NBA
OG Anunoby scored 23 points, his most since coming to New York, and the Knicks won their fifth in a row since he joined their lineup with a 112-84 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers last night. Anunoby scored 16 in a first quarter, when the Knicks opened a 19-point lead that would grow to 39 in the third quarter. The forward went 6 for 7 in the period, 4 of 5 behind the 3-point arc, and was already just a point shy of the 17 he scored in his Knicks debut against Minnesota on New Year’s Day, his previous best since coming from Toronto in a Dec. 30 trade.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 of his 28 points in the first half and the Minnesota Timberwolves led from start to finish in a 113-92 win over the Orlando Magic. Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Western Conference-leading Timberwolves won easily despite getting only six points and three assists from leading scorer Anthony Edwards. Moritz Wagner led the Magic with 21 points and seven rebounds. Jalen Suggs had 20 points and five rebounds and Paolo Banchero had 18 points on 8 for 22 shooting.
Domantas Sabonis scored 37 points, and had 13 assists and 10 rebounds, to help the Sacramento Kings to a roller-coaster 131-110 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. The Kings trailed by 20 points in the first quarter, led by 15 in the third, let the Pistons tie the game in the fourth and then pulled away down the stretch. Keegan Murray added 32 points and De’Aaron Fox scored 26. Detroit has lost five straight since breaking its NBA-record 28-game losing streak. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26 and Jaden Ivey added 22.
Desmond Bane scored 32 points to lead the injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies to a 120-103 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Bane scored 13 of the Grizzlies’ final 18 points in the third quarter to help build a 20-point lead entering the final quarter in the team’s first game since learning of leading scorer Ja Morant’s season-ending shoulder injury. The Grizzlies (14-23), who are 2-0 since Morant’s injury, were without Marcus Smart for much of the second half. Smart left the game with 7:38 left in the third quarter with a dislocated finger on his right hand.
Desmond Bane scored 32 points to lead the injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies to a 120-103 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Bane scored 13 of the Grizzlies’ final 18 points in the third quarter to help build a 20-point lead entering the final quarter in the team’s first game since learning of leading scorer Ja Morant’s season-ending shoulder injury. The Grizzlies (14-23), who are 2-0 since Morant’s injury, were without Marcus Smart for much of the second half. Smart left the game with 7:38 left in the third quarter with a dislocated finger on his right hand.
Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat have agreed on a long-term contract extension. Spoelstra is in his 16th season as head coach in Miami and his 29th overall with the franchise. He started in the video room and eventually becoming a scout, an assistant coach and then Pat Riley’s hand-picked successor as head coach in 2008. Spoelstra has three NBA championship rings, two of them coming as Miami’s head coach. A person with knowledge of the agreement who spoke Tuesday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms were not revealed publicly said Spoelstra and the team agreed on an eight-year extension worth around $120 million.
Draymond Green is vowing a commitment to playing without the “antics” that have plagued him on the court throughout his career, working over the past month on ways to control his emotions and not let hostility take over. Through therapy, Green says he has learned techniques to better deal with tense moments during games when he has previously lost his cool, embracing the idea of improving himself after being disciplined by the NBA with an indefinite suspension last month. Green insists he has “cost my team enough” and feels a sense of urgency to get back on the court and help the Warriors.
Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic went on a furious, table-pounding tirade over the officiating after the Los Angeles Lakers shot 23 free throws in the fourth quarter of a 132-131 win over the Raptors. Anthony Davis scored 20 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles Lakers hung on for their first back-to-back wins in a month. Rajakovic was infuriated by the Lakers' 36 free throws to the Raptors' 13, calling it “outrageous” and “completely B.S.”
NHL
Alex Wennberg, Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers scored second-period goals and the Seattle Kraken pulled away for their seventh consecutive win, 5-2 over the Buffalo Sabres. Yanni Gourde and Vince Dunn also scored for the Kraken and Joey Daccord made 36 saves. Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch scored for the Sabres while Devon Levi made 21 saves. Tuch's goal 50 seconds into the second period tied it at 2 but Wennberg scored on a breakaway two minutes later to give Seattle the lead for good.
Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes scored first-period goals and Casey DeSmith made 17 saves as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 on Tuesday to complete a sweep of New York-area teams. Elias Pettersson, Tyler Myers and Dakota Joshua also scored for the first-place Canucks, who are on a season-long seven-game road trip. Conor Garland added two assists for Vancouver, winners of four of their last five. The Canucks are 11-2-2 since Dec. 5. Brock Nelson scored both goals for New York.
Nick Schmaltz scored a goal with less than a minute remaining in overtime, lifting the Arizona Coyotes over the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night. Schmaltz’s goal was his 13th of the season and snapped a rough stretch for the Coyotes, who had been blown out in three straight games. He flicked a wrister past Boston’s Jeremy Swayman, who entered the game midway through overtime after Linus Ullmark left with an injury. The Bruins have lost three of their last four.
Mitchell Marner had two goals and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the San Jose Sharks 7-1 on Tuesday, earning a fourth straight win. Morgan Rielly, Auston Matthews, Pontus Holmberg, Jake McCabe and Nicholas Robertson also scored for Toronto, which snapped a three-game home losing skid. Martin Jones made 22 saves. William Nylander contributed three assists, with McCabe dishing out two and Rielly adding one as well. Henry Thrun had the lone marker for San Jose, which had its losing streak extended to 12 games. Kaapo Kahkonen surrendered four goals on 20 shots, while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 of 25 shots in relief.
Nick Perbix scored 2:03 into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from two goals down in the third period to beat the slumping Los Angeles Kings 3-2. Jon Cooper became the third-fastest NHL coach to win 500 games. Scotty Bowman and Bruce Boudreau were the only ones to get there faster than Cooper’s 839 games. Cooper is the fastest to do it with one franchise, and 29th overall to reach the milestone. Perbix ended a 40-game goal drought with his game-winner. Tyler Motte and Brandon Hagel also scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 shots and is 10-9-0 since returning from back surgery during training camp. Cam Talbot made 26 saves, and Phillip Danault and Matt Roy had the Los Angeles goals.
Cole Perfetti scored twice and Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves to help the Winnipeg Jets deliver a 5-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday that extended their winning streak to a franchise-tying seven games. Perfetti also registered an assist, while Brenden Dillon, Josh Morrissey and Gabriel Vilardi had the other goals for the Jets, who ran up their franchise-record point streak to 13 games. Hellebuyck recorded his second shutout of the season and 34th of his career. He is 11-0-2 in his past 13 games, the longest unbeaten streak for a goaltender in franchise history. Daniil Tarasov stopped 18 shots for Columbus.
Matthew Tkachuk scored his fifth career hat trick to help the Florida Panthers beat the St. Louis Blues 5-1 for their eighth straight victory. Sam Reinhart and Kevin Stenlund also scored for the Panthers, who have 36 goals during their winning streak. Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves. Brayden Schenn scored and Joel Hofer made 26 saves for St. Louis, which had won two in a row. Tkachuk scored into an empty net for his 11th goal of the season with 57 seconds left to complete his hat trick.
Troy Terry scored a goal and assisted on another, Lukas Dostal made 39 saves and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday night.Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Mason McTavish and Radko Gudas also scored for the Ducks, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Alex Killorn and Jackson LaCombe each had two assists.Alexandre Carrier, Philip Tomasino and Denis Gurianov scored and Juuse Saros made 28 saves for Nashville, losers of two of three.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl scored goals as the Edmonton Oilers extended their winning streak to eight games with a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks The Oilers also won eight straight from Nov. 24 to Dec. 12. McDavid scored the winner by beating Petr Mrazek on a breakaway 1:32 into the second period. He also extended his point-scoring streak to eight games. Chicago’s Jason Dickinson picked up a loose puck and sent a wrist shot past the blocker of Stuart Skinner at 5:52 of the first period to open the scoring. Draisaitl scored his 19th goal of the season to square the score about two minutes later.
