NFL
Jim Harbaugh was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. He leaves Michigan after capping his ninth season as coach of college football’s winningest program with the school’s first national championship since 1997. Harbaugh made the highly anticipated decision to go back to the NFL after a second interview and resume his chase for a Super Bowl that eluded him as a quarterback and coach. He will be the first former Chargers player to return to the team as head coach.
The underdog role has worked out for the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes. The San Francisco 49ers have odds in their favor. Two of the four teams facing off Sunday are quite familiar with these stakes. The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are in the AFC championship game for the sixth straight season, but going on the road for the first time in that span. They’ll take on the No. 1 seed Ravens, who are here for the first time in 11 years. The No. 1 seed 49ers are making their third consecutive appearance in the NFC championship game. They host the Detroit Lions, who haven’t reached this point in 32 years.
John Harbaugh worked on Andy Reid's staff for several years in Philadelphia. Now they’ll face each other as head coaches for the first time in a playoff game when Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. This is Harbaugh’s fourth AFC championship game with Baltimore and Reid’s sixth in a row with Kansas City. Harbaugh was a special teams coordinator in 1998 for the Eagles under Ray Rhodes. Then he remained in that role for eight seasons after Reid took over the following season. Harbaugh became a secondary coach for Philadelphia in 2007, then took over the Ravens the following season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Michigan is the type of job that could set off a chain reaction of openings across college football the way Nick Saban's retirement from Alabama did two weeks ago. The difference between Michigan and Alabama, though, is the Wolverines might very well have their man already on campus in offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore. (Meanwhile) Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel released a statement saying the school is “working quickly to hire the next head coach for the program and will do everything possible to keep this current staff and team together.” With Harbaugh serving two separate suspensions last season for potential NCAA rules violations, Michigan went 4-0 with Moore leading the team on game days. He was in charge when Michigan beat Penn State and Ohio State.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist, Alex Tuch scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Buffalo Sabres rallied to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-3. Jack Quinn had a goal and two assists and Dylan Cozens had a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who trailed 3-1 midway through the first period. Devon Levi stopped 37 shots. It was Buffalo's first win in 14 games this season when trailing by at least two goals after the first period. Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar had a goal and reached the 40-point mark for the 18th straight season. Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist while Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for the Kings. Cam Talbot had 33 saves.
Jordan Martinook scored on a breakaway to snap a tie with 2 1/2 minutes left and help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 3-2. The loss ended the Bruins’ six-game winning streak. Spencer Martin stopped 25 shots for Carolina. Brad Marchand scored a pair of third-period goals to tie Ray Bourque on the Bruins’ career list. Boston rallied from a two-goal deficit. But Martinook took a feed from Martin Nečas and wristed the puck through Linus Ullmark’s legs for the lead. Nečas and Teuvo Teräväinen also scored for the Hurricanes.
Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 39th goal at 4:13 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 1-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night in the opener of a home-and-home set. Matthews took a pass from Morgan Rielly at the lip of the crease and redirected the puck past goalie Laurent Brossoit. Ilya Samsonov made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season. The teams will meet again Saturday night in Winnipeg. Brossoit stopped 29 shots. Winnipeg has lost two straight for the first time since late November. The Jets fell 4-1 in Boston on Monday night.
Matthew Tkachuk scored twice and the Florida Panthers defeated the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 on Wednesday night. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich also scored for the Panthers while Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves. Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley scored for the Coyotes while Karel Vejmelka made 37 saves.
Nathan MacKinnon scored three of his four goals consecutively in the second period for a natural hat trick and added an assist to help the Colorado Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals 6-2 on Wednesday night. MacKinnon, the NHL scoring leader with 82 points, had his second four-goal game of the season and eighth career hat trick. He ran his home points streak to 24 to break a tie with Joe Sakic for the franchise record. Mikko Rantanen had a goal and four assists for his first five-point game, Cale Makar set the franchise record for goals by a defenseman with his 76th and Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves. Dylan Strome scored twice for Washington.
Brayden Schenn scored at 1:54 of overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Jake Neighbours had a goal and an assist for St. Louis. Alexey Toropchenko and Pavel Buchnevich also scored, and Joel Hofer made 29 saves. Pius Suter had his second career hat trick for Vancouver. Casey DeSmith stopped 14 shots. Suter scored three times in the third period to push the game into overtime. He tied it with 52 seconds remaining in regulation after a shot rebounded off J.T. Miller’s skate, allowing the Swiss forward to bat home the puck.
Jared McCann scored his 19th goal of the season early in the first period, Joey Daccord made 34 saves and the Seattle Kraken handed Chicago its 18th straight road loss with a 6-2 win over the Blackhawks. Seattle snapped its four-game losing streak and added to Chicago’s misery away from home. The 18 straight road losses are tied for the fourth-longest single-season streak in NHL history, along with Pittsburgh (1982-83), Quebec (1989-90) and San Jose (1992-93). Tomas Tatar scored twice, and Jaden Schwartz, Alex Wennberg and Brandon Tanev also had goals for the Kraken. Joey Anderson and Nick Foligno scored for Chicago, and Arvid Soderblom had 23 saves.
Five players from Canada’s 2018 world junior team have taken a leave of absence from their current clubs in recent days. NHL players Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames and former NHL player Alex Formenton now with Swiss club Ambri-Piotta all have been granted leave in recent days. Police in London, Ontario, launched an investigation in 2022 after word emerged that Hockey Canada settled a lawsuit with a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by several members of that team at a gala. The Globe & Mail reported Wednesday that five players from that team were asked to surrender to face charges of sexual assault.
