NFL
Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and the Los Angeles Rams overwhelmed the Minnesota Vikings, sacking Sam Darnold an NFL playoff record-tying nine times to win 27-9 last night. The NFC wild-card game was moved out of Southern California because of devastating wildfires. Rookie Jared Verse returned a fumble for a 57-yard score for the Rams, who looked comfortable in their adopted home of State Farm Stadium from the first snap. LA drove for a touchdown on the opening drive and built a 10-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. The game was played in Glendale, Arizona, nearly 400 miles east of the Rams' home stadium. Los Angeles will take on the Eagles in the Divisional Round next in a matchup set for 3 p.m. Sunday in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Eagles star A.J. Brown could launch a book club of his own after a little sideline reading skyrocketed self-help author Jim Murphy overnight to the hottest seller on Amazon. The Eagles wide receiver passed on the playbook and checked out an inspirational title — Brown casually ignored the action in Philadelphia’s playoff game and flipped through the pages of Murphy’s book, “Inner Excellence.” The little-known book by the mental skills coach was listed No. 1 on Amazon's best sellers list as of Monday morning. It jumped to the top spot after previously being ranked 523,497th. It had yet to crack the top 100 for sales in 2025, however.
Sam Darnold’s renaissance pushed Minnesota to one of the NFL’s best records, offering the hope of a deep playoff run. A disappointing night in the desert rammed Darnold and the Vikings right out of the postseason. Darnold was ineffective for most of of his first playoff start, losing two turnovers while being sacked nine times in the Vikings’ 27-9 loss the Los Angeles Rams. Steady for most of his turnaround season, Darnold finished 25 of 39 passing for 245 yards with a touchdown and an interception. One of the sacks caused a fumble that Jared Verse returned 57 yards for a touchdown.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says Mike McCarthy will not return as the team's coach. Jones said Monday that the organization and McCarthy mutually agreed to part ways. McCarthy's contract expired following a 7-10 season. The Cowboys haven't been past the NFC divisional round since their 1995 Super Bowl season. A person with knowledge of the conversation says Jones has spoken about the job with University of Colorado coach Deion Sanders, who played on the Cowboys' last Super Bowl-winning team. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no formal interview has been arranged.
NBA
Cade Cunningham scored 36 points, Malik Beasley had 22 and a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds and the surging Detroit Pistons beat New York 124-119, their second straight victory over the Knicks after dropping the previous 16 meetings. Cunningham’s brilliant play helped the Pistons nurse a small lead for much of the second half, but the Knicks forced the ball out of his hands on two late possessions. Both times the Pistons were able to swing it around to an open Beasley, who made the first one for a four-point lead and the second to make it 124-119 with 6.3 seconds to go.
Anthony Edwards scored 20 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and the Minnesota Timberwolves overcome a sloppy first half and beat the NBA-worst Washington Wizards 120-106. Julius Randle added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota, which committed 13 turnovers in the first half and briefly trailed the Wizards in the third quarter. Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points and Jordan Poole added 20 in Washington’s seventh straight loss.
The Golden State Warriors fell below .500 for the first time this season after blowing a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter and losing 104-101 at Toronto. Golden State has gone 7-17 since winning 12 of its first 15 games. Coach Steve Kerr called it “as frustrating a loss as we’ve had all season.” It’s the latest blow in a challenging stretch that has already seen Kerr question his team’s “competitive spirit” after recent home losses to Sacramento and Miami.
Jalen Green tied his career high with 42 points, capped by a layup that gave Houston the lead late, and the Rockets rallied for a 120-118 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies were down by four before Jaylen Wells made a 3-pointer followed by a steal and layup from Brandon Clarke that put them up 115-114 with just under a minute left. Green’s layup put the Rockets on top 116-115 before a turnover by Ja Morant gave Houston the ball back. Amen Thompson was fouled and made two free throws with 8.1 seconds left to make it 118-115.
James Harden scored 13 of his 26 points in a third-quarter revival that rallied the Los Angeles Clippers past the Miami Heat 109-98 to snap a two-game skid. The Clippers were playing their first game in five days after their scheduled game on Saturday was postponed because of deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area. White towels with LA Strong and the state of California in blue were given out. Norman Powell led the Clippers with 29 points. Ivica Zubac had 21 points and a season-high 20 rebounds for his 25th double-double. Harden added 11 assists. Miami was led by Tyler Herro with 32 points and 11 rebounds as the Heat's three-game winning streak ended.
