NBA:
In the NBA, Sacramento beat Boston 108-92, Oklahoma City won against Cleveland 118-109, Dallas topped Utah in overtime 112-105, Philadelphia bested Orlando 112-111, and it was Houston over Charlotte 107-95.
Phil Jackson has made a peace offering on Twitter, saying his previous tweet that appeared to be a dig at Carmelo Anthony was "misunderstood." Using two emojis, Jackson wrote Thursday that he had started a firestorm with a "misunderstood tweet" and added that "our society is torn with discord." ''I'm against it," he added. "Let it Be" The New York Knicks president of basketball operations hadn't tweeted for more than a month until a post Tuesday referencing a Bleacher Report column that was critical of Anthony.
Milwaukee's Jabari Parker has suffered a season-ending left ACL injury for the second time in three years and will require surgery. He was hurt in the Bucks' loss to Miami on Wednesday. The Bucks say the recovery and rehabilitation period will take about a year. Parker is averaging a career-high 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Islanders won against Philadelphia 3-1, the Rangers skated by Nashville 4-3, Anaheim topped Buffalo 5-2, Boston doubled up San Jose 6-3, St. Louis edged Toronto in overtime 2-1, Ottawa beat Dallas 3-2, Los Angeles beat Florida 6-3, Montreal slid past Arizona in overtime 5-4, Pittsburgh beat Colorado 4-1, Washington doubled up Detroit 6-3, and it was Vancouver over Columbus 3-0.
MLB:
Left-hander Jerry Blevins has finalized a $6.5 million, one-year contract to remain with the New York Mets, who have been rebuilding their bullpen as spring training nears. Blevins gets a $5.5 million salary this year, and the Mets have a $7 million option for 2018 with a $1 million buyout. He can earn $100,000 annually in performance bonuses.
David Phelps has won his arbitration case against the Miami Marlins and will earn $4.6 million this season. That's up from $2.5 million from last year when the 30-year old right-hander went 7-6 with a career best 2.28 ERA mostly out of the bullpen. The team had offered $4.325 million.
Left-hander J.P. Howell and the Toronto Blue Jays have finalized a one-year, $3 million contract. The 33-year-old pitched for the Dodgers the last four seasons and was 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA last year.
The Miami Marlins could be changing hands soon. A person with direct knowledge of the negotiations tells The Associated Press that owner Jeffrey Loria has a preliminary agreement to sell the team to a New York businessman. However, the person adds that the deal could fall through because the final purchase price hasn't been determined. According to the source, the preliminary agreement was for a purchase price of about $1.6 billion, but that was before the prospective buyer did due diligence. The person says the final offer by the potential buyer could be much lower. The 76-year old Loria bought the Marlins for $158.5 million.
NCAA:
In men’s college basketball, UAlbany beat Binghamton 66-54.
A Stony Brook basketball player from California has been arraigned on charges of raping a minor. Sophomore Blair Mendy is accused of engaging in sexual relations with a 16-year-old girl at a campus apartment on December 20th. The 22-year-old from San Jose faces third-degree rape and other charges. A judge set bail Thursday at $2,000.
Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck's five-year, $18 million contract comes with a hefty buyout if he is fired and substantial bonuses if the Gophers win big. The university has released details of the deal agreed to last month and set to be finalized this week. Fleck will make $3.5 million in his first season, with $50,000 annual raises over the remainder of the contract, which is valued slightly above the average for Big Ten football coaches.
Jerome Frink returned after missing his first game in two years to pour in a season-high 30 points, and Iverson Fleming knocked down a game-winning 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in overtime as LIU Brooklyn beat Bryant, 88-85 Thursday night. Bryant's Nisre Zouzoua hit the second of two free throws with :09 left in regulation to tie the game at 76-76 and Marcel Pettway stole the ball from Frink with a second left to force overtime. Bosko Kostur hit two free throws with just under a minute remaining in overtime to get Bryant even at 85-85. Zouzoua and Ikenna Ndugba both missed 3-point attempts to tie the game in the closing seconds. Fleming finished with 24 points and Jashaun Agosto added 20 points for the Blackbirds (15-11, 8-5 Northeast Conference). Kostur scored 26 points and Ndugba added 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Bryant (8-18, 5-8).
