NFL
Six-time NFL champion Bill Belichick has agreed to part ways as the coach of the New England Patriots, bringing an end to his 24-year tenure as the architect of the most decorated dynasty of the league’s Super Bowl era. Belichick became just the third coach in NFL history to reach 300 career regular-season wins, joining Hall of Famers Don Shula and George Halas. Belichick trails only Shula for the record for victories by a coach. But this season, finishing with a 4-13 record, was Belichick’s worst in 29 seasons as an NFL head coach.
Bill Belichick is out as coach of the New England Patriots after 24 seasons, the question turns to where will the six-time Super Bowl champion go next. Belichick needs just 15 wins to surpass Don Shula’s all-time record of 347 in the regular season and playoffs and could have options about where to go if he wants to go after that record. There are already seven other coaching openings outside of New England with the Raiders, Chargers, Panthers, Falcons, Commanders, Titans and Seahawks all looking for new head coaches.
NBA
Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 45 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Brooklyn Nets 111-102 on Thursday in the NBA’s third regular-season game in Paris. Mitchell’s quick start sent the Cavaliers to a lead they would never lose. He scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, making four 3-pointers after going 0 for 6 through three quarters, to keep the Nets from coming all the way back after cutting a 26-point deficit to single digits. Caris LeVert added 21 points in Cleveland’s first time playing outside North America in the regular season, while and Jarrett Allen had 12 points and 12 rebounds in his career-best eighth straight double-double.
Kyrie Irving scored 44 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 32 in his fifth start of the season and the short-handed Dallas Mavericks, playing without superstar Luka Doncic and two other starters, held off a late charge from the New York Knicks to win 128-124 on Thursday night. The Knicks lost for the first time in six games since acquiring OG Anunoby from Toronto on Dec. 30. Dallas native Julius Randle led the Knicks with 32 points. Jalen Brunson, playing in Dallas for the first time since leaving the Mavericks in free agency in July 2022, scored 30. Donte DiVincenzo had 19.
Bobby Portis and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined to score 20 straight points during a 25-0 spurt midway through the first half as the Milwaukee Bucks rolled to a 135-102 victory over the NBA-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday night. Portis scored 28, Antetokounmpo added 24 and both players had 12 rebounds as the Bucks won for just the second time in six games. Damian Lillard chipped in 21 points while returning to Milwaukee’s lineup after missing the Bucks’ 132-116 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday for personal reasons.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Josh Giddey had a triple-double and Oklahoma City rolled past the Portland Trail Blazers 139-77 on Thursday night, a 62-point victory that matched the fifth-largest rout in NBA history. Oklahoma City shattered its previous record for victory margin of 45 points, set twice during the 2012-13 season. The Thunder moved into a tie with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the best record in the Western Conference at 26-11. Jalen Williams scored 21 points, Chet Holmgren scored 19 points and Giddey had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his ninth career triple-double. The Trail Blazers shot just 27.7% from the field.
Bradley Beal had a season-high 37 points, including eight 3-pointers, Devin Booker added 31 and the Phoenix Suns routed the Los Angeles Lakers 127-109 Thursday night. Kevin Durant added 18 points for the Suns, who broke a five-game losing streak to the Lakers. It was also Frank Vogel’s first victory over his former team. Vogel coached the Lakers for three seasons, including 2020 when they won the NBA title in the Walt Disney World bubble. D’Angelo Russell had 19 points off the bench as the Lakers fell to 5-11 since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament last month. Los Angeles had seven players score in double figures but committed 17 turnovers that led to 28 Phoenix points.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the In-Season Tournament will “no doubt” be back next season with some unspecified tweaks. So, most likely, will another regular-season trip to Paris — perhaps this time with multiple games for the teams selected. Silver touched on both of those possibilities for the 2024-25 schedule on Thursday before the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers played the NBA’s third regular-season game in Paris. Silver says team presidents recently discussed changes for the In-Season tournament, which wrapped up last month with the Lakers winning the title in Las Vegas. Silver also said the NBA is looking forward to playing again next season in France, a market that has become of greater importance to the league.
NHL
Mathew Barzal scored 21 seconds into overtime, Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Thursday night. Barzal capped a comeback with his 12th goal of the season after assisting on the first three goals. Kyle Palmieri, Alexander Romanov and Bo Horvat also scored and defenseman Noah Dobson had a career-high four assists. Toronto star Auston Matthews scored twice early in the second period for a 3-1 lead. He leads the NHL with 33 goals. Bobby McMann also scored for the Maple Leafs.
