In the NBA, the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 109 to 92 Tuesday. the Indiana Pacers bested the 76ers, 115 to 97. Tonight the New York Knicks play host to the Portland Trailblazers at 7:30.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, Kemba Walker had 22 and Gordon Hayward added 21 as the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 109-92. Boston has won six of seven and improved to 23-8. PJ Washington led Charlotte with 15 points, and Miles Bridges had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Hornets have lost six straight. Tatum hit five straight shots in the first quarter, including a trio of 3-pointers. The Celtics overcame an early five-point deficit to lead 24-18 after the first quarter. Hayward scored 10 points in the second quarter as Boston stretched the lead to 14 before taking a 50-43 edge into halftime.
In men’s College Basketball, Vermont outshot George Washington 76 to 51, Bowling Green dribbled past Hartford 81 to 68 and Duke pounded Boston College 88 to 49.
Anthony Lamb had 23 points as Vermont easily defeated George Washington 76-51. Stef Smith had 19 points for Vermont. Robin Duncan added 10 points and nine rebounds, and Everett Duncan had seven rebounds. Lamb hit 4 of 6 3-pointers, and added eight rebounds and three blocks. Vermont went on a 21-4 run in the first half to help build a 43-26 lead at the break. Maceo Jack had 12 points for the Colonials, which was held to 34% shooting. Amir Harris added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Freshman Matthew Hurt scored 20 of his season-high 25 points before halftime and Tre Jones returned from a foot injury to help second-ranked Duke beat Boston College 88-49. Hurt made 10 of 16 shots and hit 5 of 10 3-pointers to lead the Blue Devils. Duke shot nearly 52%. Jones had 10 assists in his return from a foot sprain that had sidelined him for two games. CJ Felder had 13 points to lead Boston College. The Eagles shot 34% for the game.
In the NHL, the Oilers beat the Rangers, 7 to 5. The Islanders outlasted the Capitals 4 to 3. The Devils earned a shootout victory over the Bruins. The Lighting struck down the Sabres 6 to 4. And the LA Kings skated past the Flyers 5 to 3.
Alex Killorn scored two goals, Tyler Johnson had a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning came back from a three-goal deficit to beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-4 for their fourth straight win. Ondrej Palat and Anthony Cirelli each added a goal and an assist, Kevin Shattenkirk also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 shots as the Lightning opened a four-game trip with their 12th consecutive win against an Atlantic Division opponent. Conor Sheary had a goal and two assists, and Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist for Buffalo. The Sabres also got goals from Jack Eichel and Jimmy Vesey in losing their fourth in a row. Linus Ullmark made 16 saves.
Now, one of the biggest sporting events in Texas today won’t be football, but actually hockey. The Dallas Stars are hosting the Nashville Predators in the NHL’s 2020 Winter Classic outdoors at the Cotton Bowl Stadium. The game will be broadcast nationally on NBC. It starts at 2 p.m. And in case you were wondering, the forecast high in Dallas today is about 60 degrees.
In college football bowl games yesterday, Navy beat Kansas State 20 to 17. Wyoming bested Georgia State 38 to 17, Texas downed Utah 38 to 10, Kentucky beat Virginia Tech 37 to 30 and Arizona State topped Florida State 20 to 14.
There are four Division I bowl games on New Year's Day. Alabama faces Michigan, Auburn takes on Minnesota, Oregon goes against Wisconsin and finally Georgia matches up against Baylor.
