Miami Heat held off a late challenge by the Boston Celtics on Tuesday to win a 115-107 NBA victory, with LeBron James scoring 26 points, Dwyane Wade adding 24 and rookie Norris Cole racking up 14 fourth-quarter points.

The star-studded Heat dominated most of the match, leading by as many as 20 points before the determined Celtics twice narrowed the deficit to three points in the closing minutes.

Arsene Wenger expects more twists at the top of the Premier League this season after blaming his players for dropping points in a 1-1 against Wolves.

Arsenal were left frustrated at the Emirates Stadium after Gervinho's opener was cancelled out by Steven Fletcher, with the visitors holding on despite Nenad Milijas' dismissal.

After finishing three games in roughly 56 hours with their best effort yet, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers demonstrated why their demise might not be as imminent as many thought.

Bryant scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 22 points and nine rebounds, and the Lakers avoided just the fourth 0-3 start in franchise history with a 96-71 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

London Olympics chief Sebastian Coe has vowed the British capital will not become a "siege city" in 2012 despite plans to deploy large numbers of weapons and soldiers, in comments published in the UK's Guardian newspaper.

The British government announced this month it would have 13,500 troops on duty for the 2012 Games, more than the 7,000 widely expected.

Unsettled Chelsea midfielder Florent Malouda has hinted he could look to quit the club during the winter transfer market.

Malouda's bid to cement his place in the France team ahead of next summer's Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine has been compounded by his lack of playing time under Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea.

Dimitar Berbatov fired Manchester United level on points with Manchester City as his hat-trick inspired a 5-0 win over 10-man Wigan, while the Premier League leaders were held to a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion on Monday.

Berbatov has been a bit-part player for long periods this season but the Bulgarian striker seized a chance to replace the rested Wayne Rooney with a clinical treble and further goals from Park Ji-Sung and Antonio Valencia destroyed third bottom Wigan.

Roberto Mancini bemoaned Manchester City's Christmas fixture schedule after watching his team surrender their lead at the top of the Premier League.

City were held to a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day and are now top by virtue of goal difference alone after rivals Manchester United thrashed Wigan 5-0.

Andre Villas-Boas conceded Chelsea's Premier League title hopes suffered a severe blow after his side dropped home points in the 1-1 draw with Fulham.

Villas-Boas's team have now drawn their last three games and while last week's stalemate at Tottenham was regarded as a creditable result, failing to beat Wigan and Fulham must be regarded as major disappointments for a team with ambitions to top the table.

NBA champions Dallas looked nothing like the team that lifted the trophy last June as they stumbled to a second defeat in as many nights, this time to the Denver Nuggets.

Denver on Monday hammered the hapless Mavericks 115-93, a day after the Miami Heat routed them in their Christmas Day season-opener in a rematch of last season's championship series.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho hopes his next job will be back in the English Premier League "in a couple of years."

The Portuguese left Chelsea in 2007 after winning two league titles and was hired by Madrid in 2010 after a trophy-laden two seasons at Inter Milan.