NBA
Trae Young scored a season-high 43 points, including 14 in overtime, and the Atlanta Hawks outlasted the Brooklyn Nets 147-145 yesterday in their second shootout in two nights. A night after falling 157-152 to the Indiana Pacers, the Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak got back to .500. De’Andre Hunter had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and scored nine straight points for the Hawks in the fourth quarter. Clint Capela finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Mikal Bridges had 45 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets. He had 11 points in overtime.
Jayson Tatum shook off an illness to have 23 points and 11 rebounds, carrying the Boston Celtics over the Milwaukee Bucks 119-116 on Wednesday night in an early showdown of top Eastern Conference teams. Jaylen Brown had 26 points and eight assists for Boston, which improved the NBA’s best record to 12-3. Kristaps Porzingis added 21 points and Derrick White scored 13. Brook Lopez led Milwaukee (10-5) with 28 points. Damian Lillard had 27 points, five rebounds and five assists, but Giannis Antetokounmpo was limited to 21 points after scoring at least 40 in his last two games.
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points and 11 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 112-99 win against the Philadelphia 76ers, who were playing without MVP center Joel Embiid. Embiid missed his first game of the season with left hip soreness. Rudy Gobert had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who won their third straight and have won 10 of 11. Marcus Morris Sr. started for Embiid and scored 16 points. Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton each had 16 points for the Sixers, who’ve lost four of six.
LaMelo Ball had 34 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds as the Charlotte Hornets rallied from a 19-point deficit to hand the Washington Wizards their seventh straight loss, 117-114. Miles Bridges had a season-high 33 points and 11 rebounds, and Mark Williams added 11 points and 14 rebounds for Charlotte. Ball had 12 points, seven assists and four rebounds in the fourth quarter, and Bridges hit a step-back 3 with 47 seconds left to put Charlotte ahead for good. Kyle Kuzma had 28 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and Jordan Poole added 24 points for the Wizards, who went cold early in the fourth quarter.
Franz Wagner scored 24 of his 27 points in the second half, Paolo Banchero added 23 points and the Orlando Magic overcame Nikola Jokic’s triple-double to record their fifth straight victory, 124-119 over the Denver Nuggets. Jokic finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. It was the Denver center’s sixth triple-double of the season and the 111th of his career. The Nuggets fell to 4-4 without injured guard Jamal Murray. Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points for Denver.
Kyle Lowry made seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 28 points, and the Miami Heat took advantage of Cleveland playing the second night of a back-to-back, beating the sluggish Cavaliers 129-96. Lowry made his first five 3s and went 7 of 10. The Heat were without injured All-Star center Bam Adebayo but built a 19-point lead in the first half and won for the ninth time in 10 games. The Cavs had their winning streak stopped at four. They were understandably tired after winning in overtime at Philadelphia on Tuesday. Darius Garland scored 14 points for Cleveland, which was without star guard Donovan Mitchell for the fourth straight game due to a hamstring injury.
Pascal Siakam had 36 points and 10 rebounds, Scottie Barnes drove for the go-ahead dunk with 27 seconds left, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Indiana Pacers 132-131. Barnes had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and his slam put Toronto ahead 130-129 for the last of five lead changes in the final 1:22. Dennis Schroder scored 26 points for the Raptors. Buddy Hield missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left for the Pacers. He finished with 31 points and made 7 of 12 3s. Tyrese Haliburton had 33 points and 16 assists for Indiana.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, Chet Holmgren had 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Chicago Bulls 116-102 for their sixth straight victory. Isaiah Joe added 20 points for the Thunder (11-4), on their longest winning streak since the 2018-19 season. Gilgeous-Alexander raised his average to 30 points for the season and was showered with “MVP! MVP!” chants as he closed out the game with six free throws down the stretch. DeMar DeRozan, after making just one basket in the first half, led the Bulls with 25 points.
Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points while hearing boos that prompted San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich to admonish the crowd, Paul George added 24 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs 109-102. Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall draft pick, had 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs, whose fans were more focused on jeering one of their former stars. Fans booed as Leonard stood at the free-throw line late in the first half. Popovich grabbed the public-address microphone and told the crowd to knock it off, but the fans began booing even louder when play resumed.
Zion Williamson scored 25 points, Brandon Ingram added 21, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Sacramento Kings 117-112. Both New Orleans stars made pivotal plays late to put the Pelicans in front for good en route to their second straight victory and fourth in five games. Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans. Jordan Hawkins added 13 points and Naji Marshall 12. De'Aaron Fox finished with a game-high 26 points for the Kings. Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and nine rebounds, and Harrison Barnes added 22 points. The Pelicans missed 23 of 30 3-point attempts. But they made up for that by outscoring the Kings 62-28 in the paint.
