NFL
Travis Kelce caught two touchdown passes and the Kansas City Chiefs advanced to their sixth straight AFC championship game following a 27-24 divisional round playoff win over the Buffalo Bills. Isiah Pacheco scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run 40 seconds into the fourth quarter in a game the teams traded leads five times. The Chiefs clinched the win by running out the clock after Buffalo’s Tyler Bass missed a 44-yard field goal attempt wide right with 1:43 remaining. The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs move on to face the conference’s top-seeded Baltimore Ravens.
Jared Goff threw two touchdown passes and the Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 in a divisional-round playoff game, lifting the long-suffering franchise into the NFC championship for the first time in 32 years and just the second time in franchise history. The Lions won two playoff games in a season for the first time since 1957, the last year they won the NFL title. They will play at San Francisco, the NFC’s top seed, next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl — a game they have never played in. Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes for the Bucs but he was intercepted by Derrick Barnes to end Tampa Bay's chances.
Taylor Swift blew a kiss after someone greeted her by yelling “Bills by a billion,” upon arriving at Highmark Stadium to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills 27-24 in a divisional playoff game. The pop music superstar was escorted by a heavy security presence to a suite overlooking the west end zone. After catching a 22-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, Kelce threw the football into the crowd, then turned and made a heart gesture with his hands toward the suite where Swift was seated in the opposite corner of the stadium.
NBA
Kawhi Leonard scored 14 of his 21 points in the final five minutes and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Brooklyn Nets 125-114 yesterday. The Clippers took their first lead on Leonard’s basket with 2:50 remaining. They closed with a 22-0 run, capped by Leonard’s 3-pointer from the corner, to win for the 10th time in 12 games. James Harden led the Clippers with 24 points and 10 assists. Russell Westbrook added 23 points off the bench. Mikal Bridges scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half for the Nets. They were coming off an 18-point win over the Lakers on Friday night.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 32 points and the NBA-leading Boston Celtics beat the short-handed Houston Rockets 116-107 on Sunday night. The Celtics improved to 33-10, rebounding from their first home loss of the season Friday night against Denver. Boston is 20-1 at home and 13-9 on the road. Porzingis was 11 of 20 from the field and 6 of 11 from 3-point range. He added five blocks. Derrick White had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Jayson Tatum scored 18 points on 4-of-17 shooting and Jaylen Brown had 13. Dillon Brooks led Houston with 25 points, hitting 5 of 15 from 3. Alperen Sengun had 24 points and Jalen Green added 16.
Nikola Jokic had 42 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and the defending champion Denver Nuggets beat the Washington Wizards 113-104 on Sunday night. Jokic was 15 of 20 from the field and made 12 of 14 free throws. Jamal Murray added 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Michael Porter Jr. had 19 points and six rebounds. Aaron Gordon had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Tyus Jones had 15 points and 13 assists for Washington. The Wizards have lost four straight.
Paolo Banchero led five Orlando starters in double figures with 20 points and the Magic handed the Miami Heat their third straight loss 105-87. Wendell Carter Jr. added 17 points and nine rebounds and Franz Wagner, back in the Magic starting lineup after missing eight games with a sprained right ankle, had 19 points and five assists. Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Jimmy Butler, who did not play in either of Miami’s victories aver Orlando earlier this season, had 15 points. Tyler Herro added 12 points for the Heat, who shot 37.5 percent.
Kevin Durant scored 40 points, Devin Booker had 26 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Indiana Pacers 117-110 on Sunday night for their fifth straight victory. Bradley Beal added 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting for Phoenix. The Pacers made a few runs early in the final period, but Durant seemed to thwart every rally with another mid-range basket. The 35-year-old star made his first five shots of the fourth quarter. Indiana has lost four of five. Buddy Hield led the Pacers with 18 points, and Pascal Siakam — acquired this week from Toronto — had 15 points and seven assists. All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton sat out for the sixth time in seven games because of a left hamstring strain.
D’Angelo Russell scored 34 points, LeBron James added 28 and the Los Angeles Lakers routed the Portland Trail Blazers 134-110 on Sunday night to get back to .500. Austin Reaves scored 15 points, and Anthony Davis had 14 points and 14 rebounds to help the Lakers bounce back from an 18-point loss to Brooklyn two nights earlier. Russell and James combined to score the Lakers’ first 19 points of the fourth. Russell showed off on a fast break, dribbling behind his back as he cruised to the basket. James dunked, hit a 3-pointer and made four free throws as they built a 23-point lead. Malcolm Brogdon led Portland with 23 points and nine assists.
NHL
Bo Horvat scored 41 seconds into overtime and the New York Islanders beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 to win new coach Patrick Roy’s debut. Alexander Romanov and Hudson Fasching also scored for New York and defenseman Noah Dobson had two assists. Ilya Sorokin finished with 41 saves. Roy was hired on Saturday to replace Lane Lambert after the Islanders went 0-3-1 on a four-game trip. Jason Robertson and Nils Lundqvist scored for Dallas, and Joe Pavelski had two assists. Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves in the Stars’ second loss in three games after winning four of five. In the extra period, Mathew Barzal found Horvat behind the Stars’ defense and Horvat converted a forehand-backhand maneuver to give the Islanders their third win in 11 games.