Jordan Kyrou had his third career hat trick, Jordan Binnington made 40 saves, and the St. Louis Blues beat the New York Rangers 5-2. Brandon Saad and Pavel Buchnevich also scored for St. Louis. Adam Fox and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Rangers. The Blues have gone 8-4-0 since Drew Bannister became interim coach, replacing Craig Berube. The Rangers have lost three straight for the first time all season. New York has won just two of its last seven games.
Tage Thompson scored two goals to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs and Dylan Cozens also scored for the Sabres, who have won three of four. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 25 saves. Claude Giroux had two goals for the Senators, who have lost five straight. Vladimir Tarasenko also scored. Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves after replacing the injured Anton Forsberg in net for Ottawa. Forsberg stopped six of seven shots before he suffered a groin injury late in the first period while attempting a kick save. He needed assistance getting off the ice and to the locker room.
Alex Pietrangelo scored 46 seconds into overtime on a 2-on-1 to give the struggling Vegas Golden Knights a 2-1 victory Thursday night over a Boston Bruins team still searching for a victory with a game left on a four-game trip. Jack Eichel also scored for the Knights, and Mark Stone assisted on the winner. Logan Thompson made 32 saves. Matt Grzelcyk scored for the Bruins. Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops. The Knights had lost seven of nine games before this one. Boston fell by 4-3 scores in a shootout Monday night at Colorado and overtime Tuesday night at Arizona.
Elias Pettersson scored on a breakaway in overtime and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. Pettersson took a lead pass from Filip Hronek and beat Tristan Jarry for his 22nd goal of the season and second of the game. Brock Boeser scored twice for the Canucks, while J.T. Miller added three assists. Thatcher Demko made 31 saves for the Canucks. Sidney Crosby scored twice for Pittsburgh, including the tying goal with 28.2 seconds left to force overtime. Marcus Pettersson scored his first of the season for Pittsburgh. Alex Nedeljkovic started for Pittsburgh, but allowed three goals on nine first-period shots. Jarry stopped 19 shots in relief.
Darren Raddysh scored 1:52 into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3. The defenseman got the game-winner from the left circle. Luke Glendening had two goals, and Brayden Point also scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper tied Pat Burns for 27th place in NHL history with his 501st win. New Jersey got goals from Dawson Mercer, Jesper Bratt and Nathan Bastian. Vitek Vanecek stopped 16 shots. Bastian stopped a 22-game goal drought and tied it at 3 early in the third period on a breakaway.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 shots and the NHL-worst San Jose Sharks snapped a 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Luke Kunin, Fabian Zetterlund, Nikita Okhotiuk also scored for San Jose. The Sharks improved to 9-29-3, winning for the first time since Dec. 12. They opened the season with an 11-game skid. Brendan Gallagher and Mike Matheson scored for Montreal and Sam Montembeault made 32 saves. The Canadiens fell to 17-17-6 a night after falling 3-2 in a shootout in Philadelphia. With the Canadiens down 3-1 entering the third period, jeers — and some sarcastic “Ole! Ole!" chants — rained down from the home crowd.
Darnell Nurse scored 1:20 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 to match a franchise record with their ninth straight win. Edmonton, which also won nine in a row late last season and in 2001, can break the team mark Saturday night in Montreal. Oilers superstar Connor McDavid tied it midway through the third period and Zach Hyman scored a go-ahead goal with six minutes left in regulation, but Calvin Pickard could not stop a shot from Olli Maatta from a sharp angle a couple of minutes later.
Joey Daccord made 25 saves, Tye Kartye ended a lengthy goal drought and the Seattle Kraken won their eighth consecutive game, beating the Washington Capitals 4-1 on Thursday night. Alex Wennberg and defensemen Justin Schultz and Adam Larsson also scored for the Kraken, who tied the longest winning streak in the three-year history of the franchise and are 10-0-2 in their past 12. Seattle hasn’t lost since before Christmas, a run that included Daccord posting a shutout in the Winter Classic. The Capitals have lost seven of nine despite increased production from Alex Ovechkin. The captain assisted on Max Pacioretty’s first goal since re-tearing his right Achilles tendon roughly a year ago.
Seth Jarvis had a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes stretched their points streak to seven games by beating the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 despite losing their goalie in the second period Thursday night. Jordan Martinook and Stefan Noesen each had a goal and an assist, while Brady Skjei, Andrei Svechnikov and Jack Drury also scored. Teuvo Teravainen assisted on two goals. With the score 3-all, the Hurricanes made a goalie change with 6:04 left in the second period when Pyotr Kochetkov exited after he was bowled over by Isac Lundestrom during a pile-up at the net.
