New Zealand left-arm quick Neil Wagner has moved up to No.3 among bowlers in the ICC Test rankings. He gained five places after bagging eight wickets, including a five-for in the second innings, to lead New Zealand to victory in the first-ever Test in Mount Maunganui. Wagner's team-mate BJ Watling, who became the first New Zealand wicketkeeper to make a Test double-hundred, shot up 12 spots to be placed 12th among Test batsmen.

Watling had soaked up 473 balls in Mount Maunganui - only Sri Lanka's Brendon Kuruppu has faced more balls than the New Zealander among wicketkeeper-batsmen in a Test innings. Watling's effort took his points tally to a career-best 693. Australia's Marnus Labuschagne also reached career-best points of 684 and slotted in at 21 - nine places behind Watling.

Labuschagne's 185 in the Brisbane Test was central to Australia securing an innings victory over Pakistan. David Warner, who endured a horrid Ashes series in England, opened the home Test summer with 154 and consequently gained six places to move to 17th. Steven Smith continues to be the No.1-ranked Test batsman with 931 points. India captain Virat Kohli is hot on his heels, with 928 points, having hit a century in the first-ever pink-ball Test in India.

India opener Mayank Agarwal broke into the top ten for batsmen, also achieving career-best points of 700. Ishant Sharma, who took nine wickets in the pink-ball Test in Kolkata, moved from 20th to 17th while Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim gained four places to reach 26th among batsmen after making a counterattacking 74 in Kolkata.

Phillip Hughes played cricket for Australia for about five years, and it is now five years since his family, friends, teammates and the game itself lost him to a freakish and unrepeated moment.

It was in Adelaide where the Australian team reconvened after his death, to play a rescheduled Test match against India in the wake of Hughes' very public and equally emotional memorial service in Macksville, New South Wales.

A little less than five years since they met India here, they will mark the fifth anniversary of Hughes' November 27 passing by preparing to face Pakistan in a Test match, reflecting on how much the game was changed by the moment in which Hughes was lost.

For one thing, they will all be wearing stem guards on their helmets, and there will always be, as in the instant when Steven Smith was struck by Jofra Archer at Lord's earlier this year, a far greater sense of concern for any batsman hit on the head. Concussion protocols and substitutes for those so afflicted are also now a part of Test cricket, a process that grew out of the reviews of Hughes' death that subtly altered the game without removing the risk inherent in it being played at all.

Smith, who started the week in 2014 with a century in the Australian middle order and ended it being named acting Test captain in place of a hamstrung Michael Clarke, has another abiding memory of losing Hughes - the first Test match that took place afterwards did not seem to matter much at all.

"It was kind of a care free week if that makes sense, cricket wise," Smith said in Adelaide. "It was sort of like, this is actually almost irrelevant in a way. We're just going out and doing what we were doing and we actually played really well. But it was literally like we were just playing because that's what we're here to do. There wasn't really any sort of too much emotion around our performances and how we wanted to play if that makes sense.

"Batting wise some pretty fond memories. I think I played well, got a 162 I think it was. And I remember getting my hundred and going over to the 408 on the ground and raising my bat and paying tribute to our mate we lost a few days before. I think some of the boys here were pretty close to Phil and five years actually it's gone pretty quick. I dare say some of the boys will reflect and think about our little mate that's for sure.

"You have little moments that come up every now and then, things that remind you of him and things like that. Comes up every now and then."

A Test match against India not mattering much is a strange thing to reflect on, in light of the many fevered battles that have taken place before and since that week. But it is undoubtedly true that the game grew a greater degree of care an attention for the physical well being of opponents in the wake of Hughes' loss, though it took a blow in an eerily similar spot for Smith to be one of the final hold outs to accept the need for a stem guard.

"I think so," Smith said when asked whether he felt the game was safer now. "You've got the stem guards in now for that little bit of extra protection. Most players are wearing those now. I'm probably one of the last ones to finally take that hurdle. But I think the game is in a good place."

Back in Macksville, the Hughes family have had the most difficult road of all to traverse since 2014, something acknowledged by the Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts as he spoke in remembrance of Phillip.

"Phillip Hughes was the very best of Australian cricket: a man dedicated to his family, a loyal friend, a popular teammate and a prodigiously talented cricketer," Roberts said. "There hasn't been a single day over these last five years when Phillip's loss hasn't been felt acutely by the Australian Cricket Family. He remains in the hearts of players, coaches, staff, volunteers and fans across Australia and around the world. He always will.

