NBA:
In the NBA, the Knicks topped Indiana 109-103, San Antonio won against Brooklyn 112-86, Sacramento bested Detroit 109-104, Miami beat Golden State 105-102, Washington defeated Charlotte 109-99, Milwaukee won against Houston 127-114, New Orleans topped Cleveland 124-122, and it was Oklahoma City over Utah 97-95.
The Brooklyn Nets say Jeremy Lin will miss at least three more weeks because of a hamstring injury that has sidelined him most of the season. General manager Sean Marks said Monday that Lin aggravated his left hamstring during his rehab and that the point guard could miss approximately three to five weeks.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Rangers edged Los Angeles 3-2, Toronto shut out Calgary 4-0, Anaheim beat Winnipeg 3-2, San Jose won against Colorado 5-2, Washington crushed Carolina 6-1, and it was Arizona over Florida in overtime 3-2.
Rangers forward Kevin Hayes will miss two to three weeks with a lower-body injury suffered during the second period of Sunday's 1-0 win over Detroit. Hayes is third on the club with 35 points, including seven in his six previous games before the injury. His 13 goals and 22 assists in 47 games put him on pace to break career highs.
Also in the NHL:
— The Ottawa Senators have signed forward Zack Smith to a four-year, $13 million extension through the 2020-21 season. Smith has produced 11 goals and 22 points in 43 games this season while averaging more than 16 minutes of ice time. He set career highs with 25 goals and 36 points last season.
— Red Wings center Dylan Larkin has been placed on seven-day injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Larkin is tied for the club lead with 12 goals and has 18 points in 47 games.
Tennis:
U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka is through to the Australian Open semifinals after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena. Wawrinka will play the winner of the night quarterfinal between Roger Federer and Mischa Zverev. It was Wawrinka's fourth win in a row over Tsonga and the first meeting between the pair at a Grand Slam other than the French Open, where they had met three times, with Wawrinka holding a 2-1 edge. It was also the pair's first meeting on a hardcourt in nearly 10 years — at Metz, France in 2007, when Tsonga won.
Venus Williams has become the oldest woman of the Open era to advance to the Australian Open women's semifinals following a 6-4, 7-6 win over No. 24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The 36-year-old Williams was behind a service break in the opening set but broke the Russian's serve twice in three games. She wrapped up the match by winning the last six points of the tiebreak.
Coco Vandeweghe beat French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-0 to set up an all-American semifinal at the Australian Open. Vandeweghe, who beat top-seeded and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber in the fourth round, will play 36-year-old Venus Williams in the semifinal. Williams is the oldest women to play a semifinal here in the Open era.
Former No. 1 players Kim Clijsters and Andy Roddick are among five people elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Monday. Clijsters won three U.S. Open titles and an Australian Open championship from 2005-11. Roddick is the last American man to win a Grand Slam singles crown, taking the 2003 U.S. Open. The Hall of Fame Class of 2017 also includes wheelchair tennis player Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch, tennis historian and journalist Steve Flink, and the late instructor Vic Braden. The induction ceremony is scheduled for July 22.
NCAA:
In college men's basketball, Iona beat Quinnipiac 84-74 last night. E.J. Crawford and Rickey McGill each scored 20 points for Iona. Mikey Dixon led Quinnipiac with three 3-pointers and 20 points. Peter Kiss added 16 points with six rebounds.
Holy Cross set a program record with 16 steals in a 63-55 victory over American last night. Malachi Alexander had 15 points, seven rebounds and a career-high five steals. It snapped Holy Cross' eight-game losing streak in the series.
St. Peter's came back from a 14-point second-half deficit to sweep the season series with Rider 56-51 last night. Cavon Baker scored 16 points for St. Peter's. It's the first time the Peacocks have swept their state rivals since the 2005-06 season.
In college women’s basketball, UConn remains the Number 1 choice in The Associated Press women's basketball poll yesterday after cruising to two more easy victories this past week. The Huskies extended their NCAA record winning streak to 93 consecutive games. The top five was unchanged with Baylor, Maryland, Mississippi State and South Carolina following UConn.
A Massachusetts college is mourning the death of a student who starred on the men's hockey team even after being diagnosed with cancer. Becker College announced yesterday senior Gerald Owens had died at age 25.
NFL:
A Boston man described by his lawyer as a "die-hard Patriots fan" has pleaded not guilty to pulling a fire alarm that roused the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers from their hotel beds ahead of their playoff game against New England. Dennis Harrison was released on personal recognizance at his arraignment yesterday on charges including disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
MLB:
For everyone who thinks spring training is too long, help is on the way — a little, anyway. Spring training will be shortened by two days starting in 2018, when new restrictions in Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement take effect on game times for regular-season getaway days. The voluntary reporting date for pitchers, catchers and injured players will be 43 days before the major league opener instead of 45, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press. For other players, the date will be 38 days ahead instead of 40. The change was tied to spreading each team's 162 regular-season games over 187 days, up from 183.
New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka says he won't take part in the World Baseball Classic. Speaking at his former stadium in northeastern Japan on Monday, Tanaka said "taking various things into consideration, it would be difficult so I will not participate." Tanaka went 14-4 last season with a 3.07 ERA and 165 strikeouts in 31 games. The 28-year-old righthander was a member of the Japanese team that won the 2009 WBC. The 2017 tournament will be played from March 6-22. So far, the only Japanese player from Major League Baseball who has committed to playing in the WBC is Houston Astros outfielder Norichika Aoki. Japan, which won the inaugural tournament in 2006, will rely on a team made up of players from Nippon Professional Baseball.
The Texas Rangers have found a first baseman after losing Mitch Moreland to the Boston Red Sox. A person familiar with the agreement says James Loney has accepted a minor league contract with the Rangers after hitting .265 in 100 games for the New York Mets last season. Loney is a lifetime .284 hitter with 108 home runs and 669 RBIs in an 11-year career that includes stops with the Dodgers, Red Sox and Rays.
Also in the majors:
— Tampa Bay has signed pitcher Shawn Tolleson to a one-year, $1 million contract and sent Logan Forsythe to the Dodgers for right-hander Jose De Leon. The 29-year-old Tolleson was 2-2 with 11 saves and a 7.68 ERA in 37 games for the Rays last year. Forsythe hit .264 with a career-high 20 home runs and 52 RBIs in 127 games last season.
F1:
Liberty Media has officially completed its takeover of Formula One in a transaction price the media and entertainment company says represents an enterprise value for F1 of $8 billion and an equity value of $4.4 billion. Longtime circuit head Bernie Ecclestone has been replaced by American Chase Carey as the chief executive. The 86-year-old Ecclestone had been in charge of the series for nearly 40 years. Liberty says he will remain as an honorary chairman and an F1 adviser.
NASCAR:
NASCAR is about to become triple the fun. The circuit's governing body is placing more importance on the early portions of races by dividing them into three stages, with the top 10 drivers receiving bonus points on a 10-through-1 scale following the first two stages. The third stage will be for the overall victory, with traditional point scoring allocated. The race winner will earn 40 points, and the rest of the top 35 finishers will be scored on a 35-to-2 scale. Positions 36th to 40 will receive one point each. All bonus points accumulated through the 26-race regular season can be used in the 10-race playoff, which will no longer be called "The Chase."
Among other changes:
— The winner of the first two stages of each race will receive one playoff point, and the race winner will receive five playoff points.
— All playoff points will carry through to the end of the third round of the playoffs. The four title contenders will race straight-up in the season finale for the title.
— The exhibition duels during Speedweeks at Daytona next month will now be worth 10 points to the two race winners.
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