NFL
Josh Allen edged two-time winner Lamar Jackson for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award in the closest race since Matt Ryan beat out Tom Brady in 2016. Allen, who led Buffalo to a fifth straight AFC East title, got 27 first-place votes to Jackson’s 23 and finished with 383 points. He received 22 second-place votes and one third. Jackson, who led the Ravens to a second straight AFC North championship, got 26 second-place votes and one fourth for a total of 362 points.
Los Angeles Rams edge rusher Jared Verse was an overwhelming choice for AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Verse, a former University at Albany football student-athlete, had 4 1/2 sacks and led all rookies in quarterback hits with 18, pressures with 77, and hurries at 56. He also had 11 tackles for loss. Verse got 37 first-place votes, well ahead of Eagles rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who received nine.
Antonio Gates, Jared Allen, Eric Allen and Sterling Sharpe have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the smallest induction class in 20 years following offseason rule changes meant to make it harder to get inducted. Sharpe got in as a seniors candidate and will join younger brother Shannon as the first siblings ever inducted into the Hall. Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning fell short and won't join older brother Peyton in Canton. The induction ceremony will be held Aug. 2.
Meanwhile, Superbowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles kicks off Sunday night at 6:30.
For the past 11 seasons, being named the AP first-team All-Pro quarterback was a prelude to winning the NFL’s MVP award. There was some logic to that with quarterbacks providing the most value to a team and the same panel picking the All-Pro team and all of the awards. There was a rare flip this year with Buffalo’s Josh Allen narrowly edging Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson in the MVP voting after finishing second in All-Pro voting revealed last month.
MLB
The former interpreter for Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty last year to bank and tax fraud. He was accused of stealing nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account to cover his gambling bets and debts. Mizuhara was supposed to bridge the gap between Ohtani and his English-speaking teammates and fans. Prosecutors said Mizuhara never bet on baseball, and Ohtani was an unknowing victim of the scheme. The case stemmed from a broader probe of illegal sports bookmaking organizations in Southern California.
NBA
Klay Thompson scored 25 points as Dallas beat the Boston Celtics 127-120 on Thursday night in their NBA Finals rematch. Spencer Dinwiddie added 22 off the bench and Daniel Gafford gave the Mavericks 15 rebounds in what could be his last start at center for a while. Recently acquired big man Anthony Davis sat out with an abdominal strain. Reigning NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown scored 25 points and Jayson Tatum had 17. Payton Pritchard scored 21 to lead a bench rally.
Anthony Edwards had 41 points, seven rebounds and six assists on Thursday night as the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied to beat the Houston Rockets 127-114. One night after scoring 49 points in a win over Chicago, Edwards dominated the game early and late. He scored 18 points in the first quarter and 16 in the fourth, which began with Houston leading by six. Rudy Gobert had back-to-back dunks to start the quarter before Edwards took over with three 3-pointers as Minnesota outscored Houston 35-16 over the final 12 minutes. Jaylen Clark scored a career-high 17 points for the Timberwolves while Naz Reid had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Green led Houston with 28 points. Alperen Sengun had 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Rockets, who lost their fifth straight.
Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his 24th triple-double of the season, Michael Porter Jr. added 30 points and the Denver Nuggets won their fifth in a row by beating the Orlando Magic 112-90 on Thursday night. Christian Braun finished with 16 points for a Nuggets team that saw the trade deadline come and go without making a move. The Nuggets had the game so well in hand that Jokic didn’t play in the fourth quarter. Wendell Carter Jr. led the Magic with 19 points, and Paolo Banchero added 18. Both teams played the night before.
Anfernee Simons had 30 points, including eight 3-pointers, and the Portland Trail Blazers won their sixth straight game with a 108-102 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night. Shaedon Sharpe added 24 points for the Blazers, who have won 10 of their last 11 games. DeMar DeRozan had 22 for the Kings, who have lost six of their last eight. It was a close game from the start. Sacramento pulled in front 91-90 on DeRozan’s jumper and free throw with 6:36 left, but Sharpe answered with a 3-pointer that gave the Blazers back the lead for good.
Age is more than just a number to LeBron James. It’s also a target. The 40-year-old James became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game when he put up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38 days removed from his 40th birthday last Dec. 30.
All-Star Pascal Siakam scored 33 points and the Indiana Pacers rallied from a 22-point deficit after losing Myles Turner to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 119-112. Bennedict Mathurin added 25 points. He inadvertently struck Turner in the face going for a rebound in the first quarter. Turner got up and then staggered while making his way to the bench. He was being evaluated for a concussion and did not return. He was scoreless in six minutes. James Harden land Norman Powell scored 22 points each to lead six Clippers in double figures. Kawhi Leonard scored 19 points while playing a season-high 34 minutes.
Luka Doncic is now expected to make his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night against the Utah Jazz, coach JJ Redick says. Doncic hasn’t played since Christmas due to a strained left calf. Redick initially suggested Doncic could play for the Lakers on Saturday against Indiana, but revised his forecast Thursday night before the Lakers hosted the Golden State Warriors. Doncic participated in a 5-on-5 “stay-ready” game with teammates and the Lakers’ coaching staff Wednesday, and Redick said Doncic has experienced no setbacks in his recovery.
