National Sports

By ROB MAADDI – AP Pro Football Writer Beyoncé provided more excitement than either game during Netflix’s NFL debut on Christmas Day. Riding into her halftime appearance on a white horse, the 32-time Grammy winner rocked her hometown Houston crowd with a nearly 13-minute performance on Wednesday. She surprised fans by bringing out Shaboozey to

By JIMMY GOLEN – AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Joel Embiid popped up from a pregame fall and scored 27 points with nine rebounds, making 4 of 5 from 3-point range and sinking a pair of free throws with 3 seconds left to turn back Boston’s final rally and lead the Philadelphia 76ers to

By WILL GRAVES – AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Three times in 11 days, the Pittsburgh Steelers faced a team aiming for the Super Bowl, the kind of elite company the Steelers have spent most of the season trying to prove they belong in. And three times in 11 days, Pittsburgh found itself doing

By SCHUYLER DIXON – AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) — While the Dallas Mavericks wait to see how long they’ll be without Luka Doncic because of his latest left calf injury, they have another example of how to stay afloat until the superstar’s return. Doncic exited late in the second quarter of a 105-99 Christmas

By TIM REYNOLDS – AP Basketball Writer MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Heat are listing Jimmy Butler as doubtful for their game Thursday at Orlando, saying he needs time to recondition before returning to the lineup. Butler did not fly with the team to Orlando on Wednesday night, and his intentions for future games seem

By WILL GRAVES – AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andy Reid donned a Santa Claus suit in a giddy Kansas City Chiefs locker room on Christmas Day, then handed his team a present it increasingly looks like it deserves: home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. How Reid managed to slide into the costume so

By SCHUYLER DIXON – AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 26 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for a 105-99 Christmas Day victory over Dallas after Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic left the game with a strained left calf. A rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals won by Dallas fell flat

By ARNIE STAPLETON – AP Pro Football Writer ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — If anybody can slow down Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, it’s Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II. He did it before when both were rookies in 2021 and Surtain held Chase to a single catch for 3 yards on four targets on a

By BRIAN MAHONEY – AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama nearly obliterated the Spurs’ Christmas record book in his first time playing on the holiday. Nearly won the game, too. His 42 points and 18 rebounds could only get San Antonio close before falling short, with the New York Knicks pulling out

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The National Football League Inactive Report. KANAS CITY CHIEFS at PITTSBURGH STEELERS — KANSAS CITY: DB Chamarri Conner, DE Joshua Uche, OL C.J. Hanson, OL D.J. Humphries, OT Ethan Driskell, DE Malik Herring, DL Chris Jones. PITTSBURGH: QB Justin Fields, WR Ben Skowronek, CB Joey Porter Jr.,

By ANDREW SELIGMAN – AP Sports Writer LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks need a win to help keep their flickering playoff hopes from getting extinguished. Caleb Williams and the Bears need a victory to end their long losing streak. The Seahawks will try to regroup and stay in the

By BRIAN MAHONEY – AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored a season-high 41 points, and the New York Knicks overcame 42 from Victor Wembanyama in a monster Christmas debut to edge the San Antonio Spurs 117-114 on Wednesday. Wembanyama set a Spurs’ record for points on the holiday and added 18

By DAVE HOGG – Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — At the beginning of November, the Pittsburgh Panthers were 7-0 and dreaming of finishing the season in the College Football Playoff. Instead, they were spending their Christmas in Detroit. Pitt went 0-5 in November, losing to SMU, Virginia, Clemson, Louisville and Boston College before accepting an

By JOHN MARSHALL – AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Kansas State did not finish the regular season the way it wanted to. Not by a long shot. In the thick of the Big 12 race — potentially the College Football Playoff — heading into the final month, the Wildcats stumbled to three losses in

By The Associated Press Seattle (8-7) at Chicago (4-11) Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime BetMGM NFL odds: Seahawks by 3½. Against the spread: Seahawks 6-8-1; Bears 6-7-2. Series record: Seahawks lead 11-8. Last meeting: Bears beat Seahawks 25-24 in Seattle on Dec. 26, 2021. Last week: Seahawks lost to Minnesota 27-24; Bears lost to

By AP PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will try to lock up the top seed in the AFC without star defensive end Chris Jones. The Chiefs (14-1) made Jones inactive for their Christmas Day meeting with Pittsburgh (10-5). Jones, a five-time Pro Bowler, is dealing with a calf injury he sustained late in

By JOHN MARSHALL – AP Sports Writer TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Sam Leavitt grew up with three older siblings, one of whom went on to play in the NFL. None of them let the baby of the family win at anything, and it drove him nuts. “It’s not like he ever was a good loser,”

By The Associated Press Dec. 26 1908 — Jack Johnson becomes the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing title, with a 14th-round knockout of Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. 1917 — Toronto’s Harry Cameron becomes the first defenseman to score four goals in a game as the Maple Leafs beat the Montreal

By AP VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Relegation-threatened Valencia has hired West Bromwich Albion manager Carlos Corberan as its new head coach through June 2027. Valencia fired Rubén Baraja on Monday after another setback in La Liga left the Spanish club stuck in the relegation zone and sparked renewed protests against Singaporean owner Peter Lim. “Carlos

By JOSH DUBOW – AP Pro Football Writer Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here. Led by free-agent bargains Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry, the number of big-play running backs is rivaling the number of high-production wide receivers for a change. With two

By The Associated Press A pair of Saturday NFL games drew a larger viewing audience than college football for the rollout of the sport’s 12-team playoff. The playoff game between SMU and Penn State averaged 6.4 million viewers on TNT networks, compared with the Texans-Chiefs game on NBC, which averaged 15.5 million viewers. Later, Clemson-Texas

By AP UNDATED (AP) — No. 14 Gonzaga meets No. 22 UCLA in the lone matchup of AP Top 25 teams for the Christmas holiday week. Both teams will be returning to action a week after their previous games. Gonzaga is coming off a win against Bucknell while UCLA is coming off a loss to

By AP SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Colorado secured what it said was record insurance coverage for quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter as the star duo opted to complete their college careers in the Alamo Bowl rather than sit out and prepare for the NFL draft. Colorado wouldn’t disclose the amount of

By AP UNDATED (AP) — JuJu Watkins is The Associated Press women’s basketball player of the week. The sophomore guard shined in the Trojans’ 72-70 victory over UConn, scoring 25 points with six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. She had 15 points in the first half and then had a key assist down the

By AP UNDATED (AP) — No. 14 Gonzaga meets No. 22 UCLA in the lone matchup of AP Top 25 teams for the Christmas holiday week. Both teams will be returning to action a week after their previous games. Gonzaga is coming off a win against Bucknell while UCLA is coming off a loss to