NBA-SCHEDULE
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored seven of his 26 points over the final 33 seconds as the Knicks downed the Jazz 106-101. Kristaps Porzingis had 22 points and Courtney Lee added 19 for New York, which trailed by 10 late in the third quarter before posting its third comeback win in eight days.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons have been demonstrating that the NBA's Eastern Conference is much deeper than it was last season. The two teams carried winning streaks into Wednesday's action before the Bucks picked up their fourth straight victory.
Khris Middleton scored 27 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 21 as the Bucks halted the Pistons' five-game win streak 99-95. Milwaukee blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter before staying unbeaten since a four-game skid.
Newly-acquired Eric Bledsoe scored all 12 of his points in the second half for the Bucks, who clinched the win on a pair of free throws by Tony Snell with 10 seconds left.
Avery Bradley's 28 points led the Pistons, who own the second-best record in the East at 10-4.
Checking out Wednesday's other NBA action:
— Joel Embiid torched the Lakers for a career-high 46 points while providing 15 rebounds, seven assists and seven blocks in the 76ers' 115-109 win at Los Angeles. Sixers rookie Ben Simmons added 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in Philadelphia's eighth win in 11 games since an 0-3 start.
— The Cavaliers are a game over .500 for the first time since opening the season 2-1. LeBron James scored 31 points and Kevin Love chipped in 22 and 10 rebounds in the Cavs' 115-107 win at Charlotte. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a season-high 22 points for the Hornets, who have dropped five straight overall and eight in a row against Cleveland.
— The Wizards closed on a 29-13 run to turn a seven-point deficit into a 102-93 win at Miami. John Wall scored 27 points and Bradley Beal had 26 as the Southeast Division leaders improved to 9-5 with their fourth straight win.
— DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points and the Raptors went on a 3-point blitz in a 125-116 downing of the Pelicans. The Raptors were 16-for-34 from beyond the arc, with C.J. Miles going 5 for 9.
— The Timberwolves had dropped 12 straight to the Spurs before Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and 16 rebounds on his 22nd birthday to lead Minnesota past San Antonio 98-86. Jeff Teague pitched in 16 points and six assists in the Wolves' seventh win in nine games.
— Russell Westbrook had 21 points and seven assists in helping the Thunder notch their third straight win 92-79 over the Bulls. Carmelo Anthony delivered 18 points and 11 rebounds after missing Oklahoma City's previous game with a sore lower back.
— Damian Lillard had 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Trail Blazers knocked off the Magic 99-94 to finish 4-2 on their six-game homestand. CJ McCollum wound up with 24 points and Shabazz Napier went 5-for-5 from 3-point range in scoring a season-high 19 points.
— Darren Collison scored a season-high 30 points and the Pacers led by 17 in the fourth quarter before hanging on for a 116-113 triumph over the Grizzlies. Victor Oladipo had 21 points as Indiana handed Memphis its third consecutive loss.
— The Hawks finally have their first home win after Dewayne Dedmon scored a career-high 20 points and had 14 rebounds in a 126-80 blowout over the Kings. Dennis Schroder had 21 points and eight assists for Atlanta, which led by 31 in the first half and won for only the third time in 15 games this season.
NBA-ROCKETS-PAUL
Chris Paul is expected to return for the Houston Rockets on Thursday after missing all but one game this season with a bruised left knee.
The point guard returned to practice on Wednesday and will play restricted minutes as he eases his way back. Coach Mike D'Antoni says he plans to start Paul Thursday against the Suns in Phoenix.
MLB-NEWS
The American and National League Cy Young awards have gone to a couple of hurlers who have won it before.
Indians ace Corey Kluber has won his second AL Cy Young Award after picking up 28 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Kluber led the majors with a 2.25 ERA and tied for the major league lead with 18 victories, three years after capturing the award.
Boston's Chris Sale finished second and Luis Severino of the New York Yankees was third.
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is the NL Cy Young Award winner for the second straight year after going 16-6 with a 2.51 ERA and a league-leading 268 strikeouts in 31 starts.
Scherzer received 27 of 30 first-place votes to easily outdistance Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in the balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
It's the third Cy Young for Sherzer, who also claimed the American League honor in 2013.
In other MLB news:
— The Mariners have acquired power-hitting infielder Ryon Healy from the Athletics for right-handed reliever Emilio Pagan and minor league shortstop Alexander Campos. The 25-year-old Healy batted .271 with 25 home runs, 29 doubles and 78 RBIs this past season.
— New Marlins CEO Derek Jeter says the team is listening to trade offers for slugging outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and says Miami must make changes to stop losing money. Jeter says "a lot of this started when he came out and expressed publicly that he didn't want to be part of a rebuild." But Jeter says" that doesn't necessarily mean that that's the move that's going to be made." Jeter says he has not spoken yet with Stanton.
— Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner says former manager Joe Girardi would have been fired even if he led the team to a World Series title. Steinbrenner said he held numerous discussions with general manager Brian Cashman about Girardi's performance over the past few years. Cashman last week attributed the decision to Girardi's "inability to fully engage, communicate, connect with the playing personnel."
NFL-NEWS
Tonight’s Thursday night football matchup will be Tennessee at Pittsburgh at 8:25.
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has dropped his appeal of a six-game suspension over alleged domestic violence. He served the first game in Dallas' 27-7 loss to Atlanta last weekend and will miss five more before he is eligible to return for the Cowboys' Dec. 24 game against Seattle. The 22-year-old Elliott was suspended in August after the NFL concluded he had several physical confrontations in the summer of 2016 with his girlfriend at the time.
Meanwhile, the feud between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell continues to escalate.
