Rookie RJ Barrett poured in a season-high 27 points and Mitchell Robinson added a career-best 22 points with 13 rebounds as the Knicks crushed the Hawks, 143-120. Marcus Morris also scored 22 to help New York win for the third time in four games since a 10-game losing streak.
The Pelicans stretched their team-record losing streak to 13 games as Spencer Dinwiddie delivered 31 points in the Nets' 108-101 overtime win at New Orleans. Joe Harris chipped in 24 points, including a right-wing jumper that put Brooklyn ahead 104-98 with 1:28 to go.
The Indiana Pacers have put an end to the Los Angeles Lakers' seven-game winning streak. Domantas Sabonis scored 26 points and Malcolm Brogdon made a tiebreaking reverse layup with 36.4 seconds left to send the Pacers past the Lakers, 105-102. Brogdon finished with 16 points and six assists for Indiana, which trailed by four midway through the final period. LeBron James had 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists but missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Lakers the lead with 11.7 seconds to go. Los Angeles also missed two shots on its final possession. The Pacers are 19-9 following their fourth straight win. The Lakers ended a 14-game road winning streak and fell to 24-4, tying them with Milwaukee for the NBA's best record.
Paul George scored 24 points and the Clippers returned from a two-week road trip to crush the Suns, 120-99. Kawhi Leonard and Lou Williams each added 20 points and contributed to a 32-16 run that put Los Angeles ahead, 90-69.
Donovan Mitchell scored eight of his 30 points in a 19-5 run that allowed the Jazz to turn a 97-90 deficit into a 109-102 triumph over the Magic. Bojan Bogdanovic scored nine of his 30 points during the late surge, and Joe Ingles finished 16 points and 12 rebounds in Utah's third consecutive win.
Malik Monk furnished 14 of his season-high 23 points in the fourth quarter of the Hornets' fourth win in five games, 110-102 over the Kings. Cody Zeller had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Bismack Biyombo added 10 points and 12 boards for Charlotte.
In NBA news, former NBA Commissioner David Stern remains in serious condition following emergency brain surgery last week. The league says Stern is surrounded by his loved ones and receiving great care. The 77-year-old Stern suffered a brain hemorrhage Thursday while having lunch in New York. Stern spent 30 years as NBA commissioner and has remained affiliated with the league, holding the title of commissioner emeritus.
Wizards rookie forward Rui Hachimura will miss at least the team's next five games after hurting his groin during Monday's win over the Pistons. The first player from Japan to be a first-round pick in the NBA draft is averaging 13.9 points and 5.8 rebounds while starting in all 25 games for Washington this season.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
In men's college basketball, Princeton beat Iona in overtime 90-86.
In top-25 basketball, Fifth-ranked Ohio State improved to 10-1 by winning a tuneup for Saturday's big matchup against No. 6 Kentucky. Kaleb Wesson had a double-double and the Buckeyes bounced back from their first loss of the season by hammering Southeast Missouri State, 80-48. Wesson had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Ohio State, which took control with a 22-2 run early in the second half. Andre Wesson scored 14 points, while Kyle Young and D.J. Carton each had 10 points for OSU.
Jalen Crutcher and Ryan Mikesell scored 16 points apiece in No. 13 Dayton's 71-58 victory over North Texas. Obi Toppin and Mikesell hit 3s during a late first-half run that built the Flyers' lead to 16 points.
Balsa Koprivica contributed 15 points and fellow big man Dominik Olejniczak added 11 as 19th-rated Florida State dumped North Florida, 98-81. M.J. Walker had 11 points as one of seven Seminoles who scored in double figures.
Isaiah Stewart's 27 points and 13 rebounds carried No. 22 Washington to an 81-59 trouncing of Seattle. Quade Green added 20 points for the Huskies.
In college basketball news, UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma is scheduled to undergo a medical procedure on his digestive tract Wednesday that could keep him off the court for the team’s Sunday game with Oklahoma. Associate head coach Chris Dailey will take over and is 9-0 in games Auriemma has missed.
NHL
The Predators erased a 3-1 deficit by scoring the last seven goals in an 8-3 trouncing of the Islanders, ending New York's 13-game home point streak. Craig Smith had two goals and an assist as Nashville completed a sweep of their two New York games on consecutive nights.
Auston Matthews scored twice and Frederik Anderson turned back 27 shots as the Maple Leafs topped the Sabres, 5-3. Matthews joined Hall of Famer Dave Keon as the only players in Toronto history to score at least 20 goals in each of his first four NHL seasons.
The Boston Bruins were able to close the gap on Washington atop the NHL's Eastern Conference race despite losing for the sixth time in seven games. The Bruins blew a late 3-2 lead and absorbed a 4-3 setback to the Kings on Anze Kopitar's goal 3:23 into overtime. Los Angeles pulled goaltender Jonathan Quick for a sixth attacker before Matt Roy tallied with 2:01 remaining in regulation. Blake Lizotte had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Quick finished with 37 saves. Danton Heinen had a goal and assist for Boston, which fell to 1-5-1 in its last six and has lost two straight at home. The Bruins are within four points of the East-leading Capitals and lead the Atlantic Division by 10 points over Buffalo.
Evgeni Malkin scored his 400th career goal for the Penguins in a 4-1 win at Calgary. Tristan Jarry made 33 saves for his fifth win in six starts for Pittsburgh.
