NBA:
In the NBA, the Lakers won against Brooklyn 125-118, Cleveland beat Toronto 121-117, Atlanta beat Miami 93-90, Charlotte won against Minnesota 115-108, and it was Chicago over Portland 113-88.
LeBron James is firing back at Knicks president Phil Jackson for using the word "posse" in a recent interview to describe the NBA megastar's childhood friends and business associates. The Cavaliers forward said he lost all respect for Jackson, and his comments underscore a larger societal issue for young African-Americans trying to succeed in business. The word is considered by some to be derogatory. James questioned if the 71-year old Jackson would have used the term is he wasn't referring to African-Americans.
NHL:
In the NHL, St. Louis topped Buffalo 4-1, the Rangers bested Vancouver 7-2, New Jersey edged Dallas 2-1, Florida slid past Montreal 4-3, Tampa Bay beat Detroit 4-3, Toronto tripled up Nashville 6-2, Carolina shut out San Jose 1-0, Columbus defeated Washington 2-1, Ottawa edged Philadelphia in a shootout 3-2, Anaheim won against Edmonton 4-1, Winnipeg shut out Chicago 4-0, and it was Calgary over Minnesota 1-0.
The Montreal Canadiens fell short in their bid to join the 1963-64 Blackhawks as the only NHL teams to win their first 11 home games in a season. Aaron Ekblad scored at 2:59 of overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 4-3 triumph over the Canadiens. Roberto Luongo stopped 34 shots for the Panthers, who led after each of the first two periods before Paul Byron tied it early in the third.
NCAA:
In top 25 college basketball, No. 18 Syracuse blasted Holy Cross 90-46, No. 14 Gonzaga beat San Diego St. 69-48, Baylor won against No. 4 Oregon 66-49, No. 3 Kentucky defeated No. 13 Michigan St. 69-48, No. 8 Virginia topped St. Francis 72-32, No. 5 North Carolina beat Long Beach St. 93-67, No. 22 Creighton topped No. 9 Wisconsin 79-67, No. 7 Kansas won against No.1 Duke 77-75, and it was No.10 Arizona over Cal State Bakersfield 78-66.
Jaren Sina and Matt Hart each converted a pair of free throws in the final 26 seconds to allow George Washington to escape its Hall of Fame Classic home-court game with Siena, 77-75 on Tuesday night. The Saints held a 58-53 lead with eight minutes left in the game, but Sina knocked down a 3-pointer and a field goal to knot the score at 58-58 in what became a 14-0 run by the Colonials to take control. Sina finished with a team-high 16 points and Yuta Watanabe contributed 13 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds for GW. The Colonials (2-0) were 27 of 61 from the field (44.3 percent) and 5 of 19 from distance. Siena was 30 of 67 from the floor (44.8 percent) and 7 of 20 from distance, but the Saints were outrebounded, 46-29, and the Colonials got 10 more points from the free throw line.
NFL:
New York Jets wide receiver Eric Decker has had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. Decker, on injured reserve because of his ailing shoulder, also had hip surgery on Oct. 18. The team announced at that time that the anticipated recovery time for the hip surgery was six months.
The Rams are making a quarterback change after averaging an NFL-worst 15.4 points a game this season. A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press that first overall pick Jared Goff will run the offense when the Rams host Miami on Sunday. Goff replaces Case Keenum, who led the team to a 4-5 record that includes five games in which the Rams scored 10 points or fewer. L.A. has scored just 26 points over its last three games.
The Buffalo Bills have signed veteran safety James Ihedigbo. The 32-year-old has played for four teams in eight seasons, starting 52 games. Ihedigbo entered the league in 2008 with the New York Jets and played for Bills coach Rex Ryan with the Jets from 2009-10. He has also played for New England, Baltimore and Detroit. Ihedigbo started eight games for the Lions last season, with 63 tackles, one interception and three forced fumbles. Ihedigbo has 332 tackles, nine sacks and eight interceptions in his career.
In other NFL news:
— The Bears have placed star right guard Kyle Long on injured reserve because of an ankle injury. The three-time Pro Bowl lineman was carted off the field during Sunday's loss at Tampa Bay.
— Minnesota has cut kicker Blair Walsh after he missed his league-leading fourth extra point in Sunday's 26-20 loss to Washington. Walsh was 12 of 16 on field goals and 15 of 19 on extra points in nine games this season.
— The Seahawks released running back Christine Michael after the former second-round draft pick lost his starting job to rookie C.J. Prosise. Seattle also released veteran defensive tackle Sealver Siliga and signed defensive tackle John Jenkins.
— Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward is out for the rest of the season after he suffered an upper body injury against Dallas Sunday. Coach Mike Tomlin says Heyward is dealing with a pectoral or chest injury and is seeking a second opinion.
— The father of Chiefs long snapper James Winchester was shot and killed Tuesday in a premeditated attack at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport. Michael Winchester was shot while walking between a terminal and the airport employee parking area. The 52-year-old Winchester was a Southwest Airlines employee and a former University of Oklahoma football player. The unidentified suspect was later found dead in a pickup truck at a public parking garage overlooking the scene.
MLB:
The Mets have replaced third base coach Tim Teufel and will reassign him to a different position in the organization. Teufel, a member of the Mets' 1986 World Series championship team, had been the third base coach since 2012 and also was New York's catching instructor. The Mets are replacing Teufel with Glenn Sherlock, who just ended a 21-season stint with Arizona.
Baseball's managers of the year have been announced, and they go to skippers who led their team to the postseason. Cleveland's Terry Francona has won the American League Manager of the Year award after guiding the Indians to within one victory of their first World Series title since 1948. The Indians captured the AL Central despite injuries to outfielder Michael Brantley and two of their three top starting pitchers.
Dave Roberts is the National League Manager of the Year after guiding the Dodgers to a 91-71 record and the NL West title in his rookie season at the helm. He helped Los Angeles win its fourth straight division crown and a berth in the NLCS following a five-game victory over Washington in the division series. Roberts received 16 first-place votes to beat out Joe Maddon of the World Series-champion Cubs and Washington's Dusty Baker for the award.
World Cup Soccer:
The U.S. men's soccer team is in danger of missing the World Cup finals. Joel Campbell scored two goals in a three-minute span to put the capper on Costa Rica's 4-0 rout of the Americans. The United States dropped to 0-2 for the first time in the final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region. It was the Americans' most lopsided defeat in a qualifier since a 5-1 defeat at Mexico in November 1980, and their worst shutout loss in 59 years.
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