The final numbers from trade-deadline time: no fewer than eight current and past All-Stars, some of them recent All-NBA selections, some among the league’s highest scorers and even three Olympic gold medalists, all of them headed to new homes. Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis got blindsided by a blockbuster. De’Aaron Fox gets to throw lobs to Victor Wembanyama now. Jimmy Butler got his wish, sort of. P.J. Tucker has, on paper, been on four teams in about a week. Dennis Schroder was basically part of four teams in the span of about 18 hours. Zach LaVine went to Sacramento, a place he considers home. It’s over. It was wild, but the trade deadline has passed.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Nicolas Roy, Shea Theodore and Jack Eichel scored and Adin Hill made 16 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-1 and snapped a four-game skid. The Golden Knights also won on the road for just the second time since Jan. 7. Roy scored his seventh goal at 3:09 of the middle period to put Las Vegas up 1-0. Theodore followed with his seventh at 11:18. Eichel made it 3-0 at 4:06 of the third with his 19th goal. Ondrej Palat ruined Hill’s shutout bid with his 12th goal at 15:43 of the third on the power play.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 879th career goal to move within 16 of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record to help the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3. Ovechkin scored with 53 seconds remaining in the first period, taking a centering pass from Martin Fehervary and flicking it past Ivan Fedotov to tie the game at 1-1. Jakob Chychrun scored the winner with 7:55 remaining off a cross-ice pass from John Carlson. Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves. Matvei Michkov scored two goals and Tyson Foerster had one for the Flyers, who dropped their fifth straight game. Fedotov made 14 saves.
Brandon Hagel scored the go-ahead goal for the second consecutive game, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Ottawa 5-1 on Thursday night to sweep a two-game set with the Senators. Tampa Bay moved into a tie with Ottawa for third place in the Atlantic Division. The Lightning beat the Senators 4-3 on Tuesday night. Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak also scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves. Michael Amadio scored for Ottawa, and Anton Forsberg stopped 26 shots.
Dylan Guenther scored with 33 seconds left in overtime to lift the Utah Hockey Club past the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 for their second straight win. Lawson Crouse and Olli Maatta also scored and Connor Ingram made 20 saves for Utah. Justin Danforth scored and Ivan Provorov had a short-handed goal for Columbus, which has lost three straight and dropped its first game at home since Jan. 2. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 30 shots.
Filip Gustavsson made 38 saves and the Wild scored for the first time in three games for a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Yakov Trenin and Vinnie Hinostroza scored for Minnesota, which had been shut out 6-0 by the Senators and 3-0 by the Bruins in its previous two games. Sebastian Aho scored for Carolina with 2:48 remaining. Trenin scored the game’s first goal 2:55 into the opening period when he took a pass from Marat Khusnutdinov and made a move to beat Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen. Hinostroza scored 51 seconds into the third period, his first in a Wild uniform. Andersen made 22 saves.
Matthew Tkachuk scored his second goal of the game with 12 seconds left to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. Tkachuk scored when Sam Reinhart’s shot deflected off him in front of the net. Reinhart was originally credited with the goal. Tkachuk also had an assist, Mackie Samoskevich scored and Spencer Knight made 20 saves to help Florida win for the fourth time in five games. Zack Bolduc had a goal and an assist and Oskar Sundqvist also scored for St. Louis. Joel Hofer made 31 saves as the reeling Blues lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Nathan MacKinnon had three second-period assists to regain the NHL points lead, Martin Necas scored twice and added an assist and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 on Thursday night. MacKinnon has 83 points on 20 goals and an NHL-best 63 assists — to take a two-point lead over Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, with the Avalanche set to face the Oilers on Friday night. Cale Makar had his 20th goal of the season for Colorado. Artturi Lehkonen also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 27 shots. Jonathan Huberdeau scored his team-leading 21st goal for Calgary. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson also scored and Dustin Wolf made 30 saves.
Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves in his first start since Dec. 12 to help the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Seattle Kraken 3-1. Philippe Myers, Bobby McMann and Matthew Knies scored for the Leafs. Eeli Tolvanen had the Kraken’s only goal, spoiling Stolarz’s shutout bid in the third period. Joey Daccord made 27 saves in his third straight start.
Drew O’Connor scored on a penalty shot 33 seconds into overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. O’Connor was awarded the penalty shot after Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini was called for hooking. San Jose trailed 1-0 with when Tyler Toffoli tied it with his 20th goal with just 1:28 left in regulation. Dakota Joshua scored on a power play midway through the third period to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead. Thatcher Demko had 33 saves for Vancouver. The Sharks' Vitek Vanecek had 22 saves.
BOXING
Canelo Alvarez has agreed to a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season. The Mexican star has leveraged a widely speculated bout with Jake Paul for a much bigger contract. Turki Alalshikh, the head of Riyadh Season and the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, announced the deal on social media. The first fight under Alvarez’s new deal would be in May in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Alvarez is then expected to fight Terence Crawford in September in Las Vegas. Alvarez has spent years as the biggest moneymaker in boxing.
GOLF
Wyndham Clark saved par after hitting his tee shot into the water on the par-4 17th hole and shot a bogey-free 7-under 64 to take a one-shot lead in the first round of the Phoenix Open. Players were greeted with perfect weather a year after rain turned TPC Scottsdale into a soggy, wild mess. Clark opened with a birdie and adding four straight starting on No. 8 on a day win in which 26 players shot 68 or better. Lee Hodges had two eagles on his back nine to shoot 65. He’s tied with Taylor Moore, who eagled the par-5 third to cap a 7-under stretch in seven holes. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler shot 69 in his second start since puncturing his hand.
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES
The NCAA has changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. The change came on day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. The NCAA’s revised policy permits athletes assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care while practicing. The policy is effective immediately and applies to all athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 68 Bryant 63
Siena 77 St. Peter’s 63
Iona 70 Mt. St. Mary’s 67
Fairfield 59 Marist 56
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 48 Bryant 43
Siena 68 St. Peter’s 60
Syracuse 93 Virginia Tech 87
Iona 62 Mt. St. Mary’s 60
Fairfield 80 Marist 49
Tennessee 80 UConn 76
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