Carter Hart stopped 40 shots as the Flyers beat the Ducks, 4-1 on a night Philadelphia honored cancer-stricken teammate Oskar Lindblom. The Flyers played their first home game since Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a cancerous tumor that grows in the bones or in the tissue around bones.
Taylor Hall made his Arizona debut and assisted on Oliver Ekman-Larsson's tiebreaking goal with 2:37 remaining in the Coyotes' 3-2 win at San Jose. Carl Soderberg and Derek Stepan also scored as the Coyotes reclaimed sole possession of the Pacific Division lead, two points ahead of the Oilers.
Sebastian Aho provided two goals and an assist while the Hurricanes scored four times in the second period of a 6-3 victory over the Jets in Winnipeg. Jordan Staal also tallied twice and Dougie Hamilton collected three assists in Carolina's fifth win in six games.
The Lightning pulled out a 4-3 win over the Senators on Anthony Cirelli's goal at 4:47 of overtime. Tampa Bay also got goals from Nikita Kucherov, Cedric Paquette and Brayden Point to support Andrei Vasilevskiy's 25-save effort.
Tomas Tatar and Shea Weber scored power-play goals 1:34 apart early in the third period to send the Canadiens past the Canucks, 3-1. Carey Price stopped 38 shots and blanked Vancouver over the last two periods of Montreal's fourth win in five games.
Mark Stone set up second-period goals by Chandler Stephenson and Shea Theodore in the Golden Knights' 3-2 win against the Wild. Tomas Nosek also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots in his 453rd career win.
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored early in the third period and Gustav Nyquist added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds to complete the Blue Jackets' 5-3 victory at Detroit. Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand had goals 1:04 apart to put Columbus ahead midway through the first.
NFL
The Pittsburgh Steelers are sticking with Devlin "Duck" Hodges as their starting quarterback. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says Hodges will start Sunday against the Jets despite throwing four interceptions in Pittsburgh's last game, a 17-10 loss to Buffalo over the weekend. Pittsburgh is 3-1 this season when Hodges starts and 4-2 when he plays. Tomlin has started Hodges and Mason Rudolph since Ben Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending elbow injury in Week 2. Hodges has completed 67.8% of his passes for 884 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions.
The Saints have acquired former Giants starting cornerback Janoris Jenkins off waivers. New York dropped Jenkins after he declined to acknowledge wrongdoing when he used offensive language in an exchange with a fan on social media.
The Giants have placed tight end Evan Engram on season-ending injured reserve after he missed the last five games with a foot injury. New York also said wide receiver David Sills had been signed off the practice squad and tackle Nate Wozniak was signed to the practice squad.
The Cowboys have signed former Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith to bolster a depleted linebacker group that lost rookie Luke Gifford to a broken arm. Gifford was injured in the first half of a 44-21 win over the Rams on Sunday. Smith was the MVP of the 2014 Super Bowl with Seattle, returning an interception 69 yards for a touchdown and recovering a fumble in the Seahawks' 43-8 rout of Denver.
The league has suspended Broncos safety Kareem Jackson without pay for the final two regular season games for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Jackson was arrested Sept. 19 for driving under the influence. The Broncos said Jackson informed the team of his DUI arrest and that it was reported to the NFL.
The Lions are retaining general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia for the 2020 season despite the team's 3-10-1 record. The Lions have dropped 10 of their last 11 since a 2-0-1 start and will carry a seven-game losing streak into Sunday's game at Denver. Detroit hired both away from New England in the hopes of replicating the Patriots' formula for success.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ed Orgeron of LSU is The Associated Press Coach of the Year after leading the top-ranked Tigers to an SEC championship and their first College Football Playoff appearance. Orgeron received 33 of 56 votes from AP Top 25 voters to become the third different LSU coach to win the award since it was established in 1998, joining Nick Saban and Les Miles. The Tigers have improved in each of Orgeron's three full seasons as head coach. Orgeron and the Tigers will face No. 4 Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Dec. 28 at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Baylor's Matt Rhule was second in the balloting, followed by Ryan Day of Ohio State and Minnesota's P.J. Fleck.
Longtime Iowa football coach Hayden Fry has died at age 90. Fry's family announced through the school that the coach died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. Fry took over the Hawkeyes in 1979 and immediately revitalized a program that hadn't had a winning season in 17 years. He coached Iowa for 20 seasons, winning 238 games and three Big Ten championships.
MLB
Reliever Joe Smith and the Houston Astros have agreed to a two-year, $8 million contract. The 35-year-old Smith is 6-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 84 appearances during his two seasons with the Astros. He missed the beginning of last season recovering from Achilles tendon surgery before returning in July and posting a 1.80 ERA in 28 regular-season appearances. Smith didn't allow a run in eight of his 10 postseason appearances.
Free-agent outfielder Avisaíl García has finalized a two-year, $20 million contract with the Brewers, a deal that includes a $10 million club option for 2022. García batted .282 with a career-high 20 home runs and 72 RBIs for the Rays last season.
The Cardinals have announced the signing of left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim to a two-year contract. The 31-year-old South Korean went 17-6 with a 2.51 ERA in 190 1/3 innings last season for the SK Wyverns.
The Tigers are retiring Lou Whitaker's No. 1 this coming season. Whitaker will become the ninth Tiger to have his number retired by the team, and the first to be so honored without being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1978, went to five straight All-Star games, won three Gold Gloves and compiled a .276 average with 244 home runs and 1,084 RBIs in a 19-year career spent entirely with Detroit.
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