Sports

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — Manchester City’s quest to finally conquer Europe resumes on Wednesday when Pep Guardiola’s men travel to RB Leipzig, but all is not well for the English champions on or off the field. 

City appeared to have laid down a marker in the Premier League title race by beating leaders Arsenal 3-1 away last week, only to then throw away two points by conceding late to draw 1-1 at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. 

They are also playing under a cloud after being charged with more than 100 breaches of financial rules by the Premier League, dating back to the 2009/10 season.

Defender Kyle Walker described City’s sloppiness in relinquishing top spot in the Premier League at the weekend as “unacceptable”.

“Sometimes it’s football and sometimes it’s emotion,” he said. “Every game should be treated the same — like a cup final.”

A two-point deficit at the top of the table could turn into five should Arsenal win their game in hand against struggling Everton. 

A lack of consistency in City’s performances is troubling Guardiola ahead of his side’s return to action in the competition they most crave.

City have never won the Champions League, while Guardiola, who won the trophy twice as manager of Barcelona, has not done so since 2011, his penultimate season at the Camp Nou.

The signing of Erling Haaland was expected to be the final piece in solving City’s puzzle in Europe. 

The Norwegian has delivered the goals expected of him, with 32 in all competitions. Yet Haaland’s arrival is one of the factors used to explain a dip in City’s collective standards this season. 

The defending champions have dropped 20 points already in 24 games — compared with 21 points in the whole of the 2021/22 campaign.

‘Going after it’

Despite Haaland’s haul, City had scored more goals as a team at this stage last season.

Defensively they also look more exposed — an issue not helped by Guardiola’s willingness to let Joao Cancelo join Bayern Munich on loan, leaving him without a natural left-back. 

Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Rico Lewis and even creative midfielder Bernardo Silva have been shunted out to do a job on the left side of defence in the past two weeks alone. 

Guardiola said he was heartened by City’s display at Forest despite a lack of killer instinct that cost them two points. 

However, he has not been slow to call out his players since the World Cup break for a lack of hunger and desire to remain on top in England, which is an uncharacteristic approach for the former Barca and Bayern Munich coach.

Finding such motivation for the Champions League should not be difficult. Third-choice goalkeeper Scott Carson is the only member of Guardiola’s squad to have won the competition previously, when he was at Liverpool.

“We’re coming after it,” goalkeeper Ederson said of City’s quest to win the Champions League.

“I think we’re a group of great quality and that shows how much the club has developed over the last five or six years, with Premier League titles, Carabao [League] Cups, FA Cups, Community Shields.

“So this title is what the club needs. It’s what we athletes need and it’s what Guardiola needs here at the club, too. This year, we’re going to try. We’re going after it.”

There could also be the extra incentive of not knowing for sure when City might get another chance to play in the Champions League due to the score of charges on financial breaches earlier this month.

Should City be found guilty, a heavy points penalty or even relegation could be on the cards for a club that has played in Europe’s elite competition for 12 straight seasons.

LONDON — Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool to turn their recent improvement into a season-saving revival as the Reds eye Champions League revenge against Real Madrid.

Klopp’s side are showing signs of finally emerging from a dismal spell that threatened to ruin their entire campaign.

Liverpool have reeled off successive victories over Everton and Newcastle to give them renewed hope of snatching a top four finish in the Premier League.

Saturday’s 2-0 win at Newcastle moved Liverpool to within six points of the fourth placed Magpies with a game in hand.

While it is too early to say Klopp has found remedies for everything that has ailed Liverpool throughout a traumatic season, they welcome Real to Anfield for Tuesday’s last 16 first leg with morale no longer at rock bottom.

Klopp will take that as a foundation from which to kick-start Liverpool’s bid to win the Champions League for a second time under the German.

Liverpool, six-time winners of Europe’s elite club competition, would already have more Champions League triumphs in the Klopp era if not for pesky Real.

The Spanish giants beat Liverpool in the 2018 final, eliminated them in the 2021 quarter-finals and won last season’s final 1-0 in Paris thanks to Vinicius Junior’s goal.

Liverpool haven’t beaten Real since a Champions League last 16 victory in 2009.

Last year’s loss was especially painful at the end of their failed quadruple chase, a quest that brought just FA and League Cup success and left Klopp’s players struggling mentally and physically this season.

