NFL:
Tom Brady hooked up with Danny Amendola for a four-yard touchdown pass with 2:48 remaining to complete the New England Patriots comeback in a 24-20 win over the Jaguars in the AFC championship game at Foxborough. The 40-year-old Brady was 26 of 38 for 290 yards and two touchdowns despite suffering a right hand injury during practice last week. Jacksonville enjoyed a 20-10 lead until Amendola grabbed a nine-yard scoring strike from Brady with 8:44 remaining.
Nick Foles came up big in the NFC Championship Game as the Philadelphia Eagles rolled to a 38-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Foles missed on just seven passes as he was 26 of 33 for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Alshon Jeffrey grabbed scoring passes of 53 and five yards from Foles, who also hit Torrey Smith for a 41-yard score.
The New England Patriots are the favorite once again in this city's sports books to win the Super Bowl. They're a lopsided pick to win the one after that, too. Oddsmakers wasted little time in establishing the Patriots as between a 5-to-6 point favorite over the Philadelphia Eagles. Bettors didn't take long to weigh in themselves, with one gambler taking the points and putting a $10,000 bet on the Eagles at the South Point resort before their rout of the Minnesota Vikings was even over.
J.J. Watt, Greg Olsen and Benjamin Watson are finalists for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year award. The honor recognizes a player's contribution in his community and to society in general. The winner will be revealed on Feb. 3 at NFL Honors, when The Associated Press announces its individual NFL awards.
NBA:
The Boston Celtics have a season-worst three-game home losing streak after falling to a team that had dropped its previous 10 road games. Elfrid Payton contributed 22 points and Evan Fournier had 19 in Orlando's 103-95 victory over the Celtics. Kyrie Irving poured in 40 points for the Celts, who led by a point until they were outscored 32-12 in the third quarter.
Spencer Dinwiddie's jumper with 0.9 seconds left lifted the Brooklyn Nets over Detroit 101-100. The Pistons lost their fifth in a row. After a basket by Andre Drummond put the Pistons ahead with 4.7 seconds left, Dinwiddie took the inbounds pass, drove to 14 feet and drained a jumper against his former teammates.
Jordan Clarkson had 29 points and 10 assists, Julius Randle added 27 points and 12 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks 127-107 for their sixth win in eight games. Kyle Kuzma added 15 points for the Lakers, who continued their midseason surge of solid play. Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Michael Beasley scored 17 points apiece for the Knicks.
Clemson forward Donte Grantham will miss the rest of the season after tearing his right ACL in Saturday's win against Notre Dame. Grantham was driving to the basket when his right leg appeared to buckle while getting fouled from behind. He is second on the team in scoring and rebounds, averaging 14.2 points and 6.9 boards.
NHL:
Tanner Pearson, Michael Amadio and Jake Muzzin each scored on the power play and the Los Angeles Kings snapped their six-game skid with a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the Kings while ending his personal five-game losing skid. Trevor Lewis added an empty-net goal with 17.8 seconds remaining.
Ryan Pulock had a goal and a career-high four assists, Anthony Beauvillier scored two power-play goals and the New York Islanders beat the slumping Chicago Blackhawks 7-3. Brock Nelson had a goal and two assists and John Tavares added a goal and an assist as New York won at Chicago for the first time since a 4-2 victory on March 15, 2009.
The expansion Vegas Golden Knights sit atop the NHL's overall standings with 66 points after Colin Miller provided a goal and two assists in a 5-1 rout of Carolina. James Neal knocked in his 21st goal of the season, Jonathan Marchessault added his 17th and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots for the Knights. Vegas is 31-11-4 and has collected 66 points, one more than the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.
The general manager of the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team has died, 2 ½ weeks before the start of the Winter Games in South Korea. USA Hockey says Jim Johannson died in his sleep Sunday morning at age 53. Johansson began working for USA Hockey in 2000 after spending five years as the general manager of the Twin Cities Vulcans in the United States Hockey League.