Jerami Grant had 30 points and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 121-105 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. Malcolm Brogdon added 20 points and eight assists, and Jabari Walker came off the bench to score 19 with 10 rebounds. The Blazers led by as many as 32 points. Lauri Markkanen had 24 points for the Jazz, who have lost five straight and eight of their last 10.
The Dallas Mavericks blew a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter before rallying back for a 104-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Kyrie Irving scored 28 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 22 seconds to play. LeBron James scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and made the tiebreaking tip-in with 1:16 to play for the Lakers, who outscored Dallas 30-13 in the fourth quarter after trailing 91-71 at the start. Doncic scored 30 points for the Mavs, who missed 16 of their 19 shots in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant scored 32 points, Devin Booker added 25 and the Phoenix Suns won their fifth straight game by beating the Golden State Warriors 123-115 on Wednesday night. The Suns had a 23-point lead midway through the third quarter, but the Warriors managed to cut the advantage to 118-115 with 19 seconds left after Durant was called for a technical foul. Booker made a pair of free throws with 12.4 seconds left to thwart the rally. Durant and Booker combined to go 28 for 29 on free throws. Golden State's Chris Paul was ejected in the second quarter for arguing with referee Scott Foster. Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 23 points.
Jalen Green scored 26 of his season-high 34 points in the second half to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-91 win over the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night. The victory snaps a three-game skid overall for Houston and a five-game losing streak in the series against Memphis. The Rockets were up by six points to start the fourth, and used a 10-2 run, with the last seven points from Green, to make it 84-70 with about 10 minutes remaining. Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 23 points each for the Grizzlies, who lost for the third time in four games.
Chris Paul’s return to Phoenix ended in the second quarter on Wednesday night after the 12-time All-Star was ejected by his old nemesis: referee Scott Foster. The Golden State Warriors guard and Foster have a long, acrimonious history, with the point guard complaining about Foster’s officiating for years. Paul was ejected with 23.2 seconds left in the second quarter after earning quick back-to-back technicals for arguing with Foster.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich grabbed the microphone and chastised the crowd at the Frost Bank Center, telling fans to stop booing former Spurs All-Star Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. Leonard has been jeered by Spurs fans since he demanded a trade and was dealt from San Antonio to the Toronto Raptors on July 18, 2018. Fans booed as Leonard stood at the free throw line following a foul by Spurs forward Keldon Johnson with 3:08 remaining in the first half Wednesday. Popovich then walked over and grabbed the public address microphone. After an initial stunned silence, the crowd began booing even louder in response.
NHL
Jonathan Quick made 32 saves for his 60th career shutout and Alexis Lafreniere scored early in the first period to give the New York Rangers a 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. In his first season with the Rangers as Igor Shesterkin’s backup, Quick has allowed only 11 goals while going 5-0-1 with two shutouts in six starts. New York has won five of six overall and is 11-1-1 in its past 13 games. Quick, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with Los Angeles, became the 20th goalie in NHL history to reach 60 shutouts. He ranks second among active goaltenders behind Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury. Lafreniere scored his eighth goal for the Rangers, who haven’t lost consecutive games this season.
Brock Nelson had two goals, Anders Lee also scored and the New York Islanders topped the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2. Pierre Engvall and Adam Pelech each had two assists. and Ilya Sorokin stopped 34 shots to help the Islanders win their second straight after losing seven in a row (0-4-3). Cam York and Joel Farabee scored for the Flyers, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. Carter Hart finished with 22 saves. The Islanders are 12-2-0 in the last 14 games against the Flyers and have won eight straight home games against Philadelphia.
Dylan Strome scored with 8 seconds left on the clock in overtime, lifting the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres for their fifth straight win. Alex Alexeyev, T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington, which is 6-0-1 in its last seven games. Darcy Kuemper, making his first start since Nov. 8, stopped 24 shots. J.J. Peterka, Zach Benson and Dylan Cozens scored for the Sabres, losers of four of five. Devon Levi finished with 26 saves. Wilson tied the score with his fourth goal of the season with 1:15 left in regulation and Strome won in the final seconds of the extra period on a 2-on-1 break with his eighth.
Linus Ullmark stopped 27 shots, and the NHL-leading Boston Bruins topped the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Wednesday night in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference quarterfinals. John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk scored in a 3:05 span of the second period to put Boston in control, and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins. Anton Lundell scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots.
