All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving is being traded by the Brooklyn Nets. The team has struck a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. That's according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team had announced the move. The Mavericks will trade Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and a package of draft picks to the Nets. The blockbuster trade ends Irving's pairing with Kevin Durant before it ever had much of a chance to click. Dallas also gets Markieff Morris in the deal.
Julius Randle had 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Jalen Brunson scored 21 points and the New York Knicks overcame an early 21-point deficit to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-97. Evan Fournier came off the bench to add 17 points for the Knicks, who were playing a night after an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Joel Embiid had 31 points for the 76ers, going 18 of 19 from the free throw line, and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Pascal Siakam scored 19 points, including a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left, and the Toronto Raptors rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 106-103. Jaren Jackson Jr. missed a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left that would have tied the game for the Grizzlies, who played without star Ja Morant because of right wrist soreness. Toronto won its second straight game and went 4-3 on its season-long seven-game road swing. Memphis has lost three straight and eight of nine. Desmond Bane led the Grizzlies with 26 points.
Golden State All-Star guard Stephen Curry has partial tears to a ligament and a membrane in his left leg and a lower-leg contusion. The team says he'll be sidelined but aren't sure for how long. Curry is averaging 29.4 points per game this season. He won’t play Monday against Oklahoma City. He originally hurt his leg on Thursday and left Saturday’s game against Dallas in the third quarter after the leg appeared to buckle as he played defense.
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant says a friend of his has been banned from games at FedExForum for a year as a result of a confrontation with members of the Indiana Pacers organization a week earlier. The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals have been banned from the arena. The league added that its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon during the incident, which happened after the Grizzlies beat the Pacers on Jan. 29. Citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them.
NFL
Kirk Cousins threw three touchdowns passes Sunday to rally the NFC to a 35-33 victory over the AFC in the Pro Bowl Games and end that conference’s five-game losing streak. Cousins completed 15 of 19 passes for 150 yards in the third and final flag football game of the NFL’s reformatted all-star game. His AFC counterpart, Derek Carr, was 6 of 12 for 104 yards, two TDs and an interception. Based on the earlier flag games and skills competitions, the AFC took a 21-15 lead into the final flag game.
A few minutes after the Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes landed in Phoenix, the pilot hung a “Chiefs Kingdom” flag out of the window as players, coaches and staff got off the plane and walked across the runway. About an hour later, it was the Philadelphia Eagles who arrived in Arizona, with an “It’s a Philly Thing” flag fluttering in the runway as quarterback Jalen Hurts, coach Nick Sirianni and others made their way to a fleet of buses. Super Bowl 57 is just one week away. The Chiefs will face the Eagles on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
Kansas City owner Clark Hunt and Philadelphia owner Jeffrey Lurie are seeing sustained success. Hunt hired head coach Andy Reid after Reid had been fired by Lurie in Philly. Reid has helped the Chiefs to seven straight AFC West titles, four conference titles and one Super Bowl win. They have a chance at a second next Sunday against the Eagles. Lurie got his Super Bowl with Reid's former offensive coordinator Doug Pederson, but eventually fired Pederson. Now he has Nick Sirianni, who got the Eagles to the wild-card round last season and the Super Bowl this season.
NHL
The Boston Bruins are atop the NHL standings and running away with the Atlantic Division going into the second half of the season. But the playoff races are hot in the Metropolitan, Central and Pacific with roughly 30 games left to go down the stretch. There are 11 teams in the mix for eight playoff spots in the Eastern Conference and 10 in the West. All three New York-area teams could make it with the Rangers, Islanders and New Jersey Devils jockeying for position. And out west the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights are among the top contenders.
GOLF
On a day of wild weather at Pebble Beach, Justin Rose was a steady presence. Rose was 9 under in the 19 holes he played Sunday in the weather-delayed AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That gives him a two-shot lead going to the Monday finish and a good chance to win for the first time in four years. Rose still has the back nine to play. He leads by two over Denny McCarthy, Peter Malnati and Brendon Todd. The day featured rain, wind, hail and sunshine, sometimes all in one hour. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the pro-am.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Aliyah Boston scored 23 of her 26 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to help No. 1 South Carolina beat fifth-ranked UConn 81-77. The Gamecocks have won 29 consecutive games since losing to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament title game last year. They’ve won four of the past five meetings with the Huskies, including a victory in the NCAA championship game last season. That ended UConn’s perfect 11-0 record in title games. Aaliyah Edwards led UConn with 25 points.
NASCAR
Martin Truex Jr. won NASCAR’s return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for its season-opening exhibition race. Truex took the lead with 25 laps to go in the Busch Light Clash, a 150-lap race that was moved last year to the Coliseum as NASCAR built a temporary quarter-mile track in a bold attempt to try something new. NASCAR knew it was going to be difficult to duplicate the success of last year's race in its return to the Coliseum and Sunday night's racing wasn't great: there were 25 cautions and laps under yellow didn’t count. There were only five cautions in last year’s race.
CRICKET
There is only one sport that matters in Pakistan and that’s cricket, a massive money-making machine. Even squash and field hockey, which Pakistan dominated for decades and were widely popular in the country, have declined in its shadow. Minor sports like rugby are struggling to get off the ground due to a lack of investment and interest, stunting their growth at home and chances of success overseas. Advocates of sports under cricket’s shadow say they don’t have the environment to thrive or take top prizes. Even universally loved soccer has its struggles — and infighting and government interference have led to suspensions from the global body FIFA.
