Argentina striker Lautaro Martinez scored in the second half to secure a 1-0 home win against Peru in South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday.

Martinez scored 10 minutes after the break, capitalising on a fine cross from Lionel Messi to fire home a half-volley into the top-right corner.

The Inter Milan striker's 32nd international goal moved him level with Diego Maradona in fifth spot in the country's all-time scoring charts.

The World Cup holders lead the CONMEBOL standings with 25 points, five clear of Uruguay who play later in the day at Brazil. Peru are bottom of the 10-team table with seven points after 12 games.

The top six qualify automatically for the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

BOSTON -- Before the Cleveland Cavaliers put their perfect 15-0 start to the season to the test Tuesday night at TD Garden against the defending NBA champion Celtics, Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson was asked what he hoped to get out of the game.

"We want feedback," Atkinson said. "More feedback. Hopefully we'll see this team down the road and down the road in an important game. On the other hand, I don't want to blow this game out of proportion. It's that balance, but it's more anxious to see where we are. And we all know our schedule has not been the hardest.

"We're playing an elite team -- the top team in the league. So I just can't wait to get some feedback from the game."

Over the next 48 minutes, Atkinson got his wish. The result? Boston, despite a stellar push from Cleveland after halftime, had enough to hold off the Cavaliers 120-117, ending Cleveland's unblemished start.

The loss left the Cavaliers tied for the second-longest winning streak to begin a season in NBA history -- though undoubtedly earning Cleveland some respect in the process.

Respect, however, doesn't always translate to wins. And after spending almost a month with a zero in the loss column, Cleveland now has a number there thanks to a 33-point, 12-rebound, 7-assist effort from Jayson Tatum, one of six Celtics to score in double figures.

Boston went white-hot from beyond the 3-point arc, going 22-for-41 from deep, as the Celtics -- who led by as many as 21 -- held off a charge from Cleveland in the second half as the Cavaliers pounded away in the paint.

If these teams meet again in the playoffs next spring -- as they did in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season -- the matchup probably will be one split along the same battle lines as Tuesday with the Celtics trying to dominate the 3-point line and the Cavaliers attempting to do the same in the paint.

In this one, both teams got what they wanted. Boston shot 14-for-22 from deep in the first half -- the single-best 3-point shooting half by the Celtics in the past 25 years, with a minimum of 20 attempts. The Celtics, however, shot 22-for-45 from inside the arc, whereas Cleveland was 36-for-64 from 2, including owning a 60-36 edge in points in the paint.

It was a parade of trips to the rim by Cleveland in the third quarter, in particular, that allowed Atkinson's team to get back in the game, as the Cavaliers scored 22 points in the paint in the quarter alone -- as many as Boston had in the game to that point.

By then, the celebratory mood at TD Garden early gave way to a bitterly competitive one -- complete with the crowd roaring in applause and dismay in ways that would've felt at home if this had been a continuation of last spring's playoff series. That included the physicality with which both teams played, and the lack of fouls called in spite of it.

Ultimately, though, Boston had enough to hold off Cleveland's comeback, with a key Payton Pritchard 3-pointer with 5:31 remaining putting Boston up 107-100, creating enough separation to ensure Cleveland's perfect start came to a close.

For his part, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he was looking at this game as an opportunity for his Celtics (12-3) to shore up specific things that have troubled them lately -- individual defense and positioning, and rebounding, in general.

How did that work out? Boston won the rebounding battle 42-41, despite playing against the combination of Evan Mobley (22 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists) and Jarrett Allen (10 points, 11 rebounds) throughout, and with Kristaps Porzingis still recovering from offseason surgery.

Boston's individual defense, meanwhile, had a huge impact on Darius Garland, who had only eight points on 3-for-21 shooting.

Rafael Nadal says he would like to be remembered as "a kid who followed their dreams" as the tennis great said a poignant farewell to the sport.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion's 23-year career came to an end in Malaga on Tuesday night after Spain were beaten by the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarter-finals.

Nadal retires as the second-most successful men's singles player of all time, behind only long-time rival Novak Djokovic.

The 38-year-old said he hoped to be remembered primarily as "a good person".

"I'd like to be remembered as a kid that achieved more than I ever dreamed," Nadal said during an on-court presentation.

