NBA:
In the NBA, Milwaukee beat Miami 91-79, New Orleans defeated Minnesota 114-99, Indiana won against Phoenix 97-94, and it was Oklahoma City over Denver 110-104.
The NBA is celebrating the Chinese New Year with a TV spot featuring Jeremy Lin, Stephen Curry and James Harden. The ad is called "Dining Table" and shows the stars sharing a New Year meal with a Chinese family. It is being broadcast until Feb. 22 across all of NBA China's television and digital partners' platforms.
The Chinese New Year is Feb. 8 and celebrates the year of the monkey. Lin plays for the Charlotte Hornets and is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. Houston, Golden State and Washington will wear uniforms with the team name in Chinese and host arena events. Other NBA teams will celebrate the holiday and pay tribute to Chinese culture. Fifty-one games will be broadcast or streamed in China, showcasing all 30 NBA teams for the first time.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Rangers beat Vancouver in overtime 3-2, Toronto bested Philadelphia 3-2, New Jersey doubled up Calgary 4-2, Boston won against Montreal 4-1, Washington topped Columbus 6-3, Chicago trumped Nashville 4-1, and it was Los Angeles over Dallas 3-2.
The Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens will auction off autographed, game-worn jerseys from last night's game to raise money for the women's hockey player who was paralyzed at the Winter Classic. Denna Laing crashed into the boards at Gillette Stadium in an exhibition the day before the NHL's showcase game on New Year's Day.
Elsewhere:
The NHL will allow John Scott to serve as Pacific Division captain for the new All-Star 3-on-3 tournament. He was voted to the spot by as a goof by the fans while he was with Arizona, despite being known more for his rugged play than production. He only had four assists in 11 games.
After his selection was announced, the Coyotes traded him to Montreal who promptly shipped him to the minors, which would have made him ineligible for the All-Star competition. The NHL decided to allow him to compete after noting the "unique circumstance" and considering Scott's desire to play.
NFL:
The Philadelphia Eagles have hired former Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz to be their defensive coordinator, the first assistant brought in by new head coach Doug Pederson. He last coached in 2014 as Buffalo's defensive coordinator.
Schwartz was 29-51 as Detroit's coach from 2009-13. He led the Bills to the No. 4 ranking on defense in 2014. Schwartz was Tennessee's defensive coordinator for eight seasons before going to Detroit. Pederson also said he would retain from Chip Kelly's staff offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland and special teams coach Dave Fipp. Running backs coach Duce Staley also is expected to remain.
In other NFL coaching news:
The Green Bay Packers have fired running backs coach Sam Gash and tight ends coach Jerry Fontenot following a challenging season for the offense. Gash was with the team for two seasons. Eddie Lacy ran for more than 1,100 yards in 2014 but gained just 758 this year on 187 carries.
NCAA:
In college men's basketball, Connecticut rolled to a 60-42 victory over Tulane last night. Shonn Miller scored 18 points. He shot 7 of 16 from the floor. Omar Calhoun added 12 points for the Huskies, who have won eight of their last ten games.
Saint Peter's battled through the second half to defeat Fairfield 77-71 last night, pushing to its best start in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference since the 1994-95 season. Antwon Portley scored 23 points, and Trevis Wyche 20 for Saint Pater's. Jonathan Kasibabu scored 16 points with 10 rebounds to lead Fairfield.
MLB:
Nathan Eovaldi has agreed to a $5.6 million, one-year contract with the New York Yankees, who also settled with shortstop Didi Gregorius at $2.425 million. Eovaldi earned a raise from $3.3 million after going 14-3 with a 4.20 ERA in 27 starts during his first season with New York. Gregorius' contract is for more than four times the $553,900 he earned last year.
It may not be in Cooperstown, New York, but Pete Rose is headed to a hall of fame. The team he is most closely identified with, the Reds, has announced that Rose will be inducted into the team hall of fame this June.
Reds' chief executive Bob Castellini said in a statement that inducting Rose into the Reds' hall will be "a defining moment" in franchise history. He adds that commissioner Rob Manfred approves of the induction. At a news conference Rose offered his thanks the commissioner for the approval and said he hasn't given up on the idea of getting into the Cooperstown shrine. The Reds are also going to retire No. 14 in his honor.
Television:
Armchair baseball fans may be getting a break in the cost of watching games on online TV. Just as a trial was to begin, Major League Baseball and a group of its fans who had sued reached agreement to expand the menu of online packages for televised games and lower prices.
Lawyers for fans who filed the class action lawsuit in 2012 said MLB will offer unbundled Internet packages for the next five years, including single-team packages for $84.99 next season. They said that's a 23 percent drop from the cheapest version previously available.
Golf:
Rory McIlroy expects his short game and putting to be better this year after undergoing laser eye surgery during his two-month break from competitive golf. Speaking ahead of his first tournament of 2016 at the Abu Dhabi Championship, McIlroy says "it's definitely made things just that little bit sharper, maybe within 50 meters or so."
Forget the majors, forget an Olympic gold medal: Jordan Spieth's big goal in 2016 is winning the Ryder Cup with the United States. The top-ranked Spieth says "we're tired of hearing about changes that need to be made. We're tired of hearing about the past. And we're ready to believe in a younger, more hungry team going forward."
FIFA:
FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali of Jordan says the Iraqi soccer federation has pledged to vote for him. Prince Ali's campaign team says he also has "picked up private commitments of support from several other nations" in Africa and the Caribbean. The prince met with the Iraqi sports minister and soccer officials in Amman on Monday after campaigning in Ghana, Rwanda and Antigua in recent days.
Federation president Abdul Khaliq Masood says "Iraq's vote will go to Prince Ali because Prince Ali has always supported the development of football in Iraq, Jordan and our region." FIFA member federations will elect a successor to Sepp Blatter on Feb. 26 in Zurich. Prince Ali is competing against Jerome Champagne of France, Gianni Infantino of Switzerland, Sheikh Salman of Bahrain and Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa.
Copa America:
The draw for this year's Copa America Centenario will be in New York on Feb. 21. The United States, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are seeded in the 16-nation tournament that will be played at 10 venues in the U.S. from June 3-26. The other 12 teams will be spread among the four groups: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The United States plays in the opener at Santa Clara, California. The final is at East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Tennis:
Maria Sharapova advanced to the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich. That puts Sharapova on course for a potential quarterfinal meeting with Serena Williams.
The fifth-seeded Sharapova won the 2008 Australian title and has lost three finals at Melbourne Park, including last year's decider against Williams.
Williams has swiftly moved through to the third round at Melbourne Park with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei in exactly one hour. Williams has only fallen in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament twice in her career.
On the men's side, third-seed Roger Federer has moved into the third round with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov.