NBA
Stephen Curry swished a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in overtime on the way to scoring 33, and the Golden State Warriors rallied past the Celtics 132-126 to snap Boston’s five-game winning streak. Jonathan Kuminga made a steal and uncontested dunk to put the Warriors ahead in overtime then grabbed a key rebound on the other end that led to another scoring play, and Boston missed key chance after chance when it mattered most. Jaylen Brown finished with 28 points while Derrick White scored 30 for the Celtics.
Ja Morant capped a stirring, 34-point season debut with a spinning dribble in the lane to set up a game-winning floater as time expired in the Memphis Grizzlies’ 115-113 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Grizzlies, who entered on a five-game skid and were 6-19 during Morant’s 25-game suspension for his social media antics with guns, trailed by 24 points in the first half. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 24 points and Desmond Bane had 21 for Memphis, which also snapped the Pelicans’ four-game winning streak. Brandon Ingram scored 34 points for New Orleans, but Zion Williamson’s time on the court was limited by foul trouble and he finished with just 13 points.
Damian Lillard scored a season-high 40 points to push his career total over 20,000, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double and the Milwaukee Bucks trounced San Antonio 132-119 on Tuesday night as the Spurs played without Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama sat out the game with a sore right ankle. This was only the second game the 7-foot-3 rookie has missed. Lillard increased his career point total to 20,034 and became the 51st person in NBA history to reach 20,000 points. Antetokounmpo had a career-high 16 assists, 14 rebounds and a season-low 11 points.
DeAndre Ayton had a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds, Anfernee Simons had 23 points and seven rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers erased a 22-point deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns 109-104 and snap a seven-game losing streak. Phoenix lost for the fifth time in their last seven games. Phoenix’s Kevin Durant led all scorers with 40 points in the loss while Devin Booker had 26 points and seven assists. Simons’ layup with 10.7 seconds left helped stop a late Phoenix rally after Portland pushed their lead to 14 in the fourth quarter.
Damian Lillard scored a season-high 40 points to push his career total over 20,000, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double and the Milwaukee Bucks trounced San Antonio 132-119 on Tuesday night as the Spurs played without Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama sat out the game with a sore right ankle. This was only the second game the 7-foot-3 rookie has missed. Lillard increased his career point total to 20,034 and became the 51st person in NBA history to reach 20,000 points. Antetokounmpo had a career-high 16 assists, 14 rebounds and a season-low 11 points.
NHL
Mika Zibanejad scored twice and Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves as the New York Rangers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 last night. Braden Schneider, Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin also scored for New York, which owns the best record in the Eastern Conference. Former Leafs defenseman Erik Gustafsson and Blake Wheeler both had three assists. The red-hot Auston Matthews replied with two for Toronto. William Nylander picked up an assist to stretch his point streak to nine games. Martin Jones stopped 31 shots for the Leafs, who saw a nine-game point streak come to an end.
Anders Lee and Bo Horvat scored power-play goals and the New York Islanders beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1. Simon Holmstrom scored his league-leading fifth short-handed goal and Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots as the Islanders snapped a two-game skid. Leon Draisaitl scored for Edmonton and Stuart Skinner made 17 saves in the Oilers’ third straight loss.
Kirill Marchenko scored three consecutive goals, including a nifty shot through his legs, for a natural hat trick, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the spiraling Buffalo Sabres 9-4. Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and two assists, and Sean Kuraly, Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson had a goal and assist apiece. Erik Gudbranson also scored in an outing the Blue Jackets broke open by scoring seven consecutive times over a 21:52 stretch spanning the first and second periods. For Buffalo, Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring 30 seconds in, and captain Kyle Okposo ended the Blue Jackets’ seven-goal surge by scoring with 66 seconds left in the second period.