"I have been very lucky in the life I have had the opportunity to live, I have lived unforgettable experiences because of tennis.

"I was just a kid that followed their dreams, worked as hard as possible to be where I am today.

"The way I'd like to be remembered most is as a good person from a small village in Mallorca."

The committee has revealed its third set of rankings this year, and aside from BYU tumbling after a loss and Tennessee falling just outside the current playoff field, not much has changed.

But that doesn't mean there's no reason to be outraged. Indeed, it means the committee had a whole week to fix the mistakes it had already made, and it chose not to!

So, who should be most angry this week? Grab a pillow to scream into and a stress ball to clutch. We've got a lot to get off our chests.

1. Miami Hurricanes (9-1, No. 8)

A fact the committee made clear this week: Beating Mercer by 45 points is better than sitting home on the couch.

So it is that Alabama, which was ranked behind Miami last week, beat up on a hapless FCS opponent and jumped Miami during the Canes' open date.

Was there a message in this?

Surely, the message could be that taking the week off isn't something to be rewarded, but we're betting that's not a message the committee wants to send while coaches are arguing about the value of playing in a conference title game.

Is the message that blowing out a team from the Southern Conference is really impressive? All due respect to UMass-Lowell, but we doubt it.

No, the message seems to be that the ACC needs to understand its place in the pecking order, and the line starts behind Alabama. Funny, because we thought the ACC already got that message last year, when Florida State was left out.

Alas, Miami went from No. 4 in the first rankings all the way to No. 8 now, thanks to a one-possession loss to a solid (and underrated) Georgia Tech team. But is that fair?

Miami has four wins over SP+ top-40 teams this year -- the same number as Alabama and twice as many as Notre Dame.

Miami has a better loss than either of the two teams directly in front of it: Georgia Tech is No. 55 by SP+. Vanderbilt (one of two losses for Alabama, remember) is No. 61. Northern Illinois, which beat Notre Dame in South Bend, is No. 84.

Miami's problem, of course, is it lacks a signature win. Notre Dame has Texas A&M. Alabama has Georgia. Miami has ... Florida ?

So perhaps the Canes shouldn't be quite so mad at the committee here as they should be furious with Louisville. The Cardinals were the lynchpin victory for both Miami and SMU (and helped Notre Dame, too!), but bungled their way to a loss to Stanford that will be studied by future generations as a model of ineptitude.

That the committee has woefully undervalued SMU all year, has shoved Miami behind the two-loss Tide, and thinks Clemson's worse than Colorado is the real message here though. The ACC is a one-bid league. The committee is spelling it out loud and clear.

2. Everyone not named Texas in the SEC

Let's state something at the top: Texas is probably quite good. It is, of course, not the Longhorns' fault they joined the SEC and still drew a Big 12-caliber schedule. But facts are facts, and in a conference with six eight-win teams and four more already bowl eligible, Texas has played exactly two Power 4 opponents with a winning record this year. Those games resulted in a three-point win over Vanderbilt and a complete shellacking by Georgia.

But Texas has one loss, and the rest of the SEC competition has two or three. Is that all that should matter?

Will be interesting to see the SEC pecking order, and it's hard to fault Texas for the schedule it was handed... but 1 team is not like the others here. pic.twitter.com/K6yISrTFN5

(@ADavidHaleJoint) November 19, 2024

Ultimately, winning games is the most important thing, and the committee seems to recognize that with Indiana at No. 5, despite a schedule that may well have included a home game against Bishop Sycamore.

But is it all that matters? If Texas played Georgia's schedule, would it still have a better record? Their head-to-head meeting would suggest otherwise.

Again, it's hardly Texas' fault the SEC rolled out the red carpet in Year 1. But it is up to Texas to impress when the spotlight is on, and since the blowout win against Michigan -- a team vastly overrated at the time -- the marquee moments have been mostly meh, right up to last week's mediocrity against Arkansas.

Ultimately, an incredibly good SEC team -- Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M, South Carolina or Alabama -- is going to end up having played a markedly tougher schedule, proved they can hang with the best of the best, and either go on the road for a arduous opening-round matchup or be left out altogether.

(Seriously, how is Georgia the 10th-best team in the country? There's no logical argument.)

But Texas? Even with a loss to A&M, it's hard to see the Horns falling from No. 3 to a place outside the top 11.