Sam Reinhart scored on a backhander with less than a second to play in overtime, Matthew Tkachuk scored late in regulation to tie the game and the Florida Panthers rallied past the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 to push their winning streak to nine games. Sam Bennett also scored for Florida, which trailed 1-0 and 2-1 before pulling out the win. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 shots for the Panthers, plus got one of the two assists on Reinhart’s winner. Trevor Moore and Drew Doughty scored for the Kings. Cam Talbot made 38 saves for Los Angeles, which is 0-3-4 in its last seven games.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored with just 1:05 left and the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 on Thursday night to extend their franchise-record winning and points streaks. Gabe Vilardi tied it with 3:29 left, with Adam Lowry assisting on both goals, and Laurent Brossoit stopped 19 shots to help the Jets push their winning streak to eight and points run to 14. Connor Murphy scored early in the second period for Chicago. The Blackhawks are playing without Connor Bedard, the rookie star who had surgery on his jaw Wednesday. The Jets tied it after Lowry fought off a check and fed Vilardi alone in front of goalie Petr Mrazek. Ehlers then snapped a wrist shot over Mrazek’s glove hand for the winner.
Yegor Sharangovich scored two of his three goals in the third period and the Calgary Flames chased Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka early in a 6-2 victory over the Coyotes on Thursday night. Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund, Rasmus Andersson and Blake Coleman scored in the Flames’ four-goal first period, and Sharangovich finished his second career hat trick in the third. Jacob Markstrom made 33 saves to help the Flames win for the fifth time in seven games. Coleman also had two assists. Lawson Crouse and Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes, who trailed 4-1 after the first period. They have lost four of five after winning six of seven.
MLB
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that pitcher Marcus Stroman and the New York Yankees have agreed to a $37 million, two-year contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a successful physical. Stroman posted an Instagram story with a photo of himself in a Yankees uniform. The right-hander grew up on Long Island, about 55 miles from Yankee Stadium. Stroman joins a Yankees rotation headed by AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole that likely will include Clarke Schmidt. Carlos Rodón and Nestor Cortes are coming off injury-plagued seasons.
Juan Soto and the New York Yankees have agreed to a $31 million, one-year contract that broke Shohei Ohtani’s record for an arbitration-eligible player. Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. filed for $19.9 million, the high among 23 players who exchanged figures with their teams among 194 eligible for arbitration at the start of the day. Among others who agreed to deals were New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso ($20.5 million), Milwaukee right-hander Corbin Burnes ($15,637,500), Atlanta left-hander Max Fried ($15 million), [and] Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres ($14.2 million), Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber ($13,125,000), Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames ($12.25 million), Houston left-hander Framber Valdez ($12.1 million) and Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker ($12 million).
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UVM 77 UMBC 72
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Siena 66 St. Peter’s 64
Syracuse 77 Wake Forest 56
Fairfield 72 Iona 44
Marist 65 Rider 55
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
When Nick Saban retired after 17 seasons and six national title with the Crimson Tide, he joined Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw and Villanova’s Jay Wright has championship-winning college coaches in high-profile sports to call it a career over the last four years. They have have all talked about how the evolving landscape of college sports with players being paid through name, image and likeness deals and almost unfettered transfers has changed the profession they love. But Saban insisted the changes did not push him into retirement.
NCAA
The NCAA has taken the first step toward determining whether President Charlie Baker’s idea to create a new subdivision in which schools directly pay athletes can become a reality. The Division I Board of Directors asked policy makers to evaluate a proposal Baker made last month. Baker said he wants the association to create a new tier of Division I sports that would require participating schools to offer at least $30,000 per year through a trust fund to some athletes. The proposal now goes to the Division I Council.
It’s been a rough few days for the headliners in the AP Top 25. Four of the top five and half of the top 10 have lost on the road to unranked teams. No. 1 Purdue lost at Nebraska. No. 2 Houston lost at Iowa State. No. 3 Kansas lost to UCF. No. 5 Tennessee lost to Mississippi State. And No. 9 Oklahoma lost to TCU. Each came in the past two days. It’s a reminder how much college basketball’s natural order has changed in the era of older teams, the transfer portal and talent dispersed across the country.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Coco Gauff is entering the Australian Open as a reigning Grand Slam champion. It's new territory for the 19-year-old American. Had she not fulfilled expectations at the last U.S. Open last September, this would have been her last shot at being a teenage major winner. Now that the pressure is off, she's happy to discuss ambitions that include 10 or more major titles and also Olympic medals. The first Australian Open to be staged over 15 days starts on Sunday at Melbourne Park.
© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
