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#SportsReport: Celtics Top Jazz; Wizards Down Nets

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Jayson Tatum had 33 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics over the skidding Utah Jazz 114-103. Jaylen Brown added 20 points and Marcus Smart had 17 for Boston. All five starters scored in double figures to help the Celtics finish 3-1 on a road trip out West. Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points to lead the Jazz, who lost their fourth straight game — all at home.

Jerome Robinson's 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds left lifted the Washington Wizards to a 110-106 win over the Brooklyn Nets to snap a three-game losing streak. After Robinson gave Washington a 108-106 lead with his 3, Brooklyn's Spencer Dinwiddie missed a 3-point attempt and Robinson added two free throws as Washington won a game in which it squandered an 18-point lead. The ninth-place Wizards trail the seventh-place Nets by five games in the Eastern Conference.

Terry Rozier scored 26 points, and the Charlotte Hornets handed the New York Knicks their fifth straight loss 107-101. The slumping Devonte Graham returned from a team-mandated night off and scored 21 points. P.J. Washington and Bismack Biyombo each scored 12 points for the Hornets, who snapped a two-game losing skid. Julius Randle finished with 18 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks.

Collin Sexton scored 28 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers routed Philadelphia 108-94 on Wednesday night after 76ers center Joel Embiid left in the first quarter because of a sprained left shoulder. The 76ers, already playing without All-Star guard Ben Simmons, never led against the team with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and fell to 9-21 on the road. Embiid collided with Cavaliers center Ante Zizic while being fouled late in the first quarter. The 7-footer held his shoulder in obvious pain but stayed in the game and missed both free throws. The Sixers pulled Embiid at the next time stoppage and he walked to the locker room while rubbing his shoulder. He briefly returned to the bench in the second quarter but went back for more evaluation and treatment. At halftime, Embiid rejoined his teammates on the bench with a wrap on his injured shoulder. Tristan Thompson had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Larry Nance Jr. had 13 points for Cleveland. Shake Milton, who replaced Simmons in the starting lineup, scored 20 points.

Russell Westbrook and James Harden combined for 63 points as the Houston Rockets sailed to their fifth straight win, 140-112 over the Memphis Grizzlies. Harden piled up 30 points without playing in the fourth quarter and Westbrook, who had 33, sat down for good with about six minutes left. The duo had 46 points by halftime as Houston built a 73-47 lead. Dillon Brooks had 22 points for the Grizzlies, who finished 0-4 on their longest road trip of the season.

Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Marcus Morris added 18 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns 102-92. Los Angeles won its second straight game, bouncing back from a tough stretch that included its only three-game losing streak of the season. Deandre Ayton led the Suns with 25 points and 17 rebounds. All-Star guard Devin Booker had a rough night, scoring 14 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

Luka Doncic had 26 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for his 13th triple-double of the season, helping Dallas beat San Antonio 109-103. Kristaps Porzingis added 28 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas. 

Evan Fournier scored 28 points, Aaron Gordon added 25 and the Orlando Magic pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 130-120 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. The Magic solidified their hold on the final playoff spot in the East, putting the Hawks away with a 14-5 spurt. Fournier scored nine points in the game-clinching run, and Gordon finished it off with a 3-pointer. The Hawks lost despite a 37-point effort from Trae Young. John Collins added 26 points but was blocked twice in the fourth quarter to stymie any hopes of an Atlanta comeback.

Jordan McLaughlin's layup with just under nine seconds left put Minnesota ahead for good, D'Angelo Russell led all scorers with 27 points and the Timberwolves added to Miami's late-season stagger and the Timberwolves beat the Heat 129-126. Malik Beasley scored 21 points, Juancho Hernangomez tied a season-high with 17 and McLaughlin added 13 for Minnesota. The Timberwolves were down by 12 with 3:59 left, then closed on a 20-5 run to get just their second victory in 20 games. Kendrick Nunn led Miami with 24 points. Bam Adebayo had 22 points and 10 rebounds.

In NBA news, the NBA fined Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid $25,000 Wednesday, two days after he made an obscene gesture on the court and used profane language during a live television interview. The gesture occurred with 17 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Sixers' 129-112 victory over the Hawks on Monday night. With the clock winding down, Atlanta's Kevin Huerter came from behind and swiped the ball from Embiid, who was trying to dribble it out. Embiid responded by flashing a middle finger at Huerter. He later apologized.

Hornets guard Malik Monk has been suspended without pay for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA's anti-drug program. Monk's suspension will begin with Wednesday's game against the New York Knicks and continue until he is determined to be in full compliance with the program.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

In men’s college basketball, UMass Lowell downed UAlbany 88-69, Siena nipped Quinnipiac 84-77, Manhattan outlasted Marist 65-56, Syracuse crushed Pittsburgh 72-49, UMass bested VCU 60-52, Hartford held off Stony Brook 65-54, and UConn ripped UCF 81-65.