3. BYU Cougars (9-1, No. 14)

How bad was the Kansas loss?

There's a good case to be made that the Jayhawks are an incredibly undervalued opponent right now. They opened the year ranked in the top 25, they're just rounding into shape now, and they've been incredibly unlucky, going 1-5 in one-possession games this year. SP+ ranks Kansas as a better loss than Vandy or Georgia Tech. And BYU was still probably the better team in that game, but a special teams miscue cost the Cougars a win.

So what? BYU probably should've lost to SMU or Oklahoma State or Utah, and karma is a real jerk.

Still, let's compare some résumés here.

Team A: 9-1, No. 13 strength of record, best win vs. SP+ No. 12, loss to SP+ No. 84, 3 wins vs. bowl-eligible Power 4 teams

Team B: 9-1, No. 15 strength of record, best win vs. SP+ No. 46, loss to SP+ No. 5, 0 wins vs. bowl-eligible Power 4 teams

Team C: 9-1, No. 9 strength of record, best win vs. SP+ No. 22, loss to SP+ No. 55, 2 wins vs. bowl-eligible Power 4 teams

Team D: 9-1, No. 8 strength of record, best win vs. SP+ No. 13, loss to SP+ No. 42, 3 wins vs. bowl-eligible Power 4 teams

They're all in roughly the same demographic, sure, but if you're splitting hairs, it's hard not to split them in Team D's direction, right?

Well, of course, Team D is BYU. And, of course, Team A (Notre Dame), B (Boise State) and C (Miami) are all ranked higher.

Way back when the playoff began and the committee was launched, the idea was not to adjust the rankings entirely off the prior week -- sending teams that lose tumbling and teams that win inching up as attrition occurs above them -- but to view each team's résumé anew each week. But this committee is acting every bit like the AP voters of old -- dropping Miami and Georgia and Tennessee and, particularly, BYU, because of recency bias rather than the sum total of the results. Heck, BYU is now behind SMU -- a team with the same record the Cougars beat head to head!

And the real issue here? With BYU, Colorado and Arizona State all now ranked behind Boise State, the odds of the Big 12 missing an opening round bye are looking pretty strong.

Maybe Coach Prime should use some of his considerable air time to mention that.

4. Arizona State Sun Devils (8-2, No. 21)

Speaking of Coach Prime, here we are again with the clearly superior two-loss Big 12 team ranked five spots behind Colorado.

Same record. Arizona State's worst loss was by 10 without its starting QB. Colorado was blown out by Nebraska. ASU's best win is against SP+'s No. 18; Colorado's is No. 49.

And, if we're being honest, Kenny Dillingham's post-game rants this year have been more entertaining than Deion's, too.

This is a mistake by the committee, plain and simple.

5. The Power 4

We won't get to say this very often, but the power players are getting screwed!

OK, not really. The SEC and Big Ten will be fine, and even if they're not, they can cry themselves to sleep on giant piles of money.

But the fact remains that Boise State is primed for a first-round bye, and this week's top 25 includes four teams from outside the traditional power conferences: Boise State, Army, Tulane and UNLV.

That's the most during any one week since the final poll of the 2021 season that featured five, but among those were Houston, Cincinnati and BYU -- all power conference teams now. Only twice before have four teams not currently in a power conference league (or the Pac-12) been ranked concurrently -- in the wild COVID year of 2020, and for a single week in 2019 with Boise State, App State, Memphis and Navy.

Somewhere, Greg Sankey is diabolically petting a cat in an oversized chair and plotting revenge.

Also Angry: Duke, Pitt, Kansas State, Syracuse, James Madison and Washington State (all 7-3 or better, unranked and with more wins vs. bowl-eligible Power 4 teams than Illinois), SMU (9-1, No. 13), Georgia (8-2, No. 10. Seriously, who thinks there are nine better teams?)

DALLAS -- Mavericks guard Luka Doncic returned to the lineup for Tuesday night's NBA Cup game against the New Orleans Pelicans after missing the previous game because of a right knee contusion.

After a four-game slide, the Mavericks have won two straight after Sunday's victory against the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder -- the first game missed by Doncic this season.

In his previous outing last Saturday, Doncic played a season-low 28 minutes and scored 16 points - one more than his season low -- in a home win over San Antonio. He sat out the final eight minutes with the Mavericks comfortably ahead.