Los Angeles was the site for two of the most interesting games on last night's men's basketball schedule. Top-ranked Gonzaga kept its perfect season intact with a road victory, while UCLA took a top-10 matchup of Pac-12 teams. Gonzaga is still the lone unbeaten team in Division I men's hoops after Nigel Williams-Goss had team highs of 19 points and 11 boards in a 90-60 rout of Loyola Marymount. Johnathan Williams had 13 points for the 25-0 Bulldogs, who outscored the Lions 34-4 from the line. The Zags closed the first half on a 24-9 run to take a 50-28 lead. Aaron Holiday and freshman Lonzo Ball each had 15 points and the 10th-ranked Bruins staged a big rally to beat fifth-ranked Oregon, 82-79. The Bruins trailed by 19 in the first half and didn't take their first lead until Holiday canned a 3-pointer with four minutes remaining. Ball also had 11 rebounds and combined with Holiday to score UCLA's final seven points.
In other top-25 finals:
— Nigel Hayes nailed a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.4 seconds left in overtime as seventh-ranked Wisconsin escaped with a 70-69 squeaker at Nebraska. Hayes scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime to send the 21-3 Badgers to their eighth straight win, leaving them atop the Big Ten at 10-1.
— Grayson Allen dropped in 25 points and 18th-ranked Duke picked up its fourth straight win with an 86-78 decision over No. 8 North Carolina. Freshman Jayson Tatum scored all 19 of his points in the second half after the Blue Devils carried a 40-39 lead into intermission.
— Vince Edwards matched his career high with 26 points to send 16th-ranked Purdue to a 69-64 win at Indiana. Caleb Swanigan had 16 points and 14 rebounds as the Boilermakers improved to 20-5 with their sixth win in seven games.
— No. 20 Saint Mary's shot just 31 percent but put together an 11-2 run midway through the second half to earn a 51-41 win against Portland. Jock Landale contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Gaels improved to 22-2 overall and 12-1 in the West Coast Conference.
— SMU's winning streak reached seven games as Semi Ojeleye scored a career-high 30 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the 25th-rated Mustangs past Temple, 66-50. Ojeleye had 10 points during a 16-1 spurt in the first half.
In women’s college basketball, UAlbany topped Binghamton 80-63.
NFL:
You can cross the Arizona Cardinals off the list of NFL teams in the market for a new quarterback. Carson Palmer says he'll be back for his 15th NFL season, saying he's ready to get back to work and prepare for the 2017 season. That ends speculation that the 37-year-old Palmer was about to pack it in after a subpar season by his usual standards. He threw for 4,233 yards last season, but his 597 passes were good for just 26 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. The Cardinals just completed a 7-8-1 campaign, their first losing season in four years under head coach Bruce Arians.
The president of the Oakland Raiders says financing for the proposed Las Vegas stadium will not be an issue despite the withdrawal of an instrumental backer. Marc Badain made that known Thursday to the board that oversees the proposed project, less than two weeks after casino magnate Sheldon Adelson pulled his $650 million pledge toward the $1.9 billion stadium. The Raiders would be responsible for $500 million, with the stadium authority putting up $750 million in Las Vegas tax revenues.
PGA:
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am showed its mean side Thursday in high wind, rain and still no shortage of entertainment. Clubhouse co-leaders Seung-Yul Noh, Joel Dahmen and Rick Lamb each finished at 4-under 68 at Spyglass Hill. Jordan Spieth was one stroke back with two holes to play at Monterey Peninsula when play was halted. Top-ranked Jason Day opened with a 69 at Monterey Peninsula.
Olympics:
NBC is replacing Bob Costas as its prime-time host of the network's Olympics telecast with Mike Tirico. The change will take place starting with next year's winter games in South Korea. The 64-year-old Costas has been the prime-time host for 11 Olympics televised by NBC since 1992.
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