MLB
Alex Bregman and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a $120 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical. Bregman can opt out after the 2026 and 2027 seasons to become a free agent again. He might need to shift from third base to second with the Red Sox, who already have All-Star slugger Rafael Devers at the hot corner. A two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion during nine years with Houston, the 30-year-old Bregman hit .260 with 26 homers and 75 RBIs in 2024, the final season of a $100 million, five-year contract. He also won his first Gold Glove.
Pete Alonso and the New York Mets have finalized their $54 million, two-year contract on the same day spring training opened with the team’s first formal workout for pitchers and catchers. New York also re-signed injured reliever Drew Smith to a one-year deal with a club option for 2026. Smith is expected to miss all or most of the upcoming season while recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. Alonso and the Mets agreed to financial terms last week, subject to a successful physical. The four-time All-Star first baseman gets a $10 million signing bonus and salaries of $20 million this year and $24 million in 2026. He can opt out after the 2025 season to become a free agent again.
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Nick Pivetta has agreed to a backloaded $55 million, four-year contract with the San Diego Padres. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the deal, first reported by ESPN, was subject to a successful physical. Pivetta gets a $3 million signing bonus and salaries of $1 million this year, $19 million in 2026, $14 million in 2027 and $18 million in 2028. He can opt out after the 2026 and 2027 seasons to become a free agent again.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki are the likely starting pitchers for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they face the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo next month, according to manager Dave Roberts. The two Japanese pitchers along with two-way star Shohei Ohtani will be the main attraction for Japanese fans during the two MLB games on March 18 and 19. The Cubs also have Japanese players in Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki. Roberts said Sasaki could theoretically pitch in one of the Dodgers’ exhibition games earlier in the week in Tokyo, but the plan is for him to be ready for the second regular season game.
NBA
D’Angelo Russell had 22 points, five rebounds and four assists, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers 100-96 in the teams’ last game before the All-Star break. Nic Claxton had 13 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, and Cam Johnson added 16 points and six rebounds. Trendon Watford scored 18 points off the bench for Brooklyn, which won its third straight. Quentin Grimes had 30 points and eight rebounds, and Kelly Oubre Jr. also scored 30 for Philadelphia, which lost its fifth straight and seventh in its last eight. The 76ers were playing without stars Joel Embiid (left knee) and Tyrese Maxey (right ankle sprain).
Jayson Tatum had 32 points and 14 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-103 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory and seventh in eight games. Kristaps Porzingis added 29 points for Boston and Derrick White had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break. The Spurs cut a 19-point halftime deficit to 93-85 early in the fourth quarter. Boston outscored San Antonio 23-18 the rest of the way. De’Aaron Fox had 23 points in his fifth game with the Spurs since being traded by Sacramento. Victor Wembanyama added 17 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Paolo Banchero had 24 points and eight rebounds and the Orlando Magic shook off a cold-shooting first half to beat the Charlotte Hornets 102-86. Franz Wagner added 16 points and seven rebounds and Anthony Black came off the bench to score 18 points. Miles Bridges led the injury-plagued Hornets with 19 points and eight rebounds. Josh Green and Damion Baugh added 16 points each for Charlotte, which shot 39.5% for the game and lost its third game in a row.
Obi Toppin had season highs of 31 points and 10 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the NBA-worst Washington Wizards 134-130 in overtime. Bennedict Mathurin scored 28 points and Tyrese Haliburton added 20 for the Pacers, who enter the All-Star break in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Jordan Poole scored 42 points for the Wizards and missed a step-back 3-point attempt at the regulation buzzer. Corey Kispert added 21 points for Washington, which has lost 11 straight at home and four in a row overall. Wizards guard Malcolm Brogdon suffered a left leg injury in the fourth quarter.
Donovan Mitchell scored 21 points and the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors 131-108 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight victory and eighth in the last nine games. Tempers flared at the final buzzer after Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson dunked with four seconds left. Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead confronted Thompson near center court for an exchange of words. De’Andre Hunter scored 18 points, Sam Merrill had 16 and Darius Garland 15 for the Cavaliers in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break. RJ Barrett scored 27 points for Toronto after missing four games while he was in the concussion protocol. The Raptors have lost five of six.
Kyle Kuzma had 19 points and 13 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks won without All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 103-101 on Wednesday night. Anthony Edwards’ jumper in the final seconds was off for Minnesota and Kuzma — playing his fourth game for Milwaukee after being acquired from Washington — came down with the rebound. Gary Trent Jr., who went to high school in a Twin Cities suburb, had 21 points off the bench for the Bucks in their final game before the All-Star break. They had lost six of eight. Antetokounmpo missed his sixth straight game because of a strained left calf and Lillard was rested because of a strained right hamstring. Edwards scored 28 points for Minnesota.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and nine assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat the Miami Heat 115-101. Jalen Williams scored 18 points and Lu Dort added 17 for the Thunder, who won their seventh straight and improved to a league-best 44-9. Oklahoma City never led until starting the fourth quarter on a 24-0 run to go ahead for good. Bam Adebayo had 27 points and 15 rebounds and Tyler Herro added 14 points for the Heat. Andrew Wiggins added 13 points in his second game with the Heat since being traded.
