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#SportsReport: Family Of Slain NASCAR Driver Can Pursue Legal Action

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NASCAR-STEWART-WARD

A federal judge has ruled the family of a race car driver fatally injured when struck by Tony Stewart's sprint car can pursue its claims against the former NASCAR star.

U.S. District Court Judge David Hurd dismissed Stewart's counterclaim and said the case was best left to a jury.

Kevin Ward Jr. was killed in August 2014 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park after his car crashed into the wall lining the dirt track in upstate New York after a bump from Stewart's vehicle. Ward exited his sprint car and was walking in the direction of Stewart's car when he was struck and killed by the veteran driver.

NBA-SCHEDULE

Lonzo Ball found out first-hand that he has a long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath as LeBron James.

Ball came within two rebounds of a triple-double, but James contributed 25 points, 12 boards and 12 assists in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to their 16th victory in 17 games, 121-112 over the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the 59th career triple-double, tying Larry Bird for sixth on the NBA's all-time list.

Kevin Love scored 13 of his 28 points in the third quarter to help the Cavs pull away in their 10th straight home win.

Ball had 13 points and 10 assists for the Lakers, while Brandon Ingram had a team-high 26 points for Los Angeles.

Checking out Thursday's other NBA action:

— Kevin Durant delivered 36 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the Warriors' eighth straight win, 112-97 over the Dallas Mavericks. Klay Thompson shot 5-for-5 from 3-point range in scoring 25 points. Omri Casspi earned another start and posted his 17th career double-double with season bests of 17 points and 11 rebounds.

— Karl-Anthony Towns had 30 points and 14 rebounds as the Timberwolves ripped the Kings 119-96. Andrew Wiggins finished with 22 points and Jimmy Butler added 21 to help Minnesota improve to 17-12, the team's third-best start after 29 games.

— Detroit's seven-game losing streak is over after Andre Drummond had 12 points, 19 rebounds and a career-high nine assists in leading the Pistons past the Atlanta Hawks 105-91. Tobias Harris added 19 points and Avery Bradley contributed 18 in Detroit's first victory since Nov. 29 against Phoenix.

— Courtney Lee scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half of the Knicks' third consecutive victory, 111-104 over the Nets. The Knicks earned just their second road win of the season, but they finished the game without forward Kristaps Porzingis due to a sore left knee in the third quarter.

NBA-BUCKS-TELETOVIC

The Milwaukee Bucks say forward Mirza Teletovic is out indefinitely after pulmonary embolisms were discovered in both of his lungs. The 32-year-old consulted with Bucks team physicians after experiencing unusual fatigue earlier this week.

Teletovic will begin a supervised rehabilitation program following a 10-day rest period. He has missed the Bucks' last 16 games, including 10 after arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage in his left knee.

Teletovic is averaging 7.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and one assist while shooting 46.7 percent from 3-point range in 10 games this season.

NFL Sunday Matchups

The Miami Dolphins will play the Buffalo Bills at 1:00 p.m.

The New York Jets will take on the New Orleans Saints at 1:00 p.m.

The Philadelphia Eagles will play the New York Giants at 1:00 p.m.

The New England Patriots will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at 4:25 p.m.

NFL-BRONCOS/COLTS

The Denver Broncos have now won two straight since an eight-game losing streak.

Brock Osweiler threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Broncos turned a 10-0 deficit into a 25-13 win over the Colts at Indianapolis. Osweiler was 12 of 17 with 194 yards after replacing Trevor Siemian, who suffered a left shoulder injury in the first quarter. Osweiler took the Broncos on three second-half scoring drives, including a go-ahead, 22-yard TD psas to Cody Latimer with 4:16 left in the third quarter.

C.J. Anderson ran 30 times for a season high 158 yards for the 5-9 Broncos.

The Colts are 3-11 and losers of six straight, their longest skid under coach Chuck Pagano.