"Our thoughts today are with the Hughes family, and the Macksville community that Phillip called home. I can't begin to fathom their pain or their sense of loss. Greg, Virginia, Megan and Jason raised a wonderful young man who touched the lives of millions with his generous spirit, infectious humour and audacious batting. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank the Hughes family for everything Phillip gave to cricket and send to them our heartfelt condolences on this most solemn of days."

SAN ANTONIO -- LeBron James banked in his first 3-pointer of the night and swished his fourth to move past Peja Stojakovic for No. 18 on the all-time 3-pointers list in the Los Angeles Lakers' 114-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.

It turns out the Spurs are partly responsible for James' 3-point shot improving the way it has.

"I just want to be able to not have any weaknesses, you know, and allow a defense to dictate what I do," James told Spectrum Sports after the game. "Because of the Spurs, in a lot of my early years, [they are] part of the reason why my jump shot is a lot better today. My first Finals appearance in '07 they went under on everything and I didn't shoot the ball, I wasn't comfortable with shooting the ball at that point in time in my career. So I give a lot of thanks to their scheme, a lot of thanks to a lot of other teams that I went against."

James' 33 points and 13 assists paced L.A. on a night when the entire team seemingly found its stroke, as the Lakers shot 14-for-33 (42.4%) from the outside, continuing a recent trend.

In the their past five games, all wins, the Lakers are shooting 43% from 3 and 47% on open 3s, this after only shooting 32% from 3 and 39% on open 3s through the first 12 games of the season.

"We're continuing to commit to no-force offense," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. "We're going to keep the action moving and keep making the extra pass until it's open. We have open looks, this team is going to knock them down. LeBron was being played under on pick-and-rolls. He knows he's got the extra green light to load them up over the top. He's a deep shooter on our team and he made some big ones down the stretch, the whole second half, really."

While there's no debate as to whether James intentionally used the glass on his first 3 of the night -- "I did not call bank, I'm not even going to lie to you, but it went in ... so I'll take it," he said -- there's also no denying how he has worked to add the 3 to his repertoire.

"That's just what great players do," said Lakers guard Troy Daniels, a known marksman who went 3-for-3 from 3 against San Antonio. "Everything that people said he couldn't do, he's doing it now. That's what they do. They just overcome, overcome, overcome, overcome. And hey, arguably the best player ever to play the game, so it's just a pleasure to play with him ... Congratulations to him."

James and the Lakers making uncontested 3s is a welcome development for a team that shot just 34% on open 3s last season, which ranked 29th in the league, according to Second Spectrum.

"We got shooters," explained Kyle Kuzma. "This year is about people that can make shots. It's a little bit more attention on the court." James also credited the Lakers' personnel, not only the newcomers like Danny Green, Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley and Daniels known for their outside ability, but the addition of Anthony Davis, who is a willing passer out of the double-teams he attracts.

"We have a lot of options, we have a lot of guys that can make shots, but at the end of the day when we put the ball on the ground we attract eyes, and when you attract eyes you've got numbers on the weak side and you want to pass up a good shot to get a great shot," James said. "It just makes everyone else feel so much more important to the offense and to the rhythm of the game when you're making extra passes."

L.A. had four players -- James, Daniels, Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope -- each with three 3s or more Monday and James led all of them with four.

"Well there are phases of your career and you got to have different weapons," Vogel said. "The last few years, he's really improved as a 3-point shooter. If he's going to beat you over the top, I don't know how you guard him."

For the 17-year veteran who turns 35 in less than a month leading the No. 1 team in league with a 15-2 record, there are no signs of slowing down.

"Every time I tell you guys that it's the best I've felt, you guys kind of get a, 'All right,' [look of disbelief] and then I go out and I'm able to do what I do," James said. "But that's how I feel, man. My spring [is back], my quick-twitch [muscles are back], my mind is sharp, my body is good. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. It might be the wine I'm drinking. I'll keep drinking some more if I'm going to keep doing that."

The Calgary Flames are looking into accusations from former player Akim Aliu that coach Bill Peters directed racial slurs toward him "several times."

