NFL
Drew Lock threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 28 seconds left to cap a 92-yard drive, and the Seattle Seahawks stunned the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17, ending a four-game skid and getting back into NFC playoff contention. Seattle rallied behind its backup quarterback, who moved the team the length of the field for its longest touchdown drive this season and found the Seahawks’ rookie first-round pick for the biggest catch of his young career. Philadelphia had one last chance, but Julian Love made his second interception of the fourth quarter, picking off Jalen Hurts’ deep pass. The Eagles dropped their third straight game.
NBA
Jalen Brunson scored 11 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, and Julius Randle had 27 points and 14 rebounds in the New York Knicks’ 114-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Immanuel Quickley scored 20 points for the Knicks, who hung tough in the fourth quarter and survived a rally led by LeBron James to earn their second road win over the Lakers in 2023. James had 25 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who have lost three of four since winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament. Anthony Davis had 32 points and 14 rebounds.
Collin Sexton and Talen Horton-Tucker scored 27 points apiece to lead the Utah Jazz to a 125-108 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night. Sexton had his fifth straight 20-point game to help Utah win for the third time in four games. Horton-Tucker also had a team-high six assists. Lauri Markkanen added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Walker Kessler tallied 14 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. Cam Thomas led the Nets with 32 points. Spencer Dinwiddie chipped in 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Brooklyn had a three-game winning streak in the series with Utah snapped.
Coby White scored 24 points and the Chicago Bulls held on to snap the Philadelphia 76ers’ six-game winning streak with a 108-104 victory last night. Former Sixer Nikola Vucevic chipped in 23 points while DeMar DeRozan added 15 for the Bulls, Joel Embiid had scored 40 points and 13 rebounds, his 11th straight game with 30 or more points and 10 or more rebounds. Tyrese Maxey added 29 points in the 76ers’ first loss to a team without a winning record this season. Philadelphia had been the only team in the Eastern Conference that was undefeated against teams that were .500 or under on the season (12-0).
James Harden scored 21 of his season-best 35 points in the fourth quarter and had nine assists as the Los Angeles Clippers extended the league’s longest active winning streak to eight games, routing the Indiana Pacers 151-127. Kawhi Leonard added 28 points for Los Angeles and Paul George added 27 against his former team. Facing the league’s second-worst defense, the Clippers matched their season-high point total for a half with 77 in the first on the way to their highest-scoring game of the season. Bennedict Mathurin had a season-best 34 points to lead Indiana. Tyrese Haliburton had an off night with eight points.
Pascal Siakam scored eight of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, Gary Trent Jr. had season highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Charlotte Hornets 114-99. The Raptors rallied past a Hornets team missing Miles Bridges and three other starters. A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Bridges was denied entrance to Canada due to his past legal problems. Charlotte was also without injured starters LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward and Mark Williams. Toronto’s Scottie Barnes scored 22 points and matched his career high with 17 rebounds. Terry Rozier led Charlotte with 22 points.
Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points, Sam Merrill had a career-high 19 off the bench and the Cleveland Cavaliers earned their 11th consecutive overtime victory by beating the Houston Rockets 135-130. Merrill had five points and Max Strus added four in the extra period, when Cleveland outscored Houston 13-8 to match the second-longest OT winning streak in NBA history. New Orleans owns the record with 13 victories in a row from 2006-08. Fred VanVleet had season highs of 27 points and 17 assists, along with eight rebounds, and Alperin Sengun had 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Rockets.
Anthony Edwards scored 32 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 18 and the Minnesota Timberwolves clamped down in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 112-108 on Monday night. Naz Reid scored 15, Mike Conley added 12 and Rudy Gobert grabbed 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Minnesota improved to 20-5, tying idle Boston for the NBA’s best record. The Timberwolves gave up just 42 points in the second half, after trailing by as many as 17 points in the early going. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo returned from long injury absences and combined for 47 points for the Heat.
Trae Young extended his recent hot streak with another double-double, scoring 31 points with 15 assists, as the Atlanta Hawks beat Detroit 130-124, handing the Pistons their 24th consecutive loss. The Pistons’ last win came on Oct. 28 against Chicago. Detroit is two losses away from matching the NBA’s longest losing streak in one season. The NBA record for the longest losing streak within a single season is 26, shared by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers lost a record 28 consecutive games over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with a career-high 43 points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points and nine rebounds in three quarters to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat Memphis 116-97 in the Grizzlies’ final game before Ja Morant returns from his suspension. Gilgeous-Alexander hit a game-winner at Denver on Saturday night and followed it up by making 8 of 18 field goals and 13 of 14 free throws against Memphis. Chet Holmgren had 17 points, seven blocks and six rebounds for the Thunder. Josh Giddey added 16 points and 12 rebounds. Oklahoma City has won four of five. Ziaire Williams scored 19 points and Desmond Bane added 17 for the Grizzlies, who have lost five straight.