Artemi Panarin scored the tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes to go in the third period, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck each had a goal and an assist, and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-2. Will Cuylle also scored for the Rangers, who had dropped six of their last eight coming into the game. Igor Shesterkin made 16 saves and Adam Fox had two assists. Adam Henrique scored twice in the first period to give Anaheim a 2-0 lead, and Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson each had two assists. Lukas Dostal made 29 saves as the Ducks lost for the fifth time in their last six overall and sixth straight at home.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Claude Giroux scored third-period goals and the Ottawa Senators came back to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 on Sunday in Shane Pinto’s return to the lineup from a gambling suspension. Tim Stützle had a pair of goals, including an empty-netter, and Zack MacEwen also scored for Ottawa. Pinto, playing for the first time after a 41-game suspension, had an assist and Mads Sogaard made 22 saves. Egor Zamula had two goals and an assist, and Joel Farabee had a goal and two assists for the Flyers, who lost their second straight after winning five in a row.
Kirill Kaprizov scored three goals for his second career hat trick, and Joel Eriksson Ek had the tiebreaking goal in the third period to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Jake Middleton also scored for the Wild in their third win in four games after losing eight of nine. Filip Gustavsson stopped 40 shots. Martin Necas and Michael Bunting had goals for Carolina, which finished 3-2-1 on a six-game homestand. Antti Raanta finished with 14 saves. Eriksson Ek scored at 9:32 of the third to give the Wild a 3-2 lead as he controlled the rebound of a shot by Jonas Brodin and then got two chances to beat Raanta. That came just 75 seconds after Bunting had tied it for the Hurricanes. Kaprizov and Middleton added empty-net goals for the Wild in the final 2:01.
Daniel Sprong scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and the Detroit Red Wings beat Tampa Bay 2-1, snapping the Lightning’s five-game winning streak. Lucas Raymond also scored for Detroit, which is 7-1-1 over the last nine games. Alex Lyon made 29 saves, including 19 in the third period. Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning and Nikita Kucherov added an assist for his 76th point. He’s one point behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves.
Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 38th goal in the first period, Ilya Samsonov got his first win since early December, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Seattle Kraken 3-1. Matthews scored early, Nicholas Robertson tallied in the second period and Jake McCabe added an empty-net goal with 20 seconds left as Toronto closed out its western swing with a victory. Samsonov finished with 16 saves. The Leafs had dropped five of their previous six games, including a loss on Saturday in Vancouver. Jordan Eberle scored for Seattle, and Joey Daccord made 23 saves.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Marist 50 Siena 48
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Syracuse 72 Pittsburgh 59
George Mason 73 UMass 52
Tara VanDerveer became the all-time winningest coach in major college basketball history, passing former Duke and Army coach Mike Krzyzewski with her 1,203rd career victory when No. 8 Stanford beat Oregon State 65-56. At 70 years old and a head coach since age 24, VanDerveer celebrated on her team’s home floor at Maples Pavilion with a couple dozen former players on hand to cheer the Hall of Fame coach on for yet another milestone in a decorated 45-year career filled with memorable accomplishments.
Justin Harmon scored 18 points and Terrence Shannon Jr. added 16 in his return to lead five Illinois players in double figures as the No. 14 Illini beat Rutgers 86-63. In his first game back since the university was ordered Friday to lift his suspension, Shannon came off the bench and played 28 minutes. He had four assists and made 8 of 10 shots from the free-throw line. Shannon was suspended by the university on Dec. 28 because he’s facing a rape charge in a September incident in Kansas.
Caitlin Clark said she was “OK” after she was accidently knocked down by a fan running onto the court after No. 2 Iowa was upset by Ohio State on Sunday. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith went to the Hawkeyes locker room and apologized to Clark and Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. Buckeyes coach Kevin McGuff also issued an apology.
Sion James scored a season-high 22 points, and Tulane held off 10th-ranked Memphis 81-79 to hand the Tigers their second straight loss. Kevin Cross scored 21 points and Collin Holloway capped his 13-point performance with a layup and two free throws in the final 1:43 to put the Green Wave in front for good. David Jones had 32 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis but missed two 3-point attempts for the win in the final seconds.
PGA TOUR
Nick Dunlap became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour, making a 6-foot par putt on the final hole for a one-shot victory over Christiaan Bezuidenhout at The American Express on Sunday. Dunlap, the 20-year-old University of Alabama sophomore and reigning U.S. Amateur champion, is the first amateur winner since Phil Mickelson at the Tucson Open in 1991. He’s only the seventh amateur since 1945 — and the third since 1957 — to win a tour event. Dunlap, the only amateur in the 156-player field, surged into a three-shot lead with a sizzling 60 in the third round. He closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 29-under 259 and break the tournament scoring record as a 72-hole event.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Dayana Yastremska and Linda Noskova have reached their first Grand Slam quarterfinals in contrasting fashion at the Australian Open. Yastremska beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (6), 6-4 while Noskova advanced when Elina Svitolina was forced to quit with a back injury at 3-0 down in the first set. Men’s No. 3 Daniil Medvedev won in four sets against Nuno Borges. No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz plays Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia later.
© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
