NBA
It is fitting that in a town built on movies and television, JJ Redick likes to use a popular directing term to refer to different moments in his first season as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. On Thursday night, the Lakers provided Redick with another memorable callback moment. Los Angeles began a stretch of five games against some of the top teams in the NBA with a 113-109 overtime victory over the New York Knicks. The Lakers have won eight straight and are second in the Western Conference at 40-21.
New York star guard Jalen Brunson could miss an extended period of time after suffering an ankle injury during overtime last night. Coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game that Brunson was still being examined by the medical staff. Brunson rolled his right ankle with 1:24 remaining in overtime after landing on the foot of Lakers guard Austin Reaves after being fouled on a drive to the basket. Brunson got help up from teammates and stayed in the game to make both free throws and tie it at 107. He then came out and went to the locker room.
Perhaps only Stephen Curry could describe his basket as the first half was ending as a “rhythm shot.” Who else but the most accomplished outside shooter in history could be in rhythm when he’s nearly 40 feet away and not even facing the basket? Curry threw in the turnaround heave from 38 feet with 0.3 seconds left in the second quarter while scoring 40 points in Golden State’s 121-119 victory over Brooklyn on Thursday night. Longtime teammate Draymond Green said after the game he was thinking to himself that "the NBA is lucky, because this man is going into every arena and putting on a show.”
Jayson Tatum had 35 points and the Boston Celtics powered past the Philadelphia 76ers 123-105. It was Tatum’s 24th game this season with at least 30 points even though he sat out the entire fourth quarter as Boston posted its ninth win in its last 11 games. Payton Pritchard added 19 points and Derrick White finished with 12 points and six assists after having one of his teeth knocked out in the first half when he took an inadvertent elbow. Kelly Oubre Jr. led the 76ers with 27 points and Lonnie Walker IV added 17.
Coby White scored a career-high 44 points and the Chicago Bulls beat the Orlando Magic 125-123 on Thursday night. White was 7 of 15 from 3-point range. He scored Chicago’s last nine points on two layups, a dunk and a 3-pointer. Josh Giddy added 19 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, and and Tre Jones had 20 points. Paolo Banchero and Cole Anthony scored 20 points each for Orlando. The Magic have lost five straight.
Trae Young had 22 points and 16 assists, Onyeka Okongwu added 20 points and 13 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 124-118 on Thursday night to open a two-game set. Georges Niang scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter for the Hawks, who had lost five in a row against Indiana since the 2022-23 season. His layup with 1:07 left put Atlanta up 116-109. Pascal Siakam had 35 points for the Pacers, who were playing without two-time All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton for only the second time this season. Haliburton was out with a hip issue.
Amen Thompson had 21 points and 11 rebounds and the Houston Rockets had a dominating second half to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 109-97 on Thursday night to open a home-and-home set. Alperen Sengun added 22 points, eight assists and three steals, and Tari Eason scored 21 points as the Rockets snapped a three-game losing streak. They had lost their last eight road games. Trey Murphy III scored 26 points to lead the Pelicans. Zion Williamson had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Thompson had 12 points in the second half, including a dunk to cap the Rockets’ opening spurt right out of the break that put them ahead for the first time — and for the rest of the game.
NHL
Jake Guentzel had a hat trick, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Bjorkstrand scored on a wrist shot with 18:20 remaining, assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Yanni Gourde. Guentzel scored all three of his goals in the second period and has 32 this season. Nicholas Paul and Darren Raddysh also scored for the Lightning. Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Peyton Krebs and John-Jason Peterka scored for the Sabres.
Seth Jarvis scored with 18.6 seconds remaining and the Carolina Hurricanes won their third consecutive game by defeating the Boston Bruins 3-2. Sebastian Aho and Brent Burns also scored for the Hurricanes, whose last three victories have each come by one goal. Pyotr Kochetkov made 32 saves. Morgan Geekie scored both goals for the Bruins, who have lost three straight. Joonas Korpisalo made 20 saves.
Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists, Kyle Connor added a goal and an assist and the Winnipeg Jets snapped a three-game skid by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1. Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets, who became the first NHL team to reach 90 points this season. Eric Comrie made 21 saves. Matvei Michkov scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, which lost for the third time in four games.
Kevin Stenlund scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Utah Hockey Club handed Detroit its fourth straight loss, 4-2. Stenlund scored his first goal in 24 games, while Dylan Guenther, Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse also scored for Utah, which has won four of its last five games. Karel Vejmelka made 38 saves on the same day he signed to a five-year contract extension. Dylan Larkin and Jonatan Berggren scored first-period goals for the Red Wings. Alex Lyon stopped 15 shots. Detroit is 1-4-1 in its last six home games.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots for his second shutout in four games and fourth of the season, and the Florida Panthers won their fifth straight, 3-0 over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The win for Bobrovsky was his 423rd, moving the 36-year-old, 14-year veteran into a tie with Tony Esposito for 10th on the NHL’s career list. He did it in 742 games, 144 fewer than Esposito. Aleksander Barkov assisted on Florida’s first two goals and scored on an empty-netter. Sam Reinhart also had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, and Mackie Samoskevich scored the other goal. Elvis Merzlikins made 33 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Filip Forsberg scored two goals and the Nashville Predators beat the Seattle Kraken 5-3. Brady Skjei scored the first of the Predators’ three second-period goals. Forsberg and Michael McCarron also scored in the period, with McCarron’s wrap-around goal making it 4-1 with 9 seconds remaining. Luke Evangelista also scored for Nashville. Mikey Eyssimont, Adam Larsson and Jared McCann scored for the Kraken. Forsberg now has 48 career multi-goal games for the fourth most by a Swedish-born player. Nashville won its second straight game for the first time since February.
Evan Bouchard scored off Connor McDavid’s nifty centering pass after McDavid circled the Montreal zone late in overtime to the give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 victory over the Canadiens on Thursday night. Leon Draisaitl scored his NHL-leading 46th goal and assisted on Bouchard’s goal. Corey Perry also scored and Stuart Skinner made 25 saves. The Oilers had lost six of seven, and the Canadiens had won five in a row. Cole Caufield scored his 31st for Montreal, and Joel Armia also beat Skinner. Sam Montembeault stopped 29 shots. Draisaitl broke a tie with Mark Messier for fourth place on the Oilers’ career goals list with 393. Wayne Gretzky tops the list with 583, followed by Jari Kurri with 474 and Glenn Anderson with 417.
Evan Bouchard scored off Connor McDavid’s nifty centering pass after McDavid circled the Montreal zone late in overtime to the give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 victory over the Canadiens on Thursday night. Leon Draisaitl scored his NHL-leading 46th goal and assisted on Bouchard’s goal. Corey Perry also scored and Stuart Skinner made 25 saves. The Oilers had lost six of seven, and the Canadiens had won five in a row. Cole Caufield scored his 31st for Montreal, and Joel Armia also beat Skinner. Sam Montembeault stopped 29 shots. Draisaitl broke a tie with Mark Messier for fourth place on the Oilers’ career goals list with 393. Wayne Gretzky tops the list with 583, followed by Jari Kurri with 474 and Glenn Anderson with 417.
Cale Makar had two goals and four assists for the first six-point game by a defenseman in franchise history and Nathan MacKinnon added two goals and three assists to extend his home points streak to 18 games in the Colorado Avalanche’s 7-3 romp over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. MacKinnon moved three points away from joining Joe Sakic and Peter Stastny as the only skaters in franchise history to reach 1,000 points. Jonathan Drouin, Joel Kiviranta and Martin Necas added goals as the Avalanche improved to 4-0 on their six-game homestand. They have won 12 straight against the Sharks, roughing up former Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev in the rout. Fabian Zetterlund, Macklin Celebrini and William Eklund scored for the Sharks.