The Associated Press has obtained a letter sent to Jones' attorney accusing the team owner of "conduct detrimental to the league's best interests" over his objection to a contract extension for Goodell. The letter accusing Jones of sabotaging the negotiations was sent to David Boies on Wednesday. Jones hired Boies and threatened to sue the NFL if Goodell's contract extension was approved by the compensation committee, made up of six owners. All 32 owners voted unanimously in May to let the committee finalize a deal with Goodell.
In other NFL news:
— Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor has been benched for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers, allowing rookie fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman to make his first NFL start. Taylor was benched in Sunday's 47-10 loss at New Orleans after Buffalo produced 99 yards and four first downs on eight drives. In two series, Peterman was 7 of 10 for 79 yards and a 7-yard touchdown pass to Nick O'Leary.
— Philip Rivers is practicing with the Chargers after reporting symptoms of a possible concussion earlier in the week. Coach Anthony Lynn is optimistic that the veteran quarterback will play against Buffalo.
— Quarterback Case Keenum will start again for the Vikings against his former team, the Rams. Keenum relieved Sam Bradford after the opener and has started five and finished six of the team's seven victories this season.
— Detroit offensive lineman T.J. Lang participated fully in practice Wednesday after missing last weekend's game against Cleveland because of a concussion.
— Papa John's has apologized for comments made by CEO John Schnatter, blaming sluggish pizza sales on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. The company is a major NFL sponsor and advertiser, and Schnatter said on an earnings call Nov. 1 that "NFL leadership has hurt Papa John's shareholders" and that the protests "should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago."
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
UCLA was able to win a basketball game last night, hours after three Bruins accused of shoplifting in China were suspended.
Aaron Holiday scored 24 points and Kris Wilkes added 20 and 12 rebounds as the 23rd-rated Bruins outlasted Central Arkansas 106-101. Thomas Welch had 16 points and 11 boards for UCLA, which had trouble shaking the Bears all night.
Earlier in the day, LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley admitted to shoplifting during the team's trip to China and apologized. Head coach Steve Alford announced the suspensions while describing the players as "good young men."
The coach said the trio wouldn't be allowed to suit up, practice or travel with the team while the university continues to sort out the circumstances of last week's incident in Hangzhou, China.
The top-25 schedule also included a milestone win at Chapel Hill.
Roy Williams earned his 400th victory as North Carolina's head coach as Luke Maye scored 20 points in a 93-81 win against Bucknell. The ninth-ranked Tar Heels saw a 16-point, second-half lead shrink to 71-67 before they scored nine consecutive points. Carolina guard Joel Berry struggled with his shot in his first game since breaking a bone in his shooting hand, going 1-for-11 and finishing with eight points and six assists.
The victory came shortly after the Tar Heels learned guard Cameron Johnson will be out at least four weeks following Wednesday's surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
Men’s
Hartford was defeated by Rider College 89 to 53.
UMass Lowell beat Marist 76 to 73
Women’s
UMass Lowell beat Columbia 77 to 70.
University of New Hampshire beat Boston University 72 to 57.
Vermont beat Norwich 75 to 31.
Also in top-25 finals:
— Amir Coffey, Reggie Lynch and Jordan Murphy were good for 18 points apiece as No. 14 Minnesota thumped Niagara 107-81. Lynch grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds, Murphy added 11 and Nate Mason contributed 15 points and 11 assists for the 3-0 Golden Gophers.
— Creighton handed Northwestern its first loss as Khyri Thomas had a career-high 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to carry the Bluejays past the 20th-ranked Wildcats 92-88. Northwestern lost despite Vic Law's career-best 30 points.
— Calvin Hermanson poured in 22 points and No. 21 Saint Mary's allowed just 26 points in the second half of a 76-57 win over Cal State Fullerton. Jock Landale contributed 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and helped the Gaels outscore Fullerton off turnovers 31-5.
— Desi Rodriguez dropped in 23 points and Angel Delgado provided 19 and 11 rebounds as No. 22 Seton Hall handled Indiana 84-68. Myles Powell scored eight of his 11 points in a 2:12 span to help the Pirates go up 53-39 with 13:51 left.
— Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles scored 20 points apiece to lead No. 24 West Virginia to a 98-64 romp over American. Beetle Bolden added 16 points for the Mountaineers and freshman Teddy Allen scored 14 points in his home debut.
NHL-SCHEDULE
The Chicago Blackhawks have put an end to the New York Rangers' NHL season-high six-game winning streak.
Former Ranger Artem Anisimov scored three times in the third period of the Blackhawks' 6-3 win at Chicago. The game was tied 1-1 until Anisimov and John Hayden scored 46 seconds apart in the first two minutes of the third period.
Chicago collected six goals in the final 21 minutes, beginning with Alex DeBrincat's tally with 52 seconds left in the second period. Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist was pulled after Anisimov scored on a power play to make it 4-1 at 5:14 of the third period.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— The Red Wings had four players collect three points in an 8-2 romp over the Flames. Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha each had two goals and an assist for Detroit, which scored three times in a 3:02 span early in the first period. Dylan Larkin finished with a goal and two assists, while Mike Green set up three tallies in the Red Wings' first win in three games.
— Nick Ritchie and Josh Manson had a goal and an assist apiece to help the Ducks win for only the second time in seven games 4-2 over the Bruins. Kevin Roy scored his first NHL goal and John Gibson handled 39 shots as Anaheim beat Boston for the eighth straight time.
TOP 25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL-NEWS
Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith, Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver, Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell and North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb are the finalists for the Bronco Nagurski Trophy, given to the nation's top defensive player. The winner will be announced Dec. 4 at the Charlotte Touchdown Club awards banquet.
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