Even greater scars were worn by the Liverpool fans traumatised after police used unnecessary force in ugly scenes outside the Stade de France before kick-off in the Champions League final.

The repercussions from those incidents are still being felt and it would a cathartic moment for Liverpool if they could end Real’s reign as holders.

It hasn’t escaped the attention of Liverpool fans that this year’s Champions League final is in Istanbul, the scene of their against-all-odds victory over AC Milan in the 2005 showpiece.

‘Absolutely incredible’

A return to the Ataturk Stadium would bring back sweet memories for the Reds, but first they have to get past Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

After a season marred by defensive problems, Klopp takes heart from Liverpool’s second consecutive clean-sheet against Newcastle, a feat they had not managed in the league since October.

“Massive, 100 per cent. It explains a little bit the issues we have in the games where we can’t control it better. It’s so long ago we were in a situation like that,” Klopp said.

“It’s unfortunate that football is not like cycling, always exactly on the same level. It’s different. The only way you can get back on track is by winning.

“We’ve now done it twice in a row and that feels absolutely incredible.”

After a wretched run that featured embarrassing defeats at Brentford, Brighton [twice] and Wolves, Liverpool have give themselves a chance to get back on track.

Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo were scorers against Newcastle, but he was most encouraged by the way Liverpool fought to subdue a side that threw players forward in search of a way back into the game.

That togetherness, traditionally a trademark of Klopp’s teams, has not always been evident this season.

“We didn’t score a third and that keeps the game exciting. All credit to them, they put a proper shift in, they fought really hard,” Klopp said.

The only concern for Klopp ahead of the Real clash was the shoulder injury Nunez suffered in a second-half collision with Kieran Trippier.

“The bad news, Darwin has something on his shoulder. We will see. We need further assessment,” Klopp said.

“I don’t know in the moment. In the moment it is painful, but hopefully it’s just painful and not more.”

For once, even another injury issue could not shake Klopp’s spirits as Liverpool look towards their Real grudge match in confident mood.

MILAN — Inter Milan made sure the gap separating them from runaway Serie A leaders Napoli stayed at 15 points with a 3-1 success over Udinese on Saturday.

Romelu Lukaku, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lautaro Martinez all scored in a hard-fought win against ninth-placed Udinese, who have won only once in their last 15 league matches.

Simone Inzaghi’s side stay second and are three points ahead of local rivals AC Milan, who beat Monza 1-0 earlier on Saturday, but are a long way behind rampant Napoli after their 2-0 win at Sassuolo on Friday.

“Udinese are a very physical side with good technique who cause you a lot of problems, as we already saw in the reverse fixture [lost 3-1],” said Inzaghi to Sky.

“It’s a good victory that allows us to keep going.”

Lukaku gave Inter the lead from the penalty spot at the second attempt in the 20th minute, his first league goal since their opening match of the season at Lecce.

But Sando Lovric gave the away side a deserved equaliser with a powerful strike two minutes before half-time.

From there Inter struggled to break down spirited Udinese, Edin Dzeko missing a great chance a minute before a piece of magic from Mkhitaryan which swung the match in the hosts’ favour.

Former Armenia captain Mkhitaryan swept home a beautiful first-time finish from Federico Dimarco’s layoff in the 73rd minute to send a wave of relief around the San Siro.

In the final minute substitute Martinez lashed in his eighth goal in all competitions since the World Cup after collecting Danilo D’Ambrosio’s long pass, giving Inter a big win ahead of the Champions League visit of Porto on Wednesday.

“Obviously it’s really important to win the home leg,” said Mkhitaryan to Sky.

“We know Porto’s strengths, I played against them last season in a friendly with Roma. We need to be ready for them.”

Milan revival continues

Milan’s season is creaking back into gear and Junior Messias lashed in a powerful strike from the edge of the area in the 31st minute to earn a third league win since the new year.

“We had chances to add more... but given the situation we find ourselves in we need to keeping building our belief getting results,” coach Stefano Pioli told DAZN.

“We’re in a battle for the Champions League, but if we keep clean sheets we have the quality to win games.”

Saturday’s win against their Lombardy rivals was Milan’s third single-goal victory in a row in all competitions and came after Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Monza, whose unbeaten record ends at eight matches, dropped down a place to 11th thanks also to Bologna’s late 2-1 win at struggling Sampdoria.