NBA
Roope Hintz scored twice as the Dallas Stars downed the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 on Tuesday night. Jamie Benn, Mason Marchment and Esa Lindell also scored for Dallas, which has won seven games in a row over Detroit (4-0-3). Wyatt Johnston had three assists. David Perron, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin and J.T. Compher had goals for Detroit. Jake Oettinger made 30 saves in the Stars net. Red Wings goaltenders Alex Lyon and James Reimer combined to stop 33 shots.
Anthony Edwards scored 38 points and the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves avoided their first three-game skid of the season, beating the Washington Wizards 118-107. Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and Rudy Gobert added 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Wolves. Minnesota was coming off a home loss to lowly Charlotte in which Towns scored 62 points. Deni Avdija scored a season-high 24 points for the Wizards, who dropped their fifth straight. It's the fourth skid of at least that many games for the league’s second-worst team.
Vince Williams Jr. scored 25 points, GG Jackson added 17 off the bench and the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies spoiled Terry Rozier’s debut in Miami by topping the Heat 105-96. Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jaren Jackson Jr. each scored 15 for Memphis, which led for the entire second half. John Konchar had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies. Tyler Herro scored 18 for Miami, which has dropped four straight for the second time this season. Bam Adebayo finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and six blocks for the Heat.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had his third triple-double in his last four games and the Milwaukee Bucks responded to the dismissal of coach Adrian Griffin with a 126-116 victory that snapped the Cleveland Cavaliers’ eight-game winning streak. Antetokounmpo had 35 points, matched a season high with 18 rebounds and had 10 assists for his seventh triple-double of the season. Griffin was fired Tuesday despite being 30-13 in his lone season as coach. Joe Prunty served as the Bucks' interim coach. Donovan Mitchell had 23 points and Jarrett Allen added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs.
Anfernee Simons scored 33 points and Jerami Grant added 21 as the Portland Trail Blazers rallied to beat the Houston Rockets 137-131 in overtime. Portland opened overtime with a 9-2 run, with five points from Malcolm Brogdon, to take a seven-point lead with about two minutes left in the extra session. Brogdon had 19 points and Deandre Ayton added 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who snapped a two-game skid. Alperen Sengun had 30 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Jalen Green scored 29 as the Rockets dropped a second straight game.
Devin Booker scored 22 of his 46 points in a decisive third quarter and the Phoenix Suns matched their longest winning streak of the season at seven games with a 132-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Kevin Durant had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Suns opened a seven-game road trip, their longest this season, by turning a 16-point deficit in the second quarter into a 22-point lead after outscoring Dallas 43-20 in the third. Kyrie Irving was out for the Mavericks after spraining his right thumb early in a loss to Boston two nights earlier. Luka Doncic had 34 points, eight rebounds and nine assists without his All-Star sidekick, but didn’t have much help. He also got one of the game's seven technical fouls.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and 10 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame 24 points and 12 rebounds from Victor Wembanyama to beat the San Antonio Spurs 140-114. Chet Holmgren had 17 points and nine rebounds as Oklahoma City won its fourth straight. The Thunder shot 56% from the field were 18 for 40 on 3-pointers. Six players scored in double figures, including 22 from Aaron Wiggins. Devin Vassell had 21 points for the Spurs. San Antonio was 9 for 32 on 3-pointers.
Stephen Curry had 25 points and eight assists, Klay Thompson scored 24, and the Golden State Warriors won in their first game back after the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojević last week, beating the Atlanta Hawks 134-112. The Splash Brothers shined playing for their beloved “brate” — the word for brother in Serbian that Milojević so lovingly used for all of the Warriors. Jonathan Kuminga made all 11 of his shots on the way to 25 points as seven Warriors scored in double figures.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations says Doc Rivers is finalizing a deal to take over as the Milwaukee Bucks coach a day after the firing of Adrian Griffin. Rivers and the Bucks were still negotiating Wednesday, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no contract had been completed. ESPN reported that Rivers has agreed to a deal in principle. Rivers has worked for ESPN as an analyst this season. The Bucks fired Griffin on Tuesday despitea 30-13 record. Milwaukee is 3 1/2 games behind Boston in the Eastern Conference standings.
Stephen Curry had 25 points and eight assists, Klay Thompson scored 24, and the Golden State Warriors won in their first game back after the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojević last week, beating the Atlanta Hawks 134-112. The Splash Brothers shined playing for their beloved “brate” — the word for brother in Serbian that Milojević so lovingly used for all of the Warriors. Jonathan Kuminga made all 11 of his shots on the way to 25 points as seven Warriors scored in double figures.
Another contentious Dallas-Phoenix meeting for Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic has gone beyond the court. The four-time All-Star was responsible for a fan being ejected in the third quarter after the Suns supporter yelled that Doncic was tired and needed to get on a treadmill. Doncic made headlines early in the 2021-22 season over issues about his weight. Doncic took issue with the treadmill comment being the only reason the fan was ejected. Doncic says the fan was cursing him in the first half. The Mavs and Suns have had several chippy
USA Basketball says it wants the best for Draymond Green, which is why the federation does not have him in its plans for the Paris Olympics. Green’s omission from the pool of 41 players who are now candidates to play for the United States at the Paris Games was explained Wednesday by men’s national team managing director Grant Hill. Hill spoke highly of the Golden State forward’s history with the national team and how he helped the Americans win Olympic gold in 2016 and 2021. But it was Green’s recent history — two suspensions for on-court conduct this season — that Hill and USA Basketball couldn’t ignore.
FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN
Kevin Yu of Taiwan shot an 8-under 64 on the North Course at Torrey Pines to take a one-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay and Ryo Hisatsune in the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open. The eight lowest scores came on the North Course, which generally plays a few strokes easier than the South Course on the municipal layout on a bluff high above the Pacific Ocean. Players have a round on each course before the cut. The final two rounds are played on the South Course.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Davidson 72 UMass 42
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