Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart each scored 21 points, and the Boston Celtics broke away from a fourth-quarter tie to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-106 on Tuesday night. Kyrie Irving didn't play for Boston, but the Celtics snapped a four-game losing streak and are 11-2 without their leading scorer.
In other NBA action, the Bucks defeated the visiting Houston Rockets 108-94 Tuesday night. Eric Bledsoe scored 23 points, including 16 in a decisive third quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Milwaukee, which improved to an NBA-best 56-19. James Harden had 23 and Chris Paul 19 for Houston, which lost for just the third time in 17 games. Harden made just 9-of-26 shots, including 1-of-9 from three-point range with Bledsoe closely guarding him throughout most of the game. After a tightly contested first half, the Bucks grabbed control in the third, sparked by Bledsoe's clutch shooting. Leading by five at the half, Milwaukee built a 19-point lead in the third. Bledsoe made 4-of-5 3-pointers in the third after missing his only two attempts in the first half. Bledsoe's third-quarter output nearly matched the 18 points scored by Houston in the period. Milwaukee held the Rockets at bay for most of the final quarter, maintaining a comfortable double-digit lead throughout before clearing the bench with about one minute left.
Nikola Vucevic scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Jonathan Issac added 19 points and the Orlando Magic extended their longest winning streak in eight years to six games by topping the Miami Heat 104-99 on Tuesday night. D.J. Augustin scored 17 points and Aaron Gordon finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic (37-38), who won the season series with Miami 3-1 and moved past the Heat (36-38) into eighth in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Danilo Gallinari scored 25 points as the Los Angeles Clippers clinched a playoff spot Tuesday night with a 122-111 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Coach Doc Rivers' club is back in the postseason after falling short last year. The Clippers finished last season with a 42-40 record to miss the playoffs after six straight years in the postseason -- and four under Rivers. The Clippers (45-30) were the fifth Western Conference team to secure a postseason berth.
Kemba Walker had 11 of his 38 points in overtime, and the Charlotte Hornets beat the San Antonio Spurs 125-116 Tuesday night to stretch their season-long winning streak to four games. It was Charlotte's first overtime win of the season in five tries. The Spurs entered the game tied with Oklahoma City for the seventh-best record in the West.
Norman Powell scored 20 points, Serge Ibaka had 16 and the Toronto Raptors beat Chicago 112-103 on Tuesday night, their eighth consecutive win over the struggling Bulls. The Raptors improved to 30-9 at home.
Rookie Trae Young had 33 points and 12 assists for his 24th double-double of the season, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the New Orleans Pelicans 130-120.
De'Aaron Fox scored 23 points, including a crucial basket to help Sacramento stay in front in the final minute, and the Kings beat the Dallas Mavericks 125-121 on Tuesday night. Dallas rookie sensation Luka Doncic tied Magic Johnson with his seventh triple-double in his first season, getting 28 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. It's the third-most triple-doubles by a rookie. Dirk Nowitzki, in a record 21st season with the same franchise, didn't play in the second half.
Jamal Murray scored 33 points, including six over the final minute, and the Denver Nuggets held off the Detroit Pistons 95-92 on Tuesday night after nearly squandering a 27-point lead. At 50-23, the Nuggets move into a tie with Golden State for the top spot in the Western Conference. It's the first 50-win season for Denver since the 2012-13 squad went 57-25.
NHL
Sergei Bobrovsky recorded his second consecutive shutout and the Columbus Blue Jackets stayed in the NHL playoff hunt, beating the New York Islanders 4-0 Tuesday night. Ryan Dzingel, Artemi Panarin, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson scored, and Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves and his eighth shutout of the season for the Blue Jackets, who are fighting to get above the wild-card line in the Eastern Division with six games to play. They started the day two points behind Montreal for the second Eastern Division wild-card spot and three points behind Carolina for the first. The Canadiens and Blue Jackets face off in Columbus on Thursday night. The Blue Jackets took advantage of a couple of New York mistakes to help salvage a win in the last of the four-game season series between the Metro Division rivals.
In Washington, Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 49th goal of the season to snap a four-game drought and help Washington beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday night, increasing the Capitals' division lead. Washington increased its lead to three points over former coach Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders atop the Metropolitan Division. But the Columbus Blue Jackets' defeat of the Islanders on Tuesday night kept the Capitals from clinching a playoff berth.
Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots for his second shutout of the season and the Ottawa Senators beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-0 Tuesday night. The Senators won the first of a four-game homestand after going 1-2-0 on a three-game trip through Western Canada.
In other NHL action, Rookie Sam Steel recorded his first NHL hat trick and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 Tuesday night. Rickard Rakell and Kiefer Sherwood also scored for the Ducks. Jake Virtanen, Alex Edler, Josh Leivo and Tanner Pearson scored for the Canucks.
