NBA
Jayson Tatum had 36 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 24 points and 12 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets 139-114 last night. Payton Pritchard had 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Celtics, who quickly and emphatically bounced back with their highest point total of the season after a surprising 117-116 home loss to Atlanta on Tuesday. Boston turned the game into a rout with a 74-point second half. Ziaire Williams scored a season-high 23 points for the Nets.
Zach LaVine scored 31 points and Colby White had 22, including the winning free throws with three seconds left, as the Chicago Bulls outlasted the New York Knicks 124-123. The Bulls led by as many as 22 in the third quarter, but the Knicks rallied and went ahead 123-121 on Jalen Brunson’s bucket with four seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, White was fouled by Josh Hart on a 3-point attempt and made all three. Brunson’s potential winner rimmed out at the buzzer. Karl-Anthony Towns scored a season-high 46 points for the Knicks. Nikola Vucevic had 19 points for the Bulls.
Donovan Mitchell scored 11 of his 23 points in the final three minutes of the game and the Cleveland Cavaliers became the sixth team in NBA history to start a season 13-0 with a 114-106 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Cleveland became the first team since the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors to win 13 straight to begin a season. That Warriors team holds the record for most wins to begin a campaign at 24 straight. Darius Garland scored 25 points while Evan Mobley had 14 with seven rebounds. Jared McCain had a career-high 34 for the 76ers, who played without Paul George and Joel Embiid.
Franz Wagner scored 29 points, Jalen Suggs hit two free throws with 9.8 seconds left and the Orlando Magic beat the Indiana Pacers 94-90 on Wednesday night to remain unbeaten at home. Orlando is 6-0 at home this season and has won 13 in a row overall at home. Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 29 points. Bennedict Mathurin added 23 points — scoring 12 straight Pacers points late in the fourth quarter — and 12 rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton had with nine points and 12 assists.
Jalen Williams scored 31 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 29 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans 106-88. The victory was the second straight for the Thunder without Chet Holmgren. Oklahoma City was coming off a 134-128 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. Brandon Ingram scored 18 points, Trey Murphy added 14 and Yves Missi had 10 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans (3-9), which outrebounded Oklahoma City 58-31, but was slowed by 24 turnovers.
Jalen Green had 21 points and Amen Thompson and Tari Eason added 18 each to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in the opener of a two-game set. The Rockets trailed by 11 early but had taken a five-point lead by halftime. They used a huge run at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth to push the lead to 19. James Harden had 19 points for the Clippers, who lost a second straight after winning four in a row.
Victor Wembanyama had a career-high 50 points and the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 139-130 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. Wembanyama was 8 for 16 on 3-pointers, also setting a career high, as San Antonio won its second straight. At 20 years 314 days, Wembanyama is the fourth-youngest player to score 50 points, trailing only Brandon Jennings, LeBron James and Devin Booker. Wembanyama is the eighth player in San Antonio franchise history to score 50 points in a game. David Robinson holds the franchise record with 71 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 24, 1994.
Basketball Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich has been away from the team because he suffered a mild stroke earlier this month, the San Antonio Spurs announced Wednesday. Popovich is in his 29th season as coach of the Spurs and there is no timetable for his return to the sideline, the team said. The stroke happened on Nov. 2 at the team’s arena, and Popovich is expected to make a full recovery. The Spurs say "the organization is grateful to the extended community for providing privacy and space to the Popovich family.”
Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers wasn’t sure it was a good thing that Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 22 of the team’s 24 first-quarter points. But Rivers could smile about it after Antetokounmpo finished with 59 points in the Bucks’ 127-120 overtime victory against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. It was the highest total by any NBA player this season and five short of Antetokounmpo’s career high of 64 set last season against the Indiana Pacers. Antetokounmpo says with three keys players out, he realized that he needed to be aggressive while getting his teammates involved.
De’Aaron Fox had 29 points and 10 assists, Kevin Huerter scored a season-high 22 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Phoenix Suns 127-101 on Wednesday night. Domantas Sabonis added 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Kings to their second victory in four days against the Suns, who were without Kevin Durant for the third straight game because of a strained calf. Josh Okogie had a season-high 25 points and eight rebounds for the Suns, who also were without Bradley Beal (calf) and Grayson Allen (hamstring). Devin Booker had 18 points. The Kings’ DeMar DeRozan did not play in the second half because of lower back tightness.
Shaedon Sharpe scored 33 points, Donovan Clingan narrowly missed a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks on Wednesday, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second straight night 106-98. Anthony Edwards scored 24 points as Minnesota squandered an early lead and dropped its third straight game. The teams entered the fourth quarter tied before Portland took control behind the defense of Clingan, who had four blocks in the period as Minnesota missed 10 of its first 11 shots to start the final frame.
LeBron James had 35 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds for his third straight triple-double and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 128-123 on Wednesday night. Anthony Davis scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. He picked up his fifth foul with 3:51 remaining in the third quarter, then came back in with 6:48 left and hit a couple of pivotal baskets, including a 3-pointer with 4:51 remaining to put Los Angeles up for good at 111-108. James was 13 of 22 from the field, hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 29 points for Memphis, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
NHL
Simon Edvinsson scored 1:30 into overtime, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist for Detroit. Jonatan Berggren also scored, and Cam Talbot stopped 32 shots in his 250th career win. Kane scored during a power play in the second. It was his first goal since Oct. 24 and his third on the season. Anthony Beauvillier and Bryan Rust scored for Pittsburgh.