Milan were still not back to their very best but could have easily won by more, Michele Di Gregorio having to make a series of saves before Messias crashed home his third league goal of the season.

Rafael Leao clipped a speculative effort off the post in the 19th minute and six minutes later his weak finish at the end of a counter-attack was pushed out by Di Gregorio, who then had to pounce to stop Brahim Diaz from scoring.

Fikayo Tomori forced another good save from Di Gregorio with a snap shot just before the half-hour mark, but the best chance of the lot was wasted by Theo Hernandez in the 56th minute.

The France left-back was sent charging through by Leao but misdirected his chipped finish into the side netting.

Milan then had to weather a late Monza storm as Patrick Ciurria struck a low shot off the post before Di Gregorio kept out Sandro Tonali and Matteo Pessina denied struggling summer signing Charles De Ketelaere.

LOS ANGELES — Former champion Max Homa fired a four-under-par 68 on Friday to take a one-shot lead in the Genesis Invitational, where Tiger Woods was poised to play the weekend in his return to PGA Tour golf.

Homa’s 10-under-par total of 132 gave him a one-shot lead over third-ranked Spaniard Jon Rahm and Americans Keith Mitchell and Lee Hodges, with Woods 11 strokes adrift in his first tournament since he missed the cut at the British Open.

Woods was one stroke outside the cut line when he finished his round. After sweating out the afternoon his one-over total of 143 had him making the cut on the number, although even that wasn’t quite official since darkness halted play with a handful of players on the course.

“I did not putt well today,” Woods said. “I blocked a lot of putts early and this is probably the highest score I could have shot today.

“I probably should have shot five or six better than this, easily.”

Homa, who shared the overnight lead with Mitchell, shook off two front-nine bogeys, notching birdies at the ninth 10th and 11th to power back to the top of the leaderboard.

After saving par from a plugged lie in a bunker at the 12th he rolled in an eight-footer at the 13th to get to 10-under, and was 11-under after a six-foot birdie at 17.

He gave one stroke back at 18 with a bogey in the waning light.

“I was really proud that was the first time I’ve been leading after day one and I played a good round of golf,” Homa said. “Whether I was leading or not didn’t really matter, long way to go, but that was cool.”

Rahm, who has a chance to regain the world number one ranking from American Scottie Scheffler with a win this week, had two eagles in his three-under-par 68.

The first was an 18-footer at the first hole, which was promptly followed by a bogey at the second.

He bogeyed the fifth and ninth before catching fire late. After back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th he nabbed another eagle at the 17th in unlikely style.

Fortunate bounce

His approach shot from the fairway sailed over the green and struck a grandstand — but the ball bounced back and settled less than four feet from the pin.

“Obviously I got very fortunate to get that bounce not only to go on the green, but to have basically three feet straight up the hill,” Rahm said. 

“That’s arguably the best bounce I’ve seen in person my whole golf career and it would be hard to beat in the future.”

Rahm admitted there was “almost a little hint of embarrassment” at how well the poor shot turned out.

“But I feel like as golfers we get plenty of bad breaks in our lifetime,” he added. “To get one of those we should cherish it because I won’t see something like this in a long time.”

Mitchell, chasing a second career title after his 2019 Honda Classic victory, was the first in the clubhouse on nine-under 133 after a two-under 69. Hodges joined the second-placed trio with an impressive five-under par 66.

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa was a further stroke back on eight-under while Patrick Cantlay was at seven-under.

Rory McIlroy, who could also regain the world number one ranking he surrendered to Scheffler on Sunday, was tied for seventh with Matt Kuchar — just four shots off the lead.

“Sort of slow and pedestrian,” McIlroy said of his two-under-par 69. “I feel like I’ve left a lot of shots out there the last couple of days, I just haven’t got any putts to drop.”

DORTMUND, Germany — A superb length-of-the-field goal from Borussia Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi helped his side to a 1-0 win over Chelsea on Wednesday, putting them in the box seat to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals.

Adeyemi’s goal came during a period of sustained dominance from the visitors early in the second half, with the Germany forward pouncing on a clearance from a Chelsea corner. 

Adeyemi sensed the opportunity and ran the length of the field, rounding both Enzo Fernandez and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to give Dortmund the lead in the first leg tie.

Dortmund captain Jude Bellingham told German TV when Adeyemi finds himself in space “not many players can really stop him.”