Jamal Murray finished with 22 points, going 4 for 4 from 3-point range, to help the Denver Nuggets race past the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 130-104 on Monday night. Aaron Gordon tied a season high with 21 points, while Nikola Jokic added eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a game where the Nuggets starters got the fourth quarter off. The Denver bench outscored the Mavericks reserves by a 62-34 margin to help the Nuggets bounce back from a home loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday. Doncic scored 22 of his 38 points in the second quarter to keep Dallas close. He also had 11 rebounds.
Domantas Sabonis had his 35th career triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists as the Sacramento Kings beat the Washington Wizards 143-131. De’Aaron Fox scored 12 of his 30 points during Sacramento’s 46-point third quarter, and Keegan Murray added 25 on a night when six Kings scored in double figures. Harrison Barnes had 19, Kevin Huerter 14 and Malik Monk finished with 10 as Sacramento won for the fourth time in five games. Jordan Poole matched his career high with eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points for the Wizards. Kyle Kuzma added 27, but Washington has lost 17 of its last 19 games.
Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges has been denied entrance to Canada due to his past legal problems and will not be available to play Monday night in Toronto against the Raptors, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person said Bridges was turned away at the border. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly on the matter. Bridges is currently serving three years of probation after pleading no contest in exchange for no jail time in the June 2022 domestic violence case involving the mother of his two children, who accused Bridges of assaulting her in front of them.
A court hearing will resume this week in a lawsuit filed by a Memphis teen who alleges that NBA star Ja Morant assaulted him during a pickup basketball game two summers ago. The hearing has already featured testimony from the Memphis Grizzlies All-Star, who says he punched Joshua Holloway after the then-17-year-old aggressively threw the basketball at him and hit him in the face. The case is a test of Tennessee's so-called stand your ground law and has offered an intimate glimpse into the NBA star's family life. The hearing resumes Wednesday, a day after Morant is expected to return to the court from an unrelated 25-game suspension.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is recovering from surgery for a broken hip after falling at a concert in Los Angeles. His business partner and spokeswoman, Deborah Morales, says the NBA Hall of Famer had surgery “with no complications.” She says Abdul-Jabbar is facing three months of recovery. The six-time NBA MVP was attending the Manhattan Transfer's final show before calling it a career. Paramedics responded and took the 76-year-old by ambulance to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Abdul-Jabbar began his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975. He helped the Lakers win five NBA titles.
The Los Angeles Lakers have hung a modest black banner at their downtown arena to celebrate their unbeaten run to victory in the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament. The Lakers unveiled the black-and-gold banner nestled near the franchise’s 17 NBA championship banners on Monday night before they hosted the New York Knicks. The players paused their pregame warmups for a brief tribute video and a celebration with the NBA Cup as their fans clapped politely. The Lakers deliberately put a subdued nature on their celebrations nine days after they beat Indiana in Las Vegas to win the tournament title.
NHL
Sidney Crosby’s 18th goal of the season broke a third-period tie and the Pittsburgh Penguins edged the Minnesota Wild 4-3. The Penguins blew a three-goal lead but recovered to win for the third time in four games. Crosby added an assist to move past Mark Recchi and into 13th all alone on the NHL’s all-time scoring list with 1,535 points. Jake Guentzel scored his 14th goal for the Penguins. Ryan Hartman, Jake Middleton and Vinni Lettieri scored for the Wild, who rallied from down 3-0 to briefly tie it before Crosby put the Penguins ahead to stay.
Adam Henrique scored his fourth goal in two games and the Anaheim Ducks held off the Detroit Red Wings 4-3. Henrique was coming off his first career hat trick Sunday against New Jersey. Radko Gudas, Pavel Mintyukov and Troy Terry also scored for the Ducks, who have won two straight after a five-game losing streak. Lukas Dostal made 30 saves. Alex DeBrincat surpassed 400 career points with two power-play goals in the third period for Detroit. Jeff Petry scored his first goal this season and Patrick Kane added two assists. The slumping Red Wings have lost six of seven. Detroit captain Dylan Larkin had an assist in his return to the lineup, nine days after getting knocked unconscious when he was hit from behind by Ottawa’s Mathieu Joseph.
