NBA
Cam Thomas scored 24 points, Mikal Bridges added 21 in his return to the desert and the Brooklyn Nets held on to beat the Phoenix Suns 116-112 last night, spoiling the debut of the team’s All-Star trio. The Nets have won seven of their past nine. The Suns trailed by eight points at the break but rallied for an 88-86 lead heading into the fourth. The game stayed tight throughout the final quarter but the Nets took the lead without about 10 minutes remaining and never gave it up. It was the first time this season that Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal played on the same night. Booker had 34 points and 12 assists, Durant added 27 points and Beal had 14.
Collin Sexton scored a season-high 26 points, Lauri Markannen punctuated his return to the court with 23 points and the Utah Jazz beat the New York Knicks 117-113 on Wednesday night. After missing eight games because of a strained left hamstring, Markkanen scored both inside and on the perimeter and was only slowed by a minutes restriction. In 25 minutes, Markkanen went 7 for 13 from the field, had four 3s and eight rebounds. Talen Horton-Tucker scored 13 of his 15 points for Utah in the fourth quarter, mostly coming in a 16-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters. Julius Randle had 32 points and 12 rebounds for New York.
Joel Embiid scored 30 of his 41 points in the first half and the Philadelphia 76ers handed the Detroit Pistons their 21st straight loss, 129-111 on Wednesday night to open a home-and-home series. Detroit matched the longest streak in franchise history, set at the end of the 1979-80 season and start of 1980-81. It is the sixth-longest single-season losing streak in the NBA. Only the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2013-14 76ers (both lost 26 straight), along with the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies, the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets and the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats (all lost 23 in a row) have lost more games in a row in a season. Philadelphia holds the overall mark of 28, set at the end of 2014-15 and start of 2015-16.
Brandon Ingram scored a season-high 40 points, Trey Murphy III had six 3-pointers and 27 points and the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans had their best offensive showing of the season in a 142-122 victory over the Washington Wizards. Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 18 rebounds, and CJ McCollum had 22 points as the Pelicans began a three-game trip. The Pelicans eclipsed their previous season best of 131 points midway through the final quarter while two-time All-Star Zion Williamson sat out with a sprained ankle. Kyle Kuzma scored 27 points to lead Washington. Rookie draft lottery selection Bilal Coulibaly added 16 points.
Duncan Robinson scored 23 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kyle Lowry each added 17 and the Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets 115-104 on Wednesday night to finish off a two-game home-and-home sweep. Lowry was perfect shooting — 5 for 5 from the floor, 4 for 4 of those on 3-pointers and 3 for 3 from the line. Jimmy Butler had 15 points and 10 assists, and Jamal Cain added 14 points for the Heat. Thomas Bryant finished with 11. Terry Rozier scored 28 points for Charlotte, which got 20 from Gordon Hayward, 19 from Miles Bridges and 18 from Brandon Miller.
Pascal Siakam scored 33 points, Scottie Barnes had 27 points and 10 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat the Atlanta Hawks 135-128 on Wednesday night to end a four-game losing streak. O.G. Anunoby added 22 points for the Raptors in the opener of a two-game home set against the Hawks. Former Hawks guard Dennis Schroder scored 17 points, and Jakob Poeltl had 15 points and matched a season high with 13 rebounds. Trae Young scored 35 points and matched a season high with 17 assists. The teams will meet again Friday night in Toronto.
Anthony Davis had 37 points and 10 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers held off Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio 122-119 on Wednesday night, extending the Spurs’ franchise-record losing streak to 18. The Lakers were without LeBron James, with the four-time MVP sitting out in the first of two straight games in San Antonio because of left calf injury . Wembanyama had 30 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks for San Antonio, which has not won since Nov. 2. Keldon Johnson added 28 points. The teams will meet again Friday night. Taurean Prince added 17 points to help the NBA In-Season Tournament champion Lakers win for the fifth time in six games.
