NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Brady and Matthew Tkachuk each scored twice, and the brothers had a handful of big hits to help the United States beat Finland 6-1 to open the 4 Nations Face-Off, a physical showdown played with edge throughout. Matthew Tkachuk finished with three points, while Brady Tkachuk had a game-high eight hits. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves, giving up only a bit of a soft goal early. Finland's Juuse Saros struggled mightily at the other end, allowing three goals in the first three minutes of the third period.
NFL
The New York Jets announced they told quarterback Aaron Rodgers they are moving on without him next season. While Rodgers hasn’t said whether he intends to continue playing for a 21st NFL season, the Jets with new general manager Darren Mougey and coach Aaron Glenn in charge have officially ruled out a return to New York. In a statement issued by the team, the Jets said they met with the 41-year-old quarterback last week and informed him of their plans. The four-time MVP is the fifth player in NFL history to throw 500 touchdown passes in the regular season. He has one year of non-guaranteed money left on his contract.
Philadelphia Eagles fans will be swooning on Valentine's Day as they swarm the city for a Super Bowl parade. There'll be a lot of love to go around. The underdog Eagles possess the Lombardi trophy after an easy 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is the game's MVP and running back Saquon Barkley the league's offensive player of the year. The parade starts at 11 a.m. in South Philadelphia, while the team ceremony kicks off at 2 p.m. on the art museum's “Rocky” steps. City leaders hope the famously exuberant Eagles fans will stay safe and keep the mood festive.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Stephen Curry scored 27 points and the Golden State Warriors withstood a late surge by Houston to get a 105-98 win over the Rockets Thursday night. The Warriors were clinging to a two-point lead before using a 11-2 run to make it 102-91 with about two minutes remaining. A highlight of that spurt came when Curry juked Jeff Green before swishing a 3-pointer and Jimmy Butler wowed the visitor’s bench with a two-handed dunk about a minute later.
CJ McCollum scored 37 of his 43 points after halftime — including 11 points in overtime — and the New Orleans Pelicans snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 140-133 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Jose Alvarado and Trey Murphy III each scored 18 points for New Orleans, which beat Sacramento for the first time in four meetings. New Orleans won despite playing without power forward Zion Williamson, who scored 33 points on Wednesday and got Thursday off as he continues to work his way back into form from a left hamstring injury. Zach LaVine had 32-points and 10-assists for Sacramento, while Domantas Sabonis had 22 points and tied a career-high with 28 rebounds.
Dante Exum scored a season-high 27 points, one short of his career high, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 118-113 on Thursday night. Max Christie added 19 points, Spencer Dinwiddie had 17 and Kessler Edwards finished with season highs of 15 points and nine rebounds as the undermanned, undersized Mavericks swept a home back-to-back and won for the fourth time in five games. Tyler Herro scored 40 points for the Heat, who were swept in a road back-to-back and have lost four consecutive games. Rookie Kel’el Ware had 17 points and Kyle Anderson added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Naz Reid had 27 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves in a 116-101 victory over Oklahoma City that stopped the Thunder’s seven-game winning streak. Anthony Edwards scored 23 points and Jaden McDaniels added 21 points to propel the Wolves into the All-Star break with an inspired performance against the West-leading Thunder behind a small-ball strategy necessitated by the absence of their starting frontcourt. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points and nine assists to lead the Thunder after shooting 2 for 13 in the first half. Gilgeous-Alexander had his streak of 25-point games end at 22.
Norman Powell scored a season-high 41 points and James Harden added 32 to lift the Los Angeles Clippers to a 120-116 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night. Harden also had 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Los Angeles clawed back from a 20-point deficit and beat Utah for the second time in three games. The Clippers never trailed in overtime of Ben Simmons’ debut, but did not pull away from the Jazz until Powell made back-to-back baskets to put them up 119-114 with 59 seconds remaining. Kyle Filipowski led Utah with a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Lauri Markkanen also scored 20 points and John Collins chipped in 17.
MLB
Marcus Stroman has been a no-show on the field for the New York Yankees' first two spring training workouts. Stroman isn’t required to participate in spring training until Feb. 22, the mandatory reporting date under the collective bargaining agreement. But most players arrive on the voluntary reporting date. Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he had talked to Stroman and knew he might be out the first couple of days. Boone wouldn't disclose Stroman’s reasoning for being absent after the team's second day of practice Thursday.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 90 UMass Lowell 88
UVM 79 New Hampshire 59
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 59 UMass Lowell 44
Siena 81 Marist 69
Iona 65 Rider 60
UVM 55 New Hampshire 46
JuJu Watkins broke out of a scoring slump with 38 points, helping sixth-ranked USC topple No. 1 UCLA 71-60 and further delivering on her goal of restoring the program to its earlier glory. Some of those Trojans stars from the early 1980s — including Hall of Famers Cheryl Miller and Tina Thompson — joined a raucous crowd on its feet as USC rallied for the program’s first win over a top-ranked team since 1983 on Thursday night. Watkins made six 3-pointers, 8-of-10 free throws, and 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in 39 minutes.
NASCAR
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will race in the Daytona 500 as a special 41st driver under a new rule that allows for a “world-class driver” to receive a provisional spot. The Brazilian did not want to use the provisional and hoped to race his way into the field in the first of two 150-mile qualifying races. But he was involved in an early eight-car accident. With 41 drivers, it will be the largest Daytona 500 field since 43 cars was the standard in 2015. Bubba Wallace won the first qualifying race and Justin Allgaier raced his way into the Daytona 500 to help JR Motorsports make its Cup debut Sunday. Austin Cindric won the second qualifying race and Corey LaJoie earned the final spot in the field.
Bubba Wallace won the first of two qualifying races for the Daytona 500. He showed enough speed to make him one of the favorites heading into “The Great American Race.” Wallace will start third in the Daytona 500 behind pole-sitter Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric. Wallace continued Toyota’s early dominance at Daytona International Speedway, where Briscoe won the pole in his new Joe Gibbs Racing ride. The 31-year-old Wallace celebrated his first victory at Daytona by spraying a Coke at his crew, hugging car co-owner Denny Hamlin and then lifting his newborn high into the air a la “The Lion King.” The baby was wearing noise-protective headphones and a checkered-flag bib while sucking on a pacifier.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
GOLF
Denny McCarthy is leading the Genesis Invitational thanks to two holes to close out an otherwise tough and miserable day of weather. McCarthy finished birdie-eagle for a 68. That gives him a one-shot lead over Seamus Power and Patrick Rodgers. Scottie Scheffler was another shot back after missing a short birdie attempt on his final hole. Torrey Pines was brutal as ever because of a cold rain and enough wind. Two of the par 5s played over par. The fifth hole didn't yield a single birdie. Torrey Pines is filling in for Riviera this year because of the LA wildfires.
RACING
Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen has set a world record in the indoor mile, beating Yared Nuguse’s mark set just five days earlier at the Millrose Games. The two-time Olympic champion also set the world indoor 1,500 meter record at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Trophée EDF in northern France. Ingebrigtsen crossed the finish line in a time of 3 minutes, 45.14 seconds, improving on Nuguse’s 3:46.63 in New York. Along the way, he hit 1,500 meters in 3:29.63, taking almost a second off the mark he set on the same track in 2022.
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