NBA
Joel Embiid had 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists and the Philadelphia 76ers won in their first game since trading James Harden, beating the Toronto Raptors 114-99 last night. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tobias Harris each scored 23 points for the 76ers. Tyrese Maxey had 18. Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 24 points and O.G. Anunoby had 16. Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak with a 130-111 home victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. The Raptors failed to build off the win and instead made it two losses already this season to the 76ers.
Even more than his stints in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, James Harden believes he has much more to prove in joining the Los Angeles Clippers. Not only is Harden back home in Southern California, but he joins a loaded roster that already features Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook. While the “Big Three” of Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving didn’t work in Brooklyn and teaming up with Joel Embiid in Philadelphia ended with some rancor, Harden says he is determined to do his part to see that this “Core Four” can result in an NBA title.
NFL
Kenny Pickett threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson with 4:02 remaining and the Pittsburgh Steelers slipped past the Tennesee Titans 20-16. The Steelers (5-3) bounced back from a dismal loss to Jacksonville by doing what they’ve done fairly regularly this season: hung around long enough to pull it out in the end. Four of Pittsburgh’s five wins have come on games they trailed entering the fourth quarter. Pickett threw for 190 yards and the winning score. Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis passed for 262 yards but his heave to the end zone with 6 seconds remaining was picked off as Tennessee fell to 3-5.
Josh McDaniels couldn’t make it past the midpoint of the season before the Las Vegas Raiders decided to make a change. Other teams will be joining the search for a new coach sooner or later. The Raiders get a head start while also giving interim coach Antonio Pierce an opportunity to prove he’s up to the task. Going into 2023, five teams replaced their head coach. Ten teams hired new head coaches in 2022. Several coaches around the NFL will be coaching for their future in the second half. Bill Belichick, Brandon Staley, Mike McCarthy, Ron Rivera, Matt Eberflus, Kevin Stafenski and Todd Bowles are among those on the hot seat.
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks was carted off in the final minutes against Pittsburgh with an injury. Burks tried to make a leaping fourth-down grab down the left sideline, but saw the ball slip from his grasp. He landed hard out of bounds and appeared to be unconscious. Medical staff from both teams came out to treat Burks, the 18th overall pick in the 2022 draft. His face mask was cut off and he was placed onto a board while players on both teams knelt on the Acrisure Stadium turf nearby. Burks appeared to be able to wiggle his toes as he was being loaded onto the cart. The Titans said Burks had full movement of all his extremities, according to the broadcast on Amazon TV.
NHL
Ryan Pulock, Simon Holmstrom and Brock Nelson scored on three of the Islanders’ first five shots and New York beat the Washington Capitals 3-0. Semyon Varlamov stopped all 32 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season and 22nd of his NHL career. Washington's Darcy Kuemper allowed three goals on 21 shots. The Islanders won for the third time in four games thanks to Pulock's goal 22 seconds in and two points from Nelson. The Capitals' winning streak ended at three.
Will Cuylle scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period, Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves and the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for their sixth straight win. Chris Kreider also scored for the Rangers, who have eight wins in their first 10 games for the second time in franchise history. The 8-2-0 start is second only to a 9-1-0 mark to begin the 1983-84 season. Seth Jarvis had the goal for Carolina, which had won three straight. Frederik Andersen finished with 24 saves. Cuylle converted a pass from defenseman Jacob Trouba to score his second career goal past Andersen at 10:21 of the third.
Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle scored in the shootout and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Thursday night. DeBrusk and Paval Zacha scored in regulation for the Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference with a 9-0-1 record. Jeremy Swayman made 33 saves. Mitchell Marner and Auston Matthews scored for the Maple Leafs. Ilya Samsonov stopped 38 shots. Toronto forward William Nylander extended his season-opening, franchise-record point streak to 10 games. He was credited with an assist on the Maple Leafs goal that tied the game in the second period after Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and three assists and the New Jersey Devils jumped to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Timo Meier, Alexander Holtz, Michael McLeod and Dougie Hamilton also scored for New Jersey, whose league-leading power play scored three times. Jack Hughes added two assists to push his league-leading total to 15. Hughes also leads the NHL with 20 points, two ahead of Bratt. Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 shots for the Devils, who improved to 3-0 on the road this season and have won five of their last six games. Kirill Kaprizov, Marco Rossi and Jake Middleton scored for the Wild.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves for his 39th career shutout, Steven Lorentz scored his first goal for Florida and the Panthers silenced the Detroit Red Wings 2-0. Lorentz, who was acquired in an offseason trade with San Jose, scored with 52 seconds left in the second period with an assist from Niko Mikkola. Anton Lundell provided insurance with an empty-net goal with 1:12 remaining, also his first of the season. Bobrovsky now has a 25-6-1 career record against the Red Wings, including four shutouts.
Anze Kopitar scored midway through the second period to help Los Angeles build a three-goal lead and the Kings held on to beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2. Carl Grundstrom and Philip Danault also scored and Adrian Kempe had two assists for the Kings, who have won the first two games on their four-game trip and improved to 6-2-2 on the season. Cam Talbot, who spent last season in Ottawa, had 24 saves against his former team. Dominik Kubalik and Josh Norris had goals for Ottawa, and Joonas Korpisalo finished with 36 saves against his former team.
Boone Jenner and Eric Gudbranson scored 2:17 apart in the third period and the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied from a one-goal deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2. Colombus ended a four-game skid. Kirill Marchenko scored in the first period, Johnny Gaudreau added a goal and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 27 shots for his first win since Oct. 21. Steven Stamkos and Conor Sheary scored in the second period for the Lightning, who have lost two straight and all four of their road games. Former Ohio State University goaltender Matt Tomkins returned to the Buckeye State and stopped 24 shots for Tampa Bay.
Roope Hintz had two goals and an assist, Scott Wedgewood made 46 saves and the Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 for their third straight win. Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists and Matt Duchene also scored for the Stars, who improved to 7-1-1 on the season. Sam Gagner scored twice in his return to the lineup and Evander Kane also had a goal struggling Oilers, who have lost five of their last six and dropped to 2-6-1. Stuart Skinner had 23 saves.
Vince Dunn scored off a faceoff 8:38 into the third period to give Seattle a two-goal advantage, Philipp Grubauer made 33 saves and the Kraken beat the Nashville Predators 4-2. Coming off a career high in points last season, Dunn’s slap shot beat goalie Juuse Saros to the glove side to give Seattle a 4-2 lead. The Kraken also got goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jared McCann in the first period, and defenseman Brian Dumoulin’s goal late in the second period snapped a 2-2 tie. Tommy Novak and Roman scored for Nashville.
Jonathan Marchessault scored three goals for his sixth career hat trick, Logan Thompson made 28 saves, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2. William Karlsson and Ivan Barbashev also scored as the Golden Knights improved to 10-0-1 and became the 13th team in NHL history to record a season-opening point streak of at least 11 games. Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo scored for the Jets while Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves.
Nick Schmaltz scored two goals, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. The game winner came with 13:53 remaining, on a power play. Rookie Logan Cooley skated from the left side and hit Schmaltz with a pass to beat Jake Allen on the glove side. Schmaltz, who has four goals and a team-high 10 points, scored his first goal on a penalty shot. Lawson Crouse also scored for Arizona and Connor Ingram stopped 30 shots. Sean Monahan and Brendan Gallagher had the goals for the Canadiens. Jake Allen stopped 32 shots.
