NBA:
In the NBA, Boston topped Denver 111-103, Detroit won against Philadelphia 110-97, San Antonio bested Houston 130-99, the Clippers edged Atlanta 85-83, Oklahoma City beat Minnesota 126-123, Utah defeated Charlotte 102-73, Golden State trumped Dallas 127-107, and it was Cleveland over Phoenix 115-93.
The NBA has announced that San Antonio's Gregg Popovich will coach the Western Conference All-Star team in next month's game in Toronto. The Spurs sit second in the West, three games behind the Golden State Warriors. However, Warriors coach Steve Kerr is ineligible for the coaching assignment because he ran the West team last year.
Kerr actually spent most of the first half on leave due to back surgery, putting the Warriors in the hands of assistant Luke Walton. The league said last week that it would review its policy to determine if Walton would still be eligible for the All-Star spot. But instead of Walton, Popovich will coach the West for the fourth time. The Eastern Conference coach will be Tyronn Lue (TY'-rahn loo), who has run the Cavaliers for just three games since taking over for David Blatt. The Cavs fired Blatt last week despite a 30-11 start.
NHL:
In the NHL, Philadelphia skated by Washington 4-3, Tampa Bay blanked Toronto 1-0, Nashville edged Calgary 2-1, and it was Colorado over Los Angeles 4-3.
Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin will miss the NHL All-Star Game Sunday in Nashville because of a lingering lower-body injury. Coach Barry Trotz said Ovechkin has been dealing with the injury since mid-November. By rule, Ovechkin must miss the Caps' first game after the All-Star break, Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.
Los Angeles Kings television broadcaster Bob Miller is taking a medical leave of absence to undergo heart bypass surgery. The 77-year-old Miller has been the Kings' play-by-play voice since 1973 and received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. The hockey press box at Staples Center is named in his honor.
NCAA:
In top 25 women’s college basketball, No. 1 UConn humiliated Tulsa 94-30.
In college men's basketball, Albany beat Massachusetts-Lowell 75-63 last night. Evan Singletary had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists for Albany. The Great Danes led 68-62 with 3:14 left and pulled away by making 5 of 7 free throws while the River Hawks went scoreless over the next 2:15. Josh Gantz led UMass-Lowell with 12 points, and Isaac White scored 10.
Vermont won its third straight game by beating New Hampshire 66-50 last night. Ethan O'Day scored 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field. Kurt Steidl added 13 points and seven rebounds for Vermont. O'Day and Steidl scored 20 of Vermont's 31 first-half points as the Catamounts led by seven at halftime.
Saint Joseph's beat Massachusetts 78-70 last night. Isaiah Miles had 17 of his 27 points in the second half for the Hawks. Seth Berger led the Minutemen with 17 points. Trey Davis and Zach Coleman added 10 points each.
Boston University beat Army 76-67 last night. Cheddi Mosely scored 23 points, and Nathan Dieudonne had 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Dieudonne became the 17th player in Terriers' program history to reach 800 career points and 600 rebounds.
Two people familiar with the situation tell The Associated Press that UConn athletic director Warde Manuel has agreed to take the same job at Michigan, his alma mater. Both spoke last night on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details about the search.
UConn is planning to charge fans more for basketball and football tickets to fund the construction of new soccer, baseball and softball stadiums. The school's chief financial officer told trustees yesterday that a surcharge of between $1 and $5 would be added to all athletic tickets to help raise the estimated $46 million to build the new facilities.
Marathon:
A professional ballroom dancer who lost a leg in the Boston Marathon bombings says she's training to run this year's race: all 26.2 miles of it. Adrianne Haslet-Davis tells the Hallmark Channel that she'll run to help raise money and awareness for Limbs for Life, an Oklahoma City-based organization that provides prostheses to amputees. Haslet-Davis lost her left leg below the knee in the April 2013 attacks.
Tennis:
Top seed Serena Williams has never lost an Australian Open final, and she's one match victory away from capturing her 22nd Grand Slam title and seventh at Melbourne.
Williams cruised into the final with a 6-0, 6-4 rout of Agnieszka Radwanska. Williams broke Radwanska's service to open the match and was rarely troubled in the 21-minute first set. The No. 4-ranked Radwanska broke Williams' serve to square the second set at 3-3, but Williams broke back in the ninth game and closed out the 64-minute match with three aces and a forehand winner in the last game.
Next up for Williams is seventh seed Angelique Kerber, who has reached a Grand Slam singles final for the first time. Kerber needed just 82 minutes to complete a 7-5, 6-2 win over Johanna Konta, who was trying to become the first British woman to advance to a Grand Slam singles semifinal since Jo Durie at the 1983 U.S. Open.
NFL:
Packers coach Mike McCarthy has pulled out of his Pro Bowl coaching assignment, saying doctors have advised him not to travel as he battles a stomach illness. The Packers said associate head coach Winston Moss will handle head-coaching responsibilities in Honolulu this week, including Sunday's game. The Packers staff will coach one team and the staff of the Kansas City Chiefs will be on the other sideline.
Eighth-year referee Clete Blakeman will work his first Super Bowl and sixth postseason game on Feb. 7 when the Carolina Panthers play the Denver Broncos at Santa Clara, California. He refereed Green Bay-Arizona in the divisional round, when he needed to redo the coin toss for overtime after the coin didn't flip. The Super Bowl 50 officiating crew has 97 years of NFL experience and 62 combined playoff assignments.
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson says he could leave the Tigers one year early for the NFL draft if circumstances are right. The 6-foot-2 sophomore All-American said the NFL has always been a dream and is part of the reason he came to Clemson. Watson said one of his goals is to have his college degree before he leaves, and he is on track to graduate in December.
The New York Jets have agreed to pay nearly $324,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by cheerleaders over wages. The suit was filed in Bergen County, New Jersey, where the NFL team plays. The 52 women said they were paid $150 per game and issued uniforms. But they said they were not paid for practices and other work and were forced to pay for their makeup, hair care and transportation. The Record newspaper reports the women will receive $2,559 to $5,913 each, depending upon whether they worked one or both of the 2012 and 2013 seasons and whether they took part in calendar photo shoots. The team denied the claims but earlier said it agreed to settle to avoid the expense and distraction of litigation.
MLB:
The Angels and Gold Glove right fielder Kole Calhoun have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $3.4 million, one-year contract. Calhoun won his first Gold Glove last season and hit .256 with 26 homers and 83 RBIs while earning $537,500 last year.
The Texas Rangers have signed free agent right-hander Nick Tepesch to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to major league spring training. Tepesch is expected to be ready for spring training after missing all of last season because of right elbow inflammation. The 27-year-old Tepesch was 9-17 with a 4.56 ERA in 42 major league games, all with the Texas in 2013 and 2014.
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