NHL-SCHEDULE

The Boston Bruins have been one of the NHL's hottest teams of late, but they still can't beat the Capitals.

Alex Chiasson scored twice in the third period, including a short-handed breakaway with 8:29 remaining as the Caps beat the B's for the 11th straight time, 5-3. Jakub Vrana and Nicklas Backstrom also scored for Washington before Alex Ovechkin added an empty-netter.

Braden Holtby stopped 33 shots to help the Capitals stay in a first-place tie with Columbus in the Metropolitan Division.

Patrice Bergeron had a two-goal night for the Bruins, who had won nine of their previous 11.

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning improved to a league-best 23-6-2 win their season-high sixth straight win.

Nikita Kucherov remains tied with Ovechkin for the NHL goal-scoring lead after netting his 22nd in the Lightning's 4-1 win at Arizona. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for his NHL-best 21st victory.

Elsewhere on NHL ice:

— Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots in his first game against his former team as the Golden Knights beat the Penguins 2-1 to become the fastest expansion team to 20 wins. Ex-Penguin James Neal opened the scoring and Jon Merrill broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with his first goal of the season.

— Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist as the Blue Jackets won for the 11th time in their last 15 games, 6-4 over the Islanders. New York wasted Josh Bailey's hat trick and lost for the sixth time in their last eight games.

— Alex Stalock stopped 28 shots and the Wild picked up their fourth straight victory by blanking the Maple Leafs 2-0. The Maple Leafs have scored just three times in three games since losing center Auston Matthews to an upper-body injury.

— The Canadiens skated off with a 2-1 win over the Devils on a goal by Tomas Plekanec at 1:52 of overtime. Carey Price stopped 31 shots as Montreal stopped a three-game slide.

— Nashville has pulled even with St. Louis for first place in the Central Division by getting a brilliant 46-save performance from Jusse Saros in a 4-0 shutout of the Oilers in Edmonton. Kyle Turris had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who are 10-1-2 in their last 13 games and have beaten the Oilers 10 straight times.

— The Blackhawks have run their season-high winning streak to four games by thumping the Jets 5-1, leaving Winnipeg three points behind the Central-leading Blues and Predators. Patrick Kane and Nick Schmaltz each had a goal and an assist to support Corey Crawford, who made 27 saves and blanked the Jets until Nikolaj Ehlers scored a power-play goal 5:35 into the third period.

— Joonas Donskoi scored the game-winner late in third period and had an assist to lead the Sharks past the Flames 3-2. Chris Tierney and Timo Meier also had a goal and an assist to help San Jose win for the sixth time in nine games.

— The Ducks dealt the Blues their second straight loss as Kevin Roy scored twice in a 2:45 span of the third period to lead Anaheim's 3-1 verdict over St. Louis. John Gibson handled 29 shots in the Ducks' third win in four games.

— Travis Sanheim notched his first career goal and Valtteri Filppula scored the game-winner late in the second period as the Flyers bumped off the Sabres 2-1. Brian Elliott turned back 21 shots in Philadelphia's fifth consecutive win since a 10-game losing streak.

— Semyon Varlamov stopped 32 shots and Nathan MacKinnon provided Colorado's goals in a 2-1 win over the Panthers. MacKinnon's team-leading 13th goal of the season broke a 1-1 deadlock 6:44 into the third period.

MLB-NEWS

The St. Louis Cardinals have traded outfielder Stephen Piscotty to the Oakland Athletics for infield prospects Yairo Munoz and Max Schrock.

Piscotty missed parts of the 2017 season due to hamstring and groin injuries before finishing the year with a .235 average, nine homers and 39 RBIs in 107 games. The deal allows Piscotty to be near his family's home in Pleasanton, California, where his mother is battling Lou Gehrig's disease.

