NBA:
In the NBA, Chicago beat Toronto 105-94, Cleveland topped Minnesota 116-108, and it was Sacramento over the Lakers 97-96.
Former Knick Charles Oakley is being welcomed back to Madison Square Garden and the team's home games after his ban from the arena was lifted. Oakley was arrested at a game last week and banned by Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan after an altercation with security guards. The sides have reconciled after a meeting orchestrated by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. But Oakley says he wants an apology before returning.
Toronto and Orlando have finalized a trade that sends Serge Ibaka to the Raptors for Terrence Ross and a 2017 first-round pick. Ibaka averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds for Orlando this season. He has long been considered a rugged defensive power forward, and his experience making deep playoff runs with the Thunder should be a tremendous asset to the Raptors. Ibaka will be a free agent this summer. Ross is in the first year of a three-year, $31 million contract. Ross averaged 10.4 points and 2.6 rebounds with the Raptors, who entered Tuesday tied for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.
NHL:
In the NHL, Buffalo edged Ottawa 3-2, Toronto topped the Islanders 7-1, New Jersey skated by Colorado 3-2, Pittsburgh blanked Vancouver 4-0, Winnipeg bested Dallas 5-2, Anaheim shut out Minnesota 1-0, and it was Edmonton over Arizona 5-2.
It didn't take Claude Julien long to find another job. Unfortunately for Michel Therrien it's at his expense. Montreal has suddenly fired Therrien and replaced him with Julien who was fired as Bruins coach a week ago. The move comes as the Canadiens continue to lead the Atlantic Division by six points. But Montreal is a league worst 1-5-1 since the start of February.
Therrien was in his fifth season of his second tour of duty as Canadiens coach and had three playoff appearances with a trip to the 2014 Eastern Conference final. They missed the playoffs last season after goaltender Carey Price injured his knee in November. Julien returns to Montreal, where he coached from 2003-2006. He won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and was the longest-tenured coach in the NHL until last week. The Habs first game under Julien will be Saturday at home against Winnipeg.
MLB:
Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher are joining the group of guest instructors at New York Yankees' spring training this year. Both are on the list released by the team Tuesday when New York pitchers and catchers reported for spring training. A-Rod and Swisher were both instructors with the Yankees' instructional league team last fall. This is the first time they'll be in the coaching role at spring training. The pair joins holdovers that include Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Hideki Matsui, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Stump Merrill and Lee Mazzilli.
Starting his 10th season as New York Yankees manager, Joe Girardi wants to lead the team beyond 2017 and watch the Baby Bombers mature. Girardi is entering the final season of a $16 million, four-year contract. The Yankees won the 2009 World Series in his second season but have missed the postseason in three of the past four years and have not won a postseason game since the 2012 AL Division Series.
Spring training has begun with pitchers and catcher reporting for several teams. Fifteen of the big league clubs are open for business in both Arizona and Florida. The Kansas City Royals won't have pitcher Brian Flynn around for eight weeks after he fell through a barn roof at his Oklahoma residence. He suffered a broken rib and small fractures of three vertebrae. Flynn had a 2.60 ERA in one start and 35 relief appearances last season. In 12 relief appearances from July 31-Sept. 6, he did not allow an earned run.
Elsewhere:
— Chris Tillman will not be Baltimore's opening day starter. As spring training opened, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said the right-hander had a platelet-rich plasma injection on his right shoulder and will not pitch in a spring training game before March 17, As a result, Tillman won't start the season until April 7 at the earliest.
— Alex Reyes' battle for the final spot in the Cardinals rotation has been put on hold. The 22-year old right-hander had his schedule bullpen session canceled due to a sore right elbow and will have an MRI. Reyes made his major league debut in August. He went as 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA in five starts and seven relief appearances. His fastball averaged more than 97 mph.
— The Tampa Bay Rays have finalized a $2 million, one-year contract with injured pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. He is expected to miss the entire 2017 season recovering from Tommy John surgery last August. Eovaldi was 9-8 with a 4.76 ERA in 21 starts and three relief appearances last season with the Yankees and is 38-46 with a 4.21 ERA over parts of six seasons with the Yankees, Dodgers and Marlins.
