NBA
Jayson Tatum scored 45 points — 14 of them in the fourth quarter and another 12 in overtime — as the Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-120 in a matchup of the two conference leaders to remain perfect at home. Jaylen Brown had 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who are 18-0 at home for the first time in franchise history. Anthony Edwards had 29 points and Karl Anthony-Towns scored 25 with 13 rebounds for Minnesota, which has the best record in the Western Conference at 26-11 and trails only Boston overall. The Celtics are 29-8.
Jalen Johnson hit two tying free throws in overtime and then added a go-ahead 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining, sending the Atlanta Hawks to a 139-132 victory over Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers. Johnson, who had 25 points and 16 rebounds, added two more free throws with 13 seconds remaining to help close it out. Maxey had 35 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals. Tobias Harris added 32 points for the 76ers, who played without Joel Embiid and suffered their third straight loss.
Keegan Murray scored 25 points, Domantas Sabonis had 24 points and 10 rebounds and the Sacramento Kings beat the Charlotte Hornets 123-98 on Wednesday night for their second straight victory. Former Hornets first-rounder Malik Monk added 20 points for Sacramento. De’Aaron Fox scored 19 points, and Sabonis also had seven assists. The Kings improved to 23-14, getting revenge for a 111-104 home loss to Charlotte last week. Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 24 points. Terry Rozier added 22, Brandon Miller had 15 and Nick Smith, Jr. 11. Charlotte is 8-27. Sacramento really put it out of reach with 11 straight points early in the third quarter to build an 84-62 lead. The Kings led by 26.
Victor Wembanyama had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double in the NBA, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 130-108 win over the Detroit Pistons. Wembanyama pulled off the feat in just 21 minutes playing against the franchise that was hoping to land him. Detroit had the league’s worst record last year, but didn’t get the first pick in the draft lottery. Wembanyama was 6 of 16 from the field and showed his playmaking skills on the break and in the post to surpass his previous season high of seven assists.
Myles Turner had 18 points and 13 rebounds and the Indiana Pacers’ overcame star guard Tyrese Haliburton’s absence to beat the Washington Wizards 112-104 on Wednesday night. Indiana has won eight of nine, while Washington has dropped six in a row. Haliburton, the NBA assists leader and Indiana scoring leader, strained his left hamstring Monday night in a 133-131 home victory over Boston. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Bruce Brown and Bennedict Mathurin each added 16 points for the Pacers. Obi Toppin added 15 points, and Brown also had nine rebounds and six assists. Jordan Poole led Washington with 28 points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, Chet Holmgren added 23 and the Oklahoma City Thunder used two big second-half runs to beat the Miami Heat 128-120 on Wednesday night. Jalen Williams finished with 19 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds for the Thunder. Lu Dort scored 14 points and Isaiah Joe added 11 for Oklahoma City, which beat Miami for just the second time in the teams’ last 10 meetings. Bam Adebayo led Miami with 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 21 and Haywood Highsmith had a career-best 19 for Miami.
Coby White scored 30 points and Zach LaVine made a big 3-pointer with 1:46 left in overtime, helping the Chicago Bulls top the Houston Rockets 124-119. LaVine finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in Chicago’s third consecutive win. DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points on 5-for-19 shooting, and Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 15 rebounds. LaVine and Vucevic were back in the starting lineup and without minute restrictions for their third game back after being sidelined by injuries. Despite being held scoreless in the first half, Alperen Sengun had 25 points for the Rockets.
Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points. nine rebounds and a pair of steals, helping the New Orleans Pelicans jump to a big lead on the way to beating the Golden State Warriors 141-105 on Wednesday night. Stephen Curry had 15 points and six assists for Golden State coming off a game in which he shot 2 for 14 and missed all nine of his 3-point tries to score nine points — after he’d gone for 25 points or more in the previous four games. Zion Williamson started for the Pelicans and contributed 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds playing 30 minutes after he began the day questionable because of a bruised right quadriceps. The Pelicans won for the sixth time in seven games.
Jordan Clarkson had 27 points and nine assists to send the Utah Jazz past the Denver Nuggets 124-111 for their ninth victory in 11 games. After beating Philadelphia and Milwaukee on the road, Utah earned its third win in five days over an elite team by taking down the defending NBA champions. Lauri Markkanen added 26 points and 12 rebounds, Collin Sexton scored 22 and John Collins had 15 points for the Jazz, who shot 55% from the field. Nikola Jokic scored 27 points for the Nuggets but didn’t get a lot of help. Denver had won six straight road games.
The Los Angeles Clippers say signed two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard to a three-year contract extension worth $152.3 million. A person familiar with the agreement confirmed the terms to the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not at liberty to discuss financial matters. Leonard was in the third year of a four-year deal that calls for him to earn a base salary of $45.6 million this season. He had a player option for next season at $48.7 million. The 32-year-old forward is averaging 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists this season. He's been in good health while playing in 33 of 37 games so far. Leonard recently returned after missing four games with a hip injury.
NHL
Sean Couturier scored the lone shootout goal and the Philadelphia Flyers overcame an early deficit to beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 last night. Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost scored in regulation and Sam Ersson made 17 saves to help Philadelphia cap a four-game homestand with its third victory in 10 games. Sean Monahan and David Savard scored for Montreal, and Cayden Primeau made 37 saves. The Canadiens have lost five of seven. The Flyers outshot Montreal 7-1 in overtime and had several high-quality scoring chances, but Primeau turned them aside.