The Colorado Avalanche made a big splash on the eve of the NHL trade deadline by getting center Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders. The move came hours after the Western Conference-rival Vegas Golden Knights reacquired winger Reilly Smith in a deal with the New York Rangers. Much of the action Thursday came in the East, where New Jersey added on defense with Brian Dumoulin, Florida got depth center Nico Sturm and the Rangers also bought by acquiring Carson Soucy from Vancouver.
The ever-modest Cale Makar did all he could to downplay his two-goal, four-assist night. It was a performance that just so happened to be the most productive scoring night by a defenseman in franchise history. Teammate Nathan MacKinnon made sure to put Makar’s achievement in proper perspective as well as his entire season. MacKinnon said it's tough to find a better player in the league. Makar became the third defenseman in the last 30 years to notch six points in a game. He joins Kris Letang in 2023 and Sheldon Souray in 2004, according to NHL Stats.
SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL
Tampa Bay 5 Philadelphia 4
Minnesota 8 N.Y. Yankees 4
Houston 5 N.Y. Mets 1
Toronto 7 Boston 4
Pittsburgh 9 Baltimore 5
San Francisco 7 Chicago White Sox 3
Texas 8 San Diego 2
L.A. Dodgers 8 Texas 4
Cleveland 4 Arizona 0
Kansas City 9 Chicago Cubs 3
Milwaukee 10 Athletics 0
Arizona 11 Seattle 4
L.A. Angels 5 Seattle 5
Washington 12 St. Louis 1
Miami 1 Atlanta 1
L.A. Angels 5 Seattle 5
A person with direct knowledge of the negotiations says outfielder Lawrence Butler has agree to a $65.5 million, seven-year contract with the Athletics. The agreement, first reported by ESPN, includes a team option for 2032 and was subject to a successful physical, the person said, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract hasn’t been completed. Butler, a 24-year-old who was a sixth-round pick in the 2018 amateur draft, hit .262 average, 22 home runs and 18 stolen bases last year.
NFL
Two people with knowledge of the move say All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson received permission from the Cincinnati Bengals to seek a trade. Hendrickson led the NFL in sacks this past season. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss personnel moves. ESPN first reported the move after receiving a statement from Hendrickson. Hendrickson had 17 1/2 sacks last season for the second straight year. His 57 sacks since joining the Bengals in 2021 are third-most in the league over the past four seasons.
Deshaun Watson’s contract has been reworked again by the Cleveland Browns as the team looks to clear salary cap space with the new league year less than one week away. A person with knowledge of the move tells The Associated Press the latest restructuring of the quarterback’s contract will clear nearly $36 million in cap space for the Browns. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the move, which was first reported by ESPN. The Browns were nearly $22 million over the cap before restructuring Watson’s deal. It is the second time in three months that Watson’s contract was reworked.
GOLF
Wyndham Clark has the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after a brutal day of cold and wind at Bay Hill. Clark played in the afternoon and got a slight reprieve with calmer wind. But his 67 was still the highest score to lead at Bay Hill in eight years. He leads by two shots over a group that includes Shane Lowry and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley. Rory McIlroy bogeyed his last hole for a 70. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler battled to a 71. Only 14 players in the 72-man field of this signature event managed to break par.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Siena 68 Fairfield 64
Merrimack 75 Marist 53
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 66 New Hampshire 44
Fairfield 62 Siena 49
Merrimack 55 Marist 47
UVM 70 UMBC 39
WINTER SPORTS
There’s a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada who is wanted for running a multi-national drug trafficking network and planning multiple murders related to the drug ring. The FBI has added 43-year-old Ryan Wedding to its 10 Most Wanted list, while also announcing the State Department’s $10 million offer. Wedding was charged last June with murder and drug crimes. Those charges were augmented in September in an indictment that alleged Wedding and others arranged the shipment of some 60 tons of cocaine a year. Wedding finished 24th in parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Olympics.
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