Alex Lyon made 16 saves for his second career shutout, Robby Fabbri had a goal and an assist and the Detroit Red Wings beat the New Jersey Devils 4-0 on Wednesday night. Lyon was making his second start of the season. Last April with Florida, he shut out Columbus. Fabbri capped a three-goal spree in a 1:12 span late in the first period in Detroit’s first game since returning from the NHL’s Global Series Sweden. Lucas Raymond extended his goals streak to four games, Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider also scored and Daniel Sprong had two assists. New Jersey was shut out for the first time this season. Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves.
Boone Jenner scored twice and Zach Werenski had a franchise-record four assists as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3, snapping a nine-game losing streak. Kirill Marchenko had a goal and an assist, and Eric Gudbranson, Cole Sillinger and Dmitri Voronkov also scored. Adam Boqvist added three assists and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 34 shots for the Blue Jackets, who last won Nov. 2 and tied a franchise record for consecutive losses. Connor Bedard, Jason Dickinson and Ryan Donato scored for Chicago, and Petr Mrazek stopped 13 shots before being replaced in the second period by Arvid Soderblom, who stopped six shots.
Adam Lowry scored 1:39 into overtime and the Winnipeg Jets won their fourth consecutive game, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Wednesday night. Lowry scored from the left circle off a pass from Neal Pionk. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck stopped 29 shots. Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele had scored for Winnipeg. Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point scored for the Lightning, who had won three in a row. Jonas Johansson made 29 saves.
Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis each had a goal and an assist and the Carolina Hurricanes scored four goals in a 5:31 span in the first period in a 6-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. Jesper Fast, Jack Drury, Martin Necas and Brent Burns also scored for Carolina. Jalen Chatfield had two assists. Zach Hyman scored twice and Mattias Ekholm also had a goal for the Oilers. They’ve lost three in a row following a three-game winning streak.
Nick Leddy and Alexey Toropchenko had short-handed goal 33 seconds apart, Kevin Hayes broke a tie early in the third period and the St. Louis Blues outlasted the Arizona Coyotes 6-5 on Wednesday night. After the teams split the first two meetings of the season, defense was optional in the desert for the third. The teams combined for 10 goals in 22 minutes spanning the first and second periods. It was the third NHL game in 30 years to have five tying goals in the first 35 minutes and 23 players had at least a point.St. Louis chased goalie Karel Vejmelka with four goals before the midpoint of the second period. The Coyotes chased Jordan Binnington not long after that with their fifth.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves and the Nashville Predators extended their winning streak to three games with a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Colton Sissons, Ryan O’Reilly, Alexandre Carrier and Juuso Parssinen scored, and Ryan McDonagh had two assists for Nashville. Noah Hanifin and Yegor Sharangovich scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 42 saves for Calgary, which was 3-0-1 in its previous four games.
Jack Eichel scored 1:57 into overtime and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Dallas Stars 2-1. Eichel stayed with the puck after initially whiffing at it, and knocked it past goalie Jake Oettinger for his eighth goal of the season. It was the fourth consecutive regular-season game between Vegas and Dallas that went beyond regulation. Vegas won a shootout at home Oct. 17, after the Stars twice won shootouts last season. Plus, three of their six games in the Western Conference Final last May went to overtime. Vegas goalie Aiden Hill had 32 saves. Oettinger stopped 24 shots. Michael Amadio had a power-play goal for the Knights. Roope Hintz scored for Dallas.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde each had a goal and an assist in Seattle’s four-goal first period and the Kraken beat the NHL-worst San Jose Sharks 7-1 on Wednesday night. Brandon Tanev and Adam Larsson also scored in the opening 20 minutes to help the Kraken get to the .500 mark for the first time this season at 8-8-5. They won won for the fourth time in 10 home games. Jared McCann scored his team-leading ninth goal early in the second, Eeli Tolvanen added two third-period goals and Joey Daccord made 13 saves. Bjorkstrand finished with three assists and Jamie Oleksiak had two. Mike Hoffman scored for San Jose in the third. The Sharks are 0-9 on the road and 3-15-1 overall.
Alex Newhook scored with 3:20 remaining for his second goal of the game, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 to snap a four-game losing streak. Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson also scored, Sam Montembeault made 30 saves, and the Canadiens won on the road for the second time in six games. Mason McTavish had two goals and an assist, and Frank Vatrano had a goal and an assist in the Ducks’ fourth straight loss. John Gibson finished with 24 saves. Montreal blew leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before Newhook finished off a 2-on-1 rush from Jake Evans.
