NBA:
In the NBA, Washington beat the Lakers 116-108, Atlanta defeated Houston 113-108, San Antonio won against Philadelphia 102-86, and it was Golden State over the Clippers 133-120.
The Charlotte Hornets have altered their roster amid a six-game losing streak that has dropped them under .500 The Hornets have picked up center Miles Plumlee from the Bucks for forward/center Spencer Hawes and center Roy Hibbert. Plumlee has averaged 2.6 points and 1.7 in 32 games this season, including 12 starts. Hawes has averaged 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 35 games, while Hibbert has averaged 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds. Charlotte sat atop the Southeast Division at 20-16 on Jan. 4 before their current 3-11 skid dropped them to 23-27, six games behind the first-place Washington Wizards. The Bucks are 21-27 and one game behind the Hornets for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Rangers edged Buffalo in overtime 2-1, Philadelphia won against Montreal 3-1, Ottawa bested Tampa Bay 5-2, Nashville blanked Edmonton 2-0, Winnipeg slid past Dallas 4-3, St. Louis topped Toronto 5-1, Chicago beat Arizona 4-3, and it was San Jose over Vancouver 4-1.
The International Olympic Committee is entering talks aimed at ensuring that National Hockey League players participate in the South Korean Winter Games next February. Two people familiar with the meeting tell The Associated Press that the IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation requested a meeting Friday with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Association Executive Director Don Fehr. The meeting is the first to include IOC President Thomas Bach and comes five days after NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said that league owners are leaning against having their players compete in a sixth straight Olympics.
The Calgary Flames will have the New York City skyline as a backdrop for their Saturday practice. The Flames are scheduled to skate outside on Lasker Rink in Central Park's north end. A team spokesman said the Flames will put on their equipment at their hotel and take a bus to the rink and back. Calgary faces the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
NCAA:
UAlbany is now the center of an alleged Title IX gender discrimination probe. Two former tennis coaches claim that the school is no longer compliant with the athletic opportunity rule that women sports programs must receive equal treatment as their male counterparts. The Times Union reports that Gordon Graham, a coach of the women’s tennis program at UAlbany from 2011 until the program was disbanded last spring, is heading an investigation into the university.
Briana Day scored a career-high 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, and Brittney Sykes added 25 points to lead Number 24 Syracuse to a 94-65 win over Pittsburgh Thursday night.
The 21st-ranked Duke Blue Devils will have their Hall of Fame coach on the sideline this weekend. Mike Krzyzewski has announced on his weekly radio show that will be back for Saturday's game against Pittsburgh. Krzyzewski took a leave of absence four weeks ago to undergo back surgery, his fifth medical procedure since the end of last season. He revealed on his SiriusXM broadcast Wednesday that he's watched parts of Duke's workouts for the past week and a half. The Blue Devils were ranked eighth in the AP poll when he announced that Jeff Capel would serve as interim coach. They won just four of seven games under Capel and have fallen to 21st in the poll, but they come off road wins at Wake Forest and No. 20 Notre Dame. Krzyzewski turns 70 on Feb. 13.
NFL:
The Super Bowl comes back to television this Sunday. Super Bowl LI starts at 6:30 p.m. on FOX and will see the New England Patriots take on the Atlanta Falcons.
The Bills have hired five assistant coaches as the team transitions to a new regime for next season. Team officials announced hires Thursday of Phil McGeoghan as wide receivers coach, John Egorugwu as defensive quality control coach, Marc Lubick as offensive quality control/assistant quarterbacks coach, Matt Smiley as assistant special teams coach and Bill Teerlinck as assistant defensive line coach.
The coaches join new head coach Sean McDermott. McDermott is replacing Rex Ryan, who was fired before finishing his second season with the team. McGeoghan takes over a potentially depleted group of wide receivers, with Sammy Watkins coming off a second operation on his left foot, and Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin eligible to become unrestricted free agents next month.
Women’s Soccer:
Contract talks between the women's national team and the U.S. Soccer Federation have resumed after the players' union retained a new lawyer. U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said Thursday the union is being represented in collective bargaining by Mady Gilson of Bredhoff & Kaiser. The players parted ways in December with attorney Rich Nichols, who had been executive director of the U.S. Women's National Team Players Association since late 2014.