In other baseball news:

— Reliever Luke Gregerson and the St. Louis Cardinals have finalized an $11 million, two-year contract. The 33-year-old right-hander will have salaries of $5 million in each of the next two seasons, and St. Louis has a $5 million option for 2020 with a $1 million buyout.

— The Astros have finalized their two-year, $15 million deal with right-hander Joe Smith, who was 3-0 with one save and 71 strikeouts over 54 innings for the Blue Jays and Indians this past season. Houston also picked up outfielder Anthony Gose in the Rule 5 draft.

— A person familiar with the negotiations says reliever Fernando Rodney has agreed to a $4.5 million, one-year contract with the Twins, subject to a physical. The three-time All-Star is 44-63 with 300 saves in 828 relief appearances. He'll turn 41 during spring training.

— A person with knowledge of the deal says the Cubs and side-arming reliever Steve Cishek have ironed out a two-year contract. The 31-year-old right-hander split last season between the Mariners and Rays, going 3-2 with a 2.01 ERA in 49 relief appearances.

— The Rangers have acquired outfielder Carlos Tocci from the Chicago White Sox for cash. Texas also inked infielder Hanser Alberto and right-hander Kevin Jepsen to minor league contracts, with invitations to major league spring training.

—Relief pitcher Jonny Venters has been invited to big league spring training by the Tampa Bay Bays while trying to come back from his third Tommy John surgery.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL-NEWS

Scott Frost has won the Eddie Robinson Award as the national football coach of the year after guiding Central Florida to a perfect regular season.

The Knights went 12-0 in his second season there, winning the American Athletic Conference championship and a Peach Bowl bid before Frost announced that he will return to Nebraska to become head coach at his alma mater.

Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley, Georgia's Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney of Clemson were among the eight finalists after guiding their teams to CFP semifinal berths. The other finalists were Bill Clark of UAB, Florida Atlantic's Lane Kiffin, Army's Jeff Monken and Jeff Tedford of Fresno State.

In other college football news:

— A misdemeanor marijuana possession charge against Georgia starting inside linebacker Natrez Patrick has been dismissed, apparently clearing the way for him to play in the Rose Bowl semifinal game. The Athens Banner-Herald reported that the charge was dropped Thursday morning, according to a Barrow County probate court official. The newspaper also reported that backup receiver Jayson Stanley negotiated an agreement to plead guilty to possession of marijuana of less than an ounce and speeding. A DUI drug charge was dropped.

— An Oklahoma prosecutor says Sooners running back Rodney Anderson will not be charged after a woman accused him of sexual assault. The accusation stems from a petition for a protective order in which the woman says Anderson assaulted her in her apartment and that she fears for her safety.

— Injured West Virginia quarterback Will Grier says he'll return for his senior season in 2018. Grier threw for 3,490 yards and 34 touchdowns this year.

— Three-time Grammy winners Zac Brown Band will perform the national anthem before the college football national championship game in Atlanta on Jan. 8.

Local Women’s College Basketball:

UMass topped UMass Lowell 73 to 63.

TOP 25 MEN'S BASKETBALL

Baylor was the lone top-25 men's basketball team in action on Thursday, and the 21st-ranked Bears throttled Texas Southern 99-68 to keep the Tigers winless this season.

Manu Lecomte scored 22 points after missing a game with a left thumb injury. Nuni Omot also scored 22 in Baylor's 46th consecutive non-conference home win.

MEN"S COLLEGE BASKETBALL NEWS

Former Washington star and current Cleveland Cavaliers guard Isaiah Thomas will have his jersey No. 2 retired by the school when the Huskies host Utah on Feb. 15.

Thomas helped the Huskies win either a regular-season title or a conference tournament title in each of his three seasons at Washington. He joins Brandon Roy and Bob Houbregs as they only players to have their numbers retired by the school.

In other men's basketball news:

— Charlotte has fired men's basketball coach Mark Price and replaced him with assistant Houston Fancher on an interim basis. Price was 30-42 in two-plus seasons with the 49ers.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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