NBA
Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 13 rebounds, OG Anunoby scored 27 points, and the New York Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors 112-98. Josh Hart added 21 points and 11 rebounds while Jalen Brunson had 13 points for the Knicks, who snapped a three-game losing streak that followed nine consecutive victories. Towns shot 9 for 14 from the field, including 3 for 3 on 3-pointers, in 34 minutes after missing Monday’s loss against Orlando due to patellar tendinopathy in his right knee. Immanuel Quickley scored 22 points against his former team and Scottie Barnes had 18 for the Raptors, who have lost two straight and 14 of 15.
Malik Beasley scored 23 points, Cade Cunningham had 13 points and the Detroit Pistons won their fifth straight game, 113-98 over the Brooklyn Nets. Detroit’s bench outscored Brooklyn’s 50-20, led by reserves Simone Fontecchio with 17 points and Marcus Sasser, who added 15 points. Detroit has won eight of its last nine games to climb above .500 at 19-18. Noah Clowney finished with a game-high 29 points, and Tyrese Martin scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds for the Nets, who dropped their third straight and seventh in a row at Barclays Center.
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points, Thomas Bryant added a season-high 22 and two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton had 16 points and 13 assists in the Indiana Pacers’ 129-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. Siakam made 11 of 17 shots from the field to help Indiana win its fourth straight, all by 10 or more points. Bryant had eight rebounds as the Pacers continued climbing the Eastern Conference standing with their 10 win in 13 games. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 31 points. Coby White had 19 points and five assists as Chicago lost for the first time in three games and just the second time in six.
Jarrett Allen scored 25 points, Evan Mobley added 21 and the Cleveland Cavaliers ended Oklahoma City’s 15-game winning streak by beating the Thunder 129-122 in a marquee meeting between the NBA’s top two teams. The Cavs extended their winning streak to 11, improved the league’s best record to 32-4 and moved to 19-1 at home. They did it on an off night for leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, who had just 11 points on 3 of 16 shooting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 and Jalen Williams 25 for the Thunder, who lost for the first time since Dec. 1. Darius Garland added 18 points and Max Strus 17 for Cleveland.
Deni Avdija scored 26 points, Shaedon Sharpe added 21 and the Portland Trail Blazers led from start to finish in a 119-100 victory over the struggling New Orleans Pelicans. New Orleans played without power forward Zion Williamson, who was held out as a precaution after playing a night earlier for the first time in 28 games. Brandon Ingram missed his 14th straight game with a left ankle sprain. Anfernee Simons scored 17 points and Toumani Camara 15 for Portland, which led 75-42 at halftime. Deandre Ayton grabbed 13 rebounds for the Blazers. CJ McCollum scored 23 points and Dejounte Murray 20 for New Orleans.
Jamal Murray had 21 points and nine assists, Russell Westbrook added 19 points and eight assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-103 on Wednesday night in a matchup of short-handed teams. Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was not available after he flew back to Los Angeles before the game to help his family deal with the wildfires. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was out for the second straight game due to an illness. Denver is 2-3 without him this season. Norman Powell scored 30 points to finish with a 27.6 average in the Clippers’ four games against the Nuggets. James Harden had 16 points.
Damian Lillard had 26 points and eight assists, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the San Antonio Spurs 121-105. Brook Lopez scored 22 points, including 17 in the first half, and AJ Green and Gary Trent each added 14 as the Bucks won their second consecutive game after losing four of five. Keldon Johnson scored 24 points to lead the Spurs. Chris Paul added 18 points, Harrison Barnes had 14 and Devin Vassell 11. Victor Wembanyama had 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1. Frank Nazar and Ilya Mikheyev also scored for Chicago, which had lost six of seven. Petr Mrazek made 35 saves. Bedard made it 3-1 when he beat Trent Miner for his 11th goal 11:54 into the third period. The 19-year-old center has four goals and seven assists during an eight-game point streak. Juuso Parssinen scored for Colorado in the opener of a three-game trip. Miner stopped 17 shots in his first career start.
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his second goal of the game late in overtime, Logan Thompson made 30 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 despite another sluggish performance. Dubois ended it with 40.3 seconds left in the 3-on-3 OT, long after scoring on Lankinen with 32.7 seconds remaining in the first period. Thompson stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced in the second period alone, and Washington was lucky to avoid another loss while managing just 18 on net. Lankinen made 16 saves and Conor Garland scored the only goal for the Canucks, who have lost three in a row and eight of their past 10 games. Alex Ovechkin was held without a goal for back-to-back games and remains at 872 —23 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.
