NFL
Attorneys say former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza is being dropped from a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged she was raped by San Diego State University football players in 2021. Attorneys for both sides say the woman agreed to dismiss Araiza from the suit she filed last year while Araiza agreed to dismiss his defamation countersuit. The woman alleged that Araiza had sex with her at an off-campus party when she was 17 and then took her to a bedroom where other players raped her. Araiza said he had left the party before the alleged raping occurred. San Diego County prosecutors declined to file criminal charges. A San Diego State investigation found no wrongdoing by Araiza.
Justin Herbert has had surgery to repair the broken index finger on his right hand. He will miss the Los Angeles Chargers’ remaining four games. Herbert visited two hand specialists on Monday after he suffered the injury during the second quarter of Los Angeles’ 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Herbert is the seventh starting quarterback in the league to be lost for the season because of an injury, provided the Jets’ Aaron Rodgers does not return from his torn Achilles tendon. Herbert's backup, Easton Stick, will get his first NFL start on Thursday night at Las Vegas.
NBA
Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown also scored 25 and the Boston Celtics remained unbeaten at home with a 120-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night. Kristaps Porzingis had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Derrick White added 17 points and Boston held Cleveland scoreless for a stretch of 2 minutes, 40 seconds in the fourth quarter while finally putting away the Cavaliers, who had played on the road the night before. Donovan Mitchell had 29 points and Darius Garland scored 26 for the Cavaliers, who couldn’t overcome the cold stretch in the fourth quarter.
Luka Doncic had 33 points and 17 assists, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a season-high 32 and the Dallas Mavericks beat Los Angeles 127-125. It was the Lakers’ first game since winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament. Anthony Davis finished with 37 points and 11 rebounds and LeBron James had 33 points, nine assists and eight boards as LA's season-best four-game winning streak ended. The Lakers erased a 15-point deficit early in the third quarter to set up an entertaining finish.
Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was ejected in the second quarter of Denver’s 114-106 victory at Chicago for the language he directed toward an official after he felt he was fouled on a layup attempt. Jokic finished with four points, nine rebounds and six assists in Denver’s only scheduled visit to the United Center this season. After the 7-foot center was thrown out, the crowd of 20,775 seemed to register its displeasure with the decision by the officials. Jokic says he "crossed the line, but sometimes that word doesn’t cross the line.”
Devin Booker scored 32 points, Bradley Beal added 16 in his return from a back injury and the Phoenix Suns held on late to beat the Golden State Warriors 119-116 on Tuesday night. Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected in the third quarter after receiving a Flagrant 2 foul for hitting Jusuf Nurkic in the face. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 24 points. The Warriors trailed 113-104 with 1:30 left but rallied to cut the margin to 115-114 with 15 seconds left. Booker responded with two free throws to give the Suns a three-point lead and Curry missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing position
Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points in three quarters and the Los Angeles Clippers routed the Sacramento Kings 119-98. The Clippers won their fifth in a row. Paul George dived on the floor for a loose ball in the first half and didn't play in the second because of a sore left groin. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue says George could have returned. Leonard has scored 106 points in his last three games. James Harden added 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds to help the Clippers sweep a back-to-back for the first time this season. Keegan Murray led Sacramento with 17 points. The Kings had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Golden State bad boy Draymond Green was ejected once again on Tuesday night after hitting Jusuf Nurkic in the face while the two were battling for position in the third quarter during a game against the Phoenix Suns. It’s been less than a month since Green was suspended five games by the NBA for putting Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert into a headlock during an altercation in November. This fracas wasn’t quite as involved, but it was still another bewildering moment for the four-time All-Star, and could lead to further league discipline, especially considering his history.
LeBron James says the “moment was everything” to see oldest son Bronny James make his collegiate debut for Southern California. The elder James took a detour back to California from Las Vegas after the Lakers beat Indiana to win the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament. LA returned to the regular season with a 127-125 loss at the Dallas Mavericks. James didn't miss a beat as he finished with 33 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Bronny's debut came nearly five months after he went into cardiac arrest during a workout at USC's Galen Center.
NHL
Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner each scored twice, and veteran Martin Jones made 28 saves in his first start for Toronto as the surging Maple Leafs crushed the New York Rangers 7-3. Matthews added two assists and the Maple Leafs also got goals from Conor Timmins, Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf in improving to 5-0-2 in their last seven games. Toronto led 4-1 after 20 minutes but New York scored twice late in the second period to narrow the deficit to one. Marner got his second of the night on a power play early in the third, and Toronto put it away with two late goals. Blake Wheeler scored twice and Mika Zibanejad had a goal for the Rangers, who lost for the third time in four games.
Filip Forsberg scored 18 seconds into overtime and Juuse Saros made 38 saves in his fifth straight victory as the Nashville Predators topped the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2. Gustav Nyquist and Michael McCarron also scored for Nashville, which has won five of its last six games. Sean Couturier and Travis Sanheim scored for the Flyers, who had their four-game winning streak halted. Samuel Ersson made 18 saves for Philadelphia and had his four-game win streak stopped. The Flyers are 4-0-2 in their last six games. In overtime, Ersson stopped Forsberg’s initial shot from the left side. Forsberg streaked toward the crease, grabbed the loose rebound that slipped behind Ersson and scored the winner.