NCAAM:
Travis Charles scored 21 points, David Nichols scored 17 while Alex Foster grabbed 13 rebounds and Albany dismantled UMBC 83-39. Ahmad Clark made two 3-pointers and the Great Danes had a 20-4 lead with just over seven minutes before halftime.
Chaise Daniels scored 17 points, Rich Kelly 16 and Jacob Rigoni 15, and Quinnipiac shot 61 percent in beating Siena 76-69. Cameron Young added 10 points for the Bobcats, who were 27 of 44 from the floor in snapping a two-game skid and swept the season series.
Trae Bell-Haynes scored 17 points to reach a program milestone and Vermont won its ninth straight game with a 76-53 victory over Hartford. First-place Vermont (16-5, 6-0 America East) extended its nation-best, regular-season conference winning streak to 27 games.
Kyle Guy scored 17 points and second-ranked Virginia picked up its 10th straight win by downing Wake Forest 59-49 at Winston-Salem. De'Andre Hunter contributed 16 points the Cavaliers, who improved to 18-1 overall and a league-best 7-0 in the ACC. Guy and Hunter accounted for 12 of the Cavaliers' 21 baskets as the team shot 40 percent compared to 37 percent for the Demon Deacons.
Matt Harris scored 24 points, Josh Gantz added 19 and UMass Lowell beat Binghamton 79-71 for the River Hawks' first America East Conference win this season. The River Hawks extended their 33-28 halftime lead with an 8-2 run to start the second half with a 3-point play and a jumper by Jahad Thomas and a 3-pointer from Gantz.
Deng Adel had all 18 points and 10 rebounds after halftime, including a late free throw that helped Louisville hold off Boston College 77-69 for its fourth consecutive victory. Louisville led by 18 with 3:57 remaining before BC got within a basket, but free throws by Ryan McMahon and V.J. King sealed the win.
Zavier Turner scored 20 points and had 10 assists and Manhattan defeated Saint Peter's 68-57. On the day that Turner posted his first career double-double, he reached 20 points for the 20th time.
Iba Camara became New Hampshire's all-time rebounder, scored the final five points and blocked a last-second shot in a 53-51 victory over Stony Brook. With Stony Brook leading 51-48, Camara drove and scored with 1:28 left then added three free throws in the final minute before rejecting Jaron Cornish's shot at the rim as time ran out.
NCAAW:
Kia Nurse scored 24 points and freshman Megan Walker added a career-best 22 to help No. 1 UConn rout Temple 113-57. The Huskies were missing Katie Lou Samuelson, who was out with a left ankle injury she sustained against Tulsa on Thursday.
PGA:
John Rahm birdied the fourth playoff hole to beat Andrew Landry and capture the CareerBuilder Challenge at La Quinta, California. Rahm closed with a 5-under 67, but Landry forced a playoff with an 11-foot birdie putt on 18 for a 68. Rahm and Landry were 22 under, two strokes ahead of Adam Hadwin, John Huh and Martin Piller. The 23-year-old Rahm will jump from third to second in the world ranking behind Dustin Johnson.
Tennis:
Madison Keys has played her way into Australian Open quarterfinals. The No. 17 seed cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over eighth-seeded Caroline Garcia. Keys is yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park and is averaging a brisk 62.5 minutes per match as she tries to reach a second straight Grand Slam final. Next up for Keys is Angelique Kerber, who earned her 13th straight match victory by downing Hsieh Su-wei, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Men's No. 19 seed Tomas Berdych won his fourth-round match in straight sets.
Olympics:
The Court of Arbitration of Sport has opened a full week of appeal hearings for 39 Russian athletes disqualified from the 2014 Sochi Olympics for taking part in a state-backed doping program. CAS says it expects to give verdicts next week. Some athletes hope to overturn their Olympic life bans and compete at the Pyeongchang Games, which open Feb. 9.
Two key witnesses, Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov and World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren, are set to testify by video or telephone link to the closed-door hearings at a conference center. Swiss law firm Schellenberg Wittner is representing the 39 athletes from seven sports, including several gold medalists, before two separate judging panels.
The firm says the IOC banned the athletes "despite a lack of specific evidence."
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