At a news conference Thursday announcing A+E Networks purchase of a stake in the National Women's Soccer League, Gulati said he was encouraged by progress in talks for a collective bargaining agreement to replace the deal that expired December 31st. "The tone is just completely different, and everyone wants to get a deal done. The players want to play. We want to have a fair CBA, so I have no doubt we'll get a deal done," he said.
Men’s Soccer:
The New York Cosmos are moving to Brooklyn after four seasons on Long Island. The team, which re-launched in 2013 as part of the second-tier North American Soccer League, said Thursday it will play at MCU Park, home of the New York Mets' Class A Brooklyn Cyclones.
Its home opener will be April 1, the first of 16 regular-season matches. The Cosmos were bought last month by former Columbia University soccer player Rocco B. Commisso. Since their relaunch, they had played at Hofstra's stadium in Hempstead while they sought a new stadium next to Belmont Park. Average home attendance declined from 6,859 in 2013 to 3,775 last year.
Women’s Hockey:
The National Women's Hockey League is adjusting its schedule in order to complete the playoffs in March before players leave for the world championships. The regular season will now end in mid-march and the playoffs will be concluded on March 19, the second-year league announced Thursday. The original schedule included a three-week break before the end of the season and the start of the playoffs in late April. The change was requested by the players, the league said in its release. The NWHL also announced all four teams — Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale and New York Riveters — will return for a third season. The 2017-18 season will include some neutral-site games to gauge interest for expansion.
FIBA:
International basketball competitions may soon permit players to wear religious headgear, including hijabs and yarmulkes. Leaders of basketball's governing body, FIBA, have asked a committee to come forward with a proposal for headgear to be worn safely by athletes in competition, with the goal of approving the change at its meeting in May. FIBA announced the move earlier this week. It comes following a two-year study and not long after an open letter sent to FIBA president Horacio Muratore and signed by a dozen WNBA players including Breanna Stewart, tennis greats Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova and U.S. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, which called for the end of the rule.
MLB:
he St. Louis Cardinals and right-hander Carlos Martinez have agreed to a five-year, $51 million contract extension that buys out his arbitration years and includes two team options. The 25-year-old made 31 starts a year ago, posting a 3.04 ERA and assuming the role of staff ace. That lowered his career ERA to 3.32 over parts of four seasons in St. Louis.
Elsewhere around the baseball world:
— Corner infielder Mark Reynolds has accepted a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies and will report to big league camp later this month. The 33-year-old Reynolds hit a career-best .282 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs for the Rockies last season, striking out 112 times in 441 plate appearances.
— The Baltimore Orioles have won their arbitration case with catcher Caleb Joseph and will pay him $700,000 rather than his $1 million request. The 30-year-old Joseph batted .174 in 49 games last season while setting major league records for most at-bats and plate appearances in a season without an RBI.
— Shelby Miller has made his argument to arbitrators for $5.1 million from Arizona after going 3-12 with a 6.15 ERA last season. The team is offering $4.7 million.
— A person familiar with the negotiations says the Cleveland Indians and free agent left-hander Boone Logan have agreed to a one-year contract with a club option for 2018. The 32-year-old pitched for Colorado last season, going 2-5 with a 3.69 ERA in 66 appearances.
PGA:
Matt Kuchar is the leader through one round of the PGA'S Phoenix Open. Kuchar eagled the par-5 13th and had five birdies in a 7-under 64. He followed his 20-foot eagle putt with birdies on three of his final four holes to complete a bogey-free round. Kuchar is one stroke ahead of defending champ Hideki Matsuyama and Brendan Steele. Jordan Spieth shot a 70 to trail by five shots.
The European Tour says Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the Dubai Desert Classic due to a back injury.Woods insisted he had not suffered a setback despite his comeback continuing in demoralising fashion, the 14-time major winner failing to card a single birdie as he slumped to an opening 77, two shots worse than his previous highest score in the event. He did not look 100 per cent fit at various points in his round, climbing gingerly out of a greenside bunker on his first hole and notably grimacing as he walked off the tee on the seventh, his 16th.
"No, I wasn't in pain at all," Woods said after the first round at Emirates Golf Club. "I was just trying to hit shots and I wasn't doing a very good job. At the end I finally hit some good ones but the damage had already been done." Woods returned to the PGA Tour for the first time in 17 months last week and failed to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open.
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