Quinn Hughes had a goal and four assists, eight players scored and the Vancouver Canucks beat the San Jose Sharks 10-1 for their fifth win in six games. Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, Anthony Beauvillier also scored twice in his 500th NHL game, J.T. Miller had a goal and two assists, Andrei Kuzmenko and Sam Lafferty each had a goal and an assist, and Pius Suter and Ilya Mikheyev also scored for Vancouver. Elias Pettersson had three assists, and Filip Hronek and Carson Soucy had two apiece. Thatcher Demko stopped 29 shots. San Jose has lost 10 straight to start the season (0-9-1). Fabian Zetterlund scored with 3:48 remaining for the Sharks. Kaapo Kahkonen allowed six goals on 19 shots before leaving with an injurymidway through the second period. Mackenzie Blackwood had 10 saves.
MLB
Corey Seager and Marcus Semien are really just getting started in Texas and already have a World Series title together with a franchise that had never won one. The Rangers this offseason will look to re-sign left-hander Jordan Montgomery, the trade-deadline acquisition from the St. Louis Cardinals who is eligible for free agency. Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, the other deadline acquisition from the Mets, opted in for the 2024 season as part of that trade. ALCS MVP Adolis García is eligible for salary arbitration, but the slugger is still under team control next season.
Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery, Blake Snell and Aaron Nola were among the 130 players who became free agents as baseball’s business season began the day following the Texas Rangers’ first World Series title. Max Muncy, Joe Jiménez and Colin Rea gave up a chance to go free and agreed to new contracts with their teams. That free agent market also includes Sonny Gray, Josh Hader, Matt Chapman, Jorge Soler and J.D. Martinez. Minnesota prevented outfielder Max Kepler and infielder Jorge Polanco from going free, exercising 2024 options.
New Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow concedes that his Yale University pedigree might put off some Boston fans. The team finished last in three of the last four seasons under another Yalie, Chaim Bloom. But Breslow also spent 13 seasons in the major leagues as a left-handed reliever. He even won two World Series rings with the Red Sox. Breslow says his experience as a player taught him what baseball means in Boston. And he says he is prepared to make the difficult decisions to make the team competitive again.
NCAA
There is mounting pressure on Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti to discipline Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh for a sign-stealing scheme. Pettiti heard from frustrated and angry Big Ten coaches during a video call Wednesday, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. The NCAA is investigating Michigan for impermissible in-person scouting. A Michigan staffer is alleged to have sent people to future opponents' games for the purpose of video recording signals. The NCAA's enforcement process is slow moving, but Big Ten bylaws provide the commissioner leeway to act on competitive integrity issues.
SOCCER
Colombia’s government says the guerrilla group National Liberation Army, known as ELN, has kidnapped the father of Liverpool and Colombian national soccerteam striker Luis Díaz. The peace delegation of the government, which is currently in negotiations with ELN, said in a statement it was “officially aware” that the kidnapping had been “perpetrated by a unit that belongs to ELN.” Díaz is one of the most talented players on Colombia’s national team and currently plays for Liverpool in the English Premier League, which he joined last year in a deal worth $67 million.
PGA TOUR
Cameron Percy matched his best score on the PGA Tour with a 62. That gives him a two-shot lead in the World Wide Technology Championship. And it left him wondering just how low he could have gone. The Australian was 9 under through 13 holes. He made only one birdie the rest of the way. It was still enough to lead by two over a group that includes Camilo Villegas and Michael Kim. The other star was Tiger Woods, who wasn't playing. Woods designed El Cardonal at Diamante. It's the first time his course has hosted a PGA Tour event.
NASCAR
The oddsmakers named Kyle Larson the favorite to win the NASCAR championship, but half the field believe the person with the best chance to celebrate Sunday will be a spectator at Phoenix Raceway. Erin Blaney is in the unique position in that both her boyfriend and her older brother are racing against each other for the Cup title. It’s become a bit of a joke between contenders Ryan Blaney and William Byron, who referred to Blaney as his “brother-in-law” last week to trigger questions on what the mood might be like at Thanksgiving dinner if one of the two becomes champion. Blaney told his sister she's got a 50-50 shot at being happy Sunday.
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