NBA
Dean Wade made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland won a replay review in the final second to stun Boston 105-104, ending the NBA-leading Celtics’ winning streak at 11 games. With NFL star Travis Kelce urging on Cleveland’s crowd from a courtside seat, the Cavs overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Wade scored a career-high 23 points and his putback dunk with 19.1 seconds left put the Cavs ahead 105-104. He personally outscored the Celtics 20-17 in the fourth. Cleveland held on when officials overturned foul call on a last-second jumper by Jayson Tatum, who scored 26 points for Boston.
Jalen Johnson scored 26 points to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 116-100 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. De’Andre Hunter had 22 points off the bench and Dejounte Murray finished with 21. Donte DiVincenzo led the Knicks with 21 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 19. Jalen Brunson, who suffered a left knee contusion early in Sunday’s game at Cleveland, and Shake Milton, who signed with the Knicks on Tuesday, did not play.
Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith each scored 20 points, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-107. Lonnie Walker IV added 19 points and Nic Claxton had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who bounced back quickly after a poor performance Monday in a 106-102 home loss to Memphis. They took advantage of a short-handed Philadelphia team that was missing both its All-Stars, with guard Tyrese Maxey scratched early Tuesday because of a concussion. Mikal Bridges scored 15 points and Finney-Smith had 12 in the fourth quarter for the Nets.
Paolo Banchero had 22 points, Cole Anthony scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and the surging Orlando Magic beat the Charlotte Hornets 101-89 for their ninth win in 11 games. Wendell Carter Jr. had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Magic, who moved 10 games above .500 for the first time since April 18, 2012. Anthony was one of four reserves to score in double figures for Orlando. Vasa Micic got the start at point guard for the Hornets with LaMelo Ball and Cody Martin out with injuries. He had a career-high 21 points for Charlotte, which lost its fifth straight.
Trey Murphy III scored a season-high 34 points and the New Orleans Pelicans handed the short-handed Raptors the worst home defeat in franchise history by hammering Toronto 139-98. Jonas Valanciunas had 10 points and 10 rebounds against his former team. Murphy matched a career best by making 10 of 14 3-point attempts as the Pelicans dealt the Raptors their largest defeat of the season, eclipsing a 38-point drubbing they gave Toronto in New Orleans last month. Herb Jones scored 17 points, Zion Williamson had 16 and Brandon Ingram 12. Immanuel Quickley scored 17 points for the Raptors, who played without injured All-Star Scottie Barnes and center Jakob Poeltl.
Jimmy Butler scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson each scored 18 and the Miami Heat topped the Detroit Pistons 118-110. Terry Rozier had 17 points, Caleb Martin had 15 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 11 for the Heat, who improved Tuesday night to 11-3 in their last 14 games. Cade Cunningham scored 23 for Detroit, which fell back into a tie with Washington for the NBA’s worst record at 9-52. Simone Fontecchio scored 22 for the Pistons, Jaden Ivey scored 16, Jalen Duren scored 14 and Isaiah Stewart added 13 points.
Alperen Sengun scored a career-high 45 points with a season-best 16 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to a 114-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night. Sengun, who is in his third NBA season, also set a career mark with five steals and had three assists and a block, outplaying rookie French phenom and No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama. He had 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks as San Antonio’s two-game winning streak ended. The Spurs scored five points, with a 3 from Keldon Johnson, to cut the lead to 92-88 with about eight minutes left. Houston then used a 7-2 run to make it 99-92 midway through the quarter. Wembanyama had two turnovers in that stretch to help Houston pad the lead.
Myles Turner scored all 20 of his points in the first half, Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and 11 assists, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Dallas Mavericks 137-120 despite Luka Doncic’s fourth consecutive game with a 30-point triple-double. Doncic had 39 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Russell Westbrook is the lone player in NBA history with five straight 30-point triple-doubles, and Oscar Robertson is the only other player with four. Nine players scored in double figures for the Pacers, including five reserves as Indiana’s bench outscored Dallas’ 69-32. Bennedict Mathurin had 19 points off the bench for the Pacers. Kyrie Irving scored 23 for Dallas. P.J. Washington had 20 points, and Daniel Gafford added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Kevin Durant scored 35 points, including eight in overtime, and the Phoenix Suns rebounded after blowing a 22-point lead in the second half to beat the Denver Nuggets 117-107. After scoring just 12 points in the fourth quarter, the Suns erupted for 15 in OT, led by Durant and Bradley Beal, who had five of his 16 in the extra period. Grayson Allen hit eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining, followed by a Jamal Murray basket to make it 102-99. Durant tied it a 3-pointer and Nikola Jokic missed at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
NFL
The Kelce brothers showed up for their own giveaway. No, Taylor Swift wasn’t with them. Cleveland-born Travis and Jason Kelce were both in attendance Tuesday night as the Cavaliers paid tribute to the NFL stars with a souvenir bobblehead depicting them in Cavs jerseys and holding basketballs. During the first timeout in the opening quarter, the Cavs presented Jason, who retired from the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday after 13 seasons, with a framed No. 62 jersey. Travis Kelce, a star tight end with Kansas City Chiefs and Swift’s boyfriend, proudly held his brother’s jersey above his head as the crowd roared. Swift is on tour in Singapore.
