NBA
Nic Claxton scored 16 points and the Brooklyn Nets pulled away after LaMelo Ball was lost to another ankle injury and beat the Charlotte Hornets 97-89 last night. Cam Johnson and Day’Ron Sharpe each added 14 points for the Nets, who won for the fifth time in six games in the best stretch of their first season under Jordi Fernandez. Moussa Diabate had a career-high 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Hornets before he was forced out of the game with a right eye abrasion. Ball played the first 10 minutes of the game and the Hornets announced at halftime he wouldn’t play the rest of the night because of right ankle soreness.
LaMelo Ball missed the second half of Charlotte’s game against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night because of right ankle soreness. Ball, who has battled frequent ankle problems and only recently returned from a sprained left one, played 10 minutes in the first half and the Hornets announced at halftime that he would not return. The Hornets dropped all five games Ball missed from Jan. 29-Feb. 5. He came back to score 24 points in a victory over San Antonio on Friday but sat out Sunday at Detroit with what the Hornets said was left ankle soreness. Ball had five points and three assists Monday.
Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, Kristaps Porzingis added 17 and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Miami Heat 103-85. Al Horford scored 16 points, Sam Hauser had 15 and Derrick White added 13 for the Celtics. Boston took 53 3-pointers in the game and only 32 2-pointers. Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Miami, which was without Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. — both sidelined by illness. Andrew Wiggins had 11 points in his Heat debut. Miami shot 33.7% and has been held under 90 points in each of its last five matchups with Boston.
Evan Mobley scored 28 points, fellow All-Star Donovan Mitchell added 23 and the Cleveland Cavaliers broke out to a big early lead and had little trouble against Minnesota, beating the Timberwolves 128-107 on Monday night. The East-leading Cavs welcomed new addition De’Andre Hunter and improved to 25-4 at home. The versatile Hunter, who gives Cleveland a much-needed wing defender for the playoffs, was acquired last week from Atlanta. He started his Cavs debut and finished with 12 points. All-Star Anthony Edwards scored 44 to pace Minnesota, which missed its first 16 shots and scored just 12 in the first quarter. Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Victor Wembanyama had 31 points and 15 rebounds to help the San Antonio Spurs hold off the Washington Wizards 131-121. Wembanyama scored a career-high 50 points against Washington in November, and it looked like the All-Star might be on his way to another game like that Monday when he made his first four 3-point attempts within the first eight minutes. He didn’t keep up that scoring pace, but the San Antonio big man was still a force against a Washington team that was missing rookie 7-footer Alex Sarr because of a sprained left ankle. Tristan Vukcevic led Washington with 18 points.
Trae Young scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Orlando Magic 112-106. Young was 6 for 17 from the field and committed nine turnovers. But he also had eight assists and five rebounds on the same day he was added to the All-Star roster as an injury replacement for Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Caris LeVert had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Hawks, who won for the fourth time in five games after an eight-game losing streak. Franz Wagner led Orlando with 35 points. Paolo Banchero added 31 points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points in three quarters as the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the New Orleans Pelicans 137-101. The Thunder hit a franchise-record 27 3-pointers, despite no player making more than four. Aaron Wiggins scored 24 points and Jalen Williams added 16 for the Thunder, who won their sixth straight game. Chet Holmgren had 12 points, six rebounds and five blocks in his second game back since missing three months with a fractured pelvic bone. Trey Murphy III scored 23 points and Zion Williamson added 17 for the Pelicans.
Stephen Curry scored a season-high 38 points and the Golden State Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 125-111. Jimmy Butler had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists in his second game with the Warriors. Buddy Hield added 16 points. The Bucks were playing for a second straight day after beating the Philadelphia 76ers 135-127 at home on Sunday. Milwaukee also was playing a sixth straight game without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will be out through the All-Star break as he deals with a left calf strain. Damian Lillard scored 38 points for the Bucks.
DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 42 points, including a baseline floater with 2 seconds left in overtime, and the Sacramento Kings beat the depleted Dallas Mavericks 129-128. Zach LaVine and Malik Monk each scored 17 points for the Kings in the opener of a three-game trip. Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 15 rebounds. The Mavericks lost center Daniel Gafford to a sprained right knee after he had a knee-to-knee collision with Monk early in the second quarter. Kyrie Irving scored 30 points for the Mavericks.
Nikola Jokic scored 40 points, Christian Braun had 26 points, and the surging Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 146-117 for their seventh straight win. Jamal Murray added 17 points and eight assists before picking up his second technical foul and Julian Strawther finished with 18 for Denver. The seven-game winning streak is the longest of the season for the Nuggets. Donovan Clingan scored a career-high 21 points and Dalano Banton added 22 for the Blazers, who lost their second straight after winning 10 of 11.
