NFL:
Last weekend was all about game-ending field goals and overtime wins in the NFL divisional round. On Sunday, it was all about comebacks as the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals advanced to the Super Bowl.
The Rams erased a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit in a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Cooper Kupp caught two touchdown passes from Matthew Stafford for the Rams, who began the fourth quarter down 17-7 after wasting a multitude of scoring opportunities.
After Kupp’s second TD catch and a tying field goal on a drive extended by Jaquiski Tartt’s brutal dropped interception, the Rams drove for Matt Gay’s go-ahead, 30-yard field goal with 1:46 to play.
Travin Howard made a game-sealing interception with 1:09 to play.
Stafford passed for 337 yards in the third playoff victory of his 13-year career, helping the Rams earn the right to host their own Super Bowl.
Deebo Samuel and George Kittle caught touchdown passes from Jimmy Garoppolo, who threw for 232 yards in a heartbreaker for the 49ers.
The Bengals are in the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years after tying the biggest comeback in conference championship history.
Evan McPherson drilled a 31-yard field goal on the Bengals’ first possession of overtime to complete a 27-24 win at Kansas City in the AFC title game. The game-winning kick came after Vonn Bell intercepted Patrick Mahomes on the third play of OT.
The Chiefs reached the end zone on each of their first three possessions to go up 21-3. They had a chance to end the half with an 18-point lead, but a Mahomes completion ended up short of the goal line on the final play of the half.
Joe Burrow shook off a slow start to finish 23 of 38 passing for 250 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Joe Mixon ran for 88 yards and Tee Higgins had six receptions for 103 yards.
McPherson drilled four field goals, including a 52-yarder that put the Bengals ahead, 24-21. Harrison Butker’s 44-yard kick tied the game on the final play of regulation.
Mahomes passed for 275 yards and hit Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman for touchdowns, but he was picked off twice in his fourth straight trip to the AFC Championship Game.
The Las Vegas Raiders have tapped the NFL’s most successful franchise over the past two decades, hiring Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler as their new general manager.
Owner Mark Davis announced Ziegler’s hiring Sunday to replace the fired Mike Mayock.
A person familiar with the search tells The Associated Press the Raiders are also finalizing a deal to make New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels the new coach in Las Vegas.
NBA:
It was a pretty good day for NBA players named Nikola
Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 136-100 win over the Bucks. Jokic fell one rebound shy of his 13th triple-double of the season, providing 18 points and 15 assists.
Aaron Gordon scored 24 points, Monte Morris had 18 and Will Barton 15 for the Nuggets, who are 4-0 on their six-game road trip.
Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 22 of his 29 points in the first half.
The Bucks were outscored 71-43 in the second half.
Earlier Sunday, Nikola Vucevic played one of his best games of the season, providing 24 points and 14 rebounds to the Bulls’ 130-116 rout of the Trail Blazers. Vucevic was part of an offensive force that had four Bulls score at least 18 points. DeMar DeRozan added 23 points and 10 assists, Zach LaVine had 20 points and Coby White added 18.
Ayo Dosunmu furnished 11 assists in Chicago’s third win in four games.
Checking out Sunday’s NBA action:
Devin Booker scored 28 points and the Suns overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win their 10th straight, 115-110 over the Spurs. Booker hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the fourth to turn a two-point deficit into a 112-108 lead with 1:18 left. Mikal Bridges added a season-high 26 points as Phoenix improved to a league-best 40-9.
The Cavaliers opened on a 15-0 run, received 24 points from Darius Garland and still lost to the lowly Pistons, 115-105. Saddiq Bey scored 31 points and rookie Cade Cunningham had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double. Cunningham was shut out in the first half.
Franz Wagner scored 18 points, including the tiebreaking layup with 54 seconds remaining in the Magic’s 110-108 triumph over the Mavericks. Chuma Okeke scored 19 points and helped Orlando win consecutive games for just the second time all season. The Mavericks lost for the fourth time in their last 17 games despite Luka Doncic, who had 34 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in his seventh triple-double of the season.
The Timberwolves routed the shorthanded Jazz, 126-106 as Karl-Anthony Towns delivered 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Towns caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 16 straight points as the Wolves pushed their four-point halftime lead to 17 entering the fourth quarter. Jaden McDaniels’ sesaon-high 22 points came on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting, including 3 of 3 from deep.
Trae Young poured in 36 points and the Hawks earned their seventh straight win by rallying past the Lakers, 129-121. John Collins added 20 points with 11 rebounds, and Clint Capela scored 15 points for Atlanta. Malik Monk had 33 points for Los Angeles, who have dropped three straight since LeBron James left the lineup with a sore knee.
The Clippers are 4-3 on their eight-game road trip after Reggie Jackson and Brandon Boston Jr. each scored 19 points in their 115-90 pounding of the Hornets. Marcus Morris Sr. added 16 points and Luke Kennard had 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Clippers. The Los Angeles reserves outscored the Charlotte bench, 62-21, with Justice Winslow delivering 13 points and eight rebounds in a backup role.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
Sixth-ranked Purdue blew a 20-point lead before improving to 18-3.
