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WAMC Sports Report 12/6/23: Antetokounmpo, Bucks pass Knicks 146-122, reach In-Season Tourney semis

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo dunks during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 146-122. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Morry Gash/AP
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AP
Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo dunks during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 146-122. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

NBA

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points and 10 assists, Damian Lillard added 28 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the New York Knicks 146-122 to reach the semifinals of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament. The Bucks posted a season high in scoring, shooting 60.5% from 3-point range and 60.4% overall to set up a matchup with Indiana in Las Vegas on Thursday. Milwaukee is 5-0 in tournament play and extended its home winning streak to nine games. The Bucks have won 10 of 12 overall. Julius Randle scored a season-high 41 points for the Knicks, whose three-game winning streak was snapped.

The Los Angeles Lakers secured the last semifinal spot in the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament with a 106-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns. LeBron James scored 15 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter while carrying the Lakers. James put on a masterful shooting performance down the stretch while also racking up 11 assists, eight rebounds and five steals. The 21-year veteran scored 15 of the Lakers’ first 19 points in the final period and got the assists on his teammates’ other two baskets as Los Angeles pulled ahead. Kevin Durant scored 31 points for the Suns but badly missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

NHL

Brady Tkachuk and Vladimir Tarasenko each scored twice to lead the Ottawa Senators to an impressive 6-2 win over the league-leading New York Rangers on Tuesday night. Anton Forsberg made 33 saves for the Sens, while Claude Giroux and Drake Batherson also scored for the Senators. Artemi Panarin and K’Andre Miller scored for the Rangers, while Igor Shesterkin stopped 30 shots.

Dylan Larkin scored twice as the Detroit Red Wings raced to an early lead and held on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3. The Red Wings jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but had to hold off a late Sabres comeback try. Robby Fabbri, Moritz Seider and Michael Rasmussen also scored for the Red Wings, who won their third straight game and for the sixth time in seven games. Alex Lyon made 29 saves. Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt and Jeff Skinner scored for Buffalo. Mike Comrie made 22 saves as the Sabres lost their fourth straight.

William Eklund scored in the closing seconds of overtime, Tomas Hertl had a hat trick and the San Jose Sharks erased a three-goal, third-period deficit to defeat the New York Islanders 5-4. Kevin Labanc also scored and Kaapo Kahkonen made 33 saves for the Sharks. Julien Gauthier, Brock Nelson, Mike Reilly and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders who began a six-game homestand with a loss. Simon Holmstrom and Bo Horvat each added two assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 27 saves.

Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the night with 34 seconds left in the third period as the Devils defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-5. Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists, while his younger brother Luke Hughes scored on a power play for the Devils. Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes had two third-period assists as the Canucks rallied from three goals down to tie the game. Erik Haula and Michael McLeod also scored for the Devils. J.T. Miller had a power-play goal and an assist for the Canucks. Brock Boeser, Nils Hoglander, Sam Lafferty and Dakota Joshua also scored for Vancouver.

Drew Doughty scored 33 seconds into overtime and the Los Angeles Kings rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 for their NHL record-tying 10th straight road win. Phoenix Copley stopped 26 for the Kings, who have won seven of their last eight games and matched the road win record set by the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres. Phillip Danault scored twice, Arthur Kaliyev added a goal and Vladislav Gavrikov contributed a pair of assists in his first game back in Columbus after being traded to Los Angeles in March. Kirill Marchenko, Johnny Gaudreau and Mathieu Olivier scored, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 35 for Columbus, which has lost eight games this season after holding a lead in the final 20 minutes.

Ryan O’Reilly scored in regulation and the shootout, and the Nashville Predators handed Chicago its fourth consecutive loss with a 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks. Gustav Nyquist and Filip Forsberg also converted their chances as Nashville went 3 for 3 in the tiebreaker against Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom. Connor Bedard scored in the shootout for Chicago, but Tyler Johnson was stopped by Juuse Saros. Luke Evangelista and Mark Jankowski also scored for Nashville in regulation. Saros made 25 stops in regulation and overtime. Nick Foligno had two goals and an assist for Chicago.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists as the short-handed Colorado Avalanche held off a late rally by the Anaheim Ducks for a 3-2 win. Kurtis MacDermid scored early in the first and Logan O’Connor made it 3-0 with another in the third before the Ducks staged their comeback bid. Sam Carrick scored a short-handed goal and Leo Carlsson added another on the power play with 5:49 remaining in the third to make it 3-2. The Ducks pulled goaltender John Gibson for an extra skater with under a minute remaining, but couldn’t tie it up.

Matt Boldy scored twice and had an assist, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames. Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek also scored for the Wild, who improved to 4-0-0 since Jon Hynes replaced Dean Evason as head coach Nov. 27. Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson had 28 saves and improved his career mark against Calgary to 4-0-1. Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund scored for Calgary. Dan Vladar stopped 13 of 16 shots in just over a period of action before being replaced by AHL call-up Dustin Wolf, who turned away 11 of 13 shots.

