NBA:
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 47 points and Khris Middleton tied Milwaukee’s franchise record for career 3-pointers in the Bucks’ 109-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Middleton returned after missing eight games due to COVID-19 and made consecutive 3-pointers 30 seconds apart early in the fourth quarter to put the Bucks ahead for good. The second of those 3-pointers was his 1,051st as a Buck to match Ray Allen for first place on the team’s all-time list.
LeBron James missed an eighth straight game for the Lakers due to an abdominal strain.
In other NBA action:
The Phoenix Suns ran their winning streak to 10 games, beating the Dallas Mavericks 105-98. Chris Paul drove to the basket and was about to fall out of bounds before finding Deandre Ayton for the dunk and a four-point lead with 1:27 left. Devin Booker hit a long 3-pointer with the shot-clock expiring with 50 seconds left to seal it.
Damian Lillard struggled at the start but warmed up to finish with 22 points and 10 assists, rallying the Portland Trail Blazers to a 112-107 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Jusuf Nurkic added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Blazers, who trailed by 20 in the first half.
The Charlotte Hornets beat the Washington Wizards 97-87. Terry Rozier led Charlotte with 19 points, while Miles Bridges added 17 and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 14. It was the Hornets’ fourth straight win and ended the Wizards’ five-game winning steak.
James Harden scored 27 points, LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 and Kevin Durant 23 to help the Brooklyn Nets beat the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers 109-99. Patty Mills added 21 points to give the Nets four 20-point scorers for the first time this season. Brooklyn improved to 11-5 with its eighth victory in 10 games.
The Atlanta Hawks have now won three in a row. John Collins scored 20 points, Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter had 19 apiece in a 110-99 victory over the Boston Celtics. Trae Young chipped in with 18 points as the Hawks used a balanced attack to overcome a 34-point performance by Jayson Tatum.
The Miami Heat had to play without injured starters Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry but, thanks in large part to Jimmy Butler, still managed a 113-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. Butler had a triple-double in his return from a sprained right ankle, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Jeremi Grant scored 19 points and Cory Joseph added 18 as the Detroit Pistons rallied to beat the Indiana Pacers 97-89. Cade Cunningham added 16 points for Detroit, and Saddiq Bey scored 15. Both teams shot below 43% from the floor and under 30% on 3-pointers.
The Orlando Magic rallied late in the fourth quarter to defeat the New York Knicks 104-98. Cole Anthony had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Mo Bamba added 12 points and 11 boards, while Terrence Ross scored 19 points off the bench.
Lu Dort scored 34 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Houston Rockets 101-89. The Thunder snapped a two-game skid with their largest victory margin of the season. The Rockets have lost 13 straight.
Anthony Edwards scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 107-97 win against the Sacramento Kings. The Timberwolves’ improved defense held Sacramento to 36.6% shooting and forced 20 turnovers.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
D’Shawn Schwartz scored a career-high 24 points, DeVon Cooper added 16 and George Mason withstood a frantic comeback bid by No. 20 Maryland to pull off a 71-66 upset.
The Patriots let a 10-point lead dwindle to 59-56 before Cooper made a layup and Schwartz made a 3-pointer for an eight-point cushion with 3:06 to go. That was just enough to provide George Mason with its first win over a ranked foe since 2007.
In other top 25 men’s college basketball:
No. 2 UCLA routed North Florida, 98-63, for its 4th win in row. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points Johnny Juzang added 17. The Bruins took control with a 28-9 run to close the first half, then ran off 11 straight points to start the second.
Newcomer Tre Mitchell had 16 points and seven rebounds as No. 8 Texas defeated Northern Colorado 62-49. Mitchell made 7 of 11 shots in 21 minutes for the Longhorns, who are 2-1. Mitchell came through the NCAA transfer portal from Massachusetts.
LJ Cryer scored 20 points for the second game in a row and ninth-ranked Baylor tied a school record with 21 steals in a 92-47 victory over Central Arkansas. The defending national champion Bears extended their home winning streak to a record 16 in a row.
Chris Lykes scored 26 points and No. 16 Arkansas reeled off 13 straight points in the final minutes to beat Northern Iowa 93-80. The teams traded the lead 18 times and were tied another 10. But the Razorbacks forced three straight turnovers during the final run and finished off the game from the foul line.
No. 23 UConn used stifling defense to rout overmatched Long Island University 93-40. Tyler Polley led the Huskies’ scoring with 17 points, Andre Jackson had 14 points, Jalen Gaffney and Adama Sanogo each had 11 and Tyrese Martin added 10. The Huskies held LIU to 27% shooting and 14 field goals.
The NCAA women’s basketball tournament is expanding to 68 teams beginning with the current season, giving it an equal number of participants as the men’s tournament as part of a concerted effort at gender parity.
