United after two and a half seasons in charge, had plenty of praise for his former forward Rashford.

"When he plays from the left he is really dangerous and I knew that and gave the players the best information about it. His first goal is a typical Rashford goal coming on the inside. Our boys knew that clearly," he said.

Solskjaer was unsurprisingly even more fulsome in his praise of the 22-year-old England international, who delivered a performance of real quality.

"It's the best he's had under me. He was mature, strong against good Premier League players," the Norwegian said.

"It's like he was back on the playground or in the back garden. We want them to have fun, there's nothing dangerous out there -- just 75,00 people, wanting to see the best," he said.

MERSEYSIDE, England -- In the 15th minute of the Merseyside derby, which Liverpool eventually won 5-2, Reds defender Dejan Lovren played a pass back to Adrian, then dashed out to the right-back position as Richarlison closed the Liverpool goalkeeper down. Adrian assessed his options, looked left and right and chose to return the ball to Lovren by chipping it over Richarlison with the outside of his right foot. It spun perfectly to Lovren's foot and allowed him to launch an attack. For most it would have been a little early for showboating, but not this Liverpool team.

About 20 minutes later, Lovren picked up the ball a little further upfield, looked up and pinged a millimetre-perfect pass over the top of the Everton defence into Divock Origi's path, with the unlikely hero of last season's Champions League win leaping to bring it down at about hip-height before casually lobbing a helpless Jordan Pickford to make the score 3-1. Imagine those two players combining like that in any other team.

At times this season, which has now reached its 15th game with Liverpool only dropping two points, the Premier League leaders frankly haven't played that well. Some performances have been stodgy and uninspired, they've sailed extremely close to the wind with late goals and they've enjoyed slices of luck. None of this applied to Wednesday night's win. They were inspired, playing with a swagger and a devastating brio that we all knew they were capable of, but hadn't seen in a while. It was as if in previous weeks, it hadn't quite occurred to them they were European Champions and eight points clear at the top of the Premier League in December, only for someone to let them know before stepping out to face Everton. This was the reaction, and result, we've been waiting for.

Oh, and all of this was accomplished with half a second-string team. Of their first-choice XI, Alisson was suspended following his handball outside the box against Brighton, Joel Matip and Fabinho are injured while Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah were all rested. In order, that's one of the top three or four goalkeepers in the world (No. 1, according to the 2019 FC 100); probably the most improved central defender in the Premier League; the midfield glue that has held the team together for a year; the team captain; the man most regular observers will tell you facilitates all their attacks; and their top-scorer for the last two seasons.

Some of those who started this game are regular deputies, but this was just Adam Lallana's second league start of the campaign and Xherdan Shaqiri previously had just 14 competitive minutes under his belt since the summer. "Really?" said a genuinely surprised Jurgen Klopp when it was pointed out this was the Swiss forward's first start in seven months. "Sorry Shaq."

When you can dismantle your (admittedly beleaguered) local rivals so emphatically and with such confidence while fielding half a team of reserves, it would be a great sign for their prospects at any time, but it's particularly valuable now considering their upcoming schedule.

"Good. Really good, especially in the circumstances I pretty much created for myself with the line-up," said Klopp about Liverpool's performance. "Making five changes can lead to some problems: I didn't see any of them. We have to make changes, that's clear."

He's not kidding. Liverpool are in the middle of a back-breaking run of fixtures -- 14 games in 42 days -- and their next five games are in four different competitions in three different countries on two different continents. They will need every one of those back-up players to excel if they're to reach the middle of January -- basically the next time they can draw breath and have a bit of a sit-down -- in ship shape and still in charge of the title race. Klopp is essentially drawing on his second string's sense of F.O.M.O., harnessing the sure knowledge that something very special is happening at Liverpool and that everyone will want to be a part of it. Every one of those players will want their own little section of the inevitable YouTube compilations of this season that will emerge; at the moment, that form of motivation is working very well.

"It was always clear that this period in the year is where we need all the boys," said Klopp, "and I hope they will be in the shape like Shaq and Div tonight, or Adam. It gives us the feeling that we can do it more often. You hope [it will work], and when the boys deliver like they did tonight it's the best feeling you can get as a manager. You don't expect...not perfection, but [for them to play] in that manner."

Having said all that, the best player on the pitch (in the first-half at least) was very much a first-choice player. Sadio Mane has seemed to improve with every game, not just since joining Liverpool, but way before that too. Now he's blossomed into one of Liverpool's many world class performers, and some of his touches here could be ranked among the absolute finest.

Take the pass for Liverpool's opener, scored by Origi. It was an exquisitely judged slid ball that, because of the angles and respective positioning of Everton defenders and the intended recipient, could only have succeeded if placed in about one square yard of space behind the Everton backline and in front of the keeper. Some passes are more spectacular, but you'll be hard-pressed to see a better one this season, or really any other.

His approach play for the second was exceptional too, bringing down Trent Alexander-Arnold's fizzing cross-field pass, delicately semi-juggling it infield before slipping a delicious reverse ball for a run from Shaqiri that nobody else had spotted. He missed two simple scoring chances in the second half, but considering how good he was in the first, he could have spent the entire 45 minutes in a hammock next to the Kop and still been man of the match. At the final whistle, Klopp strode straight to Mane and gave him a colossal hug, lifting him off his feet like a kid grabbing one of those huge teddy bears you win at the fair.