Tari Eason scored a career-high 25 points, Jabari Smith Jr. added 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Houston Rockets extended their home winning streak to 11 games with a 117-104 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Eason came off the bench to shoot 10 for 16 and matched a career-high with 14 rebounds. Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks each scored 11 points and Jae’Sean Tate had 10 points and seven rebounds for Houston. Jaren Jackson Jr. had a career-high 44 points and seven rebounds, Derrick Rose added 19 points and six assists and Vince Williams Jr. had 10 points and seven rebounds for Memphis, which lost its third straight game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a franchise-record 64 points to help the Milwaukee Bucks outscore the Indiana Pacers 140-126 on Wednesday night. Antetokounmpo broke the team record of 57 set by Michael Redd in 2006 in a 113-111 loss to the Utah Jazz. Antetokounmpo’s previous career high was 55 in a 123-113 victory over Washington in January 2023. He had 54 at Indiana on Nov. 9. Antetokounmpo was 20 of 28 from the field, made 24 of 32 free throws and had 14 rebounds. Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Bucks.Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner had 22 points apiece for the Pacers, who beat the Bucks 128-119 in the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament on Thursday night.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face and received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection. The league said the penalty handed down by operations chief Joe Dumars begins immediately. This is already Green’s second suspension this season. The NBA said: “He will be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.” The NBA noted that “this outcome takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo exchanged heated words with members of the Indiana staff and raced toward the Pacers’ locker room Wednesday night as the teams squared off in a hallway in a dispute over the game ball following the Milwaukee star’s franchise-record 64-point performance. After the Bucks’ 140-126 victory, Antetokounmpo had an animated discussion with Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton and other Pacers before rushing from the court toward the Indiana locker room in search of the ball. The Bucks wanted the game ball for Antetokounmpo, who set a franchise record with 64 points. Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said the Pacers took the ball for Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first official NBA point. That led to a confrontation between members of the teams in the arena hallway.
NFL
Simon Holmstrom scored the tiebreaking, short-handed goal late with 1:33 left in regulation and the New York Islanders beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 for their fourth straight win. Mathew Barzal, Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas also scored, and Noah Dobson had two assists to help the Islanders improve to 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves. The Islanders are 9-1-4 in their last 14 games and trail the first-place New York Rangers by just four points in the Metropolitan Division. Troy Terry, Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick scored for Anaheim, which has lost four straight and 12 of 13. John Gibson finished with 30 saves.
Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon reached 800 career points with two assists and the Colorado Avalanche rode a fast start to a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Nichushkin, Mikko Rantanen and Miles Wood paved the way with first-period goals, while defenseman Sam Malinski scored his first NHL goal in his seventh game. Ivan Prosvetov was stellar in his start over a scuffling Alexandar Georgiev. Zach Benson scored for the Sabres on an emotional night for Buffalo defenseman Erik Johnson. He was honored in the first period with a video tribute after playing parts of 13 seasons for the Avalanche.
Jack Hughes scored with 2:13 to play in overtime and the New Jersey Devils rallied to beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 despite an outstanding 34-save effort by Jeremy Swayman. Dawson Mercer tied the game in the third period and Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves as the Devils won for the seventh time in nine games. Jesper Bratt extended his scoring streak to six games with the assist on the game winner. Morgan Geekie scored for the Bruins, who are now 13-1-3 when leading after two periods. The Bruins have won four of their last six.
Sidney Crosby climbed up the NHL career scoring list and Jansen Harkins scored the deciding goal in the 12th round of the shootout to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Crosby had two goals and an assist to move past Paul Coffey and into a tie with former teammate Mark Recchi for 13th place on the NHL points list with 1,533. Jake Guentzel also scored in regulation for the Penguins, who won their second straight after a four-game skid. Erik Karlsson had two assists and Alex Nedeljkovic finished with 39 saves. David Savard, Jayden Struble and Sean Monahan scored for Montreal, which has lost eight of its last nine at home. Sam Montembeault had 27 saves.
Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and three assists for a career-high four points in his impressive return to Los Angeles and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Kings 5-2. The Kings traded Vilardi last summer in the deal for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice in a three-goal second period for the Jets, who rallied from an early two-goal deficit to finish their four-game West Coast road trip with three victories. Captain Anze Kopitar and rookie Alex Laferriere scored for the Kings, who have lost three straight for the first time this season.
NFL
On Thursday Night Football, the Chargers face the Raiders at 8:15 tonight in Las Vegas.