Aliu played for Peters in 2009-10 with the Rockford Ice Hogs, the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Aliu posted a tweet Monday night that read: "Not very surprising the things we're hearing about Babcock. Apple doesn't fall far from the Tree, same sort of deal with his protege in YYC. Dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn't like my choice of music."

Not very surprising the things we're hearing about Babcock. Apple doesn't fall far from the Tree, same sort of deal with his protege in YYC. Dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn't like my choice of music. First one to

— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019

Aliu's tweet came days after several former players criticized recently fired Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock for his coaching tactics and intimidation of young players. Specifically, the Toronto Sun reported that in 2016-17, Babcock forced then-rookie Mitch Marner to rate his teammates based on their work ethics. Babcock then shared that list with Marner's teammates, without his permission.

Marner confirmed the incident with reporters in Toronto on Tuesday but said, "It's over with now, it's done with. I was lucky the guys who were there with me, none of them took it to heart and they knew it was not up to me."

Babcock was Peters' college coach and mentored him afterward. Peters was also an assistant coach on Babcock's staff with the Detroit Red Wings from 2011-14.

At the time of Aliu's tweet, the Flames were playing the Pittsburgh Penguins. After the game, general manager Brad Treliving met with reporters.

"Obviously we were playing, so I haven't had a chance to sit down with Bill or our team internally to talk about this and get to the bottom of it," Treliving said. "I would say we take these matters very, very seriously."

The Flames did not make Peters available. Treliving said he would update reporters further after he spoke to Peters and addressed the issue internally.

Aliu, now 30, was born in Nigeria but grew up in Ukraine and Canada. He most recently played for the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL in 2018-19. Aliu played seven games in the NHL over the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons -- both with the Flames, however, Peters was not the coach at the time.

Aliu followed up his accusations on Twitter by posting: "First one to admit I rebelled against him. Wouldn't you? And instead of remedying the situation, he wrote a letter to John McDonough and Stan Bowman to have me sent down to the ECHL. 20-year-old on pace for 20 goals in his first pro year with zero PP/PK time was off to a great start in his pro career"

admit I rebelled against him. Wouldn't you? And instead of remedying the situation, he wrote a letter to John McDonough and Stan Bowman to have me sent down to the ECHL. 20 year old on pace for 20 goals in his first pro year with zero PP/PK time was off to a great start in his

— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019

Pro career

— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019

McDonough is the president of the Blackhawks, while Bowman is the general manager.

LOS ANGELES -- Lamar Jackson was unstoppable in his Monday Night Football debut, showing the football world once again why he's perhaps the best player in the game.

In a 45-6 rout of the Los Angeles Rams, Jackson put together another MVP performance in leading the Baltimore Ravens to scores on all six of his drives while continuing to rewrite the NFL record book.

With Jackson ripping long runs and threading passes in the red zone, here are some new feats he established Monday:

• First player with five touchdown passes in a Monday Night Football debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau research

• Youngest player (22 years old) with multiple games of five touchdown passes in NFL history

• First player in NFL history with four touchdown passes and at least 50 yards rushing in consecutive games

• First player with at least 3,000 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards over his first two seasons in NFL history.

Jackson finished 15-of-20 for 169 yards with touchdown passes to Marquise "Hollywood" Brown (6 and 18 yards), Willie Snead IV (two 7-yarders) and Mark Ingram (7 yards). He also ran for 95 yards on eight carries.

He did all of this despite not playing the final 14 minutes, 43 seconds of the game.

It's now not just an MVP race. It's a race for most touchdown passes in the league. Jackson is tied with Seattle's Russell Wilson for the NFL lead with 24 touchdown passes.

The Ravens (9-2) won for an NFL-best seventh straight time. Baltimore now leads the AFC North by three games over the Pittsburgh Steelers and moves back to within one game of the New England Patriots for the top seed in the AFC.

This sets up a marquee matchup Sunday, when the Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers at M&T Bank Stadium.

CHICAGO -- There was a 376-day gap between Carmelo Anthony's last NBA game and when he joined the Portland Trail Blazers on a non-guaranteed contract on Nov. 19.

Four games into his comeback, the veteran treated his wife, La La Anthony, to a vintage performance with a season-best 25 points and eight boards in Portland's 117-94 win against the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

"Mentally, she kept me going," Anthony said of his wife. "Emotionally, she kept me going. She was nudging me, 'Don't do it, don't think about it, don't do it, don't you let that thought creep into your head.' So, she was a major, major part of why I'm here today."