Nick Cousins scored a power-play goal early in the third period and the Arizona Coyotes boosted their playoff chances, snapping a five-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Darcy Kuemper made his 18th consecutive start and stopped 31 shots for his fourth shutout of the season.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl each scored three goals as the Edmonton Oilers powered their way to an 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Draisaitl added an assist, Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, and Zack Kassian also scored for the Oilers, who moved within five points of a wild card in the Western Conference playoff race with six games remaining.
Tomas Tatar had two goals and an assist to lead the Montreal Canadiens over the Florida Panthers 6-1 on Tuesday night to remain in playoff position. Brett Kulak, Artturi Lehkonen, Phillip Danault and Max Domi also scored for the Canadiens (41-28-8), who have won four of five. Montreal is in a tight three-team playoff race with the Carolina Hurricanes and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Canadiens are in the second wild-card spot, one point behind Carolina and two points ahead of Columbus.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
An Ohio man has made history with a March Madness bracket that's perfect through 48 games on the NCAA.com's "Bracket Challenge," according to the NCAA. Gregg Nigl of Columbus told The Columbus Dispatch he almost didn't fill out his bracket last week, saying he was home sick just hours before the deadline. But he felt bad about not entering a bracket in his friend's tournament group. Instead, he correctly predicted every game through the first two rounds of the 2019 NCAA tournament. The NCAA bracket tracker says the bracket is the only perfect one remaining across all major online bracket games, including Yahoo, ESPN, CBS, Fox, Sports Illustrated and the NCAA's own contest. It's the longest streak of correct bracket picks, breaking the reported record of 39 games, which happened in 2017. The NCAA says the odds of a perfect bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion — so bettors, take the under. Nigl, 40, said he researched his picks, doing his homework after the tournament field was unveiled, including watching some of the bracket shows on TV.
And one week into March Madness, CBS is feeling good. Based on ratings from the nation's largest media markets, the Nielsen company said CBS and the Turner Networks had the second best performance over the last 29 years for the first four games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The only year to do better in that period was 2015. Nielsen did not have exact viewership numbers, but Duke's close call Sunday against Central Florida was particularly popular.
NFL
NFL team owners voted Tuesday on a one-year trial basis to include those often-controversial penalties in the officiating replay review system. Coaches still will have two challenges per game, and in the final two minutes of a half or fourth quarter or for all of overtime, the replay official can order a review of offensive or defensive pass interference. The major change — owners traditionally have been highly reluctant to include any penalties in the replay process — stems from an egregious missed call in the NFC championship game that likely led to the Rams making the Super Bowl and the Saints falling short.
NFL owners voted down a proposal to replace the onside kick with one play from scrimmage, and tabled a suggestion to require each team to have one possession in overtime regardless of what happened on the first series of the extra period. Owners will next take up the overtime topic again at their May meeting. Team owners are tweaking Pass interference. Whether flagged or not, pass interference can be challenged by coaches and reviewed by officials next season.
The NFL has also awarded nearly a quarter-million dollars to two companies seeking to enhance protection provided by helmets. Windpact, founded by former NFL cornerback Shawn Springs, is receiving $148,820 to tailor its padding technology, called Crash Cloud, for use in Schutt's helmets. Auxadyne was awarded $86,688 to advance its XPF material, an energy absorber that becomes more dense upon impact. The company will use this unique material, the only commercially available of its kind, to create a football helmet padding system that can reduce the impact to an athlete's head.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft now says he wants his misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution charge tried by a jury, not a judge. Kraft's attorneys filed a court notice Tuesday also waiving his arraignment, which had been scheduled for Thursday. His lawyers also reiterated his not guilty plea, which he made last month. Kraft and 24 other men were charged in Palm Beach County as part of a multicounty crackdown on massage parlor prostitution. About 300 men are charged overall. Prosecutors say Kraft was videotaped by police twice in January paying for sex with a woman at a Jupiter, Florida, massage parlor. If convicted, Kraft would face 100 hours of community service and a $5,000 fine. He could also get a year in jail, although that is unlikely.
In other NFL news, the New Orleans Saints have added 2018 Pro Bowl tight end Jared Cook to their roster. General manager Mickey Loomis says the 6-foot-5, 254-pound Cook has agreed to the terms of a free-agent contract. He's a 10-year veteran and caught 68 passes for 896 yards and six touchdowns with Oakland last season, his best season season yet.
The Oakland Raiders have signed free agent quarterback Landry Jones. The move on gives the Raiders another potential backup behind starter Derek Carr. Oakland signed Mike Glennon earlier in free agency and also has Nathan Peterman on the roster. Jones was originally a fourth-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2013. He has played 18 games with five starts in his career, completing 108 of 169 passes for 1,310 yards, eight TDs, seven interceptions and an 86.2 rating.
MLB
Two top National League starters well be getting bigger paybacks. A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets have agreed to a $137.5 million, five-year contract. The deal guarantees an additional $120.5 million over four seasons. DeGrom would have been eligible for free agency after the 2020 season, but the new deal gives him the right to opt out of the deal after the 2022 season. The right-hander turns 31 in June. He had a 1.70 ERA last year yet and allowed three runs or fewer in 29 consecutive starts to close the season.
