NBA
Jayson Tatum scored 34 points before sitting out the final quarter and the NBA-leading Boston Celtics cruised to a 131-91 victory over the injury-depleted Memphis Grizzlies last night. Coming off a disappointing loss Thursday night against a Los Angeles Lakers team missing LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Celtics faced a squad with only eight available players because 13 were on the injury report. Kristaps Porzingis added 26 points, Derrick White had 15 and Al Horford 11 to help Boston improve to 23-3 at TD Garden. Tatum added eight rebounds, seven assists and was 6 of 12 on 3-point attempts. Boston’s reserves played nearly the entire final quarter. Scotty Pippen Jr. led the Grizzlies with 19 points.
Franz Wagner scored 27 of his 38 points in the second half as the Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons 111-99 for their third straight win on Sunday. Paolo Banchero added 20 points for Orlando. The Magic got 58 points from three players who are very familiar to the Little Caesars Arena fans. Franz Wagner attended the University of Michigan, as did his brother Moritz Wagner who scored 10 points. Gary Harris, who went to Michigan State, also scored 10. Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey each scored 18 for Detroit.
Bradley Beal scored a season-high 43 points in his return to Washington and the Phoenix Suns routed the Wizards 140-112 on Sunday. Beal played 11 seasons before being dealt to Phoenix last offseason. He received a video tribute and standing ovation during player introductions before the game. Then he scored 26 points in the first half. He had 41 after three quarters and then exited for good with 8:44 to play. Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic scored 18 points apiece for Phoenix, and Devin Booker had 14. The Suns went 4-3 on a seven-game trip. Deni Avdija had 24 points for the Wizards. They were without Kyle Kuzma because of left shoulder soreness.
Pascal Siakam had 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds and the Indiana Pacers overcame a career-high 35 points from Hornets rookie Brandon Miller to beat Charlotte 115-99 on Sunday night and snap a three-game losing skid. Aaron Nesmith added 22 points and Myles Turner contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers who held the Hornets to 39.8% shooting from the field and 27.6% from beyond the arc. Tyrese Haliburton had 17 points in 20 minutes of action while remaining on a minutes restriction due to a lingering hamstring injury.
Kawhi Leonard had 25 points and 11 rebounds, James Harden scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half and the Los Angeles Clippers remained red-hot by topping the sliding Miami Heat 103-95 on Sunday night. Harden flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 11 assists and eight assists. Norman Powell scored 16 points and Paul George added 11 for the Clippers. They are 25-5 since the start of December — by far the best record in the NBA over that span. The Clippers improved to 5-1 in their seven-game, 11-day trip. Jimmy Butler scored 21 points and Terry Rozier finished with 17 for the Heat. They have lost eight of their last 10.
Anthony Edwards scored 22 of his 32 points in the third quarter, Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 13 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away in the second half to beat the Houston Rockets 111-90. Gobert added four of Minnesota’s season high-tying 11 blocks. Karl-Anthony Towns, fresh off his fourth All-Star selection, had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Timberwolves have won five of seven and the victory earned coach Chris Finch the nod to coach the Western Conference in the All-Star game. Alperen Sengun had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, while rookie Cam Whitmore scored all of his 14 points in the second half. Fred VanVleet added 11 points.
Josh Giddey scored 24 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a 23-point deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors 135-127 in double-overtime Sunday night. Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort each added 22 points and Aaron Wiggins had 20 to help Oklahoma City improve to 35-15. The Thunder tied a team record with 23 3-pointers on 63 attempts. RJ Barrett led Toronto with 23 points. Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl and former Thunder guard Dennis Schroder each scored 19 points. The Raptors made 14-of 35 3-pointers. Dort scored six points in the second overtime, hitting a 3-pointer to put the Thunder ahead 121-118 and converted a 3-point play later to make it 127-123.
Lauri Markkanen scored 21 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 123-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. Collin Sexton scored 19 points to help the Jazz snap a three-game losing streak. John Collins added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Keyonte George had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 33 points, 13 assists, and seven rebounds. Bobby Portis added 27 points and Malik Beasley had 16. Damian Lillard added 12 points, six assists, and a season-high two blocks as Milwaukee played without starters Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton.
Nikola Jokic scored 29 points, Jamal Murray added 21 points and 10 assists and the Denver Nuggets rallied past the short-handed but spirited Portland Trail Blazers 112-103. It was the Nuggets' second win over their division rivals in 48 hours. The Nuggets didn’t trail by more than a bucket in their 120-108 win over Portland on Friday night, also at Ball Arena. But they didn’t lead this one until the final seconds of the third quarter when Jokic’s finger-roll layup broke an 84-84 tie. Deandre Ayton led Portland with 27 points.