“He had a tough time coming here at the start — finding his feet — but now he’s flying.” 

After the match, Adeyemi praised his side’s desire to fight for giving them an advantage ahead of March’s return leg in London.

“I had a little bit of luck, but I’m really happy about the goal,” he said.

“Everyone fought for everyone else — [the win] was really important for the return leg.”

Chelsea manager Graham Potter hailed his team’s performance but lamented their failure to score. 

“We were close to scoring ourselves. They broke on us. It’s disappointing, we need to do better. 

“We have a team in progress, we know there are a lot of positive things there.” 

The win means Dortmund only need a draw in London to progress to the quarterfinals for the second time in the past four years. 

Dortmund defiant

While Potter may still be working on how to get his squad of expensive newcomers to work as a team, the visitors’ individual quality and speed on the counter was obvious throughout.

Mykhailo Mudryk’s pace troubled the home side frequently early and forced Dortmund central defender Niklas Suele into a looping backheeled clearance after 15 minutes. 

Chelsea were soon on the attack again through Mudryk, who won a free kick to the left of the penalty area. 

Chelsea had the ball in the back of the net through Thiago Silva from the free kick but the home side swarmed referee Jesus Gil Manzano in protest. 

A VAR review showed the Chelsea captain had intentionally handled the cross and Silva was promptly booked. 

Dortmund’s Julian Brandt and Bellingham continued to orchestrate attacks as the home side dominated possession, which left them vulnerable to Chelsea’s counter-attacking raids. 

The best chance of the opening half fell to Chelsea’s Joao Felix, who muscled past Dortmund fullback Marius Wolf inside the box to give himself space to shoot, but his attempt hit the crossbar. 

Wolf almost had Dortmund in front close to halftime when Brandt shrugged a defender to put him in space just inside the penalty area, but his curling shot drifted wide. 

Chelsea dominated the early stages of the second half, forcing Dortmund midfielder Emre Can into a yellow when he took down an advancing Reece James.

Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel saved the free kick to ease the pressure. 

James went one-on-one with Kobel again after 60 minutes, this time in open play, but the Swiss ‘keeper tipped his shot over the bar. 

Chelsea’s corner pinballed around in the box and despite an offside flag, the referee played the advantage as the ball was cleared into the path of Adeyemi. 

The Germany forward, who was officially clocked as the fastest player in Bundesliga history in February, kicked the ball past an advancing Fernandez and then Kepa, threading the ball into the goal from an acute angle. 

Chelsea looked certain to score in the 78th minute when Kalidou Koulibaly’s shot dribbled goalwards, but Can intervened to clear the danger, booting the ball to safety before it crossed the line.

PARIS — Kingsley Coman scored the only goal of the game as Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday, with substitute Kylian Mbappe denied a late equaliser by a marginal offside call.

The unmarked Coman swept in an Alphonso Davies cross eight minutes into the second half at the Parc des Princes, just as Mbappe was preparing to enter the fray on his return from injury after PSG had appeared devoid of ideas without their top scorer.

Mbappe, and the entire stadium, thought he had equalised with eight minutes remaining when he turned in a Nuno Mendes cutback, but the goal was ruled out because the Portuguese full-back was just ahead of the last defender at the start of the move.

Bayern finished the game with 10 men after Benjamin Pavard was sent off, but it was a frustrating ending for PSG.

The French giants looked much better in the latter stages with Mbappe on the field, but also needed fine saves by Gianluigi Donnarumma to prevent a bigger deficit.

PSG must hope they can turn the tie around in the second leg in Munich on March 8.

“We are at a disadvantage but we saw that we were capable of causing them problems and now we just need to make sure all our players are in good health and we will go there to try to qualify,” Mbappe, who had another goal ruled out for a clear offside, said.

Coman, who started his career in Paris, did not celebrate his goal but it was a case of history repeating itself — he had been the matchwinner when Bayern beat the Qatar-owned club in the 2020 final in Lisbon to become European champions for the sixth time.

“It was a bit strange. I grew up at this club, in this city, I was born here, so it was difficult to celebrate but at the end we are really pleased with the victory,” Coman said.

Mbappe’s fitness had dominated the build-up to the game, with the France superstar initially ruled out because of a thigh injury before making a faster-than-expected return to training and being named in the squad.

He was named among the substitutes, while Warren Zaire-Emery, at 16 years and 343 days old, became the youngest player ever to start a Champions League knockout game.

