NBA
Julius Randle scored 26 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 23 and the New York Knicks beat the Nets 121-102 on Wednesday night for their first victory in Brooklyn in four years. Immanuel Quickley had 19 points for the Knicks, who have swung New York’s NBA basketball rivalry back in their favor with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving no longer in town. The Knicks have won all three meetings since the Nets traded the two stars last season, after never beating the Nets when they were on the floor. Now the Knicks have ended a six-game losing streak at Barclays Center, where they hadn’t won since Dec. 26, 2019.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 28 points and the short-handed Boston Celtics bounced back from a disappointing loss at Golden State with a 144-119 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Boston blew a 17-point lead before losing to the Warriors in overtime on Tuesday night and played without leading scorer Jayson Tatum and big man Al Horford against the rested Kings. But the Celtics looked like the far fresher team and rolled to their sixth win in seven games. De’Aaron Fox scored 29 points on his 26th birthday to lead the Kings. Sacramento had won three straight.
Joel Embiid scored a season-high 51 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers used a big fourth quarter to close out the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 127-113 win. Tyrese Maxey scored 35 points as Philadelphia won for the seventh time in eight games, bouncing back nicely after a 108-104 loss to Chicago on Monday night. Minnesota got 27 points from Anthony Edwards, 23 points from Karl-Anthony Towns and 21 from Jaden McDaniels. It was Embiid’s seventh career game with at least 50 points. He also recorded his 12th straight game with 30 or more points and 10-plus rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers extended their win streak to nine games with a 120-111 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Norman Powell scored 21 points off the bench with Paul George sidelined by an illness. James Harden had 17 points and 11 assists. The Clippers are on their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2015-16. Dallas star Luka Doncic had 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Sam Merrill set career highs with 27 points and eight 3-pointers, Caris LeVert scored 23 points, and the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Utah Jazz 124-116. Merrill buried three 3-pointers during a 17-2 run to open the fourth quarter, giving Cleveland its largest lead at 109-95. The fourth-year pro from Utah State set then-career bests of 19 points and five 3s in a 135-130 overtime win over Houston on Monday. Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell sat out the game against his former team with an illness. Lauri Markkanen had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Collin Sexton scored 20 points for the Jazz.
Buddy Hield scored 25 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and 13 assists and the Indiana Pacers snapped a four-game losing streak, routing the Charlotte Hornets 144-113 on Wednesday night behind 61% shooting. The Pacers made 28 of 30 free throws and led by 33. Aaron Nesmith added 19 points, Myles Turner had 18 and Bennedict Mathurin 14. Terry Rozier had 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Charlotte, and rookie Brandon Miller added 21 points and six rebounds. Playing without starting point guard LaMelo Ball and center Mark Williams, the Hornets dropped their sixth in a row to fall to 7-19.
Tyler Herro had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, helping the Miami Heat beat the Orlando Magic 115-106. Bam Adebayo added 18 points and seven rebounds as Miami won for the fourth time in six games. Haywood Highsmith made four of the Heat’s 15 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 15 points. Miami played without Jimmy Butler, who has a strained left calf, and Kevin Love, who is out with an illness. Cole Anthony led the Magic with 20 points. Franz Wagner added 15 points, and Paolo Banchero had 10 points on 2-of-12 shooting.
Nikola Jokic had 31 points and 15 rebounds, Canadian guard Jamal Murray scored 20 points in his only regular season appearance north of the border and the Denver Nuggets beat the Toronto Raptors 113-104. Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. each scored 12 points and Peyton Watson had 11 as Denver won for the fifth time in six games and evened its road record at 8-8. Jokic shot 13 for 23 and led the Nuggets with six assists. Scottie Barnes had 30 points, two shy of his career-high, and 10 rebounds for Toronto. Pascal Siakam added 18 points for the Raptors.
DeMar DeRozan had 27 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 124-108. Chicago shot 54.5% from the field and had eight players score in double figures. Coby White had 17 points and reserve Ayo Dosunmu added 14. Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season. Despite the continued absence of All-Star guard Zach LaVine due to right foot inflammation, the Bulls opened a six-game homestand with their third win in four games. James had 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Los Angeles, falling just shy of a second consecutive triple-double.
Trae Young had 30 points and 14 assists as the Atlanta Hawks withstood a late charge by the Houston Rockets to get a 134-127 victory Wednesday night, ending an 11-game home winning streak for the Rockets. It’s the fifth straight game in which Young has had at least 30 points and 10 assists, which is the longest such streak of his career. Jabari Smith Jr. led the Rockets with a career-high 34 points with 13 rebounds and VanVleet had a season-high 32 points with 15 assists as Houston lost a third straight game.
NHL
Dylan Strome scored in overtime on the power play to help the Washington Capitals beat the New York Islanders 3-2 for a second consecutive victory. Hendrix Lapierre scored and assisted on Joel Edmundson's first with the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin's career-worst goal drought reached 14 games. But he assisted on Strome's goal. Hudson Fasching and Anders Lee scored and Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves in the loss for the Islanders.
Gabe Vilardi had a goal and two assists, Laurent Brossoit made 26 saves and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Wednesday night to take sole possession of the Central Division lead. Axel Jonnson-Fjallby and Nikolaj Ehlers each had a goal and an assist and Mark Scheifele and Neal Pionk also scored to help Winnipeg improve to 9-9-3. Patrick Kane and Olli Maatta scored for Detroit, and James Reimer stopped 36 shots. The Red Wings fell to 15-13-4. Scheifele put it away with 4:48 left with Winnipeg’s fifth goal, converting a setup from Vilardi.
