NFL PLAYOFFS
Jared Goff threw for a touchdown and completed a game-sealing first down against the team that cast him away, and the Detroit Lions won a playoff game for the first time in 32 years, beating Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams 24-23. The Lions ended a nine-game postseason losing streak — the longest in NFL history — that dated to a victory over Dallas on Jan. 5, 1992. Detroit will have two home playoff games for the first time in franchise history, hosting either Tampa Bay or Philadelphia in the divisional round next Sunday. Stafford threw for 367 yards for the Rams.
Jordan Love threw for three touchdowns, Aaron Jones ran for three more, Darnell Savage returned an interception 64 yards for a score and the Green Bay Packers handed the Dallas Cowboys their first home loss since the 2022 opener in a 48-32 wild-card stunner. Romeo Doubs had a career-high 151 yards receiving a week after being hospitalized with a chest injury. The Packers won Love’s postseason debut after finishing the regular season 6-2 to grab the NFC’s final playoff spot. They will visit top-seeded San Francisco in the divisional round. Dak Prescott threw two interceptions before three mostly empty touchdown passes in another playoff flop for him and the No. 2 seed Cowboys.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he isn't ready to discuss the future of coach Mike McCarthy, quarterback Dak Prescott or anything else after a stunning playoff loss to Green Bay. Jones says the 48-32 wild-card loss at home is one of biggest surprises since he has been involved in sports. Dallas is looking at 29 years since the franchise’s last trip to the NFC championship game. It was the 1995 season, when the Cowboys won their fifth Super Bowl title. Prescott supports his coach and says his play should be part of the question about the future as well.
The Buffalo Bills' playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed until this afternoon at 4:30 because of a lake-effect storm that was expected to drop 1 to 3 feet of snow in the area. With snow falling at a rate of 2 inches per hour, a group of about 85 people tried to dig out the Buffalo Bills' stadium in Orchard Park, New York, on Sunday. The Bills paid snow shovelers $20 an hour, but one person who participated, Logan Eschrich, says the work at Highmark Stadium was nearly impossible. The storm was expected to taper off Sunday night, allowing time to clear roads and prepare the stadium for the game.
Jim Harbaugh is set to meet with the Los Angeles Chargers about their head coaching vacancy. That's according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't at liberty to publicly discuss personnel moves. Word of Harbaugh's plans comes one week after he led the University of Michigan to a national title. A person familiar with Harbaugh's thinking tells the AP that Harbaugh is also considering staying at Michigan. That person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
Tonight:
Pittsburgh at Buffalo 4:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay 8:15 p.m.
NBA
Nikola Jokic recorded 25 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, finishing an assist shy of his 13th triple-double of the season, to help lead the Denver Nuggets to a 117-109 victory against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray matched Jokic with 25 points apiece for the Nuggets, who shot a season-high 64.8% from the field and had all five starters finish in double figures. Aaron Gordon added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. Bruce Brown had 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Pacers.
Bam Adebayo had 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, helping the Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets 104-87. Tyler Herro made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points for Miami, which never trailed. Duncan Robinson had 19 points, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 15 before departing early in the second quarter because of a groin strain. The Heat went 11 for 25 from 3-point range while completing a four-game sweep of the regular-season series against Charlotte. Terry Rozier scored 26 points for the slumping Hornets, and LaMelo Ball had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Miles Bridges finished with 20 points.
Anthony Edwards scored 20 of his 33 points in the third quarter and Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 18 rebounds to help the Minnesota Timberwolves cool off the Los Angeles Clippers 109-105. Norman Powell’s corner 3-pointer — his sixth of the game — capped a 20-6 surge by the Clippers over a four-plus-minute stretch that sliced their deficit to 103-100. Gobert made four foul shots in the final minute to nudge the Wolves to the finish line on a night when they had 19 turnovers and allowed 37 points in the fourth quarter.
Damian Lillard swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to give the Milwaukee Bucks a stunning 143-142 win over the Sacramento Kings. The Kings led by four late in overtime, but Brook Lopez made a 3-pointer from the corner to pull the Bucks to 141-140 with 11.5 seconds remaining. De’Aaron Fox made one of two free throws before Lillard received a pass, dribbled across half court and sank the shot that gave the Bucks their 15th consecutive win over the Kings as the Fiserv Forum crowd erupted. Lillard led the Bucks with 29 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Malik Beasley added 23 points and Bobby Portis had 22. Domantas Sabonis had his 10th triple-double of the season for Sacramento with 21 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds.