La La Anthony was in town filming for the television show "The Chi." After her husband passed Alex English for the 18th spot on the all-time scoring list, she FaceTimed their son, Kiyan, using her iPhone during a timeout with 7:49 left, as his dad rested on the bench.

Once Anthony noticed his son watching, he used a hand gesture to salute him from across the screen.

"My son always wants to feel like he's here," La La Anthony told ESPN. "He misses his dad a lot. I was filming up the block, so I came here and just wanted my son to feel like he was a part of the moment. I FaceTimed him so he could see his dad, and he just was excited because his dad had such a great game tonight."

She added: "Who wouldn't want to see this? It's amazing and exactly how it should be."

The 25-point performance was Anthony's highest scoring game since his 28 points against Brooklyn on Nov. 2, 2018. Portland was also able to snap a four-game losing skid with CJ McCollum adding 21 points on the night. All-Star guard Damian Lillard contributed 13 points with 12 assists,but was also caught up in the Carmelo Anthony Show, just like Bulls fans who chanted "Bring back Melo" and "We want Melo" late in the fourth once he checked out.

When Anthony's 3-pointer dropped at 9:31 in the fourth, Lillard stole his famous three fingers to the head celebration while jumping up and down on the sidelines. His teammates also got hyped after his two-handed baseline jam over Wendell Carter Jr. after blowing past Tomas Satoransky at 9:46.

"Three to the head," Lillard said, smiling. "He had it rolling. Our whole bench, we was just excited to get it going. Him being here has been fun, and we all welcome seeing his bounce back happen and it's going to be fun to watch."

Chicago dropped to 6-12 on the season with a 3-7 home record. Zach LaVine led the squad with 18 points and five assists, with the team shooting 41.9 percent from the field.

Ironically, the Bulls were also the last team to waive Anthony on Feb. 1 after briefly acquiring him via trade for 10 days from Houston on Jan. 22. He claims, "they didn't ask" him to suit up after the deal.

"I think at that point in time, it was just like we'll do it just to do it and it was no conversation with that," Anthony explained.

In 2014, he was close to signing with Chicago via free agency after being strongly recruited by the team with images and his name being blasted across town during that summer. Having his name still attached to the organization doesn't bother Anthony, either, as he's regaining his rhythm in Portland with his family's support.

As soon as he showered, dressed and finished his postgame media session, La La was waiting for him inside the media room near the visitors locker room, adding another chapter to his ties with the Bulls throughout his 17-year career.

"I think at the end of the day, I'll always be connected to Chicago, someway somehow," Anthony said. "For years and years, my name has always been connected to the Chicago Bulls, and I was a Bull for 10 days. But, someway somehow, I'll always be connected to them."

Former Australia T20 player and Perth Scorchers batsman Michael Klinger has been named the Melbourne Renegades coach for the upcoming BBL season.

Klinger replaces title-winning coach Andrew McDonald who resigned after taking a role as Australia's assistant coach.

Klinger, 39, retired from the BBL last season as the competition's all-time leading run-scorer. He scored 1947 runs in eight seasons for the Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers, including a century and 12 half-centuries, and played in two titles with the Scorchers under Justin Langer. He also won three titles in the state-based Big Bash competition with Victoria and South Australia prior to the BBL starting in 2011. He played three T20 internationals for Australia in 2017 having dominated all forms of domestic cricket for over a decade.

Klinger has no head coaching experience. He has a lot of captaincy experience having led Gloucestershire in the T20 Blast in England over the last four seasons and has also worked as their batting consultant.

"To be given the opportunity to coach the current BBL champions is obviously very humbling and a fantastic honour," Klinger said.

"I've played with and against a number of players in the squad and I'm looking forward to working alongside such a talented playing group. Andrew has set up a terrific platform and I'm ready to take that forward this season.

"I've been fortunate to represent some outstanding organisations throughout my career and the lessons I've learned along the way leave me feeling as well prepared as I can be for the challenges that will inevitably emerge throughout the season."

Klinger was in the frame to become an Australian selector but was beaten to the role by George Bailey.

Cricket Victoria's General Manager of Cricket Shaun Graf said that Klinger was the standout choice for the Renegades despite his lack of coaching experience.