Mitch Marner tied it in the final minute, John Tavares scored the overtime winner and the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from a two-goal third-period deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3. William Nylander sparked the comeback with his goal with 4:09 left and set up Marner’s 6-on-4 power play goal with 47.8 seconds left in regulation with goaltender Joseph Woll pulled for an extra attacker and Washington’s Nic Dowd in the penalty box. Nylander’s heroics came 24 hours after his turnover on the first shift put the Leafs on track to a dud of a shutout loss at home.
Nick Bjugstad scored his second goal of the game to cap the Utah Hockey Club’s three-goal flurry in a 2 1/2-minute span of the third period in a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Jack McBain and Mikhail Sergachev also scored for Utah, which won at home after losing three of four on the road. Michael Kesselring had two assists and Karel Vejmelka had a career-high 49 saves to get his first win in five games. Martin Necas scored for Carolina, which lost for just the second time in 11 games and ended a streak of nine straight games with at least four goals. Pyotr Kochetkov gave up three goals on 18 shots before he was replaced after giving up Sergachev’s goal that made it 3-1 at 7:11 of the third period. Spencer Martin stopped two of the three shots he faced.
Nicolas Roy, Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev all scored, and the Vegas Golden Knights held on late to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2. Shea Theordore had two assists and Adin Hill made 22 saves for Vegas. Jack Eichel got his 20th assist of the season, second-most in the NHL. Brock McGinn and Frank Vatrano scored for Anaheim. Lukas Dostal made 37 saves and Brett Leason had two assists for Anaheim. Vatrano’s goal with 13 seconds left in the third period brought the Ducks within one, but they couldn’t get another shot off before the final buzzer.
Samuel Girard stole the puck and scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway 2:47 into overtime as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 3-2. Girard was mobbed by teammates on the ice after beating Juuse Saros with a shot into the corner of the net. Fellow Colorado defenseman Devon Toews also got his first goal of the season, and Mikko Rantanen also scored. Both goaltenders were stellar down the stretch and into overtime. Alexandar Georgiev and Saros each made 29 saves. Luke Evangelista and Colton Sissons scored for the Predators, who opened a five-game trip. Nathan MacKinnon had an assist on Rantanen’s goal to give him at least a point in 15 of 16 games this season.
NFL
Bills quarterback Josh Allen shrugs off the hype being generated in advance of AFC East-leading Buffalo hosting Patrick Mahomes and the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Allen referred to it as just one regular-season game of 17 on the schedule. He then shed light on his game-at-a-time approach when asked to reflect on how similar his production is to that of Mahomes in seven previous meetings, including playoffs. Allen pointed to one big difference in noting he's 0-3 against the Mahomes-led Chiefs in postseason meetings. Allen deserves credit for being efficient in leading the 8-2 Bills to their best record through 10 games since 1993.
On Thursday Night Football, the Commanders are in Philadelphia to take on the Eagles at 8:15 tonight.
Law enforcement reports show the homes of Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce were broken into last month. Before practice on Wednesday, Mahomes described it as “frustrating" and "disappointing.” The break-ins were first reported by TMZ. They happened just before and on the day of the Chiefs’ 26-13 home victory over the New Orleans Saints on Oct. 7, as Kelce’s superstar girlfriend Taylor Swift watched from the stands. No injuries were reported in either case. Mahomes said he couldn’t provide many details because the investigation is ongoing. He described it as “something you don’t want to happen to anybody and obviously yourself.”
GOLF
Caitlin Clark drained a 20-footer, this time with a putter. The WNBA rookie of the year played in the pro-am at the LPGA Tour event in Florida called The Annika. Clark brought her golf game and a big buzz to the tour. Pelican Golf Club was packed with spectators to watch Clark play nine holes with world No. 1 Nelly Korda and then Annika Sorenstam. Clark has an endorsement deal with Indiana-based Gainbridge, which sponsors the tournament. Brittany Lincicome brought a basketball for Clark to sign for her daughters. Lincicome says an appearance by the popular Clark can only help the LPGA Tour.
BOXING
Mike Tyson isn't in the mood for talking now that the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion's fight with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul is near. Tyson and Paul meet Friday night at the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. The issue of Tyson's health didn't come up at a news conference about 20 miles from AT&T Stadium. A bout originally scheduled for July 20 was postponed after Tyson had to be treated for a stomach ulcer when he fell ill on a flight. Officials say Tyson has been cleared medically and is undergoing checkups the same way any fighter would for a sanctioned bout in Texas.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 87 Dartmouth 73
Louisiana Tech 76 UMass 66
UConn 80 LeMoyne 49
In their return to the national rankings, Rick Pitino and his St. John’s team finished much better than they started. Deivon Smith drained a 3-pointer midway through the second half to spark an 18-0 spurt that propelled No. 22 St. John’s past Wagner 66-45 for its first victory as a Top 25 team in almost 10 years. St. John’s jumped into the AP Top 25 poll this week for the first time since January 2019 and earned its first win as a ranked squad since topping Tulane in December 2014. Now the schedule gets much tougher, beginning Sunday at Madison Square Garden against a New Mexico squad coached by Pitino's son, Richard.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 58 Dartmouth 53
Penn 78 Siena 47
Maryland 84 Syracuse 73
Marist 73 Layfayette 41
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The signs of success can be found all around Indiana’s campus these days. Three straight home football sellouts. Fans are spinning towels inside Memorial Stadium as voices reach a crescendo. Candy-striped basketball pants are being replaced by the more suddenly preferred candy-striped overalls. Even the start of basketball season at one of the sport’s true blueblood programs cannot diminish the excitement of college football’s biggest surprise and best story. Yes, the FBS program with the most all-time losses, 713, suddenly finds itself in the Top 5 and perhaps on the cusp of earning a playoff spot.
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