Jrue Holiday scored a season-high 40 points and made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 25.2 seconds left in overtime as the Milwaukee Bucks edged the short-handed Boston Celtics 131-125 on Tuesday for their 11th consecutive victory. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 36 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists as the Bucks (40-17) moved within a half-game of the Celtics (41-17) in the Eastern Conference standings. Boston was playing without both their All-Stars – Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – as well as Marcus Smart and Al Horford.
Jakob Poeltl scored 30 points, Pascal Siakam had 26 and the Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 123-113 , Toronto’s fifth win in six games. Scottie Barnes scored 17 points, Fred VanVleet had 10 points and a season-high 15 assists, and Precious Achiuwa had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors. Wendell Carter Jr. scored 26 points, Jalen Suggs had 24 off the bench and Markelle Fultz scored 19 points for the Magic. Orlando came in having won three straight road games but couldn’t follow Monday’s win at Chicago with another victory.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is teaming up with his brothers once again on All-Star Saturday. Portland’s Damian Lillard is taking a third shot at the 3-point title, Indiana’s Buddy Hield will aim to win that one again and Philadelphia’s Mac McClung now can be a slam-dunk champion at the NBA and high school levels. The NBA released the full list of participants for All-Star Saturday’s events in Salt Lake City — the Skills Competition, the 3-point contest and the dunk contest. It’ll be a particularly busy weekend for 11 players who are now slotted to be in multiple events during the three days of action in Utah.
NHL
Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson each scored in the shootout and the Ottawa Senators defeated the New York Islanders 3-2. Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk each recorded a goal and an assist in regulation. Kevin Mandolese finished with 46 saves to win his NHL debut. The Senators won their second straight. Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson scored for New York and Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves.
Ryan Graves scored off a feed from Michael McLeod in front of the net with 1.4 seconds left, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 for their fourth win in five games. Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Bratt had the other goals for the Devils, and Graves also had an assist. Vitek Vanecek stopped 31 shots for New Jersey, which remains three points behind first-place Carolina and moved five ahead of the New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division. Adam Boqvist had a goal and an assist, and Johnny Gaudreau scored for Columbus. The Blue Jackets have lost five of six, including three straight at home.
Casey DeSmith made 38 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1. The Penguins' top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell each had three points. Crosby reached 41 assists on the season. Timo Meier scored his 31st goal late in the third period for the Sharks. Aaron Dell made 24 saves in his third start for San Jose this season. He has yet to earn a win. Erik Karlsson and Alexander Barabanov both had their four-game point streaks snapped.
The Montreal Canadiens scored three goals in the third period to earn a 4-0 win over Western Conference bottom-dwellers Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Joel Armia scored one goal and added an assist, while Jonathan Drouin collected three assists. Justin Barron, David Savard and Christian Dvorak also scored as the Canadiens won a third straight game since returning from the NHL All-Star break. Jake Allen made 22 saves to bank his first shutout of the season. Jaxson Stauber made 27 saves as Chicago started a four-game Canadian road trip with back-to-back losses.
NFL
The Las Vegas Raiders have released quarterback Derek Carr. The move was expected after Carr was benched with two games remaining this season. The Raiders would have owed him $40.4 million in guaranteed money over the next two years if he remained on the roster beyond Tuesday. Now Carr will see what he's worth on the open market. Las Vegas will either try to sign a veteran quarterback or draft one.
The consolation prize for the Philadelphia Eagles' coordinators following their Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was head coaching jobs for Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen staɪkɛn/ STY-ken. Gannon replaced Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona and Steichen replaced Jeff Saturday in Indianapolis. This wraps up the annual head coach hiring cycle that featured just five openings this year. The hires come less than 48 hours after the Eagles' 38-35 loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57. Left out again in this year's round of head coaching hires was Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to clog the streets of downtown Kansas City to celebrate the 2023 Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Officials began planning Wednesday's parade even before the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. City leaders said 19 local and area law enforcement agencies, along with fire officials and transportation workers, are ready to provide protection as the team takes a victory lap through downtown Kansas City. Most schools, many businesses and some government offices in the Kansas City metro area will be closed so people can celebrate. The event starts at noon and will end with a victory rally at the city's Union Station.
Andy Reid isn’t done yet. Patrick Mahomes isn’t going anywhere, either. Chad Henne is heading off in retirement but otherwise the Kansas City Chiefs have very few holes to address heading into the offseason, which is why they already have been tabbed the favorites to defend their Super Bowl title next year. The Chiefs are the first franchise to host five consecutive AFC championship games, winning it three times and now twice hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Their latest performance may have been their best: They played a near-perfect second half Sunday night to rally from a 10-point deficit for a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Golf
Tiger Woods feels healthy enough to tee it up at Riviera this week. It's his first tournament with a cut and without a cart since the British Open last July. He still thinks he can win. Woods also is realistic enough to know his body won't hold out much longer. Part of him is grateful for the chance to keep playing. He says he has felt that way since going through back fusion surgery. But he can't wrap his head around ceremonial golf. Woods is the tournament host of the Genesis Invitational. For now, he sees himself as another player.
MLB
There were some familiar faces in new places as teams picked up the pace on the second day of spring training. Justin Verlander threw his first bullpen session for the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida, six days before he turns 40. Verlander helped Houston win the World Series for the second time in six seasons and won his third AL Cy Young Award before signing an $86.7 million, two-year contract with the free-spending Mets. In Peoria, Arizona, suspended San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. went through outfield drills alongside Juan Soto.
New Mexico State fires coach
New Mexico State has fired basketball coach Greg Heiar in the wake of hazing allegations on the team that shut down the program for the rest of the season. Chancellor Dan Arvizu announced the firing, saying hazing has no place on the New Mexico State campus, and that those found responsible would be held accountable. Arvizu said decisions about the rest of the coaching staff will be made after further investigation. An Aggies player told campus police that three teammates ganged up on him and attacked him. The police report includes allegations of false imprisonment, harassment and criminal sexual contact.
Soccer
The race is on to buy Manchester United and it will take deep pockets to meet an estimated price of $6 billion. No wonder the oil rich state of Qatar is being so heavily linked with a bid and Elon Musk’s name refuses to go away despite the Tesla owner saying he was joking when he wrote on Twitter last year about his intention to swoop in for the Premier League club. Only one potential buyer has gone public so far. The billionaire owner of petrochemicals giant INEOS has announced his intention to bid.