Jeff Carter and Jake Guentzel both scored twice and Pittsburgh’s beleaguered power play showed signs of life as the Penguins slipped past the Arizona Coyotes 4-2. Pittsburgh scored twice with the man advantage while ending an 0-for-37 drought that stretched over a month. Tristan Jarry made 20 saves as the Penguins beat the Coyotes for the 11th straight time. Lawson Crouse scored his 13th of the season for Arizona and added an assist on Matias Maccelli’s power play tally.
Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis also scored for Carolina. Pyotr Kochetkov made 31 saves as the Hurricanes snapped a four-game skid. Josh Norris scored for the Senators, who had their three-game winning streak halted. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 24 shots.
Lucas Raymond and Robby Fabbri scored in the third period to lift the Detroit Red Wings over the scuffling St. Louis Blues 6-4. Soon after their season-worst fourth straight loss, the Blues fired coach Craig Berube, who guided them to their only Stanley Cup championship in 2019. The 57-year-old Berube, in his sixth season with St. Louis, had a record of 206-131-44. Drew Bannister, coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League, takes over as interim coach. Moritz Seider, Jake Walman, Jonatan Berggren and Michael Rasmussen also had goals for the Red Wings, who were 0-2-1 in their previous three games. Kevin Hayes scored twice for the Blues, who also got goals from Marco Scandella and Brandon Saad. St. Louis has lost five of six overall.
Brock Boeser scored a hat trick, Quinn Hughes had three assists and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1. Andrei Kuzmenko also scored for Vancouver, winners of three straight, while J.T. Miller chipped in with two assists. Brayden Point had the Lightning’s goal. With his second hat trick of the season, Boeser is tied with Toronto’s Auston Matthews for the NHL lead with 21 goals. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves for the Lightning and Vancouver netminder Thatcher Demko had 28 stops.
Joey Daccord made 24 saves for his first career shutout, Kailer Yamamoto scored the first of two goals from Seattle’s fourth line and the Kraken snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers. Yamamoto scored his fourth goal of the season early in the second period and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare got his third with 14:01 remaining in the third period off a terrific pass from rookie defenseman Ryker Evans. Yamamoto and Bellemare both finished with a goal and an assist. Will Borgen had two assists and Seattle celebrated its first victory since beating San Jose the day before Thanksgiving. Florida had its three-game win streak snapped.
Mark Stone scored two goals, including the winner in overtime, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Calgary Flames 5-4. The Golden Knights, who lead the NHL with 45 points, improved to 9-1 all-time when hosting Calgary. Vegas extended its point streak to nine games, now 6-0-3 since Nov. 27. It was the seventh time in 13 games the Golden Knights went to extra time. Chandler Stephenson, Ivan Barbashev and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights. Logan Thompson made 27 saves. Yegor Sharangovich scored twice and Mackenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri scored goals for the Flames.
Connor McDavid had two assists and the streaking Edmonton Oilers overcame an early goal by rookie Connor Bedard to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 in the first NHL matchup between the young stars. McDavid was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2015, and Bedard was selected first this past summer. Sam Gagner had a goal and an assist in the highly anticipated Clash of the Connors, helping the Oilers win their eighth game in a row. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman also scored for Edmonton, and defenseman Evan Bouchard added a pair of assists. Bedard gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal 3:21 into the first period, but Chicago lost its seventh consecutive road game.
William Eklund scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 4:51 remaining and the San Jose Sharks beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1. Justin Bailey had a goal for San Jose, his first since March 2018 with the Buffalo Sabres. Mikael Granlund added an assist to extend his point streak to six games. Brenden Dillon scored for Winnipeg, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Dillon spent six seasons with San Jose from 2014-20.
The St. Louis Blues fired coach Craig Berube on Tuesday night, hours after a 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The loss was the season-worst fourth straight for the Blues, who are off to a 13-14-1 start to the season. The 57-year-old Berube guided the Blues to the Stanley Cup championship in 2019. He replaced Mike Yeo as coach Nov. 20, 2018, as the interim coach and led an amazing turnaround. He led St. Louis to a 38-19-6 record in 2018-19. The Blues named Drew Bannister, coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League, as interim coach.
MLB
The San Francisco Giants made three offers to Shohei Ohtani, including a final proposal that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi called “very comparable if not identical” to the record $700 million, 10-year contract the Japanese two-way star agreed to with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani spent two hours with the Giants for a ballpark meeting with Zaidi, Greg Johnson, former catcher Buster Posey and new manager Bob Melvin on Dec. 2. Zaidi said San Francisco increased its offers to meet Ohtani’s requests.
In his first public comments since the Yankees acquired him from San Diego, three-time All-Star Juan Soto deflected questions about a possible long-term deal with the Yankees. The 25-year-old outfielder said the team could deal with his agent, Scott Boras. Soto spoke six days after he was acquired by the Yankees from San Diego along with Gold Glove center fielder Trent Grisham for right-handed pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe plus catcher Kyle Higashioka. Soto hit .275 with 35 homers, 109 RBIs and a .930 OPS in his only full season with the Padres.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Aalyah Del Rosario has 27 points and 10 rebounds and Angel Reese added 21 points and 10 boards as No. 7 LSU set school records for points in a game and margin of victory in a 133-44 rout of McNeese State on Tuesday night. LSU easily surpassed its previous point total of 125, set in a win over Bellarmine (125-41) in November 2022. The Tigers’ 89-point margin of victory eclipsed their 76-point win over Prairie View (104-28) in 1995.
On the women's side:
UAlbany 68 Dartmouth 57