— The Pittsburgh Pirates are beginning spring training without third baseman Jung Ho Kang. He is scheduled to go on trial in South Korea on charges of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. Kang is in the third year of a four-year contract he signed with Pittsburgh in January 2015.
— Three pitchers have won their arbitration cases, while three others have lost. The winners are Tampa Bay's Jake Odorizzi, Houston's Collin McHugh and Toronto's Marcus Stroman. Michael Wacha of St. Louis, Milwaukee's Chase Anderson and Arizona's Taijuan Walker have lost.
— Arizona bench and longtime Twins manager Ron Gardenhire says he has prostate cancer and will have surgery. The 59-year old says he received the diagnosis about a week ago after tests in Minnesota. Gardenhire doctors believe they caught the cancer early and that the surgery would leave him cancer-free.
Sailing:
Two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA has unveiled the 50-foot catamaran it will sail in the 35th America's Cup in Bermuda this year. Skipper Jimmy Spithill says the boat, which is just longer than 49 feet, is more refined than the 45-foot cat the syndicate has been training in. Says Spithill: "Now it really starts for this boat. There are 100 days to go and the clock's ticking. We really need to put some hours on it." Qualifying races begin May 26. The America's Cup match, between Oracle and the winner of the challenger series, will begin June 17.
NCAA:
In college men’s basketball, Saint Peter's beat Marist 71-46, Buffalo beat Central Michigan 99-93, Canisius closed on a 6-0 spurt to beat Iona 89-83, and Notre Dame overcame a 13-point first-half deficit for an 84-76 victory over Boston College.
Malik Monk had 20 points and a career-high eight rebounds, Derek Willis had 16 points and No. 13 Kentucky made 10 3-pointers in the first half to roll past Tennessee 83-58. Kentucky made 11 3-pointers and avenged last month's 82-80 road loss to the Volunteers and improved to 21-5. The Wildcats held Tennessee to 35 percent shooting and led by as many as 28 points in handing the Volunteers their third loss in four games. The Vols are 14-12.
In other AP Top-25 hoops:
— Canyon Barry, the grandson of former NBA great Rick Barry, scored a season-high 30 points for Florida in the 15th-ranked Gators' 114-95 win over Auburn. The 21-5 Gators blew past their previous scoring high of 106 points en route to a seventh straight win.
— Purdue center Isaac Haas had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and power forward Caleb Swanigan added 12 points and 17 rebounds in leading the 16th-ranked Boilermakers past Rutgers 74-55.
— Bonzie Colson scored 20 points and Matt Farrell had 19 as 25th-ranked Notre Dame overcame a 13-point first-half deficit to send Boston College to its 10th straight loss, 84-76.
Westminster Kennel Club:
Rumor the German shepherd has become America's top dog.
Cheered loudly all around the ring by a packed crowd at Madison Square Garden, Rumor was picked as best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club on Tuesday night.
Rumor became just the second German shepherd to win the nation's most prestigious pooch parade, joining the fittingly named Manhattan in 1987. Rumor retired after a near-miss at Westminster last year, but she returned a month ago to give it another try.
The 5-year-old Rumor is named for the Adele hit song "Rumor Has It." This was the 104th career win for Rumor, and handler and co-owner Kent Boyles said earlier in the day that this would definitely, for real, be her last major show.
There were nearly 2,800 dogs entered in the 141st Westminster canine competition, spread across the 202 eligible breeds and varieties.
Rumor beat out a Norwegian elkhound, a Pekingese, a miniature poodle, an Irish setter, a boxer and a Norwich terrier in the final ring.
NFL:
Jury selection is underway in ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez's second murder trial. The former New England Patriots tight end already is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez is being tried in the slayings of two other men who were fatally shot outside a Boston nightclub in 2012. Prosecutors and defense attorneys began assembling a jury for the latest trial yesterday.
A 10-year-old cancer patient, who in December lived out his dream of meeting New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, has died. Logan Schoenhardt's story gained national attention during a social media campaign that brought the Connecticut boy's wish to the attention of the Patriots and Brady. He died Monday.
More than a week after the Falcons fell victim to the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, an Atlanta zoo has named a cockroach after Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Zoo Atlanta says on its Facebook page that it had a bet with Rhode Island's Roger Williams Park Zoo that called for the loser to name a baby animal after the winning team's star quarterback.
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