Jalen Brunson scored 40 points, Josh Hart added a season-high 27 in his second game with his new team and the New York Knicks snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Brooklyn Nets with a 124-106 victory. Julius Randle had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who beat the Nets for the first time in three years. Brooklyn never lost to the Knicks when Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving played, but they’re both gone now and perhaps so will be the Nets’ ownership of New York’s basketball rivalry. It was the Knicks' first victory over the Nets since Jan. 26, 2020.
James Harden had 29 points and 10 assists against his former team while Tyrese Maxey scored 26 off the bench as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Houston Rockets 123-104. Joel Embiid scored 23 points in 31 minutes for the Sixers, who have won three in a row and improved to 22-8 at home. Jalen Green scored 29 points for the Rockets, who have lost six straight to fall to a league-worst 13-44. KJ Martin added 15 for Houston.
Kyrie Irving scored 26 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter in his home debut for Dallas as he tried to rally the Mavericks from a 26-point deficit, but the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for a 124-121 victory. Irving had the highest-scoring fourth quarter of his career. But he made a bad pass after stepping inside the 3-point line on the final possession when Dallas had a chance to tie the game. Irving's All-Star teammate Luka Doncic finished with 33 points as the pair fell to 0-2 while playing together. First-time All-Star guard Anthony Edwards scored 32 points and Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
Kyrie Irving isn’t interested in talking about what his long-term future could be with the Dallas Mavericks. And he doesn’t understand why people don’t think he can play well off the ball. He knows he gets a chance to prove that when playing with new All-Star teammate Luka Doncic. Irving’s home debut in Dallas on Monday night came a week after the blockbuster deal became official to bring the potential free agent from the Brooklyn Nets. He scored 26 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks fell to Minnesota. Irving and Doncic fell to 0-2 while playing together.
Stephen Curry hopes to get back to some on-court work during the All-Star break but will miss time afterward as he recovers from a left leg injury. The reigning NBA Finals MVP missed his fourth straight game after getting injured against Dallas on Feb. 4 in a collision while defending McKinley Wright IV as he drove to the basket. Wright’s knee hit Curry’s shin. Curry said he will likely have a better idea of the timeline and a possible target date for his return once he actually tests the leg on the court.
NHL
Adrian Kempe scored for the third straight game, Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and two assists, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2. Sean Walker and Matt Roy also scored to help the Kings get their second straight win after the All-Star break and bye week. Phillip Danault had three assists and Pheonix Copley made 27 saves. Dylan Cozens and Peyton Krebs scored, and Craig Anderson allowed five goals on 28 shots for the Sabres, who have dropped four straight games following a five-game win streak.
Tim Stutzle scored at 1:55 of overtime to cap Ottawa’s comeback from two goals down as the Senators beat the Calgary Flames 4-3. Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and Alex DeBrincat also scored for Ottawa and Stutlze had assists on all three goals. Mads Sogaard, appearing in his fourth NHL game, made 34 saves. Dillon Dube had two goals and Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom finished with 21 saves.
NFL
Sunday’s Super Bowl was the third most-watched television show in history, with an estimated 113 million people watching the Kansas City Chiefs rally to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles. Fox said Monday that the preliminary numbers include the broadcasts on Fox and Fox Deportes as well as streaming on Fox and the NFL’s digital sites. The figures are via Nielsen’s Fast National data and Adobe Analytics. Final Nielsen data will be available on Tuesday. Rihanna’s halftime show averaged 118.7 million viewers, making it the second-most watched in Super Bowl history behind Katy Perry's 2015 performance.
The Kansas City Chiefs awoke Monday still reveling in the glow of their second Super Bowl title in a four-year span, while the Philadelphia Eagles were left to lament how close they came to winning another Lombardi Trophy of their own. The rest of the league? Well, they’ve been looking toward the future for a while now. The day after the Super Bowl represents the first day of the offseason, though that’s a bit of a misnomer — nobody around the NFL takes any time off. There are some hard business decisions to be made with current players, scouting that needs to be wrapped up and a game plan to formulate before the league holds its annual draft at the end of April.
SKIING
Overall World Cup winners Mikaela Shiffrin, Federica Brignone and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde are among nearly 200 athletes from multiple disciplines who have signed a letter addressed to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation demanding action over climate change. The letter was delivered during the skiing world championships after warm weather and a lack of snow wiped out nearly a month of racing at the start of this season. The athletes asked the federation to shift the start of the Alpine skiing season from late October to late November and the end of the season from mid-March to late April because “the seasons have shifted." The athletes also requested a more “geographically reasonable” race schedule.
MLB
Starting extra innings with a runner on second base during the regular season was made a permanent rules change by Major League Baseball after three seasons of use during the coronavirus pandemic. Use of position players as pitchers also was tightened by the joint competition committee. They will be limited to extra innings, when a player’s team is losing by eight or more runs or is winning by 10 or more runs in the ninth inning. Last year, a position player could pitch only in extra innings or if his team was losing or winning by six or more runs.
Spring training opens Monday in Florida and Arizona. And there'll be lots of new changes, like pitch clocks, limits on defensive shifts and larger bases. Players are reporting early ahead of the World Baseball Classic. Opening day is March 30. This season will see some star players in new places: Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts. There also are four new managers: Bruce Bochy, Matt Quatraro, Pedro Grifol and Skip Schumaker.
AP MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL POLL
Alabama is the new No. 1, rising to the top spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time in 20 years. Purdue’s loss to Northwestern last week caused a jumble at the top of the AP Top 25 and the Crimson Tide were the biggest beneficiaries. Alabama received 38 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel, moving up two spots to leapfrog No. 2 Houston. The Cougars had 22 first-place votes to remain at No. 2 and Purdue, down to No. 3, still had two votes at No. 1. UCLA and Kansas rounded out the top five.
