Barcelona defender Gerard Pique on Wednesday refused to apologize for igniting a Twitter row with Real Madrid rivals Alvaro Arbeloa and Sergio Ramos.

No stranger to public spats with Real players, Pique incurred the wrath of his Spain teammates by calling Arbeloa "an acquaintance," making clear reference to the term "cono" -- referencing a traffic cone -- an apparent dig at the full-back's mobility.

LeBron James scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Kevin Love added 20 points and eight rebounds as the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers ripped host Boston 89-77 Tuesday.

Russian center Timofey Mozgov added nine points and 10 rebounds while Iman Shumpert came off the bench to score 10 points before suffering a groin injury as the Cavaliers won their third game in a row and improved the best record in the Eastern Conference to 16-7.

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors dominated the NBA in 2015, winning the team's first league title since 1975 and starting the 2015-16 campaign with a record-setting win streak.

As the year began, LeBron James was pulling together an injury-hit Cleveland Cavaliers team in his first season back in his home region after vowing to make the Cavs a champion.

LeGarrette Blount, the top rusher for the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, will miss the remainder of the National Football League season with a hip injury, reports said Tuesday.

Radio station WEEI and ESPN said the injury Blount suffered in the second quarter of a 27-6 victory over the Houston Texans will sideline him for the final month of the campaign and the playoffs.

German football will be glad to see the end to a year which broke the 2006 World Cup scandal and saw the world champions experience the Paris terror attacks first-hand.

After the high of winning the 2014 World Cup came the low in October when Der Spiegel broke the cash-for-votes scandal surrounding the awarding of the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany.

England's top clubs will pay particular attention to a certain Spaniard in Bavaria this festive season with Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola due to announce his future plans before Christmas.

Guardiola, 44, is halfway through the third and final year of his current contract and says he will announce his decision to stay or go before December 25.

Sevilla, Espanyol, Real Betis and Deportivo La Coruna all advanced to the last 16 of the Copa Del Rey on Tuesday to join already-qualified Barcelona and Cadiz.

Deportivo held on for a 1-1 draw against second division Llagostera in their fourth round, second leg tie in Galicia for a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Serie A leaders Inter Milan cruised into the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup Monday with a 3-0 win over Cagliari as third division Alessandria claimed another top flight scalp on their way to the last eight.

Rodrigo Palacio's close-range tap-in opened the scoring on 24 minutes for Roberto Mancini's league leaders against Serie B side Cagliari, who despite ousting Sassuolo in the last round were outplayed for long periods at the San Siro.

A thunderbolt of a volley from Spain international Xabi Alonso booked Bayern Munich's place in the German Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday after a 1-0 win over Darmstadt.

The 34-year-old midfielder launched a long-range strike from outside the area with 40 minutes gone at Munich's Allianz Arena which hit the top left-hand corner and gave Darmstadt goalkeeper Christian Mathenia no chance.

High-flying Borussia Dortmund must do without Marco Reus for the rest of 2015 as the Germany winger has a groin injury.

Reus limped off just before half-time in Sunday's 4-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and although an MRI scan has revealed there is no tear, he will miss Wednesday's German Cup third-round tie at Augsburg and Saturday's league match at Cologne.