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will undergo an unspecified procedure this week to correct the injury to the lateral meniscus in his left knee. The 76ers did not say how much time Embiid was expected to miss on Sunday night. The 76ers have a three-game homestand this week that opens Monday against Dallas. Embiid hurt his left knee Tuesday night in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. He underwent an MRI that revealed the injury.
NFL
The father of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been arrested on at least his third charge of driving while intoxicated, according to Smith County, Texas, records. Patrick Mahomes Sr.'s bond was set at $10,000 and he was released Sunday, according to the records. Mahomes’ arrest occurred just more than a week before his son leads his team into the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49er. The teams meet next Sunday in Las Vegas.
Anthony Oropeza was trying to build a side business around his artwork when he started doing acrylic and mixed-media pieces centered on the Kansas City Chiefs. They sold like wildfire, and now his Chiefs-related work makes up the bulk of what he does to supplement his income. He's an example of small businesses in Kansas City and elsewhere that have been able to take advantage of the Chiefs' success to help their bottom line. The Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday in Las Vegas in their fourth Super Bowl in five years. And that has proven to be a boon for small apparel companies, bakeries and, yes, local artists as well.
Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick took out a full-page newspaper ad to thank Boston fans for their support during his time on the New England sideline. The ad that ran in Sunday’s Boston Globe and includes an image of Belichick overlooking a large crowd. Belichick coached the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships and 17 AFC East titles in a 19-year span. But the team struggled after quarterback Tom Brady left, with three losing seasons in four years and a 4-13 record in 2023 that led to Belichick’s departure. Belichick thanked the fans for their passion and even poked fun at his reputation as a slovenly grouch.
WORLD CUP
The 2026 World Cup final will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19. FIFA made the announcement Sunday, allocating the opener of the 39-day tournament to Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on June 11 and the finale to the home of the NFL’s New York Jets and Giants. The U.S. team will play its opener at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 12, then travel to Seattle’s Lumen Field and finish the group stage at SoFi. Semifinals will be played on July 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the following day at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The third-place game will be at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
NHL
Two significant trades happened during the NHL's All-Star break. Many more are expected in the four-plus weeks before the March 8 trade deadline. That flurry of moves is just one thing to watch down the stretch of the NHL season. MetLife Stadium will host two outdoor games in as many days, Connor McDavid is shooting for another MVP honor and his Oilers are racing their way up the Western Conference standings. All that still needs to unfold before the playoffs and the chase for the Stanley Cup begin on April 22.
PGA TOUR
Wyndham Clark is the winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The PGA Tour has canceled the final round because of wicked weather conditions that would linger into the next day and cause safety concerns. Clark’s final stroke was to tap in for birdie Saturday. That gave him a course record 12-under 60 and a one-shot lead over Ludvig Aberg. He never had to hit another shot. Overnight rain saturated Pebble Beach, and raging wind that followed led the PGA Tour to postpone the final round with hopes of playing on Monday. Clark picked up the $3.6 million payoff.
LIV GOLF
Joaquin Niemann outlasted Sergio Garcia well after sunset Sunday in the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba, making a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the fourth hole of a playoff with the green lit by a large video screen. Niemann won his first LIV Golf title two days after opening with a 12-under 59 — and after having two penalty strokes tacked onto his second-round score Sunday morning for taking incorrect relief on a drop from a cart path on No. 13. That left the 25-year-old Chilean two shots ahead entering the final round. He closed with a 70, parring the final two holes to match Garcia at 12-under 201 at El Camaleon. Garcia parred the final three holes of regulation in a 66.
SOCCER
It’s all been very messy. We’re talking about Lionel Messi and Inter Miami’s global tour of exhibition games where the main show has been Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning captain. The matches are about promotion and marketing, hoping to build a new brand by using stars like Messi and Uruguayan Luis Suarez. Instead, the tour is getting mostly bad PR, and results that have not been much better. Through five games, Inter Miami has been outscored 12-7 and won only once. And that was Sunday in Hong Kong, where a 4-1 victory over the local team was overshadowed by angry fans holding up signs demanding a refund and booing since neither Messi nor Suarez played — both apparently out injured.
Hong Kong soccer fans and government have expressed their disappointment as Lionel Messi stayed on the bench for the full 90 minutes while Inter Miami defeated a Hong Kong XI 4-1 in the latest stop on the MLS team’s preseason Asian tour. The Argentine has a hamstring strain and did not play as fans, who snapped up more than 38,000 tickets within an hour of them going on sale in December, could be heard booing in the late stages of the game and at the final whistle. Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino defended the decision. He said the eight-time Ballon D’Or winner could not be risked. Miami finishes its Asian tour in Japan on Wednesday when it plays Vissel Kobe.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Mt. St. Mary’s 68 Siena 61
Iona 94 Rider 93
Marist 63 St. Peter’s 52
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Syracuse 75 Boston College 63
UConn 78 St. John’s 63
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