RIYADH: Henrikh Mkhitaryan said “Riyadh feels like home” for Inter Milan, as the club targets an EA Sports FC Italian Super Cup treble in the Saudi Arabian capital.

Having beaten city rivals AC Milan 3-0 in 2022 and Napoli 1-0 last year in the Italian Super Cup final in Riyadh, Inter face Atalanta at Al Awwal Park on Thursday night in the 2024 semi-final. In the final on Monday the winners will play either Juventus or AC Milan, who play the following night at the same venue.

Another Italian Super Cup triumph would equal a record four in succession for Inter — having beaten Juventus in Italy in 2021 — and midfielder Mkhitaryan said the fans in Riyadh can play a big part in achieving history.

“Riyadh feels like home,” Mkhitaryan said. “This is the third time we are going to play the Super Cup in Riyadh. We won the past two times and hope to succeed this time as well, but first of all we have to think about tomorrow’s game, which will be very hard to play. We know the strength of the Atalanta team. We hope the fans and the surroundings will help us to feel at home and win tomorrow’s game.

“We need to play our game to win the game. It’s very important for us to continue (our success) and win the Super Cup. It’s an important trophy. We hope to do our best. We are fully focused on this game.”

Simone Inzaghi, the Inter manager, said: “It’s clear that the targets of 2025 are the same as when I came three and half years ago. We represent Inter, an important club and we need to always target high. The target in this moment is to win games as much as possible, to win trophies as much as possible. The nearest target is to win the Super Cup because it means a lot for us. This year it’s harder to win because there are two games within a few days, but we’ll try to give our best already from tomorrow evening.”

Inter are the current Liga Serie A champions but are up against this season’s table toppers in Atalanta. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side — who won the UEFA Europa League last season — have a better goal difference than second-placed Napoli and are point ahead of Inter in third.

“Being in those competitions is very important, and playing finals is even more important as it gives prestige to the club and value to the players,” Gasperini said. “It makes us proud. It’s a great result being in the final phase of the Super Cup, but our target is to win the competition.

“I’d like to thank the people in Saudi Arabia for the way you have hosted us. We arrived yesterday evening and we didn’t see many things, but we are very impressed by the modernity and beauty of Riyadh. Congratulations again!”

Marten de Roon, Atalanta’s Dutch midfielder, said: “I agree with the coach. We are playing many finals in Europe and now also in Saudi Arabia. I don’t know how many supporters will follow us, but we are spreading the name of Atalanta and will try to do it also here in Saudi.”

LOS ANGELES: The league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers spoiled LeBron James’s first game as a 40-year-old, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 122-110 on Tuesday, as the NBA champion Boston Celtics closed out 2024 with a 125-71 demolition of the Toronto Raptors.

Jarrett Allen scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell added 26 points and Evan Mobley chipped in 20 for the Cavaliers, who notched their eighth straight win to push their league-best record to 29-4.

James, whose four NBA titles include a 2016 championship with his hometown team Cleveland, scored 23 points with four rebounds, seven assists and a blocked shot.

It was his first game since his 40th birthday on Monday, and made James the first player in league history to play a game in his teens and in his 40s.

Austin Reaves led the Lakers with an impressive near-triple-double of 35 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.

Anthony Davis scored 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, but after twice edging ahead in the second quarter the Lakers trailed by five at halftime and never led in the second half.

There was less drama in Boston, where the Celtics won by the second-largest margin of victory in franchise history — trailing only their 56-point triumph at Chicago in December 2018.

Jayson Tatum scored 18 of his 23 points in the third quarter, when the Celtics out-scored the Raptors 45-18 to effectively put the game out of reach.

Payton Pritchard scored 19 points off the bench as seven Celtics players scored in double figures.

The Celtics connected on 22 of their 43 three-point attempts as they handed the Raptors an 11th straight defeat.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said the big win — after the Celtics dropped four of their last six games — was just part of the process as the Celtics try to repeat as champions.

“There’s still stuff that we’ve got to work on... we’ve just got to continue to be better,” Mazzulla said.

The Milwaukee Bucks erased a 19-point deficit on the way to a 120-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, back after missing three games because of illness, found his rhythm after scoring just four points in the first half, finishing with 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Brook Lopez added 16 points and reserves Bobby Portis Jr. and Gary Trent Jr. scored 14 points each for Milwaukee, who trailed 83-64 midway through the third quarter.

“These are the type of games you need throughout a season to keep you going,” Portis said. “It was a great game for us, especially going forward, that we can look back on like: OK, cool, we do it one time we can do it again and just keep building, keep building.”

Another big night from Victor Wembanyama saw the San Antonio Spurs finish the year with a lopsided 122-86 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Wembanyama closed out a December to remember with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists, one steal and three blocked shots in less than 26 minutes on the court.

His 17 points in the first quarter matched the Clippers’ total in the period.

In Oklahoma City, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and the Thunder notched their 12th straight regular-season victory, 113-105 over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Thunder trailed by as many as 12 in the second quarter and were down 52-46 at half time.

But they outscored the Timberwolves 43-23 in the third quarter and never trailed in the fourth on the way to a seventh consecutive win since they fell to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup final, which doesn’t count as part of the regular season.