In women’s college basketball, UMass Lowell beat UAlbany 78-75, UMass defeated Saint Joseph’s 51-47, Hartford outpaced Stony Brook 70-67, and UConn destroyed Cincinnati 105-58.

In men's top-25 basketball, Darryl Morsell drained the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left for No. 9 Maryland to cap a comeback from a 16-point halftime deficit and beat Minnesota 74-73. Jalen Smith had 16 points and 12 rebounds, including a soaring rebound and slam with 14.5 seconds remaining that pulled the Terrapins within 73-71. Anthony Cowan Jr. had 10 points, nine assists and six rebounds for Maryland, which maintained a two-game lead for first place in the Big Ten with three games left. Daniel Oturu had 28 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota, which missed three foul shots in the final 39 seconds. Then the Terrapins hustled the ball up to find Morsell, who had 13 points and nine rebounds, for the winner from NBA range.

Myles Dread hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to lift No. 16 Penn State over Rutgers 65-64 after the Nittany Lions blew a 21-point lead. Trailing 40-19 late in the first half, the Scarlet Knights tied the game at 62 with 1:32 left in the game on Geo Baker's layup. His jumper gave Rutgers a two-point lead with 42 seconds remaining. Dread hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to lift Penn State over Rutgers 65-64 after the Nittany Lions blew a 21-point lead. Akwasi Yeboah missed a 3-pointer the other way and Dread was swarmed by his teammates who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Saddiq Bey scored 23 points and Justin Moore had 21 to lead No. 12 Villanova past St. John's 71-60 on Wednesday night. Moore hit eight 3-pointers and Bey had seven.  The Wildcats honored former Wildcats star Kyle Lowry. Lowry played two seasons for Villanova before he became a five-time NBA All-Star with the defending champion Toronto Raptors. St. John's were 12 1/2-point underdogs but kept it close until Moore got on a hot streak down the stretch to seal the win.

NHL

JT. Compher broke a tie on a wrist shot with 8:06 remaining, Martin Kaut scored his first NHL goal and the banged-up Colorado Avalanche won their fourth straight by beating the Buffalo Sabres 3-2. Gabriel Landeskog also scored to help the Avalanche vault into second place in the Central Division. Pavel Francouz was sharp in stopping 31 shots. Zemgus Girgensons and Curtis Lazar scored for the Sabres. They've dropped five straight to Colorado. 

The Los Angeles Kings spoiled Patrick Marleau's debut with Pittsburgh in a 2-1 victory over the Penguins. Blake Lizotte had a power-play goal and an assist, Cal Petersen made 36 saves and Trevor Lewis also scored in the last-place Kings' fourth win in seven games. Tristan Jarry stopped 20 shots in Pittsburgh's fourth consecutive regulation loss, matching their total regulation defeats in their previous 22 games since Christmas. Bryan Rust scored with 13:18 to play for the Penguins with an assist from Evgeni Malkin, who played his 900th career game.

Nick Cousins scored in his Vegas debut and the Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 in a matchup between two of the top teams in the Pacific Division. Max Pacioretty and Shea Theodore also scored as Vegas won its seventh straight game. Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves to earn his 61st career shutout to tie Turk Broda for 17th all-time. The 16-year-veteran netminder is now 5-0-0 in his last five starts. Vegas improved to 11-3-2 under Peter DeBoer. Edmonton lost for the first time when playing on the second of back-to-back nights, dropping to 6-1-0.

In NHL news, the Toronto Maple Leafs have suffered another setback on defense with the loss of Jake Muzzin to a broken hand. The Leafs announced that Muzzin will be out about four weeks after suffering the injury during a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. Toronto also is missing defensemen Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci because of injuries.

St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester has been ruled out from returning to play in the regular season or in the playoffs. Bouwmeester spoke to reporters for the first time since he collapsed on the bench in the first period during a game at the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 11. The 36-year-old Edmonton native was hospitalized and spent five nights in the hospital.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Victor Mete will miss the rest of the season with a broken foot. Mete suffered the injury during the game in Detroit on Feb. 18. The 21-year-old Mete had four goals and 11 assists in 51 games this season.

Peter Laviolette is returning to the bench after being selected as the coach of the United States men's national team competing at the world hockey championships in May. The move was announced by USA Hockey on Wednesday, seven weeks after Laviolette was fired by the Nashville Predators. Laviolette ranks 16th in NHL wins with 637 covering four teams over 18 seasons, including the 2006 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. He also coached the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers.