"We are pleased that we were able to secure a person held in such high esteem," Graf said.

"The qualities that made Maxy (Klinger) such an accomplished player are the qualities that will set him up for an excellent coaching career. He's well-prepared, well-structured and an excellent man manager with fantastic leadership experience.

"We know he'll receive strong support from Finchy (Aaron Finch) and the rest of the team, as well as the other coaches.

"We are very excited to have Maxy on board and we look forward to providing the support and structure he needs to get the most out of his coaching career."

The Renegades have kept parts of their title-winning coaching panel in place to support Klinger, with Andre Borovec and Lachlan Stevens remaining as assistant coaches. Dimitri Mascarenhas was the Renegades bowling coach last season but has come out of contract. He is currently working with the Renegades' WBBL team but may again be used with the BBL side.

Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, plans to apologise to Jofra Archer after he was the victim of "horrific" racial abuse on the final day of the first Test in Mount Maunganui.

Williamson, who grew up and still lives near the Bay Oval in Tauranga, said he was shocked to hear about the incident and that neither he nor his teammates were aware of it until Archer tweeted about it on Monday night.

New Zealand prides itself on its multi-cultural society and has, as ever, provided a warm welcome to the England team. But Williamson wants to apologise on behalf of all New Zealanders when the sides meet again in Hamilton in the coming days and try to ensure "nothing like that ever happens again."

"It's certainly against everything that we as Kiwis are about, and I certainly hope that nothing like that ever happens again," Williamson told Stuff.co.nz. "I can only apologise on behalf of Kiwis to Jofra, not only from our team and how we look to conduct ourselves, but what we expect of Kiwis in general.

"It's a horrific thing. In a country, and a setting where it is very much multi-cultural, it's something we need to put to bed quickly and hope nothing like that ever happens again. It certainly won't if there's any influence we can have on it.

"Was I shocked? Absolutely, 100 percent. I will try see him over the next few days if I can, definitely."

New Zealand Cricket also released a statement confirming they would be making an official apology to Archer and reiterating the zero tolerance attitude to such incident.

"NZC has zero tolerance towards abusive or offensive language at any of its venues and will refer any developments in the case to police," they said.

While CCTV footage has so far been unable to identify the perpetrator, Archer believes he was contacted by the same individual on social media on Monday night. He has, since, provided details to the relevant authorities.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oklahoma City guard Hamidou Diallo will be sidelined for four to six weeks with a hyperextension sprain in his right elbow, a tough setback for the second-year player after he had just returned from a knee injury.

Yet as soon as Diallo is healthy again, the Thunder plan to put him right back into the rotation.

"I feel bad for him just as I do for Andre [Roberson] or any of these guys," coach Billy Donovan said. "... I think for Hami, going through what he went through last year, in the rotation, out of the rotation, down in the G League, back with us and then going in and having the summer he had, having the training camp he had, and then the early part of the season playing like he had been playing, yeah, I think your heart goes out to somebody that's put that kind of work in and has made that kind of jump.

"I always say I think generally players make the biggest jump from their first year to their second year and he clearly has made a really good jump. You feel bad for him, but when he does come back there's still going to be a lot of games left to play and a good, good portion of the season left. We've just got to make sure that mentally and physically he's in a good place where we can help him continue to develop."

The Thunder announced Diallo's status before Monday night's road game against the Warriors at Chase Center, saying he would be re-evaluated after that timeframe.

In Friday's 130-127 home loss to the Lakers, Diallo left in the fourth quarter after taking contact from LeBron James on a driving lay-in early in the period.

Diallo was called for a foul on the play. Donovan challenged the play because James extended his elbow on the drive, causing Diallo to fall back. The call and the basket both stood, and James made the free throw.

On Friday, Diallo had just returned from a three-game absence for a sprained left knee. He has played in 12 games with one start, averaging 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 21.4 minutes.

"I think for him, being out for a couple games and then coming back and playing like he did, I think for any young player, the concern always for those guys is: 'Where am I going to fit in? How am I going to fit in when I get back? Am I behind the 8-ball, am I the last guy?'" Donovan said. "And that's not the case I think for our team. We need Hami and I told him that when he comes back we're going to put him right back into the rotation and try to get him back to where he had been playing before the injury. He's obviously got a little bit of a hole for himself to get himself healthy but I still feel once he can get back he cans still play an important role to our team."