NBA
Jaylen Brown had 29 points and Payton Pritchard scored 25 off the bench to lead the Boston Celtics to a 108-89 victory over the Miami Heat. Jayson Tatum had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Derrick White added 19 points for the defending NBA champions. Boston won for the eighth time in nine games. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Tyler Herro also scored 19 for Miami. Both teams were without key players for the second night of a back-to-back after losing on Sunday.
Josh Giddey had 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, helping the Chicago Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets 128-102. It was Giddey’s first triple-double of the season and No. 12 for his career. Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago, which had lost three of four. Matas Buzelis scored 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and Zach LaVine finished with 18. Brooklyn lost its third consecutive game — all in the last four days. Dariq Whitehead scored 18 points for the Nets, and Dennis Schroder had 16 points and 10 assists.
Trae Young had 12 points and 15 assists for his 15th double-double of the season, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-112 for their fourth straight victory. De’Andre Hunter scored a team-high 22 off the bench for the Hawks on his 27th birthday. CJ McCollum led New Orleans with 29 points, one shy of his season high. Dejounte Murray, greeted by cheers in his first return to Atlanta since being traded by the Hawks last offseason, finished with seven points and 10 assists. The depleted Pelicans have lost nine in a row overall, and 11 of 12 on the road this season. The team’s long injury list includes star players Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump, especially from long distance. James missed all four of his 3-point attempts for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 109-80 loss at Minnesota, stretching his skid to 0 for 19 from deep over the last four games. He went 4 for 16 from the floor with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves. The Lakers are 12-9 at the quarter mark of their schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick. James wants to play all 82 games in his age-40 season.
NHL
Jesper Bratt had a goal and three assists, Jack Hughes scored twice and Jacob Markstrom made 39 saves as the New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers 5-1. Dawson Mercer and Dougie Hamilton also scored and Luke Hughes had two assists for the Devils, who won for the fifth time in seven games and improved to 17-9-2 after missing the playoffs a year ago. New Jersey is nine points ahead of the Rangers, who had the best record in the NHL last season. Chris Kreider ruined Markstrom’s shutout bid with a power-play goal with 6 1/2 minutes left in the second period. Igor Shesterkin finished with 22 saves while losing his fifth straight start to fall top 8-9-1 this season. The Rangers have lost six of their last seven.
Auston Matthews scored his first goal since returning from injury as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Monday night. John Tavares, Fraser Minten and Matthew Knies, into the empty net, provided the rest of the offense for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves. Mitch Marner had two assists in his 600th regular-season game. Lukas Reichel scored for Chicago, which has lost three straight. Arvid Soderblom stopped 18 shots.
Evgeni Dadonov and Jamie Benn each scored to help the Dallas Stars beat the Utah Hockey Club 2-1 for their third straight win. Casey DeSmith stopped 34 shots for Dallas, which has won eight of its last 11 games. Nick Schmaltz scored and Karel Vejmelka finished with 19 saves for Utah, which fell to 3-2-1 in its last six. Dadonov scored on the power play at 7:07 of the second period and Benn made it 2-0 in the final minute of the period. Schmaltz got Utah on the scoreboard at 6:57 of the third.
NFL
Ja’Quan McMillian returned an interception for a game-sealing 44-yard touchdown with 1:48 remaining, and the Denver Broncos spoiled career-best performances by Cleveland quarterback Jameis Winston and receiver Jerry Jeudy, beating the Browns 41-32. Winston threw for a franchise-record 497 yards and four touchdowns, and Jeudy had nine catches for 235 yards — the most in NFL history by a receiver against his former team. Winston’s electric night included three picks, two of which were returned for TDs. Bo Nix threw for 294 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for Denver. The Broncos moved to 8-5 while the Browns fell to 3-9.
The boos only brought out the best in Jerry Jeudy as he returned to Denver. The explosive Cleveland Browns wideout turned in an electric performance Monday night with nine catches for 235 yards, the most in NFL history by a receiver against his former team. He also had a 70-yard touchdown in a 41-32 loss to the Broncos. Jeudy, who played his first four seasons with Denver, was jeered every time he caught the ball. He loved all the noise directed at him, even motioning at times for the crowd to get even louder. His only regret was the Browns couldn’t close out the win.
Aaron Rodgers will remain the New York Jets’ starting quarterback despite speculation the team could bench him in what has been a disappointing season. Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said during a video call that he still believes Rodgers, who turned 41 on Monday, gives the Jets their best chance to win. Rodgers was 21 of 39 for 185 yards and touchdown passes to Davante Adams and Isaiah Davis but also had an interception returned 92 yards for a touchdown by Leonard Williams in the Jets’ 26-21 loss to Seattle on Sunday.
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey will not need surgery on his injured right knee but he will miss the rest of the regular season. Coach Kyle Shanahan said McCaffrey will be out at least six weeks after injuring his posterior cruciate ligament in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. McCaffrey will be placed on injured reserve for the second time this season after previously missing the first eight games with Achilles tendinitis The 49ers also lost McCaffrey’s backup to an injury. Jordan Mason is also set to go on injured reserve after suffering a high ankle sprain in the game.
Houston’s Azeez Al-Shaair took to X to apologize to Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence after his violent blow to the quarterback’s facemask led to him being carted off the field with a concussion. Back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained left shoulder, Lawrence scrambled left on a second-and-7 play in the second quarter of Houston’s 23-20 win on Sunday. He initiated a slide before Al-Shaair raised his forearm and unleashed on the defenseless quarterback. In the long post, Al-Shaair says "To Trevor I genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The next set of College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday night under heavy scrutiny before the final bracket is set on Sunday. It will be one last chance to see just how much the selection committee loves the Southeastern Conference. The best gauge will be whether Miami, which suffered its second loss over the weekend, is placed behind any or all three SEC teams with three losses — Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina, all of which are coming off wins. Whatever happens, the SEC is likely to have at least five teams in the 12-team field when the final bracket comes out.
GOLF
Mollie Marcoux Samaan is leaving after more than three years as LPGA commissioner. In a surprise announcement Monday, Marcoux Samaan said she will step down in January, just three weeks before the LPGA starts its 75th season. Liz Moore is the chief legal and technology officer. She'll be serving as interim commissioner until a search committee can find a permanent replacement. Marcoux Samaan was the athletic director at Princeton when she took over the LPGA in May 2021. Prize money has soared during her tenure. She also has faced criticism for the LPGA not gaining in popularity during a rise in women's sports.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. Auburn is pushing the Jayhawks in the latest poll after winning the Maui Invitational and checked in at No. 2. Two-time reigning national champion UConn nearly fell out entirely after an 0-3 week at Maui, falling from No. 2 to 25th. The Southeastern Conference had three of the top four teams with No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky behind the Tigers. The poll featured six new teams, headlined by No. 13 Oregon, No. 16 Memphis and No. 18 Pittsburgh.
TCU has its best ranking ever in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a convincing win over Notre Dame. The Horned Frogs jumped eight spots to No. 9, the first time the school has ever been in the top 10. The Fighting Irish, who were third last week, fell seven spots to 10th after losses to TCU and Utah. UCLA remained No. 1, followed by UConn, South Carolina, Texas and LSU. USC, Maryland and Duke are next.
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