NFL
Josh Allen rushed for two touchdowns, Buffalo’s defense forced three turnovers and the Bills advanced to the AFC championship game with a 27-25 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round. The Bills hung on when a wide-open Mark Andrews dropped a 2-point conversion pass from Lamar Jackson, allowing the ball to bounce off his chest with 1:33 left. Jackson connected with a sliding Isaiah Likely for a 24-yard touchdown to give the Ravens a chance to tie it. The Bills advanced to the AFC championship game next Sunday against the conference’s top seed, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Saquon Barkley dashed through the snow for touchdown runs of 78 and 62 yards and finished with 205 yards rushing, Jalen Hurts had a 44-yard scoring run and the Philadelphia Eagles held on against the Los Angeles Rams 28-22 to advance to the NFC championship game for the second time in three seasons. Barkley ran for a 62-yard score in the first half and stretched the lead in the fourth when he blew through a hole and ran about untouched 78 yards for the touchdown. The Eagles will host the NFC championship game Sunday against Washington.
Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game in their fourth playoff matchup in five years. Allen ran for two touchdowns and the Bills beat Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 in a divisional game Sunday. Mark Andrews dropped a pass from Jackson on a 2-point conversion that would’ve tied it with 1:33 remaining and Buffalo held on for the victory. The Chiefs have defeated the Bills three straight times in the playoffs, including the conference title game four years ago in Kansas City. It’ll be Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles hosting Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game.
NBA
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 27 points and 10 assists in three quarters, and the Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Brooklyn Nets 127-101. Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s leading scorer, sat out Friday’s loss at Dallas with a sprained right wrist. He looked fine against the Nets — he made 8 of 14 field goals and all 10 of his free throw attempts. He also had four steals. Isaiah Joe scored 24 points and made eight 3-pointers for the Thunder. Cam Johnson and Tyrese Johnson each scored 15 points for the Nets, who have lost eight of nine.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 15 rebounds to help the Milwaukee Bucks beat the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers 123-109 on Sunday night. Damian Lillard added 25 points for Milwaukee, which completed a 4-0 homestand. Khris Middleton had 13 points and eight assists in 25 minutes off the bench. Brook Lopez added 12 points, and Taurean Prince had 11. Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with with 37 points and seven assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 19 points, Ricky Council IV had 13 and Eric Gordon 10. Playing for the second consecutive night, Philadelphia has lost six straightand nine of 11. The 76ers (15-26) were once again missing several key players — Joel Embiid, Paul George, Kyle Lowry and Guerschon Yabusele among them — due to injuries.
Rookie Kel’el Ware scored 25 points to match his season high, Duncan Robinson added 21 on 5-of-7 3-shooting and the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-107 on Sunday. Jimmy Butler had eight points and seven assists in his second game since returning from a seven-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Terry Rozier had 20 points to help the Heat snap a three-game losing streak. Miami closed the first half with an 11-0 run to take a five-point lead at 46-41, then opened the second with a 25-8 run. Devin Vassell scored 23 points and Victor Wembanyama added 21 for the Spurs. They have lost three straight.
Nikola Jokic had 20 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and three blocks without playing the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 113-100 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night. Christian Braun added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who won their six straight road game. Jamal Murray scored 19 points and Michael Porter Jr. had 15 points and six rebounds. Wendell Carter Jr. led Orlando with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Anthony Black came off the bench with 14 points and five assists.
Norman Powell scored 22 points, James Harden had a double-double and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 116-102. It was the Lakers' first visit to the new Intuit Dome. Harden added 21 points and 12 assists. James led the Lakers with 25 points and 11 assists. Rui Hachimura had 19 points and Anthony Davis had 16 points and 10 rebounds in his return from a one-game absence.
Domantas Sabonis had 29 points and 18 rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings beat the Washington Wizards 123-100. DeMar DeRozan added 24 points, Malik Monk had 23 and Keon Ellis scored 18 on 6-for-8 shooting on 3-pointers. De’Aaron Fox had 12 points and a season-high 13 assists to help Sacramento win for the ninth time in 10 games. Jonas Valanciunas had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Wizards, who have lost 10 straight.
Scoot Henderson had 25 points and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped five-game losing streak with a 113-102 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night. Zach LaVine had 27 points for the Bulls. They have lost five straight. Portland stretched its lead to 97-82 on Shaedon Sharpe’s 3-pointer with 7:36 left. Patrick Williams’ dunk got the Bulls within single digits at 110-102 with 1:26 left. Deni Avdija answered with a layup for Portland to end the threat. Sharpe came off the bench for the Blazers after coach Chauncey Billups told him his defense needed to improve to return to a starting role. Sharpe finished with 23 points.