Keon Ellis hit seven 3-pointers during a 27-point performance, Zach LaVine scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half, and the Sacramento Kings beat the New Orleans Pelicans 119-111. DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points and Malik Monk added 17 for the Kings, who broke open a close game in the last five minutes with an 11-2 run that began with LaVine’s 3 and ended with DeRozan’s 16-foot turnaround. Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 15 rebounds — his 48th double-double in 51 games this season — for Sacramento, which has won three straight. Zion Williamson scored a game-high 33 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Pelicans, who’ve lost 10 straight for the second time this season.
Cade Cunningham scored 29 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Bulls 128-110 after dominating them the previous night. Tobias Harris and Ausar Thompson scored 19 and Jalen Duren added 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Pistons rolled into the All-Star break with their fourth straight win after blowing out the Bulls 132-92 in the same arena on Tuesday. They led 82-61 midway through the third quarter after a 25-4 run that started late in the first half, sending the Bulls to their 13th loss in 16 games. Ayo Dosunmu scored 23 for Chicago, and Nikola Vucevic added 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Amen Thompson had a triple-double of 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds and the Houston Rockets used a big run late to get a 119-111 win over the Phoenix Suns. It is the fourth career triple-double for Thompson and his second this month after the second-year player also had one on February 3. The game was tied after a 3-pointer by Bol Bol before the Rockets used an 11-2 run to take a 115-106 lead with just more than a minute to go. Jalen Green scored the first five points in that stretch before Dillon Brooks made consecutive 3-pointers to allow Houston to pull away.
Lauri Markkanen scored 32 points and had a season-high three steals to lead the Utah Jazz to a 131-119 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Jordan Clarkson had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to help Utah end a three-game slide. Keyonte George added 20 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds off the bench. LeBron James finished with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds for Los Angeles. Rui Hachimura scored a team-high 19 points and Luka Doncic added 16. Austin Reaves added 15 points and 11 assists for the Lakers.
The only thing hotter than Jamal Murray’s jumper Wednesday night may have been his temper. The Denver Nuggets guard was still carrying a grudge against the Portland Trail Blazers over being ejected for some trash talking on Monday. Facing them again two days later, Murray let his play do his chirping as he turned in a career-best 55-point performance in a 132-121 win. Murray finished 20 of 36 from the floor, including seven 3-pointers. It’s the third-most points in the franchise’s NBA history, trailing only David Thompson’s 73-point game on April 9, 1978, and Jokic’s 56-point effort Dec. 7. In the ABA, Spencer Haywood had a 59-point game for the then-Rockets on April 15, 1970.
Kyrie Irving scored 42 points and took a charge in the closing seconds while Klay Thompson added 17 against his former team as the undersized Dallas Mavericks beat the Golden State Warriors 111-107. Naji Marshall hit a 6-foot floater in the lane giving Dallas a 109-107 lead with 25.6 seconds left after Steph Curry, the NBA’s leading free-throw shooter at 93.1%, missed the second of two to leave the score tied. Then, Jimmy Butler's driving basket was disallowed for a charge into Irving, a call that was upheld on video review. Curry led the Warriors with 25 points.
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points, James Harden and Norman Powell each had 18 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 128-114 on Wednesday night. Leonard played a season-high 34 minutes, with all of his 30-minute games coming in the last three contests. Amir Coffey added 15 points, Kris Dunn had 14 and Ivica Zubac finished with 12 points with 13 rebounds. Harden also had 10 assists. With Memphis playing without Ja Morant (knee) on the second night of a back-to-back, Desmond Bane scored 16 of his 23 points in the first quarter for the Grizzlies. Jaylen Wells added 18 points.
NFL
A person familiar with the situation says that Ohio State is hiring former Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the agreement had not been announced. Coming off the national championship, Ohio State coach Ryan Day agreed in principle last year to a seven-year contract valued at $12.5 million per year. Day hired Patricia to fill the void left by defensive coordinator Jim Knowles leaving for the same job at Penn State. The 50-year-old Patricia was let go by the Philadelphia Eagles a year ago.
COLLEGE SPORTS
The U.S. Education Department is scrapping a policy from the Biden administration that threatened to upend colleges’ plans to pay athletes for their name, image and likeness by making those payments subject to federal Title IX rules. President Donald Trump’s education officials announced the change Wednesday, saying the policy from former President Joe Biden’s final days in office had no legal basis under Title IX, the 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination in education. A Jan. 16 memo from the Biden administration told universities that NIL payments must be treated the same as athletic financial aid such as scholarships.
GOLF
So much about Torrey Pines looks just like it did three weeks ago. Only it's a new tournament with a far stronger field. The Genesis Invitational typically is held at venerable Riviera. But the LA wildfires burned up so much of the Pacific Palisades community that organizers were forced to relocate. The choice was Torrey Pines because the infrastructure was in place. The field features 46 of the top 50 in the world. That includes Scottie Scheffler, back at Torrey for the first time since 2022. Also back is Rory McIlroy for the first time since the 2021 U.S. Open.
NASCAR
Chase Briscoe led a banner night for Toyota in qualifying for the Daytona 500 by winning the pole for NASCAR’s “Great American Race.” It is the first Daytona 500 pole for Briscoe, who moved to Joe Gibbs Racing this season when Stewart-Haas Racing closed at the end of 2024. His move to the No. 19 gave Toyota its first pole in NASCAR’s biggest race of the season. Former Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric qualified second in a Ford for Team Penske. Ford drivers claimed four of the top five spots in time trials, but only Briscoe and Cindric as the front row starters were locked in Wednesday night. The only other drivers locked in during time trials were Toyota drivers Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Davidson 77 UMass 68
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UMass 72 Duquesne 52
UConn 78 St. John’s 40
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