Kirill Kaprizov scored his second goal of the game with 2:06 left to play in overtime, lifting the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins. Boston captain Brad Marchand had scored with 66 seconds left in regulation, sending the Bruins to their fourth consecutive overtime game. But Kaprizov finished off a 3-on-1 break for the winner. Ryan Hartman and Kaprizov each scored a third-period goal for Minnesota before Marchand tied it. Marcus Johansson also had a goal for the Wild and Marc-Andre Fleury made 40 saves. David Pastrnak scored his 18th and 19th for Boston.
Owen Tippett stole the puck in the Devils zone and scored with 1:35 left in overtime and the Philadelphia Flyers extended their point streak to nine games with a 3-2 victory over New Jersey last night. Ryan Poehling had both regulation goals for the Flyers and Samuel Ersson made 24 saves for Philadelphia, which is 8-0-1 in its run. Michael McLeod and Jesper Bratt tallied for the Devils, while Vitek Vanecek had 23 saves. Tippett got his 11th goal when a Jack Hughes pass to his brother, Luke, failed to connect. Tippett took the loose puck and snapped a shot into the net.
NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had two goals, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the St. Louis Blues 6-1. Michael Eyssimont, Tyler Motte, Haydn Fleury and Nicholas Paul also scored for the Lightning, who have won five of 12. Steven Stamkos had three assists to move past Theo Fleury into 67th place on the career points list with 1,090. Blues goalie Jordan Binnington was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals on 23 shots. St. Louis interim coach Drew Bannister lost in his first road game following a pair of home victories after taking over when Craig Berube was fired on Dec. 12.
Michael Bunting had a goal and two assists, Brady Skjei added a goal and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes matched their highest-scoring game of the season with a 6-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Seth Jarvis also scored, and Sebastian Aho had three assists as the Hurricanes extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2). Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves to earn his third victory in eight nights. William Carrier had two goals and Nicolas Hague also scored for Vegas, which lost for the second time in three games following a seven-game points streak. Brett Howden had two assists. Logan Thompson gave up six goals on 28 shots before he was pulled, and Jiri Patera stopped all 10 shots he faced.
Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter each had a goal and an assist to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. Nils Hoglander, Nils Aman and Teddy Blueger also scored and Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for Vancouver, which is 6-0-1 over their last seven games. Quinn Hughes and Ilya Mikheyev each had two assists. Jeremy Lauzon and Cody Glass scored and Juuse Saros made 19 saves for the Predators, whose four-game winning streak ended. The Canucks swept the three-game season series with Nashville.
Tyler Johnson snapped a third-period tie and Connor Bedard had two assists, helping the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2. Ryan Donato added a goal and an assist for last-place Chicago, which had lost four in a row. Lukas Reichel also scored, and Petr Mrazek made 35 saves. The game was tied at 2 when Colorado forward Miles Wood was sent off for holding Reichel’s stick. On the ensuing power play, Nick Foligno found Johnson right in front for the tap-in goal at 8:19. Valeri Nichushkin had two goals for Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to a career-high 16 games.
Arizona 4 Ottawa 3
Michael Kesselring scored with 3:33 remaining to cap a four-goal comeback in the Arizona Coyotes’ 4-3 victory over Ottawa, spoiling the return of Senators interim coach Jacques Martin. Jack McBain, J.J. Moser and Clayton Keller also scored for the Coyotes, who trailed 3-0 after the first period. Moser and Keller scored 33 seconds apart in the third to tie it 3-all at 9:47. Angus Crookshank, Josh Norris and Dominik Kubalik scored for the Senators in their first game since coach D.J. Smith was fired Monday. Martin was 342-255-96 in his first stint as Ottawa coach from 1996 to 2004. Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped all 16 shots he faced after replacing Connor Ingram.
Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1. The Kings improved to 13-1-1 on the road, the best mark in the NHL. Trevor Moore got his team-leading 15th goal, Alex Laferriere also scored and Trevor Lewis added an empty-netter for Los Angeles. Kevin Fiala had two assists. David Rittich made 14 saves in his Kings debut and nearly completed the shutout. The veteran goalie was called up from the AHL after backup Pheonix Copley was placed on long-term injured reserve Sunday. Kaapo Kahkonen made 35 saves for the Sharks, who dropped their third straight. Jacob MacDonald scored for San Jose with just more than a minute left.