The expansion of the women’s tournament was among the recommendations put forth in August after a comprehensive external gender equity review. It was commissioned after backlash driven by social media over disparities in the men’s and women’s tournaments, including weight rooms and other facilities.
NHL:
Garnet Hathaway scored a pair of goals during a two-minute span in the third period and the Washington Capitals beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-0.
The game was scoreless until there was 3:30 remaining, when John Carlson caught Jonathan Quick playing out of position and flipped a pass to Hathaway, who was able to put it into the net. Hathaway then added an empty-net goal.
Ilya Samsonov made 34 saves for his second shutout this season and fifth of his career. Quick stopped 36 shots.
In other NHL action:
Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat each had a goal and an assist and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 for their fourth straight win. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 31 shots. The Kraken have lost their last five games.
Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2. It was the fifth straight loss for the Canucks.
NHL:
The owners of the Boston Red Sox are in talks to buy the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
Red Sox President Sam Kennedy confirmed Wednesday that Fenway Sports Group has been working on a deal for the professional hockey club.
Sportico valued the Penguins last month at $845 million. FSG owns the Red Sox and Liverpool FC of the Premier League and is partners in the RFK Racing NASCAR team.
In other NHL news:
Aleksander Barkov is hurt, and the Florida Panthers are relieved it’s not as bad as initially feared. Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette says Barkov will be week-to-week with a knee injury but will not need surgery.
MLB:
Toronto left-hander Robbie Ray bounced back from a dismal season to win the AL Cy Young Award and Milwaukee righty Corbin Burnes returned from a bout of COVID-19 to win the NL’s top pitching prize.
In the Year of the Pitcher, Burnes led the majors with a 2.43 ERA and Ray topped the AL at 2.84 and both put up impressive strikeout totals.
Burnes edged Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler for the award, while Max Scherzer finished third. Burnes endured a bout of COVID-19 in May, returning after two weeks to finish with 234 strikeouts in 167 innings and an 11-5 record, as the Brewers went on to win the NL Central.
Ray beat Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who finished second in the voting, and Chicago White Sox righty Lance Lynn. Ray actually took a pay cut after a rough 2020 but bounced back to lead the majors with 248 strikeouts and and 193 1/3 innings, going 13-7.
Justin Verlander has agreed to a $25 million, one-year contract with the Houston Astros.
Verlander played just one game in the past two seasons after injuring his elbow in the 2020 season opener and undergoing Tommy John surgery in October of last year. The contract includes a conditional $25 million player option for a second season.
In other baseball news:
First baseman Brandon Belt has accepted an $18.4 million qualifying offer from San Francisco rather than pursue bidders as a free agent. Belt was the only one to accept among the 14 free agents who received the offers from their former clubs on Nov. 7. Among those to turn down offers were first baseman Freddie Freeman of Atlanta, shortstop Carlos Correa of Houston, Robbie Ray and infielder Marcus Semien of Toronto, Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager and Mets outfielder Michael Conforto.
The Cleveland Indians will officially transition to Guardians on Friday, completing a name change that has been occurring in stages over the past few months. The team sent out a release saying its team shop at Progressive Field will begin selling Guardians merchandise and souvenirs later this week.
The Seattle Mariners will induct Ichiro Suzuki into the team’s Hall of Fame during the 2022 season. Suzuki will be honored on Aug. 27 when Seattle faces Cleveland. Suzuki spent parts of 14 seasons with the Mariners before retiring in March 2019 after Seattle opened the season with games in his home country of Japan.
A person familiar with the negotiations says the New York Mets are close to completing a deal to hire Billy Eppler as general manager. Eppler was fired as general manager of the Los Angeles Angels a little more than a year ago after five losing seasons. He would become the Mets’ fifth head of baseball operations in 13 months.
NFL:
The NFL is requiring players and staff to wear masks inside team facilities regardless of vaccination status for a week starting on Thanksgiving, and they must be tested twice for COVID-19 after the holiday.
The league’s protocols have been updated as a result of increasing rates of COVID-19 across the country. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger (RAWTH’-lihs-bur-gur) each missed a game in consecuwtive weeks because of COVID-19.
In other NFL news:
Joe Flacco will start at quarterback for the New York Jets on Sunday at home against the Miami Dolphins. Coach Robert Saleh made the announcement Wednesday as the team decided to go with the 36-year-old veteran over Mike White, who started the last three games in place of the injured Zach Wilson.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield sat out practice Wednesday in hopes of letting several injuries heal as Cleveland prepares to face the winless Detroit Lions. Mayfield has played with a torn labrum and fracture in his left, non-throwing shoulder. He suffered a bruised right knee in Sunday’s loss to New England, a week after hurting his left foot.
The Detroit Lions held out Jared Goff from practice after the starting quarterback suffered an oblique injury in last week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A Las Vegas judge has ordered former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III to appear in court Monday after learning he missed a required alcohol test while on house arrest following a fatal crash he’s accused of causing. Ruggs could face a return to jail.
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