MLB

Oft-injured New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton will likely miss opening day because of a strained right calf. Manager Aaron Boone says Stanton was injured near the end of defensive drills yesterday. Yankees star pitcher Luis Severino needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season. The AL East champion Yankees open on March 26 at Baltimore. The Yankees put a major league-record 30 players on the injured list last year, with Stanton missing most of the season.

Meanwhile, Justin Verlander's spring training debut will be postponed at least a few more days while the Houston Astros ace deals with tightness in his groin. Verlander had been scheduled to start Thursday against Washington. Instead, he will throw a simulated game at the Astros' complex prior to that exhibition. Houston manager Dusty Baker said the tightness first appeared a couple of days ago. Baker says he isn't worried about the injury lingering. Verlander won his second Cy Young Award last season by going 21-6 with a 2.52 ERA.

31-year-old left-hander South Korean star Kwang Hyun Kim retired all six Miami batters he faced in his first Grapefruit League start for the St. Louis Cardinals. It came after he threw one shutout inning of relief against the New York Mets on Saturday. Kim struggled with control of his off-speed pitches in the first inning, but he found his rhythm in the second. He kept batters off balance mixing a fastball that touched 95 mph with his curve. The Marlins didn't get a ball out of the infield against Kim.

Ubaldo Jimenez took another step in his comeback attempt with the Colorado Rockies, pitching two innings against the Texas Rangers. The 36-year-old threw 21 pitches, 14 for strikes. He gave up two hits and one run, with no walks or strikeouts. He last pitched in the majors in 2017 for Baltimore.

Miguel Sano has volunteered to move across the diamond to accommodate Twins newcomer Josh Donaldson. Sano gave up his regular spot at third base, moving to first base, and let Donaldson take his place at third. Sano bounced back from a winter injury last season and hit a career-high 34 home runs. His power helped the Twins set a major league record with 307 homers and win the AL Central.

Houston's Alex Bregman was hit on the back by a breaking ball from St. Louis reliever Ramon Santos, the seventh Astros player plunked in five spring training games. Some opposing players have called for retaliation against the Astros following Major League Baseball's finding that Houston broke rules against electronic sign-stealing en route to its 2017 World Series title and again in 2018. Dustin Garneau was hit Sunday against Washington, and José Altuve was grazed Monday against Detroit, when Osvaldo Duarte and Alex De Goti also were hit.  Aledmys Díaz and Jake Meyers were hit Tuesday by Miami.

The Houston Astros continued to get booed on the road in spring training as they visited the home of the New York Mets. Former World Series MVP George Springer was heckled as part of Houston's split squad. Fans are calling the Astros cheaters, and doing it loudly in the wake of their sign-stealing scam. Springer had to hear it for a bit longer on Wednesday. The star leadoff man stepped into the batter's box a minute before the game was scheduled to begin, giving the crowd extra time to boo him.

NFL

The NFL and its players are closer to a new collective bargaining agreement and the next decade of labor peace that would come with it. There's still work to be done to get the deal into the end zone, however. Following a late-night vote on the slim majority approval of the 32 team representatives, the NFL Players Association was preparing to send the current CBA proposal to the full union membership for potential ratification. Last week, owners gave their majority-vote approval. Negotiations have been gone on for the past 10 months. The 17-game regular season is the most significant change.

The New York Giants have released linebackers Alec Ogletree and Kareem Martin, clearing significant salary cap space with the departure of their two most expensive defensive players. The Giants, rebuilding under rookie head coach Joe Judge, gained more than $13 million in salary cap savings by jettisoning the two. Ogletree was twice elected a team captain and accumulated a team-high 173 tackles as the starter at inside linebacker over two seasons with the Giants.

Former TCU and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Trevone Boykin has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges from the 2018 beating of his girlfriend. Boykin and prosecutors agreed to the sentence in return for his guilty plea Wednesday to aggravated assault and witness tampering charges. Boykin's attorney says his client will be eligible for parole in less than a year. Shabrika Bailey alleged that Boykin broke her jaw in two places in the March 2018 beating. The Seahawks cut Boykin in the wake of the allegation.

CORONAVIRUS

Japan's professional baseball league says it will play its 72 remaining preseason games in empty stadiums because of the threat of the spreading coronavirus. The regular season is to open on March 20. The virus that began in China is disrupting all of the country's sports schedules and has raised concerns about the Tokyo Olympics. They are to open on July 24. Representatives of the baseball league's 12 teams made the move at a special meeting. Meanwhile, Ireland's Six Nations rugby match against Italy in Dublin has been postponed because of concerns about the spreading virus in Europe. The Italians were scheduled to play at Ireland on March 7, part of annual rugby competition that also includes England, France, Scotland and Wales. A women's game the following day was also postponed. And Asian soccer leaders have postponed two key meetings because of the outbreak.

© The Associated Press 2020. All Rights Reserved.