NFL
Aaron Rodgers’ quest to make an improbable return this season for the New York Jets appears over. The 40-year-old quarterback said during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday he’s not yet 100% healthy in his recovery from a torn left Achilles tendon and is still a few weeks away. Rodgers said if the Jets had won last Sunday at Miami and remained in the postseason hunt, he “would have pushed it as far as I could this week” even at less than full health to play against Washington on Sunday. But the Jets were routed 30-0 and eliminated from playoff contention for the 13th straight year.
The intensity of NFL fandom that increased with the surge of fantasy football has spiked further in the age of online betting. The accessibility of social media has put players in position to feel that ferocity as never before. That’s one reason why the league has a wellness program for these uniquely high-profile employees. Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison is one player who spoke out recently about hateful and racist messages directed toward him on social media after a tough loss. Dealing with the ups and downs of digital feedback is a big challenge.
It can happen almost overnight: a backup quarterback goes from holding a clipboard to being thrust into action. Backups are on display all around the NFL right now after a flurry of starters have gone down for the season with injuries and teams have needed help to keep their postseason hopes alive. At the end of Week 15, 18 teams had started quarterbacks who weren’t their first-string passers on opening day; 56 different quarterbacks have started an NFL game this season. And as starters continue going down, the value of backups keeps rising.
Ed Budde, who spent 14 years playing along the offensive line of the Kansas City Chiefs, died Tuesday at the age of 83. His family announced his death through a statement issued by the Chiefs. No cause was provided. Budde was born in Michigan and was an All-American at Michigan State before the Chiefs chose him in the first round of the 1963 AFL Draft. He helped the franchise win AFL titles in 1966 and 1969 and beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. He retired after the 1976 season and remained active in the Kansas City community. He was at the NFL Draft in April and helped announce the Chiefs' second-round selection of wide receiver Rashee Rice.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 98 SUNY Potsdam 59
Cornell 95 Siena 74
Final Providence 72 (6)Marquette 57
Final (20)James Madison 87 Coppin St. 48
Final (23)Memphis 77 (22)Virginia 54
Final (25)Mississippi 74 Troy 53
Devin Carter scored 22 points with eight rebounds to lead Providence to a 72-57 victory over No. 6 Marquette. It's the third time in five seasons the unranked Friars have beaten a Golden Eagles team in The Associated Press Top 25. Carter made five 3-pointers and Ticket Gaines also hit five from beyond the arc to score 18 for Providence. The Friars have not lost at home to Marquette since 2019. Reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek had 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Marquette.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Washington's Kalen DeBoer has been named The Associated Press coach of the year in college football. The Huskies are 13-0, won the Pac-12 championship and have a spot in the College Football Playoff in just DeBoer's second year in charge. The Huskies will face Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 with a spot in the CFP championship game on the line. In DeBoer's two seasons, the Huskies are 24-2 overall. Mike Norvell of Florida State was second in voting and Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz was third.
BOXING
Jake Paul is teaming up with USA Boxing to put a spotlight on the nation’s top competitors at the Paris Olympics. The YouTube star and professional boxer will train with Olympic qualifiers and other fighters at USA Boxing’s home base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, next year and he will amplify their stardom on his social media channels. Paul also plans to accompany the U.S. team to France in July. Paul’s exposure could be a compelling asset for USA Boxing as it attempts to persuade fighters to compete for their country.
GOLF
One swing can win a tournament. Rose Zhang and Rory McIlroy know all about that. And one swing can lose a tournament. Just ask Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners at the PGA Championship. This is the annual review of golf by looking at shots struck from every club in the bag to tell a story. That starts with driver and finishes with wedges and the putter. The putter might have been the most popular of all the shots. That belongs to Nick Taylor and his 72-foot eagle putt to be the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since 1954.
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