But Bayern had little to be afraid of in the first half as Mbappe — scorer of seven goals in six games in the group stage — watched on, with Lionel Messi and Neymar badly missing his presence.

Messi, Neymar struggle

Instead Bayern, playing with a three-man central defence, controlled the game and restricted PSG to just one attempt in the first half.

Yet, the Bundesliga leaders, still without Sadio Mane as he recovers from injury, did little to trouble Donnarumma apart from a Joshua Kimmich shot that was easily saved.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann took off Joao Cancelo at half-time and replaced him with Canadian international Davies, a change that saw Coman move from the left flank to the right.

PSG also made a change, replacing Achraf Hakimi with France centre-back Presnel Kimpembe, but the biggest cheer of the night had been reserved for Mbappe when he came out to warm up during the break.

The 24-year-old was preparing to come on when Bayern opened the scoring as Davies crossed from the left to the far post where the unmarked Coman finished.

Mbappe promptly replaced Carlos Soler but the French champions needed Donnarumma to keep them in the game, and perhaps the tie, as he produced a fingertip save to touch an Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting effort onto the woodwork.

From the corner that followed, Donnarumma saved from Pavard’s header.

PSG needed to get the ball to Mbappe and they eventually did in the 73rd minute, a Fabian Ruiz ball over the top sending the forward bounding towards goal.

Bayern goalkeeper Yann Sommer rushed out to block Mbappe’s shot with his face before Neymar was denied from the follow-up.

Then Mbappe did put the ball in the net, only for the celebrations to be cut short, and Bayern held on even after Pavard was shown a second yellow for scything down Messi.

“It is clear that Kylian Mbappe can change any game,” said Nagelsmann. “This was a very important result but it is just the first step.”

In the other night’s match, Brahim Diaz shot AC Milan to a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday which gave the seven-time European kings control of their Champions League last-16 tie.

LOS ANGELES — Jrue Holiday produced a scintillating 40-point performance as the Milwaukee Bucks snatched a 131-125 overtime victory against the Boston Celtics in a pulsating clash between the Eastern Conference heavyweights on Tuesday.

Holiday’s virtuoso display included seven points in overtime — including a crucial three-pointer to give Milwaukee the lead — as the Bucks stretched their unbeaten streak to 11 games.

The 32-year-old two-time All-Star also conjured the moment of the game in the third quarter, launching a remarkable 41-foot bucket to get Milwaukee within five points after Boston had led by 14 just minutes earlier.

It was one of eight three-pointers nailed by Holiday, who was given heavy scoring support from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo finished with 36 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.

“I don’t really, I guess, care for how I’m playing as long as we’re winning,” Holiday said afterwards. “As long as we get the win, I’m okay. The only stat I look at is turnovers. That’s kind of how I determine if I had a good or bad game. 

“Tonight, what did I have, five turnovers? To me, I’m like — that hurts my soul. 

“For me it doesn’t matter if I score: I want to make plays on defence when I’m on the court.”

The Bucks improved to 40-17 with the win and are now just half a game behind Eastern Conference leaders Boston, who fell to 41-17 following the loss.

The Celtics, however, will take heart from a gutsy performance from what amounted to a second-string starting line-up. 

Boston went into the game missing several key players including Marcus Smart, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Yet, for long periods the depleted Celtics threatened to end the Bucks’ winning streak in front of their home crowd at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.

Milwaukee reached half-time with a slender one-point advantage, leading 64-63.

Drama

But an inspired Boston performance in the third quarter saw the Celtics go 14 points clear before Milwaukee engineered a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to five points.

Boston appeared to have stopped the bleeding with a Payton Pritchard layup and a free throw, but Holiday’s monster 41-footer on the buzzer left the game finely balanced at 95-90 heading into the fourth.

There was more drama to come in the final period. 

Holiday looked to have given the Bucks a decisive lead after back-to-back three pointers made it 113-107.

However Boston refused to roll over and forced overtime when Sam Hauser sank a 28-footer to tie the game at 116-116 with three seconds remaining.

Boston took charge early in overtime with Derrick White’s three-pointer putting the Celtics five points clear. 

But another Bucks rally ended with Holiday’s go-ahead three-pointer with 25.2 seconds remaining before Antetokounmpo reeled off four unanswered points to close out the win.