Klopp has a delicate task in these coming weeks to marry squad rotation with getting the best from the big guns, but on this evidence -- albeit with the caveat that Everton were, and are, a mess -- that won't be much of a problem. It's as if confidence is just part of the air at Melwood these days; next to nitrogen, oxygen and the other gases, the atmosphere is also comprised of absolute faith in this team, and everyone takes a big deep breath before every game and plays accordingly.

"It was was an intense game," said Klopp, "then we scored a sensational fifth goal and... job done. All good."

MANCHESTER, England -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saluted all corners of Old Trafford after Manchester United had beaten Tottenham, and Jose Mourinho, with perhaps their best performance of the season in a 2-1 victory.

United's manager had gone into the game with the first noises emanating from around the club that his time at the helm could be running out, so the manner of the win, and the timing, may explain Solskjaer's uncharacteristic decision to milk the moment at the final whistle. After all, despite the victory, United are still only as high as sixth in the Premier League table and eight points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification.

Solskjaer celebrated as though his team had qualified for the Champions League final, but it was against Mourinho, his predecessor, and during a week when some headlines were claiming he had two games to save his job, so his celebrations were understandable.

It is too soon to suggest that this win, secured by two goals from Marcus Rashford, will prove to be a turning point for United, but it should certainly be a high watermark for the standards now expected of this team.

Under Solskjaer, they have been wildly inconsistent and the manager and his coaches have warned the United hierarchy that, with such a young and inexperienced team, there will be plenty of peaks and valleys throughout the campaign.

The battle for Solskjaer is to ensure that there are enough peaks to keep him in a job. Until this victory, the valleys were beginning to become a little too regular, hence the question marks over his future.

So far this season, United have lost four league games, with each defeat coming against teams currently below them in the table. No points against Crystal Palace, West Ham, Newcastle and Bournemouth and unconvincing performances, and draws, against Sheffield United and Aston Villa in recent weeks have contributed to a tale of woe that has seen United drop 12 points from winning positions.

But conversely, United are currently unbeaten against their Big Six rivals, with Solskjaer's men also beating second-placed Leicester and drawing with fifth-placed Wolves this season.

Beating Spurs was another tick in that box, but Mourinho said after this game that United's counter-attacking is currently better suited to playing superior opponents rather than supposedly weaker ones.

"Against the best teams, United have had results, like they did against Chelsea, Liverpool and Leicester," Mourinho said. "It's easier for them [against the top teams] with the way they play.

"They are not afraid to be at home and they have lots of young players with energy and a good mentality, so [they] are comfortable in this approach with a low block and a fast counter-attack."

When faced with opponents who are less inclined to take the game to them, United's approach has proven to be ineffective, but Saturday will be an acid test of their tactics when they travel across Manchester to face City. So far this season, United have played all of their Big Six rivals at home, so it will be an interesting examination of their approach when they face Pep Guardiola's men away from Old Trafford.

This game was all about United's pace on the break with Daniel James and Rashford, and the England forward deserved more than the two goals he scored.

His first, on six minutes, was a 20-yard effort which beat goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga at the near post. Rashford also had a 25-yard strike tipped onto the crossbar by the Argentine before he netted from the penalty spot three minutes into the second half.

Mourinho knew what to expect from Rashford, but it seems his Spurs players failed to heed their manager's warning.

"When he plays from the left he's really, really dangerous and I knew that and I gave the players the best possible information about it," Mourinho told the BBC. "The first goal is a typical Rashford goal, coming to the inside and shooting with the right foot and also the way he attacked our defenders in the second goal so, our boys, they knew it, they knew it clearly."

Rashford has enjoyed a resurgence under Solskjaer after struggling for form in the latter days of Mourinho's reign and his current manager admitted that the 22-year-old is now performing better than ever.

"It's the best [performance] he's had under me," Solskjaer said. "He was mature and strong against good Premier League players. His penalty was calm and composed, and his [first] goal, we know he's got those strikes in him and he had three or four chances.

"It's like he was back on the playground or in the back garden."

If all of his players had improved as much as Rashford has, Solskjaer would not be facing questions about his future, but this United team is still clearly a work in progress and they desperately need reinforcements in January.

But for now, Solskjaer is happy.

"You are always happy when you win," he said. "The boys are learning and improving all the time but tonight we were fantastic for long, long spells."

"The three points are massive for us. We've had too many draws this season and given too many points away from winning positions. It's a great lesson the last two games [Sheffield United and Aston Villa] and we came back in a great manner.

"We've started the rebuilding. We've made decisions that we had to and we're looking to build this club to be better again and I can't think short-term when I'm trying to do that.

"When we turn the corner and win three or four games on the run, they will get that Man Utd feeling again."

BOSTON -- Miami coach Erik Spoelstra missed the Heat's game Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics to return home to be with his wife for the birth of their second son.

Assistant coach Dan Craig, who grew up about 40 minutes away from TD Garden in Chelmsford, directed the Heat.

"In the morning, the coach got the message from his wife that she was having contractions," Craig said. "He got on flight early this morning, fortunately got back there safely and he's with her now."

The 37-year-old Craig said he'd been texting with Spoelstra but didn't have any update.

Craig rooted for the Celtics when he lived in the area. He grew up in upstate New York, but his family moved north of Boston when he was 12.

"It worked out kind of funny," he said. "I'm back home and I'm going to coach this game. It's pretty exciting."

In March 2018, Craig also coached the Heat when Spoelstra was with wife Nikki for the birth of his first son. The Heat lost that game.