The Seattle Seahawks' remodel under new coach Mike Macdonald has started as the team has released safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, and tight end Will Dissly. Outside of Seattle’s decision to keep Geno Smith on board as the presumptive quarterback going into next season, the three moves are the most significant made so far since Macdonald was hired as the replacement for Pete Carroll. The release of Diggs and Dissly will save Seattle $18 million against the cap. They will get about $6 million in cap relief with the release of Adams but also take on nearly $20 million in dead cap money by releasing him immediately and not waiting until after June 1.
NFL teams are set to dole out billions in free agent contracts in the coming weeks as teams around the league hope that bold moves in March will pay off with wins on the field once the season starts. But in a league with a sharp aging curve and specific systems that don’t suit all players those dollars spent don’t guarantee success. According to the Spotrac website, NFL teams handed out more than $3.3 billion in contracts last offseason with nearly half of that money fully guaranteed at signing. The six biggest spenders last offseason all missed the postseason.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Bo Horvat scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the New York Islanders won their fourth straight game, 4-2 over the St. Louis Blues. Kyle Palmieri, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mathew Barzal also scored for the Islanders who moved within four points of the Philadelphia Flyers for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, which would guarantee them a spot in the playoffs. Ilya Sorokin finished with 19 saves. Alexey Toropchenko and Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues, who had won their last two games. Rookie goaltender Joel Hofer made 29 saves.
Leon Draisaitl scored 2:18 into overtime for his second goal of the game, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 for their fifth consecutive victory. Draisaitl also tied it at 1 with his 31st goal of the season with 1:20 left in the third. He ended the game with a one-timer off a crossing pass from Connor McDavid. Edmonton limited Boston to five shots in the third period and none in overtime. Stuart Skinner made 25 saves for the Oilers, and McDavid extended his point streak to 12 straight games. Pavel Zacha scored for Boston 4:26 into the third period.
Nick Cousins had two goals and the Florida Panthers beat New Jersey 5-3 for their sixth straight win, spoiling the debut of interim Devils coach Travis Green. Eetu Luostarinen, Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart also scored as the Panthers won for the 12th time in 13 games. Florida leads the NHL with 43 wins and 90 points. Anthony Stolarz made 22 saves, giving 35-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky a night off after a big performance in a win over the Rangers on Monday. Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Colin Miller scored for the Devils in their first game since general manager Tom Fitzgerald relieved Lindy Ruff of his coaching duties on Monday.
Jeff Carter and Reilly Smith scored just over a minute apart midway through the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3. The Blue Jackets tied it earlier in the period on a short-handed goal by Jack Roslovic before Carter and Smith beat rookie goaltender Jet Greaves to give the Penguins some breathing room. Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored for Pittsburgh. The Penguins are 10-0-1 in their last 11 games against Columbus. Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Peeke also had goals for the Blue Jackets.
Andre Burakovsky scored a power-play goal with 2:39 remaining in the third period to lift the Seattle Kraken to a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Jets forward Mason Appleton had just blocked a shot, but Burakovsky got the puck and fired it over goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s glove. Jared McCann had a goal and two assists and Justin Schultz and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Kraken. Joey Daccord made 30 saves for Seattle. Kyle Connor, Adam Lowry and Nino Niederreiter scored for the Jets. Hellebuyck stopped 20 shots.
Nick Suzuki scored at 17 seconds of overtime to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. Brendan Gallagher, David Savard and Joshua Roy also scored and Jake Allen made 25 saves for the Canadiens, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Ryan O’Reilly scored a goal and assisted on two others, Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist each had a goal and an assist and Juuse Saros made 26 saves for Nashville. The Predators had their eight-game winning streak snapped.
Nick Foligno scored one of Chicago’s four power-play goals, and the Blackhawks ended a 22-game road losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Chicago, the NHL’s worst team on the power play, went 4 for 5 with the man advantage for its first road win since Nov. 9 at Tampa Bay. Seth Jones had two goals for the Blackhawks, including an empty-netter with 28 seconds remaining. Arvid Soderblom stopped 37 shots. Jason Dickinson and Philipp Kurashev also scored for Chicago, which had dropped seven in a row overall. Nick Bjugstad and Michael Carcone scored for Arizona, and Connor Ingram had 27 saves.