Jaden Ivey drained a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left to give the Boilermakers an 81-78 win over No. 16 Ohio State. Ivey finished with 21 points and Zach Edey added 20 for the Boilermakers, who led 52-32 with 14 1/2 minutes remaining.
EJ Lindell had 20 points for the Buckeyes, including a tying 3-pointer with 25/3 seconds to play.
In other top-25 men’s action:
Johnny Davis scored the final six points and 11th-ranked Wisconsin pulled even with Illinois for the Big Ten Conference lead with a 66-60 victory against Minnesota. Davis finished with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Badgers, who blew a nine-point lead in the second half before moving to 8-2 in the conference. Tyler Wahl scored 15 and Brad Davison 14 in Wisconsin’s ninth win in 10 games.
Nate Watson was fouled on a dunk and completed the three-point play in the final minute to help 17th-ranked Providence rally to a 65-63 win over No. 22 Marquette. Watson finished with 17 points and six rebounds in the Friars’ fifth straight win. Justin Minaya had 14 points and Noah Horchler finished with 11 points and 10 boards.
NHL:
The Carolina Hurricanes have retained their four-point lead over the New York Rangers in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division standings.
Andrei Svechnikov scored on a rebound with 3:44 remaining to send the Hurricanes to their fourth straight win, 2-1 over the Sharks. Vincent Trochek also scored and Frederik Andersen posted 27 saves, blanking San Jose after Rudolfs Balcers beat him in the second period.
The Canes have won seven of eight heading into the All-Star break.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
The Avalanche extended two long winning streaks in a 4-1 decision over the Sabres. Colorado has won 10 straight overall and 18 in a row at home after Mikko Rantanen provided a goal and an assist. Nazem Kadri, Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin also scored for Colorado, which tied the second longest win streak in franchise history and matched Pittsburgh for the longest in the NHL this season.
Trevor Moore’s second goal broke a third-period tie as the Kings beat the Penguins, 4-3. Drew Doughty and Alex Iafallo also tallied in support of Cal Petersen, who turned back 23 shots. The Kings swept the two-game season series and handed Pittsburgh its only two regulation losses since November 27.
The Rangers pulled out a 3-2 win over the Kraken on defenseman K’Andre Miller’s goal with 34 seconds left. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and two assists as the Blueshirts improved to 14-4-2 on home ice. Igor Shesterkin made 40 saves against Seattle, which tied it on Yanni Gourde’s power-play goal with 68 seconds to play.
Dallas blew out the Bruins, 6-1 behind three-point nights by Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Seguin had two goals and an assist, while Benn had a goal and two assists. Alexander Radulov, Luke Glendening and Roope Hintz also scored in the Stars’ fifth win in six games.
Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy each had a goal and an assist in the Wild’s fifth win in a row, 4-3 over the Islanders. Brandon Duhaime also scored, and Matt Dumba had two assists and Kaapo Kahkonen made 40 saves in the victory. Duhaime and Eriksson Ek scored 57 seconds apart to put the Wild up, 2-0 4:39 into the first period.
Patrik Laine scored twice and Joonas Korpisalo made 32 saves in the Blue Jackets’ 6-3 win over the NHL-worst Canadiens. Jack Roslovic, Eric Robinson, Yegor Chinakhov and Cole Sillinger added goals for the Jackets, who have their first winning streak since late November. Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and two assists for the Habs, losers of six straight.
TENNIS:
Rafael Nadal has won a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title with a comeback, five-set victory over second-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final.
He had to do it the hard way after Medvedev won the first two sets in a final that started late Sunday local time and ended 5 hours and 24 minutes later in the early hours of Monday morning. It was the second longest Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic beat Nadal in five sets in 5 hours and 53 minutes in 2012.
The 35-year-old Spaniard now has one more Slam than Djokovic and Roger Federer, his long-time rivals in the so-called Big Three. Nadal also became just the fourth man in history to win all four of the sport’s major titles at least twice.
Newly crowned Australian Open women’s singles champion Ash Barty has maintained her more than two-year grip on the No. 1 ranking.
Runner-up Danielle Collins jumped up 20 places to be in the top 10 for the first time after an impressive run to her maiden Grand Slam final.
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini is the only mover inside the men’s top 10, climbing to a new career high of No. 6. Novak Djokovic will continue as No. 1, with Daniil Mevedev staying second.
LPGA:
Lydia Ko earned a one-shot win over Danielle Kang at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.
Ko pulled ahead with a birdie on the 15th hole and matched scores with Danielle Kang the rest of the way, closing with a 3-under 69.
Ko won for the second straight season after enduring a three-year slump. It’s the 17th victory of her LPGA Tour career.
Kang closed with a 68 in her bid to win back-to-back for the second time in three years. She won the season-opening Tournament of Champions a week ago in Orlando.
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