Doncic won last season's NBA scoring title, averaging 33.9 points per game, to go with 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists. He's averaging 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists this season.

"He has shown that he's human," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of Doncic's lower averages. "[Averages of] 28, eight and eight -- you sign up for that all day long."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic was declared out Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, the third straight game he missed for personal reasons.

The 7-foot, three-time Most Valuable Player leads the Nuggets in points (29.7), rebounds (13.7) and assists (11.7). Denver has lost the last two games -- against New Orleans on Friday and Memphis on Sunday -- without Jokic.

The Nuggets are playing a second game in Memphis before returning to Denver.

Coach Michael Malone was noncommittal about whether Jokic would be available for Friday's home game against Dallas.

"I have no idea about Friday," Malone said in his pregame remarks Tuesday. "Obviously, there's no news out of Denver. So we will revisit that when we get home."

The Nuggets have struggled during Jokic's absence.

In Sunday's loss, the Grizzlies outrebounded the Nuggets, including 10 offensive rebounds. Denver committed 15 turnovers and shot 41.7%. In addition to Jokic, Denver is playing without forward Aaron Gordon, another key piece to the Nuggets' offense.

"We shouldn't play in a different way," Malone said of not having Jokic. "Obviously, you don't have a three-time MVP. I think we have to play harder. That should be with Nikola or without Nikola. I think we have to play more physical."

Boise State moved ahead of BYU in the third installment of rankings released by the College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday night, putting the Broncos in position to get a first-round bye ahead of the Big 12 champion.

The top five remain unchanged, with No. 1 Oregon leading the way, followed by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana. But the biggest story is the way the committee dropped BYU after a 17-13 loss to Kansas ended its unbeaten season.

BYU (9-1) moved down eight spots from No. 6 to No. 14, falling behind No. 12 Boise State (9-1).

Using the current rankings, Oregon (Big Ten), Texas (SEC), Miami (ACC) and Boise State (Mountain West) would be the four highest-rated conference champions and would receive first-round byes in the 12-team playoff. BYU (Big 12) would be included in the playoff as the fifth-highest rated conference champion but would be the No. 12 seed and have to play in the first round.

Based on resumes, Boise State has a better loss than BYU -- on the road against No. 1 Oregon, after the Ducks kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired. BYU lost at home to a Kansas team that is 4-6. The week before, BYU needed a miraculous comeback to beat Utah. The Cougars have not yet played any of the Big 12 teams ranked in the current Top 25, though they play at No. 21 Arizona State on Saturday.

"We certainly consider strength in all of the conversations that we have," Warde Manuel, the chair of CFP committee, said on ESPN's rankings release show Tuesday night. "We also look at how the teams are playing, and what it is the success on the field."

BYU's best win is over SMU, and though the teams are both 9-1 and BYU has the head-to-head win, the Mustangs are ranked one spot ahead at No. 13.

That would still leave them on the outside looking in.

"We watch the games and we see how teams are playing each week," Manuel said. "So we assess their body of work. We're going to evaluate it each week, from how the team plays that week, but also the body of work."

Notre Dame (No. 6), Alabama (No. 7), Miami (No. 8), Ole Miss (No. 9) and Georgia (No. 10) round out the Top 10.

The first-round matchups would look like this: No. 12 BYU at No. 5 Ohio State; No. 11 Georgia at No. 6 Penn State; No. 10 Ole Miss at No. 7 Indiana; No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Notre Dame.

The UPDATED College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings pic.twitter.com/TR54lloq8V

ESPN (@espn) November 20, 2024

"We look at the data, we look at the stats, but we also have to watch the games and see how the teams are performing," Manuel said. "And it's a lot of debate. But that's the value of having 13 people in this committee, with the conversations that are going on."

Tennessee dropped four spots to No. 11 after its 31-17 loss to the Bulldogs, but would be the first team out of the 12-team playoff. Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee are all 8-2 and have different head-to-head wins over one another. Alabama, which jumped Miami to No. 7 after beating Mercer, beat Georgia but lost to Tennessee; Ole Miss beat Georgia, but will not play Alabama or Tennessee.

With so much left to be determined in the SEC race, there is a fear that the loser of the SEC championship game could get left out of the playoff as a three-loss team.

