NBA:
In the NBA, Indiana beat New York 105-82, Charlotte topped Brooklyn 115-91, Boston edged Utah 85-84, Oklahoma City bested Philadelphia in overtime 123-118, Memphis won against Houston 102-100, Miami beat the Lakers 100-94, New Orleans defeated Detroit 88-85, Cleveland beat Toronto 120-112, Phoenix bested Orlando 105-100, San Antonio topped Sacramento 112-85, Golden State won against Milwaukee 102-93, and it was Portland over the Clippers in overtime 98-93.
NHL:
Over on the ice, Detroit beat the Rangers in overtime 2-1, Anaheim bested Montreal 3-1, Colorado won against Pittsburgh 3-1, and it was Ottawa over Winnipeg 3-1.
NCAA:
In men’s basketball, No. 1 UAlbany beat No. 8 Maine 83-66 and will go on to face No. 4 New Hampshire which beat No. 5 Hartford 67-63 in overtime. No. 2 Vermont crushed No. 7 UMBC 66-39 and is set to play No. 3 Stony Brook which won its game against No. 6 Binghamton 62-57.
The MAAC Tournament starts tonight at 5 p.m. when No. 8 Siena will take on No. 9 Niagara at the Times Union Center.
As part of a 20th anniversary celebration of the UMass men’s basketball 1995-96 Final Four team, the University of Massachusetts Department of Athletics announced Wednesday plans to retire a jersey in honor of John Calipari during the 2015-16 season.
NFL:
The Denver Broncos won't have to hunt for another quarterback when the NFL transaction period begins on Tuesday.
A person with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press that Peyton Manning will return for a fourth season in Denver and 18th in the NFL. The person says Manning will reduce his salary from $19 million to $15 million in 2015, although the $4 could be made up through performance incentives.
The five-time MVP mulled retirement after the Broncos' playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Buffalo Bills will acquire quarterback Matt Cassel from Minnesota next week for an undisclosed draft pick. Cassel spent two years with the Vikings, taking over in 2013 after Christian Ponder struggled to keep the job. Cassel lost the starting job to injury last season.
The New York Jets have signed former Arizona Cardinals defensive end Ronald Talley. He has 14 tackles and one sack in his NFL career. He played in six games for Arizona in 2013 for current Jets coach Todd Bowles, who was then the Cardinals' defensive coordinator.
Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer spent about four hours at Adrian Peterson's home north of Houston. This was the first meeting they've had with Peterson since the running back was placed on the exempt list in mid-September following his indictment in a child abuse case involving his 4-year-old son. Peterson is still under contract with the Vikings, and the team has said they'll welcome him back once he's fully reinstated by the NFL, but only if Peterson wants to be there.
MLB:
In baseball spring training, Philadelphia topped the Yankees 3-1, the Mets bested Atlanta 8-2, Toronto beat Pittsburgh 4-1, the White Sox won against the Dodgers 6-4, Cleveland doubled up Cincinnati 4-2, Kansas City blew out Texas 13-2, Oakland crushed San Francisco 9-2, Seattle edged San Diego in 10 innings 4-3, Arizona tripled up Colorado 6-2, and it was Detroit over Baltimore 5-4.
Alex Rodriguez made his return to the playing field on Wednesday, going 1-for-2 with a walk in an exhibition game between the Yankees and Phillies in Tampa, Florida. The game was his first in 17 months following a drug suspension for the entire 2014 season. He was greeted by a 10-second mixture of cheers and boos. In his first at bat the three-time American League MVP lined a single to left field. He grounded out his second AB and walked in his third.
Before the game Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Rodriguez: "He was caught. He paid his time and now he's back, and he's a Yankee and we're going to cheer for him."
A-Rod said of the cheers: "Once you hit rock bottom, any time you hear a few cheers these days is a pleasant surprise."
One-time American League batting champion Alex Johnson has died at 72. Johnson played 13 major league seasons, batting .288 with 78 homers and 525 RBIs. He became the only batting champion in the Angels' 55-year-old history when he hit .329 in 1970.
MLS:
The MLS season will begin on Friday as scheduled.
A person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press that Major League Soccer and its players' union have agreed in principle to a five-year labor contract, averting a possible strike
MLS's 20th season begins this weekend, with the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy hosting Chicago in the opener.
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