The NFL will play a regular-season game in Brazil in 2024. It's the latest expansion in the league’s rapidly growing international plan. The league says the game will be played at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo. The stadium has a capacity of nearly 50,000 and was a World Cup venue in 2014. The NFL played its first two regular-season games in Frankfurt, Germany, this year, with three more in London. There will be games in both those countries again in 2024.
MLB
Shohei Ohtani can opt out of his $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers if either of two key executives is no longer in place, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press. Ohtani, who will be formally introduced by the Dodgers at a news conference today, would be allowed to terminate his deal if Mark Walter no longer is controlling owner or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman no longer is with the team, the person said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms were not announced. Ohtani’s deal, announced Monday, provides that 97% of the money be deferred without interest and not fully paid until 2043.
NCAA
College athletes who were denied the chance to play immediately after transferring a second time can return to competition, for now. A federal judge in West Virginia issued a 14-day temporary restraining order Wednesday against the NCAA. The order comes after seven states filed a lawsuit contending the NCAA’s transfer rule violates federal antitrust law. The NCAA said in a statement it would comply with the order. NCAA rules allow underclassmen to transfer once without having to sit out. But an additional transfer as an undergraduate generally requires the NCAA to grant a waiver to play immediately. A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for Dec. 27.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Wesley Cardet Jr. scored 30 points and Chicago State stunned No. 25 Northwestern in a 75-73 upset. Boo Buie made two layups 41 seconds apart to put Northwestern in front 67-65 with 2:30 left in a back-and-forth game. Cardet tied it 26 seconds later and then hit a 3-pointer with 1:23 remaining for a 70-67 lead. Chicago State sealed it with three late free throws from A.J. Neal and two by Noble Crawford. Cardet shot 13 of 21 and Jahsean Corbett added 17 points for the Cougars, a Division I independent. Buie had 23 points and Ryan Langborg scored 18 for the Wildcats, who lost to Chicago State for the first time. Northwestern had won 15 straight against the South Side program since the teams first met in 1981.
Kalib Boone scored 25 points and UNLV led nearly the entire way in a 79-64 victory over No. 8 Creighton. Dedan Thomas Jr. added 16 points and nine assists for the Rebels. Justin Webster scored 13 and Keylan Boone had 10. This was the first appearance with UNLV for Keylan Boone, whose twin brother is Kalib, after a federal judge in West Virginia ruled double transfers could play immediately. Keylan Boone also played at Oklahoma State and Pacific. Ryan Kalkbrenner led the Bluejays with 22 points. Baylor Scheierman scored 16 and Mason Miller had 11.
OLYMPIC SWIMMING
Two of Russia’s top swimmers who could be eligible for the next year’s Olympics have been drug tested by their country’s anti-doping agency only twice apiece in 2023. It's part of a larger trend in the country that adds an extra layer of uncertainty to the IOC’s recent decision to allow some athletes to compete in Paris. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency says it has administered some 10,500 tests in 2023. Among those tests, only two went to defending backstroke champion Evgeniy Rylov and 50-meter backstroke world-record holder Kliment Kolesnikov. Other findings are that a handful of fencers and gymnasts have faced three or fewer tests this year. Top American athletes have faced more than double the tests from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Paris Saint-Germain and not Newcastle or AC Milan advanced to the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday. PSG and Kylian Mbappé were left holding their ticket after a tense finish to the tightest group saw Newcastle let its chance slip. PSG’s 1-1 draw at Group F winner Borussia Dortmund was enough to secure second place and advance because Newcastle lost 2-1 at home to AC Milan. Newcastle was in the box seat kicking off the second half with a one-goal lead. Porto also advanced with a 5-3 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk which needed to win.
COLLEGE ROWING
The University at Albany has hired Chris Chase as the inaugural head coach of the school’s women's rowing program. Since 2019, Chase has served as the Director of Junior and Masters Rowing and Safety for the United States Rowing Association. In 1996, Chase founded the Saratoga Rowing Association and served as Co-director until 2019. Under his guidance, the Association grew into one of the largest clubs in the country and its rowers have won 36 gold medals at National Championship events. Chase says his focus will be selecting a coaching staff and recruiting the first class of rowers ahead of the program’s debut season next year.
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