White led Boston’s scorers with 27 points while Malcolm Brogdon finished with 26 off the bench. 

All five Boston starters finished in double figures, with Mike Muscala chipping in with 18 and Blake Griffin and Hauser adding 15 apiece.

Clippers, Suns win

Elsewhere, 33 points from Kawhi Leonard sparked the Los Angeles Clippers to a 134-124 win over the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Leonard’s points tally included seven-of-nine from three-point range. Norman Powell added 24 from the bench with Paul George 20.

The Warriors scoring was led by Jordan Poole with 28 points.

In Portland, Damian Lillard came within a whisker of another 40-point game but it was not enough to stop the Trail Blazers suffering a comprehensive 126-101 loss to the Washington Wizards.

Lillard finished with 39 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. The Wizards proved too strong however with Kyle Kuzma (33) and Kristaps Porzingis (28) combining for 61 points.

In Phoenix, the Suns warmed up for the imminent arrival of new signing Kevin Durant with a 120-109 defeat of the Sacramento Kings.

Devin Booker led the Phoenix scoring with 32 points while Deandre Ayton added 29 points.

LOS ANGELES — Nikola Jokic narrowly missed out on his 21st triple double of the season as the Denver Nuggets battled to a 112-108 road victory over the Miami Heat on Monday.

Two-time NBA MVP Jokic finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists as Denver stretched their lead at the top of the Western Conference to five games.

Denver, who improved to 40-18, trailed by nine points after a shaky first quarter but roared back in the second to outscore Miami 38-26 for a 65-62 lead at the break.

The Nuggets held on to the advantage for most of the second half and although Miami got within three points in the final minute, Denver held on for victory.

While Jokic led the scoring, Denver’s balanced offense spread the points around with seven players finishing in double figures and sharing 34 assists between them.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 points while Bruce Brown had 16.

“I think we like to play for each other,” Jokic said. “We try to find open guys and we’re just going to work for the best shot possible. 

“The team buys into that and that’s why I think we have so many assists,” the Serbian star said.

Jimmy Butler led Miami’s scorers with 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists while Max Strus had 23 points and Bam Adebayo 19.

Donovan Mitchell erupted for 41 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers bagged their seventh straight win with a gritty 117-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Mitchell’s sixth 40-point game of the season helped the Cavs tighten their grip on fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland are now 38-22 for the season, leading fifth-placed Brooklyn, who were thumped 124-106 by the New York Knicks earlier Monday.

Jarrett Allen (17 points) and Darius Garland (16) were Cleveland’s other principal scorers while Keldon Johnson led the scoring for San Antonio with 25 points.

“The biggest thing is just continuing to fight,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t play our best basketball. Regardless of how San Antonio’s been playing, they made it tough on us.”

Cleveland will now look ahead to their final game before this weekend’s All-Star break, with a road clash against Eastern Conference rivals Philadelphia on Wednesday. 

Mitchell believes the 76ers will have added motivation after the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl defeat to Kansas City on Sunday.

“That’s going to be a playoff game in a hostile environment,” Mitchell said. 

“They just lost the Super Bowl so they’ll probably be a little bit fired up over there. 

“We’ve got to go out there and hold our own and play the basketball we’ve been playing.”

The Sixers warmed up for their date with the Cavs with a 123-104 blowout over the Houston Rockets.

James Harden led the Sixers scoring against his former club with 28 points and 10 assists while Tyrese Maxey impressed with 26 points off the bench after making 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. 

Sixers talisman Joel Embiid added 23 points while Jalen Green led the Rockets with 29 points.

The Sixers are just one game ahead of the in-form Cavaliers heading into Wednesday’s game.

Elsewhere, a Los Angeles Lakers side missing LeBron James were swept aside by a rampant Portland Trail Blazers led by another 40-point gem from Damian Lillard.

James, who is nursing a niggling foot/ankle injury, has not played since passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer last week.

James’ absence was all too obvious as a new-look Lakers were pummelled by Portland, who led by 27 points at one stage as they romped to victory 127-115.

Portland improved to 28-29 with the win and are just outside the play-in places in 11th in the West. The Lakers fell to 26-32 and are third from bottom of the standings.

In San Francisco, 29 points from Andrew Wiggins and 27 from Klay Thompson propelled the Golden State Warriors to a 135-126 victory over the Washington Wizards.