Luka Doncic scored 14 points in limited playing time during his debut with the Lakers, joining their starting lineup alongside LeBron James and immediately getting into the flow during Los Angeles’ 132-113 victory over the Utah Jazz. Doncic got multiple standing ovations from a Los Angeles crowd wearing thousands of gold T-shirts with his name and No. 77. He scored 11 points while the Lakers streaked out to a 25-point halftime lead, and he sat down for good with 3:07 left in the third quarter with the Lakers far ahead in their sixth consecutive victory.
The ownership transfer of the Minnesota Timberwolves must continue as originally planned. An arbitration panel has ruled that controlling owner Glen Taylor must cede control of the NBA club to partners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in the disputed final phase of the sale. The $1.5 billion transaction was uniquely arranged three years ago to give Lore and Rodriguez the majority stake. Lore and Rodriguez, the former baseball star, announced that their timeline for obtaining league approval of the acquisition has not expired. Taylor bought the team for $88 million to keep it from moving to New Orleans in 1994.
WNBA
Aaliyah Edwards pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament that will be played over three days featured 23 of the league’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Other winners included Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Rhyne Howard, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray, Rickea Jackson, Rae Burrell, Azura Stevens, Courtney Williams, DiJonai Carrington and Satou Sabally all advanced to the second round because their opponents were injured and didn’t play.
NHL
Sidney Crosby says he's good to go for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off after getting injured in one of Pittsburgh's final games before the break in the NHL season. Crosby skated between reigning league MVP Nathan MacKinnon and 2023 Stanley Cup winner Mark Stone at practice. Coach Jon Cooper stopped short of saying Crosby was definitely playing in Canada's tournament opener against Sweden on Wednesday, but all indications are the 37-year-old will be on the ice. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who's behind the bench for the United States, said for obvious reasons he was not a central figure in the decision-making process.
NFL
Fox Sports is projecting a Super Bowl record average audience of 126 million U.S. viewers across television and streaming platforms for Philadelphia’s 40-22 victory over Kansas City. Sunday night's game was televised by Fox, Fox Deportes and Telemundo and streamed on Tubi as well as the NFL’s digital platforms. Fox’s projections include Nielsen’s early numbers and streaming data from Tubi and the NFL. Updated and more complete numbers are expected on Tuesday. It would be the second straight year the Super Bowl has reached a record audience. The Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime victory over San Francisco last year averaged 123.7 million on CBS, Nickelodeon, Univision and streaming platforms.
The NFL offseason won’t last long. By the time the Philadelphia Eagles complete their victory parade Friday, it’ll be less than two weeks until the scouting combine kicks off in Indianapolis. Free agency follows on March 10 with the two-day negotiating period. The annual league meeting starts March 30. The seven teams with new head coaches may open offseason workout programs on April 7 and the remaining 25 teams can follow two weeks later. Then, it’s time for the NFL draft on April 24 in Green Bay. Some of the league’s offseason priorities include player health and safety and conversations about potential new rules, including reviewing kickoffs following a one-year experiment with dynamic changes.
GOLF
Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the Genesis Invitational. He says he planned to play and tried to get ready but is still processing the death of his mother. Kultida Woods died unexpectedly last Tuesday at the age of 80. Woods says he hopes to be at Torrey Pines later in the week. He is the tournament host of this $20 million signature event that benefits his foundation. The tournament is held annually at Riviera. But it had to relocated to Torrey Pines because of the deadly LA wildfires. Woods has won eight times as a pro at Torrey Pines, including the U.S. Open.
SOCCER
The United States opened expanded CONCACAF qualifying for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup with a record win for the country at any level. It crushed the U.S. Virgin Islands 22-0 as Chase Adams scored 10 goals at San Jose, Costa Rica. Captain Maximo Carrizo registered four goals while Chance Cowell and Jude Terry netted two each. Pedro Guimaraes, Ramiz Hamouda, Jamir Johnson and Kellan LeBlanc claimed one goal apiece. Adams scored in the eighth, ninth, 13th, 19th, 31st, 33rd, 38th, 55th, 75th and 77th minutes.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Auburn is still No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men's basketball poll despite a loss to Florida. The Tigers received 34 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel. No. 2 Alabama moved up a spot and received 23 first-place votes. Florida and Duke are tied at No. 3 and Tennessee rounds out the top five. No. 9 St. John’s has moved into the top 10 for the first time since finishing the 1999-2000 season at No. 9. UConn, the two-time defending national champion, has dropped out of the poll after being ranked at 53 weeks.
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