And right-hander Kyle Hendricks and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a contract that adds $55.5 million from 2020 to 2023, guaranteeing he will receive nearly $63 million over the next five seasons. Hendricks, who turned 29 in December, has a 3.07 ERA in five seasons with the Cubs and went 14-11 with a 3.44 ERA last year.
According to projections by The Associated Press, even with huge new contracts for Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado, Major League Baseball's average salary is on track to drop on opening day for an unprecedented second straight season. The 872 players on rosters and injured lists on Monday evening averaged $4.36 million, down from $4.41 million at the start of last season and $4.45 million on opening day in 2017, according to AP studies. Back-to-back drops follow consecutive slow free-agent markets that saw salaries slashed for many veterans, and top pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel remain unsigned as openers approached. This year's exact figure could rise or fall when teams set opening-day rosters Thursday. The number will be impacted by how many players go on the injured list and how many lower-priced replacements are put on active rosters.
In other baseball news, Major League Baseball has suspended San Francisco Giants President and CEO Larry Baer without pay until July 1 after a video showed him in a physical altercation with his wife. Commissioner Rob Manfred says Baer's conduct, as seen on the video, was "unacceptable" and warranted discipline. Manfred says Baer should be held to a higher standard because of his position as a leader of the franchise. In a statement, Baer says he respects the decision and apologized for his actions.
And Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner thinks New York has a championship-caliber team as it heads into Thursday's opener against Baltimore. Steinbrenner said the Yankees are "as good as anybody. The team is going to do everything they can to win this thing. I believe they're going to play up to their potential." Steinbrenner thinks the Yankees have enough depth to overcome injuries to Sabathia, Luis Severino, Dellin Betances, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, and Jordan Montgomery. New York went 100-62 last season for its best record since 2009, yet finished eight games back of the AL East champion Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series for the fourth time in 15 seasons. Last year's Yankees, led by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton set a major league record with 267 homers, three more than the 1997 Seattle Mariners. The Yankees focused on pitching during the offseason, adding Adam Ottavino and James Paxton, and re-signing Sabathia, Zack Britton, and J.A. Happ.
NASCAR
NASCAR made the first significant changes to its schedule in years by shuffling the 2020 season into a freshened new sequence that tries to meet the wants of fans to the best of its current ability. The 2020 schedule released Tuesday moved the season finale to the Phoenix area and iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway got July 5th to give it back-to-back summer holiday weekends. Daytona gave up its traditional and often rain-wrecked July 4th weekend for the final race of the regular season, when the playoff field will be completed. Pocono Raceway will run both its 400-mile races on back-to-back June afternoons, Martinsville Speedway got a Mother's Day race under the lights and also a slot in the playoffs — one of three short tracks featured in NASCAR's 10-race playoffs. Even better for Martinsville, it got the penultimate race for the championship finale. Bristol and Richmond short tracks both joined the playoffs, as did Darlington Raceway.
AVENATTI ARREST
Attorney Michael Avenatti came out swinging Tuesday against Nike, accusing the shoemaker of "rampant" corruption mere hours after he was released from U.S. custody on charges he tried to extort up to $25 million from the company. In a string of posts on Twitter — a medium he often used to accuse others of wrongdoing — Avenatti claimed Nike has funneled "large sums" of money to elite student-athletes bound for top colleges. He added that corruption "reaches the highest levels of Nike" and cryptically referred to receipts that are "clear as day." Avenatti, best known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in legal battles against President Donald Trump, didn't produce evidence or detail exactly what he believed the company had done wrong. Avenatti's tweetstorm came the morning after he was arrested and charged in two separate federal cases. In Los Angeles, he's accused of embezzling money from a client. In New York, prosecutors say he told Nike he would reveal damaging information about its dealings with a youth basketball team unless the company paid him millions.
A Nike spokesman declined to answer questions about Avenatti's tweets. The company released a statement Monday saying it will "not be extorted or hide information that is relevant to a government investigation." It also said it has been cooperating with a federal investigation into NCAA basketball for a year.
NASSAR CASE
A Michigan police officer who investigated a complaint against Larry Nassar back in 2004 says he didn't send the case to a prosecutor because the now-disgraced sports doctor fooled him. Officials in Meridian Township, Michigan, publicly apologized to the victim, Brianne Randall-Gay, a year ago, after Nassar was sentenced to decades to prison for molesting girls and young women. They also took an extraordinary step, hiring an investigator to learn more about how police handled her complaint. That report, released Tuesday, didn't reveal many new details, but it includes an interview with Andrew McCready, who investigated Randall-Gay's allegation that Nassar had molested her. Nassar told police he was performing a legitimate medical procedure. McCready says, "I believed his lies." Randall-Gay, who lives in the Seattle area, says she forgives McCready.
© The Associated Press 2019. All Rights Reserved.