Victor Wembanyama had 23 points and eight rebounds, Harrison Barnes scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Lakers 126-102 in Los Angeles’ first game back from two postponements due to the wildfires devastating the area. Anthony Davis had 30 points and 13 rebounds, and LeBron James added 18 points and eight assists for the Lakers in their first home game since catastrophic wildfires killed at least 24 and burned thousands of structures. Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle scored 23 points apiece for San Antonio.
Michael Cooper spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers as a defense-minded guard who always focused on helping his Showtime teammates to be stars. When the Lakers raised Cooper’s No. 21 to the rafters on Monday night, Cooper relished his turn to be in the spotlight. The 17-time NBA champion Lakers honored Cooper in a halftime ceremony during their game against the San Antonio Spurs, unveiling his No. 21 jersey on the wall of honor at their downtown arena between Magic Johnson’s No. 32 and James Worthy’s No. 42.
The Lakers and the Clippers both went back to work Monday night in Los Angeles’ first two NBA games since catastrophic wildfires killed at least 24 people and destroyed significant sections of their hometown. The Lakers hosted the San Antonio Spurs in their downtown arena, while the Clippers hosted the Miami Heat in their brand-new Intuit Dome in Inglewood about 10 miles south of downtown. Lakers coach JJ Redick and his family lost their home in the Pacific Palisades in the fires Tuesday. He was grateful to get back on the court with his players.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Noah Cates scored two goals and the Philadelphia Flyers rallied from behind twice to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3. Garnet Hathaway and Morgan Frost also scored for Philadelphia, which had multiple power-play goals in consecutive games for the first time this season. Sam Ersson made 20 saves as the Flyers won their second straight. Sam Reinhart had two goals and Uvis Balinskis also scored as Florida lost for the sixth time in nine games. Sergei Bobrovsky had 25 saves. Cates scored both goals in the third period, the first on the power play and the second on a breakaway. It was his second career multigoal game — first since his rookie season in April 2022.
Jakob Pelletier had two goals and an assist, helping the Calgary Flames beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2. Mikael Backlund, Yegor Sharangovich and Jake Bean also scored for Calgary in its third consecutive victory. Dustin Wolf made 23 saves in the opener of a four-game trip. Flames forward Rory Kerins had two assists in his NHL debut. Connor Bedard recorded his 100th career point on a second-period goal, but Chicago lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, has 34 goals and 66 assists in 112 games.
Connor McDavid scored in the second period and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 for their second straight win. Stuart Skinner stopped 31 shots to earn his second shutout of the season and sixth of his career as the Oilers won for the sixth time in seven games to move ahead of the Kings into second place in the Pacific Division. The Oilers are four points behind first-place Vegas. Darcy Kuemper finished with 29 saves for the Kings, who have lost two straight after a five-game winning streak.
WNBA
The Philadelphia 76ers will partner with Comcast Spectacor to build a new arena in South Philadelphia and abandon a deal to move downtown. The stunning news comes as a relief to critics of the plan to put a $1.3 billion arena between City Hall and Chinatown. Mayor Cherelle Parker on Monday calls it “a curveball,” but also “a win, win, win, win for Philadelphia.” But some critics and city council members say they feel betrayed after two years of fraught negotiations. Sixers owners say they will also work with Comcast and the city to pursue a WNBA team.
A 55-year-old Texas man has been charged with felony stalking Indiana Fever star and WNBA rookie of the year Caitlin Clark. Marion County prosecutors wrote in a court filing Saturday that Michael Thomas Lewis is accused of repeated and continued harassment of the 22-year-old Clark. Authorities say Clark posted numerous messages — some sexually threatening — on Clark’s X account. Prosecutors wrote in the filing Clark felt terrorized, frightened, intimidated and threatened as a result. The FBI learned the X account belonged to Lewis and that the messages were sent from IP addresses at an Indianapolis hotel and downtown public library. Jail records show Lewis is due in court today.
TENNIS
The 38-year-old Gael Monfils has held off fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in five sets to advance to the second round of the Australian Open. Much was made of the aging entertainer’s match against the up-and-coming 21-year-old with the booming serve and the bright future in tennis. Monfils wasted match points in the third set and again on Mpetshi Perricard’s serve in the fifth before finally clinching the win. Monfils warmed up for the year's first major by winning a title in New Zealand last weekend. Earlier, No. 8 Emma Navarro needed 3 hours and 20 minutes to edge Peyton Stearns 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5 in an all-American women's first-round contest.
© 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