Riley Tufte scored the go-ahead goal 24 seconds into the third period and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2. It was Tufte’s first goal with the Avalanche, who recalled him from the minors earlier in the day. Cale Makar added a goal later in the third on a breakaway, and Mikko Rantanen scored into an empty net. Valeri Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin also had goals for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves. J.T. Miller and Nils Hoglander scored for the Canucks.
NFL
Former Saints tight end Boo Williams needs surgery, medicine and doctors to make the pain in his injured neck subside. But he can't afford any of it. The 44-year-old was recently awarded $5,000 a month by the NFL’s disability benefit plan. But Williams tells The Associated Press the plan and the league have repeatedly mishandled his claims and should really have paid him $500,000 or more over the past 14 years. His story is not unlike those of dozens of retired players in similar positions, who spend their days picking through a web of lawyers, paperwork and bureaucracy in a fight against the NFL and a disability plan they argue is unfair and broken.
Green Bay at Detroit 12:30 p.m.
Washington at Dallas 4:30 p.m.
San Francisco at Seattle 8:20 p.m.
The way this NFL season is going so far, there’s a decent chance there could be a first-time Super Bowl participant for the first time since the 2008 season when Arizona became the 28th franchise to reach the big game. That left four franchises without a Super Bowl berth and all of them currently have winning records and are off to some of their best starts in years. Detroit, Cleveland, Jacksonville and Houston are currently in playoff position with a chance to end their droughts.
These aren’t the same old Detroit Lions everyone is used to watching on Thanksgiving. The Lions enter Thursday’s game against the Green Bay Packers with their best record through 10 games since 1962. A turnaround that started with a 7-2 finish after a 1-6 start in 2022 carried over into this season and the Lions hold a 2 1/2 game lead over Minnesota in the NFC North. The Packers-Lions kick off a holiday football feast that features three divisional matchups. Dallas hosts Washington in the late afternoon game and San Francisco visits Seattle in the nightcap.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Zach Edey had 28 points and 15 rebounds to carry No. 2 Purdue to a 78-75 win over No. 4 Marquette in the championship game of the Maui Invitational. The early-season matchup of undefeated teams did not disappoint in a tournament stacked with five programs ranked among the top 11 nationally. Edey, the reigning national Player of the Year, shot 11 of 19 from the field and led the Boilermakers to their first Maui Invitational title. His tip-in gave Purdue a 78-75 lead with 18 seconds remaining. Marquette had two chances to tie it, but 3-point attempts by Tyler Kolek and Kam Jones in the closing seconds failed to drop. Kolek had 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Jones added 17 points and five assists.
If this was next year and the College Football Playoff had already expanded from four teams to 12, games involving No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 12 Mississippi, No. 11 Penn State and No. 10 Missouri would be a lot more interesting. All four enter this rivalry weekend with a chance to earn an invite to a New Year’s Six bowl, which is nice. But in 2024 they’d be jockeying for a playoff spot. For now, the stakes are more confined on rivalry weekend. Though the big games such as No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Michigan are undeniably bigger than they will be in a 12-team CFP.
MLB
The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired slugger Eugenio Suárez on Wednesday from the Seattle Mariners in a trade for reliever Carlos Vargas and catcher Seby Zavala. The 32-year-old Suárez was a 2018 All-Star for the Cincinnati Reds. He has been a consistent power hitter for the past decade, slugging 246 homers since 2012. He fills a need for the D-backs at third base, which was manned mostly by Evan Longoria and Emmanuel Rivera last season.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Iona 89 Buffalo 64
UMass 89 Central Connecticut 60
Syracuse 105 Chaminade 56
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 57 Cornell 45
UConn guard Azzi Fudd will miss the remainder of the season with a noncontact knee injury she sustained last week during practice. The school announced Wednesday that Fudd tore the medial meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. Coach Geno Auriemma said earlier that the injury happened when she came down after a jump shot on Nov. 14 in practice. The junior has had an injury-plagued career. She averaged 11 points in the two games she played this season for the No. 6 Huskies, a win over Dayton and a loss to No. 14 North Carolina State. The school said Wednesday that Fudd will have surgery at UConn Health at a “later date.”
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (1)Kansas 69 (7)Tennessee 60
Final (2)Purdue 78 (4)Marquette 75
Final (8)Creighton 88 Loyola Chicago 65
Final (13)Baylor 88 Oregon St. 72
Final (14)North Carolina 91 N. Iowa 69
Final (20)Arkansas 77 Stanford 74
Final (22)James Madison 95 Fresno St. 64
Final (24)Virginia 56 West Virginia 54
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