J.T. Miller scored on a power play 1:36 into overtime, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1. Miller scored from the right faceoff circle on a slap shot for his 31st of the season. Vancouver earned its second straight win and remained on top of the Western Conference. Elias Pettersson, who signed an eight-year extension with the Canucks on Saturday, scored in the second period. Thatcher Demko stopped 23 shots and picked up his NHL-leading 32nd win. Trevor Moore scored for Los Angeles, and Cam Talbot made 29 saves.
Wyatt Johnston had his first career hat trick and the Dallas Stars rallied from three goals down in the third period to beat the San Jose Sharks 7-6 on Roope Hintz’s overtime goal. Johnston had a five-point night with two assists, Stankoven had two goals and two assists, and Jamie Benn had a goal and three assists to get Dallas off to a good start on a three-game California swing. Anthony Duclair had his third two-goal game since the All-Star break and added two assists to lead the Sharks. San Jose is winless in its last eight games
NFL
The Chicago Bears passed up C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young last year because they had Justin Fields. Now, they’ve got a shot at Caleb Williams. They can’t miss another chance at a franchise quarterback. The first edition of the AP’s 2024 mock draft says the Bears keep the top pick and take Williams in a draft projection that has quarterbacks going with the first three picks and five overall in the first round. The AP projects 10 offensive linemen are chosen in the first round, including three among the top 10.
MLB
The Boston Red Sox are likely to be without right-handed starter Lucas Giolito for opening day and potentially longer after he experienced discomfort in his elbow following his last outing. Manager Alex Cora says Giolito will have additional exams to determine the severity of the injury and the team is concerned. Giolito signed a $38.5 million, two-year deal with the Red Sox this offseason. He made two starts in spring training, throwing two scoreless innings in his first outing before getting roughed up allowing four runs and three walks in 2 1/3 innings against Minnesota last Friday.
The Oakland Athletics and their design teams released renderings Tuesday of the club’s planned $1.5 billion stadium in Las Vegas that show five overlapping layers with a similar look to the famous Sydney Opera House. The A’s hope to move into that 33,000-seat domed stadium in 2028. A glass window beyond the outfield provides an outdoor feel with views of the Las Vegas Strip. Also included is an 18,000-square-foot video board, which would be the largest in Major League Baseball, and layered roof resembling the Sydney Opera House.
Three big-name starting pitchers are dealing with injuries that could cause them to miss the beginning of the regular season — and potentially more. Boston’s Lucas Giolito, Houston’s Justin Verlander, and St. Louis’ Sonny Gray and are all ailing at spring training. Verlander will start the season on the injured list after being slowed by inflammation in his shoulder. Gray has a hamstring strain that caused him to leave his Grapefruit League start on Monday. And Giolito reported discomfort in his pitching elbow following a start last week when he was roughed up.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
The Dartmouth men's basketball team has voted to unionize, taking an unprecedented step toward forming the first-ever labor union for college athletes. In a campus election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, the players voted 13-2 to join Service Employees International Union Local 560, which already represents some Dartmouth workers. The school can still appeal to the NLRB and the federal courts. That could delay negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement until long after the current members of the basketball team have graduated.
Bryant 83 UAlbany 79
Clemson 90 Syracuse 75
UVM 68 New Hampshire 64
Zach Edey had 28 points and eight rebounds as No. 3 Purdue rallied in the second half to beat No. 12 Illinois 77-71, becoming the first team in 17 years to win consecutive outright Big Ten regular-season championships. Fletcher Loyer added 16 points for the Boilermakers, who had already clinched at least a share of their second straight conference title with Saturday night’s victory over Michigan State. The previous Big Ten team to win back-to-back outright regular-season crowns was Ohio State in 2006 and 2007. Braden Smith had 13 points and six assists for Purdue, which improved to 7-0 against ranked opponents this season. Loyer hit a 3-pointer with 3:08 left that put Purdue ahead for good, 67-66. Marcus Domask led second-place Illinois with 20 points.
FORMULA ONE
The FIA has confirmed its compliance officer has received two complaints “detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing body” in seeming reference to recent whistleblower claims against the president of Formula 1’s governing body. The BBC has reported that FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem allegedly intervened to overturn a penalty given to Fernando Alonso at last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Ben Sulayem also allegedly told officials not to certify the Las Vegas circuit for its race last November. The FIA would not discuss the complaint.
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