Yegor Sharangovich and Blake Coleman each scored twice and the Calgary Flames scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the Ottawa Senators 6-3. Noah Hanifin had a goal and two assists for Calgary, and rookie Connor Zary also scored. Nazem Kadri had two assists to give him 600 points in the NHL. Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves. Jacob Bernard-Docker, Dominik Kubalik and Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa, which has dropped the first four on its five-game road trip. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 30 shots.
NFL
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers denies he implied comic Jimmy Kimmel was a pedophile and condemned those who do, but he stopped short of apologizing for his role in escalating their burgeoning feud. Rodgers returned to ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday for his weekly appearance and addressed comments he made the week before that appeared to suggest Kimmel’s name might appear on a list of associates of Jeffrey Epstein, a millionaire accused of sex trafficking involving underage victims before he died. The feud between ABC’s late-night star and Rodgers, who regularly appears on the daily ESPN show, has proven embarrassing for The Walt Disney Co., the parent company to both.
The Tennessee Titans have fired coach Mike Vrabel after six seasons with the franchise having won only six of the past 24 games. Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement that she told Vrabel of her decision Tuesday morning. She said it was a decision “as difficult as any I’ve made.” The announcement came a day after the Titans cleaned out their lockers with Vrabel not speaking to reporters. It was the first time in the franchise’s 27 seasons in Tennessee the head coach did not talk with reporters since the team moved to the state from Texas. Vrabel was hired in January 2018 and went 56-48 including playoffs.
MLB
Wander Franco is facing a lesser charge after a judge in the Dominican Republic analyzed evidence that alleges the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl and paid her mother thousands of dollars for her consent. Franco was originally accused of charges including commercial and sexual exploitation and money laundering. Those charges respectively carry up to 30 years, 10 years and 20 years of prison. He now stands accused instead of sexual and psychological abuse, according to a judge’s resolution that The Associated Press obtained on Tuesday. Franco has not been formally accused. If found guilty on the new charge, he could face between two to five years in prison.
The Chicago Cubs have bolstered their rotation, agreeing to a contract with left-hander Shōta Imanaga in their first major offseason roster move. A person familiar with the deal confirmed the agreement to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it was pending a physical. Terms of the contract are unknown. Chicago had been quiet since it hired Craig Counsell as manager in November, replacing David Ross in a surprise move. The Cubs were in position for an NL wild card last year before stumbling in September, fading to an 83-79 record after finishing under .500 in the previous two seasons.
A person familiar with the deal confirmed an MLB.com report that the Miami Marlins are in agreement with Yankees minor league manager Rachel Balkovec to become their director of player development. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the deal. Balkovec wrapped up her second season as manager at Class A Tampa in September. She debuted with the team in April 2022 with a win as the first woman to manage the affiliate of a Major League Baseball team.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Naomi Osaka is one of three former No. 1-ranked, former Australian Open champions returning to Melbourne Park for the first time as moms. The trio of Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki got even more emphasis in a tournament of comebacks after Rafael Nadal's return from a year-long injury layoff lasted three matches and he withdrew a week before the start of the year's first major. Osaka has won the Australian Open twice and also has a pair of U.S. Open titles. Three-time major winner Kerber won her breakthrough title here in 2016. Wozniacki won the Australian title in 2018. She quit the tour in 2020 and had two children before returning in time for last year's U.S. Open.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Syracuse 80 Georgetown 68
Roger Williams 71 Hartford 61
Tamin Lipsey scored 14 points, freshman Milan Momcilovic made a baseline jumper with 30.2 seconds left and Iowa State beat No. 2 Houston 57-53 to knock off the nation’s final unbeaten team. Iowa State secured its seventh win against a top-10 opponent in the last two seasons. That's the most in Division I. Houston had a 12-game road winning streak snapped with the loss Tuesday night. Emanuel Sharp scored 20 points, reaching the mark for the fourth time this season, for Houston. Jamal Shead added 14 points, surpassing 1,000 for his career.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Roger Williams 48 Hartford 34
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