Roope Hintz, Joe Pavelski, Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson — Dallas’ four top goal producers — scored and the Stars beat the Minnesota Wild 7-2 on Wednesday night to sweep a home-and-home set and the season series. Hintz leads the Stars with 17 goals, followed by Pavelski and Seguin at 16 and Robertson with 15. Nils Lundqvist had a goal and an assist and Matt Duchene and Sam Steel also scored to help the Stars spoil Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt’s NHL debut The 21-year-old Wallstedt made 24 saves. The Wild are 1-6-0 in their last seven games. Scott Wedgewood stopped 21 shots for Dallas Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist and Ryan Hartman also scored for the Wild.
Valeri Nichushkin scored two power-play goals, Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his season-opening home points streak to 23 games and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Wednesday night. Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves for his second shutout of the season. Logan O’Connor added a third-period goal and Mikko Rantanen had a pair of assists to help the Avalanche win for the sixth time in seven games. MacKinnon became the fourth player in NHL history with a season-opening home points streak of at least 23 games. Jiri Patera stopped 32 shots for Vegas. The struggling Golden Knights have lost seven of nine.
Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella lashed out at a beat reporter during his postgame news conference Wednesday night, questioning a report surrounding the trade of top prospect Cutter Gauthier on Monday. Gauthier told Flyers general manager Danny Briere that he didn’t want to play in Philadelphia or for the Flyers. Unable to sign Gauthier, Philadelphia traded the Boston College star to Anaheim on Monday for defenseman Jamie Drysdale. On Monday, a reporter with a podcast affiliated with the team said, citing an organizational source, that former Flyers forward Kevin Hayes’ “fingerprints are all over this.” Hayes, a former Boston College player, now plays for St. Louis. Tortorella took issue with the report after Philadelphia’s 3-2 victory over Montreal on Wednesday night.
NFL
Pete Carroll is out after 14 seasons as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, responsible for two NFC championships and the only Super Bowl title in franchise history during his long tenure. The 72-year old coach is moving into an advisory role with the organization, according to a statement from owner Jody Allen on Wednesday. Seattle closed the regular season with a 21-20 win at Arizona on Sunday. The Seahawks entered the final two weeks of the regular season with the chance at reaching the playoffs for the 11th time with Carroll in charge, but a Week 17 loss to Pittsburgh left Seattle in need of help it didn’t get to close out the season.
Matthew Stafford vs. the Lions. Mike McCarthy vs. the Packers. Tyreek Hill vs. the Chiefs. The NFL’s wild-card weekend is all about reunions and some rematches, too. Stafford leads the Los Angeles Rams to Detroit to face his old team where he spent 12 seasons and didn’t win a playoff game. McCarthy’s Dallas Cowboys host Green Bay, the team he led to a Super Bowl title with Aaron Rodgers 13 years ago. Hill and the Miami Dolphins head to Kansas City, which won one Super Bowl with the dynamic wide receiver and one without him last season. The upstart Houston Texans take on the Browns for the second time in three weeks.
Police in South Florida say a man fatally shot a 30-year-old Buffalo Bills fan during an altercation near Hard Rock Stadium after the Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins in the final regular season game. Miami Gardens police say Dylan Brody Isaacs and his friends had an altercation with a driver a few blocks from the stadium as they were returning to their vehicle after Sunday's game. Police say the driver pulled out a gun and shot Isaacs, who died at the scene. The man then fled in a Honda Accord, which was located in Palm Beach County the next day. Detectives have identified and interviewed a suspect, but police haven't released the person's name.
Sportsbook directors follow the money when it comes to cheering for particular teams. They are solidly behind the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend. Both are sizable underdogs in the NFL playoffs, with the majority of the money from casual bettors going to the favorites. The Packers are 7 1/2-point underdogs at FanDuel Sportsbook in the wild-card round at the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Pittsburgh is an even bigger dog at plus-10 on Sunday at the Buffalo Bills.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Alabama coach Nick Saban is retiring after winning more national championships than any other major college football coach. Saban won seven national championships and turned Alabama back into a national powerhouse that included six of those titles in 17 seasons. He made the announcement Wednesday. Saban led the Tide to nine Southeastern Conference championships and won his first national title at Alabama with a 14-0 season in 2009. Titles came again in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020. He also won a national title with LSU in 2003.
Jaylin Sellers scored 18 points, Darius Johnson added 17 and UCF erased a 16-point deficit to beat No. 3 Kansas 65-60 on Wednesday night. UCF’s victory came one night after No. 1 Purdue and second-ranked Houston lost.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Syracuse 69 Boston College 59
UMass 81 La Salle 65
UConn 80 Xavier 75
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Richmond 79 UMass 65
UConn 85 Providence 41
HOCKEY
The International Ice Hockey Federation has barred Israel from competing in its world championship events citing security concerns. The IIHF says its ruling council's decision was based on concern for “the safety and well-being of all participants,” including Israelis. It set no deadline for the teams to return to competition. The statement did not say if any other country had objected to playing against Israel and made no mention of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
SOCCER
Swedish soccer coach Sven-Goran Eriksson says he has cancer and might have less than a year to live. The former England coach has told Swedish Radio he discovered he had cancer after collapsing suddenly. He said in February last year he was reducing his public appearances because of health issues. Eriksson says he has pancreatic cancer and that it is inoperable. He says he is trying to think positively. Eriksson was England’s first ever foreign-born coach from 2001-06 after making his name winning league titles at club level with Lazio in Italy, Benfica in Portugal and IFK Gothenburg in his native Sweden.
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