MLB

The New York Yankees have made a rare trade with the rival Boston Red Sox, acquiring outfielder Alex Verdugo for right-handers Greg Weissert, Richard Fitts and Nicholas Judice. It was just the eighth trade between the teams since Major League Baseball split into divisions in 1969. Verdugo, a 27-year-old left-handed hitter, batted .264 with 13 homers, 54 RBIs and a .745 OPS this year in his fourth season with the Red Sox.

The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to publicly acknowledge meeting with Shohei Ohtani when manager Dave Roberts disclosed what he said was a two-to-three hour get-together at Dodger Stadium a few days ago. Officials on other teams danced meticulously around the question. Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, another prized free agent, could be sought by the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Mets. Erick Fedde, a 30-year-old right-hander who spent this year with the NC Dinos in South Korea, agreed to a $15 million, two-year contract with the Chicago White Sox, a person familiar with the deal said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical.

Shohei Ohtani met with the Los Angeles Dodgers a few days ago at Dodger Stadium, manager Dave Roberts revealed at the winter meetings. Ohtani, a unique two-way star, is expected to command a record contract of $500 million-plus on the free agent market. The meeting lasted two-to-three hours. Ohtani led the AL with 44 homers and hit .304 with 96 RBIs for the Angels before an oblique injury. He was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts on the mound before tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, which will keep him from pitching next year.

The Los Angeles Angels will not trade three-time AL MVP Mike Trout. General manager Perry Minasian confirmed that Tuesday at MLB’s winter meetings. Trout is under contract through 2030, and he makes $35.45 million annually with a full no-trade clause. But even after he missed significant portions of the past three seasons due to injuries, his future in Anaheim remains an annual topic of debate due to his formidable talent and the Angels’ annual failures to achieve any team success in his 13-year career. Trout is coming off arguably the least impressive season of his career, playing only 82 games.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

UAlbany 98 SUNY Potsdam 59

Syracuse 81 Cornell 70

Cam Spencer had 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists as fifth-ranked UConn pulled away down the stretch for an 87-76 victory over No. 9 North Carolina in the Jimmy V Classic. Playing their third game at Madison Square Garden this season, the Huskies rebounded from a four-point loss at Kansas last Friday. The defending NCAA champions won a game in this event for the first time in five tries. Spencer scored 16 points in the first half, when the Huskies took the lead for good. Alex Karaban added 14 of his 18 points in the second period and finished with nine rebounds and five assists. RJ Davis led the Tar Heels with 26 points and Harrison Ingram added 20.

Hartford 80 Wentworth 66

NCAA President and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker says he wants the association to create a new tier of Division I athletics where highly resourced schools would be required to offer at least half their athletes a payment of at least $30,000 per year. Baker also proposed allowing all Division I schools to offer unlimited educational benefits and enter into name, image and likeness partnerships with athletes. Baker sent a letter to more than 350 Division I schools. He says the disparity in resources between the wealthiest schools and other D-I members is standing in the way of reforming college athletics.

(2)Kansas 88 UMKC 69

(6)Baylor 78 Seton Hall 60

(7)Gonzaga 111 Ark.-Pine Bluff 71

(20)Illinois 98 (11)FAU 89

(14)BYU 96 Evansville 55

(17)Tennessee 87 George Mason 66

Final (19)Oklahoma 72 Providence 51

Final (23)Wisconsin 70 Michigan St. 57

Final Grand Canyon 79 (25)San Diego St. 73

NFL

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he sees football becoming a global sport within the next decade and that his league is at the forefront of that effort. That includes adding another international market next year for the regular-season schedule. Brazil and Spain are the front-runners. Goodell was speaking at a forum that included officials from Las Vegas teams and events to promote the Super Bowl, which will be played at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11. He said the league’s championship game will return to Las Vegas many times after this season.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Jaedyn Shaw scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute to give the United States a 2-1 comeback victory over China on Tuesday night in the Americans’ final match of the year. It was the second of two exhibition matches against China. The United States won the first 3-0 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday. Shaw’s second international goal came in front of her hometown crowd in Frisco. The 19-year old was making her first start for the national team.

© 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Alexander began his journalism career as a sports writer for Siena College's student paper The Promethean, and as a host for Siena's school radio station, WVCR-FM "The Saint." A Cubs fan, Alexander hosts the morning Sports Report in addition to producing Morning Edition. You can hear the sports reports over-the-air at 6:19 and 7:19 AM, and online on WAMC.org. He also speaks Spanish as a second language. To reach him, email ababbie@wamc.org, or call (518)-465-5233 x 190. You can also find him on Twitter/X: @ABabbieWAMC.