NHL
Patrik Laine scored 3:20 into overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers 5-4. Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak had a goal and an assist, and Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for the Canadiens, who trailed 4-3 heading into the third period. Jakub Dobes had 23 saves, including two highlight-reel stops before Laine ended the game, to improve to 5-0 for his career. Alexis Lafrenière, Will Cuylle, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider scored, and Adam Fox had two assists for the Rangers, who snapped a two-game win streak. Jonathan Quick, who was in search of his 400th career NHL win, made 33 saves.
Artem Zub and Zack Ostapchuk each scored a goal and Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. Zub snapped a 1-1 tie in the third period with his second goal of the season. Tomas Tatar scored for the Devils, who have lost four in a row and are 2-6-3 in their past 11 games.
Jason Robertson had one of three first-period goals plus a third-period assist and Jake Oettinger made 33 saves as the Dallas Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Sunday night. Wyatt Johnston and rookies Matej Blumel and Mavrik Bourque also scored for the Stars, who are 10-3-1 in their last 14 games. Simon Edvinsson pulled Detroit within 3-1 with 7:59 to play, but Johnston answered 2:08 later on Robertson’s assist. Alex Lyon stopped 21 shots for the Red Wings, who have lost three of their last four games after winning seven straight under new coach Todd McLellan.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ohio State and Notre Dame will meet in the College Football Playoff championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta at 7:30 tonight. Both teams survived embarrassing regular-season losses to make it to the game that will end the longest season in history. Ohio State will be playing for its first championship since 2014 and Notre Dame for its first since 1988. Since losing to Michigan, Ohio State has playoff wins over Tennessee, Oregon and Texas. Notre Dame has won 13 straight since losing to Northern Illinois. The Irish have beaten Indiana, Georgia and Penn State in the playoff.
Between Touchdown Jesus, “Win One for the Gipper,” Rudy, and, yes, even the forward pass, there are those who believe football wouldn’t quite be football without Notre Dame. With the Fighting Irish waking up the echoes and playing for a title again after a generation-long retreat from the limelight, now might be the perfect time to admit it — maybe they were right. Ever since 1913, when an end named Knute Rockne helped a small Catholic school based in South Bend, Indiana, pull off a stunner by beating Army, Notre Dame has stood as one of the main shapers of college football.
About 50 players in a fledgling college athletes union are meeting this weekend in Atlanta, across town from where the national title game between Ohio State and Notre Dame will be held. They want a bigger say in decisions that will define their industry for years to come. High-profile members of the group called athletes.org include Grant House and Sedona Prince. House is the swimmer whose name is attached to the “House settlement” that will dictate terms of NIL payments, roster limits and other issues. Prince is the basketball player whose viral video of the sparse weight room at women’s March Madness in 2020 shined a light on what ails college sports.
GOLF
Sepp Straka won The American Express by two shots over Justin Thomas. The 31-year-old Austrian finished his third career PGA Tour victory at 25-under 263 with a final-round 70. Straka comfortably marched to victory after taking a four-shot lead into the final round at the venerable Coachella Valley tournament. He didn’t have a bogey in the four-day event until making two in the final three holes, but his competitors couldn’t mount a charge to make it uncomfortable.
TENNIS
Defending champion Jannik Sinner has moved into the quarterfinals at the Australian Open after beating Holger Rune in a match slowed down by medical timeouts for each player and a delay because the net got knocked loose. The No. 1-ranked Sinner beat No. 13 Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday. That stretched Sinner's winning streak to 18 tour-level matches dating to last season. Iga Swiatek, Madison Keys and Elina Svitolina reached the women's quarterfinals, while Ben Shelton and Lorenzo Sonego joined Sinner in the men's final eight.
Novak Djokovic has received the apologies he wanted from the Australian Open’s local broadcaster and its employee who insulted him on the air. And so, according to the tournament, the 24-time Grand Slam champion is ready to concentrate on his quarterfinal showdown with Carlos Alcaraz. After winning at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday evening to set up the contest against Alcaraz, Djokovic declined to do the customary post-match on court TV interview, but didn’t immediately say why, eliciting some jeering from spectators. Only later that night, at his news conference, did Djokovic explain that he was taking a stand to protest comments made by Tony Jones on Channel 9 last Friday.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UMass 82 La Salle 60
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Boston College 92 Syracuse 51
UConn 96 Seton Hall 36
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