Jesper Boqvist scored twice in the third period and the Florida Panthers beat the Utah Hockey Club 4-1. Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen each had a goal for the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Matthew Tkachuk finished with two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves. Boqvist scored at 1:48 of the third to make it 2-0, then again at 17:59 from his own end into an empty net to make it 3-1. Luostarinen added another empty-netter with 22 seconds remaining. Reinhart opened the scoring at 1:05 of the second. It was his 67th power-play goal for the Panthers, passing Scott Mellanby for second place in franchise history. Utah got on the board at 13:41 of the third with Logan Cooley’s power-play goal.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires still burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena on Thursday night. The NFL is also monitoring the potential impact of the fires on the two Los Angeles teams’ playoff preparations and the Rams’ wild-card postseason game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night at SoFi Stadium.
NFL
Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens return to the postseason with a lot of the same strengths they had a year ago. That's when they hosted Kansas City in the AFC championship game but couldn't overcome the Chiefs. This time Baltimore will need two wins just to reach that round. As the No. 3 seed in the conference, the Ravens face Pittsburgh on Saturday night. And it goes without saying that their star quarterback is under pressure to deliver. Jackson recently became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for at least 4,000 yards and rush for at least 900 in one season. Now a different stat hangs over him. That's his 2-4 record in playoff games.
TENNIS
Doping is a topic that shadowed tennis in 2024 and is sure to be a talking point as the 2025 Grand Slam season gets going at the Australian Open. Play starts at Melbourne Park on Sunday, which is Saturday in the United States. Defending men's champion Jannik Sinner and No. 2 women's seed Iga Swiatek both failed drug tests last season. Sinner was exonerated although the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed that ruling and a final decision is not expected before next month. Swiatek accepted a one-month ban that was partly served in the offseason.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner and 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic have landed in opposite sides of the draw for the season’s first major, ruling out a replay of last year’s semifinal encounter. Sinner upset Djokovic in the semifinals in Melbourne last year before coming back to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final for his first Grand Slam singles title. Aryna Sabalenka will be attempting to win a third consecutive women’s singles title at Melbourne Park, something last accomplished by Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999. Sabalenka drew a tough opening match against 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UMass 76 Dayton 72
Villanova 68 UConn 66
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Dayton 67 UMass 64
UConn 81 Xavier 27
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Texas quarterback and Texas native Quinn Ewers once played for Ohio State. After spending a semester deep on the depth chart in Columbus, Ewers headed back home to become the leader of Steve Sarkisian’s rebuilding project with the Longhorns. Ewers and Texas will face his former team on Friday at the Cotton Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal. The winner advances to the national championship game.
Texas and Ohio State arrived for the College Football Playoff semifinal game at the Cotton Bowl before the snow expected to hit the North Texas area. Both teams got into the Dallas area as scheduled Wednesday, a day before an expected winter storm forecast to bring 2 to 4 inches of snow on Thursday, along with sleet and rain. That is a day before the game that will be played inside at AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. With the roof closed Friday night, there will be no direct impact on the outcome of the game that will determine which team advanced to the national title game.
When Penn State moved a different linebacker into what had been Tyler Elsdon’s starting spot, Elsdon made a choice that doesn’t really fit into the storyline college football has been selling these days. He stayed right where he was. In an era in which NIL money, playing time and the promise of the transfer portal are a phone call away, Penn State’s fifth-year senior decided to stay because he feels loyal to his teammates and loves his school. Elsdon and the Nittany Lions take on Notre Dame on Thursday in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
The Big Ten plays nine conference games in football. So does the Big 12. The Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference are among those playing eight-game league schedules. The Mountain West played a seven-game league slate. Notre Dame doesn’t have a league. Enough, Penn State coach James Franklin says. Franklin said Wednesday on the eve of his team’s matchup with Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Orange Bowl that the sport needs uniformity.
MLB
Former major league left-hander Brian Matusz has died. He was 37. Matusz spent eight seasons in the majors, mostly with the Baltimore Orioles as they returned to prominence a decade ago. The Orioles and the University of San Diego announced the death, with USD saying it received word from Matusz’s family. They did not announce a cause of death. The Orioles drafted Matusz with the fourth overall pick in 2008. He made his major league debut in 2009 and was a starter until shifting to the bullpen in 2012. That was the season Baltimore earned a wild card for its first playoff appearance in 15 years.
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