Devin Booker had 34 points and the Phoenix Suns held off the Portland Trail Blazers 127-116 on Sunday night for their second straight victory. Bradley Beal added 23 points, Kevin Durant had 21 and Grayson Allen 20. The Suns, whose biggest lead was 17 points, let Portland narrow the gap to four points midway through the final quarter. Rookie Scoot Henderson had a career-high 33 points and nine assists for the short-handed Trail Blazers. They have lost four straight and eight of 10. The skid includes a 139-77 loss at Oklahoma City that tied for the fifth-worst setback in NBA history.
NHL
Nic Dowd tied the game, T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal less than two minutes later and the Washington Capitals rallied to beat the New York Rangers 3-2. The first-place Rangers collapsed in the third period to lose their fourth in a row. Anthony Mantha also scored and Charlie Lindgren made 25 saves in his second NHL game against brother Ryan. The Capitals came back from down 2-0 to avoid what would have been an eighth loss in 10 games. Defenseman Adam Fox scored twice for the Rangers.
Dylan Larkin had two goals and the Detroit Red Wings handed the Los Angeles Kings their eighth consecutive loss with a 5-3 victory. Robby Fabbri, Patrick Kane and Andrew Copp also scored as the Red Wings improved to 4-0-1 in their last five games. Alex Lyon made 33 saves. Detroit grabbed control by scoring four times in the last 11 minutes of the second period. The Red Wings also beat the Kings 4-3 in a shootout on Jan. 4 in Los Angeles. The Kings dropped to 0-2-2 on a six-game trip. Quinton Byfield had two power-play goals for Los Angeles, and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored with the man advantage.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Iona 87 Mt. St. Mary’s 70
Marist 83 Rider 60
UConn 80 Georgetown 67
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Syracuse 83 Clemson 82
MEN’S COLLEGE HOCKEY
Clarkson 4 RPI 1
WOMEN’S COLLEGE HOCKEY
St. Lawrence University 3 RPI 0
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Coco Gauff is through to the second round of the Australian Open following a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. The 19-year-old U.S. Open champion needed exactly 60 minutes for the victory. Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova is out after being beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Dayana Yastremska in the first round. Seventh-seeded Vondrousova had seven double faults as she was knocked out by the world No. 93-ranked player. In other play 19th-seeded Elina Svitolina advanced to the second round after beating Taylah Preston 6-2, 6-2. Naomi Osaka begins her campaign later in the day.
SONY OPEN
Grayson Murray is the Sony Open winner after two birdies on the 18th hole. He stuffed a wedge to 3 feet in regulation for a 67 to join a three-way playoff with Keegan Bradley and Byeong Hun An. And then he made a 40-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to become a winner for the first time in more than six years. Murray has struggled with alcoholism. He says he has been sober for eight months. He (Murray_ 's going to the Masters for the first time and is in all the $20 million events the rest of the season.
SOCCER
Turkish authorities have detained Turkish club Antalyaspor’s Israeli player for questioning after he displayed solidarity with people held hostage by the Hamas militant organization during a league game. Turkey's justice minister said Sagiv Jehezkel is under investigation on a possible charge of “openly inciting the public to hatred and hostility.” The player told police he was simply calling for an end to the war when after scoring a goal he displayed a bandage on his wrist with the words “100 Days 7.10" next to a Star of David. There is widespread public opposition in Turkey to Israel’s military actions in Gaza and overwhelming support for the Palestinians. Jehezkel's detention, meanwhile, caused outrage in Israel.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Washington hired Arizona’s Jedd Fisch to succeed Kalen DeBoer as the next coach of the Huskies. A person familiar with the deal said that Fisch had agreed to a seven-year deal that will pay an average of $7.75 million annually. Less than a week after playing for the national championship, the Huskies moved quickly to fill the vacancy created when DeBoer left for Alabama. Washington athletic director Troy Dannen targeted Fisch quickly and flew to Tucson, Arizona, on Sunday to complete the deal, flying back to Seattle later in the day with the Huskies new head coach.
© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