Justin Barron scored a power-play goal 1:09 into overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Josh Anderson and Christian Dvorak also scored for the Canadiens, who have are 3-1-1 in their last five games. Jake Allen made 30 saves for his first win in eight games (1-6-1). Cole Perfetti and Gabriel Villardi scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck had 23 saves. In the extra period, Barron fired the puck through traffic to beat Hellebuyck for his sixth goal of the season
Matt Duchene scored twice and assisted on Thomas Harley’s goal 2:16 into overtime that gave the Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Jason Robertson also scored for the Stars, who improved to 3-0-1 in their past four games. The Kraken sent the game to overtime on Eeli Tolvanen’s 6-on-5 goal with 21.8 seconds left in regulation. Scott Wedgewood made 35 saves to win a matchup of backup goalies. Tomas Tatar and Matty Beniers each had a goal and an assist for the Kraken, who fell to 2-6-4 over their last 12 games. Joey Daccord stopped 24 shots in his fourth straight start. It was the first meeting between the teams since Dallas’ seven-game victory in the second round of last season’s playoffs.
Mikael Backlund scored a tiebreaking short-handed goal early in the third period, Jacob Markstrom stopped 34 shots, and the Calgary Flames beat the Florida Panthers 3-1. Martin Pospisil and Blake Coleman also scored to help Calgary improve to 2-0-2 in their last four games. Sam Reinhart had a power-play goal for Florida, and Anthony Stolarz had 21 saves. The Panthers finished a five-game trip at 2-3-0.
SAUDI ARABIA
At the dawn of 2023, the specter of Saudi Arabia’s growing influence on pro golf — and sports in general — served not only as a moral conundrum for players and their fans, but also, some argued, as an existential threat to the multibillion-dollar professional-sports industry itself. Twelve months later, it's a different conversation, now virtually devoid of concern about supposed “sportswashing” and more fixed on just how rich the Saudis might make all these athletes before they’re done investing. The two key moments that shifted the focus were the June 6 announcement that the PGA Tour and the Saudi's rival LIV Golf were looking to go into business together. Then, earlier this month, the world's third-ranked player, Jon Rahm, joined LIV.
PAC-12
Conference realignment and the downfall of the Pac-12 is The Associated Press Sports Story of the Year. Over a span of six weeks this past summer, the Pac-12 was ripped apart and redistributed by its competitors. Oregon and Washington are going to the Big Ten along with Southern California and UCLA. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are going to the Big 12. Stanford and California will join the Atlantic Coast Conference. College sports is heading toward a super conference era. Realignment has laid bare the importance of revenue and the bottom line.
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders says his quarterback son Shedeur Sanders will participate in spring practice after recovering from a broken bone in his back. His injury was a result of the beating he took behind a porous offensive line. Several O-linemen are coming to Boulder via the transfer portal to beef up Shedeur's protection. Coach Prime told The Associated Press on Monday the O-line reinforcements will both balance and supercharge the Buffs' offense by forcing opponents to play eight men in the box to stop the run and allow 1-on-1 opportunities for Shedeur's receivers.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Can college football programs rely on the transfer portal to build talented offensive lines? Deion Sanders is trying to do just that at Colorado, which had one of the worst lines in football last season. Sanders has brought in several linemen through the portal ahead of signing day this week. Offensive linemen are a highly coveted commodity in the portal. Every team out there is searching for them. Play in just one game, on any level, and a center, tackle or guard can expect to receive the red-carpet treatment. The next step is getting them to work well together.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Marist 76 Maryland Eastern 52
On the women’s side:
Siena 61 Mt. St. Mary’s 55
Syracuse 78 Cornell 71
Canisius 67 Marist 62
UConn 88 Butler 62
NCAA
College athletes who have transferred multiple times but were denied the chance to compete can now play through the remainder of the academic year. A federal judge in West Virginia agreed with a motion filed last week by the NCAA and a coalition of states suing the organization. The judge on Monday extended a small competition window through the spring while an eligibility lawsuit is being heard. It means the NCAA cannot enforce its transfer rule. Several multiple-transfer men’s basketball players competed in games over the weekend, including West Virginia’s Noah Farrakhan, Cincinnati’s Jamille Reynolds and UT Arlington’s Phillip Russell.
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