"I've talked to other coaches, so I'll just kind of give you the feeling from some other coaches that, they don't want to be in it," Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said during his press conference Monday. "The reward to get a bye versus the risk to get knocked out completely. I mean ... that's a really big risk."

Texas A&M is also 8-2 but ranked No. 15. Still, the Aggies and Texas are the only two teams with one loss in SEC play. If both teams win this weekend (Texas A&M is at Auburn, and Texas hosts Kentucky), their regular-season finale would be for a guaranteed spot in the SEC championship game. So the Aggies are not out of the race yet, either.

Colorado follows Texas A&M at No. 16, then it's Clemson, South Carolina, Army and Tulane. Four of the last five teams are new to the rankings this week -- Arizona State at No. 21, Iowa State at No. 22, UNLV at No. 24 and Illinois at No. 25. Missouri remains at No. 23.

Kansas State, Louisville, Washington State and LSU all dropped out after losses last weekend.

With conference title games approaching, eight SEC teams are ranked in the Top 25 this week, along with five Big Ten teams, four Big 12 teams, three ACC teams and two each from the American Athletic Conference and Mountain West.

"We have a lot of value with the teams that make a conference championship game. Making that game is a valuable data point," Manuel said. "We are ranking the teams through the championship games. But teams that make those championship games, the committee looks at them, and puts them in high esteem."

The four first-round games will be played at the home campus of the higher-seeded teams on Dec. 20 and 21. The four quarterfinal games will be staged at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

The two semifinal games will take place at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl on Jan. 9 and 10.

The CFP National Championship presented by AT&T is scheduled for Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The Milwaukee Brewers' Pat Murphy and Cleveland Guardians' Stephen Vogt were named Managers of the Year on Tuesday after leading their teams to the playoffs in their first full seasons managing.

A longtime college coach, Murphy took over in Milwaukee after Craig Counsell left to manage the rival Chicago Cubs. Under Murphy, the Brewers went 93-69 and finished 10 games ahead of the Cubs in the National League Central division, the largest gap between first- and second-place teams in the 2024 Major League Baseball season.

Only once before had two managers in their first full seasons won Manager of the Year, according to the Elias Sports Bureau: 2019, when Minnesota's Rocco Baldelli won in his rookie season and St. Louis' Mike Shildt was in his first full year after taking over midseason in 2018.

Murphy spent 96 games as interim manager for San Diego in 2015, while Vogt never had managed prior to this year.

Vogt, 40, steered Cleveland to a 92-69 record and a first-place finish in the American League Central. The Guardians made it to the AL Championship Series before losing to the New York Yankees.

Despite injuries to starters Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie that left the Guardians short-handed for most of the season, Vogt managed Cleveland's bullpen brilliantly, with its 2.57 ERA more than half a run better than the next-best team. The Guardians improved by 16 games over the previous season and won Vogt's first playoff series against Detroit until the Yankees dismissed them in five games.

Over his 10-year playing career, Vogt played for six teams and was twice an All-Star. He took over in Cleveland for the retiring Terry Francona -- himself a three-time Manager of the Year -- after spending a season as the Seattle Mariners' bullpen coach.

Vogt received 27 of 30 first-place votes and finished ahead of two other AL Central managers, Kansas City's Matt Quatraro (two first-place votes) and Detroit's A.J. Hinch (one).

Murphy, 65, had spent eight years as Milwaukee's bench coach before replacing Counsell, who he had coached at Notre Dame. Murphy's success there -- he went 318-116-1 -- led to his hiring at Arizona State, where he spent 15 seasons and went to the College World Series four times. His first job in pro baseball came with the Padres as a special assistant and, eventually, their interim manager following the firing of Bud Black.

Murphy inherited a Brewers team that was expected to finish in the middle of the pack in the NL Central. Instead, Milwaukee blitzed the division, taking over first place May 9 and holding it for the remainder of the season. With the worst record of the three NL division winners, the Brewers faced the New York Mets in the wild-card round and blew a late-inning lead in the decisive Game 3.

Like Vogt, Murphy received 27 first-place votes. Shildt, now with San Diego, received one first-place vote and finished second, and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, who also got a first-place vote, was third. The final first-place vote went to Philadelphia's Rob Thomson, who finished fifth, behind Arizona's Torey Lovullo.