Joey Daccord matched his own Seattle franchise record with 42 saves — 20 in the first period — and survived a furious final three minutes to help the Kraken hold off the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Wednesday night. The Kings pulled goalie Cam Talbot with 2:52 remaining, but could not get the tying goal. That included a power play with 2:47 remaining after Seattle’s Will Borgen was called for high-sticking Kevin Fiala. Daccord also made 42 saves against Carolina on Oct. 26. Brandon Tanev and Jordan Eberle scored for Seattle. Los Angeles’ Blake Lizotte had his 100th career point with his third period-goal. Talbot stopped 28 shots.
NFL
On Thursday night football New Orleans is at the L.A. Rams at 8:15.
Aaron Rodgers was activated from the injured reserve list but the quarterback won't play again this season for the New York Jets. Coach Robert Saleh said the move Wednesday is merely the next step in Rodgers’ rehabilitation from a torn left Achilles tendon. The Jets had until Wednesday to activate Rodgers or he would revert back to IR for the rest of the season. The four-time NFL MVP's 21-day practice window began Nov. 29. Saleh said the Jets have flexibility, so they could add Rodgers to their 53-man active roster.
C.J. Stroud remains in the concussion protocol and could miss a second straight game Sunday when Houston hosts Cleveland. Coach DeMeco Ryans said Wednesday that Stroud was doing better, but that he didn’t know when he’d be cleared to play. Stroud was injured Dec. 10 in a 30-6 loss to the Jets when his head bounced off the turf after taking a hit with about 6½ minutes left in the fourth quarter.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Oregon State and Washington State are working on a deal to become affiliate members of the West Coast Conference for basketball and other Olympic sports for two years. Sources tell The Associated Press a deal could be done as soon as this week. Oregon State and Washington State recently reached a football-scheduling agreement with the Mountain West for next season. Both are trying to plan their future after the collapse of the Pac-12, which will lose 10 schools to other leagues next summer.
UVM 86 Toledo 60
Seton Hall 75 UConn 60
Kadary Richmond had 23 points and eight steals, Dre Davis added 17 points and Seton Hall used suffocating defense to stun No. 5 UConn 75-60 on Wednesday night for its biggest victory in three years. The win in the Big East Conference opener for both teams was the third straight for Seton Hall (8-4) and snapped a three-game winning streak for the Huskies (10-2). UConn previous loss was a 69-65 setback at No. 2 Kansas. The Huskies played the final 16:33 without starting center Donovan Clingan, who left after an apparent injury to his lower right leg. The sophomore had 14 points and seven rebounds. Tristen Newton had 16 points for UConn, which committed a season-high 17 turnovers.
On the women’s side:
UAlbany 74 UMass 52
UVM 70 Sacred Heart 64
UConn 102 Dayton 58
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The heartache won’t go away for Florida State. The Seminoles returned to practice this week still reeling from the selection committee's decision to leave the undefeated Atlantic Coast Conference champions out of the College Football Playoff. They settled for their first league title since 2014. Defensive back Jarrian Jones says “nobody can take that from us.” The CFP's decision leaves Florida State regrouping as it deals with roster changes while preparing to play one-loss Georgia in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30.
The early signing period in college football opened with just a little five-star drama. Georgia likely locked up a recruiting crown by flipping an in-state blue-chipper away from Florida State. The consensus No. 1 recruit in the country had Ohio State coach Ryan Day literally sighing with relief. And a five-star defensive lineman committed to Florida decided to delay making his decision official. That was the least of the bad news for the Gators.
The NCAA sent Michigan a notice of allegations related to impermissible on- and off-campus recruiting during the COVID-19 dead period and coaching activities, potential violations that led to the school’s self-imposed three-game suspension of Jim Harbaugh to start the season. School spokesman Kurt Svoboda confirmed Wednesday that the notice was received this week. The Big Ten suspended Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season for an unrelated matter, stemming from a sign-stealing scheme, that is still under investigation. Harbaugh will lead the Wolverines against Alabama in the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs on Jan. 1.
PARIS OLYMPICS
Organizers of the Paris Olympics say work will continue on a new tower for judges and TV cameras at the surfing venue in Tahiti. That's despite the sport’s governing body saying it no longer supports the controversial project. The International Surfing Association said Tuesday that it doesn’t want the aluminum tower to be built in the lagoon at Teahupo’o. That's the site for Olympic surfing next July, chosen because of its world-famous giant waves. The ISA suggested that judges could follow the competitions from a tower built on land, rather than at sea. But Paris Games organizers said Wednesday that suggestion has already been examined and discarded. Chief Paris Games organizer Tony Estanguet said: “The project continues. That’s the wish of the local actors.”
TENNIS
A new monitoring service will help protect tennis players from online abuse and threats. In their joint announcement the International Tennis Federation, U.S. Tennis Association, the All England Club and the women's WTA tour say the “Threat Matrix” service will operate in 35 languages when it launches Jan. 1. They say the service "will support the identification of abusers, against whom all available measures will be taken.” The new service will monitor players’ public-facing social media for abusive and threatening content on X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok.
NASCAR
Roger Penske has a chance for a NASCAR championship three-peat after racer Ryan Blaney won the organization's second straight series crown this year, following teammate Joey Logano's title in 2022. Blaney was thrilled to bring the motorsports magnate his first-ever back-to-back NASCAR crowns. Count on Blaney and Logano to charge just as hard for another championship try next season. They'll have a host of top-line competitors including Hendrick racers Kyle Larson and William Byron, who combined for 10 wins and finished second and third in the standings.
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