National Sports

By BRETT MARTEL – AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jalen Green scored 30 points in less than 30 minutes on the court, and the Houston Rockets cruised to a 128-111 victory over the hapless, injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night. Fred VanVleet hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points for Houston,

By The Associated Press All Times EST Friday, Dec. 27 NBA New York at Orlando, 7 p.m. Indiana at Boston, 7:30 p.m. San Antonio at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. Memphis at New Orleans, 8 p.m. Minnesota at Houston, 8 p.m. Cleveland at Denver, 9 p.m. Dallas at Phoenix, 9 p.m. Golden State at L.A. Clippers, 10

By TIM REYNOLDS – AP Basketball Writer ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Anothert Heat-Magic game, another late comeback. And this one went Miami’s way. On Saturday, it was Orlando with the rally to beat Miami. On Thursday, on the same court, it was the Heat who found a way at the end to beat the Magic.

By AP OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson had five assists to help the United States open its world junior hockey title defense with a 10-4 victory over Germany on Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre. Boston College’s James Hagens had two goals and two assists, and fellow BC forward Gabe Perreault and

By NOAH TRISTER – AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Jordan Poole’s 3-pointer with 8.1 seconds remaining lifted the Washington Wizards to a 113-110 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night. In a matchup of two of the league’s worst teams, the Wizards (5-23) beat Charlotte (7-23) for the second straight week. Washington blew

By JOE REEDY and TIM REYNOLDS – AP Sports Writers LeBron James and the NBA are going to have make room for the NFL on Christmas. That shouldn’t be a problem. Both leagues were winners on Wednesday. Netflix set records as the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history while the NBA had its best holiday

By MARK AMBROGI – Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied his career high with 45 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 120-114 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. Gilgeous-Alexander hit 15 of 22 shots and all 11 free throws in Oklahoma City’s ninth consecutive victory. Jalen Williams scored

By DICK SCANLON – Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Herro hit a 19-foot jumper with 0.5 seconds left Thursday night to give the Miami Heat an 89-88 win over the Orlando Magic. Jalen Suggs, who scored 29 points for the Magic, missed a long jumper at the buzzer. Herro finished with 20 points

By ROB MAADDI – AP Pro Football Writer Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and Commanders tight end Zach Ertz cleared the air after they exchanged words following Washington’s comeback win over Philadelphia on Sunday. Videos show Ertz gave Sirianni a high-five as they were headed in opposite directions. Sirianni turned to say something to Ertz, who

By BRETT MARTEL – AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The future is now for the Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints. Both enter Sunday’s meeting in the Superdome trying to make the best of a lost season by figuring out who they might like to keep — and who needs to go.

By MITCH STACY – AP Sports Writer CINCINNATI (AP) — The Denver Broncos could have clinched a playoff spot last week, but let the opportunity slip away when they lost to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Broncos (9-6) will have another chance to lock up their first postseason appearance since 2015 when they go on

By BETH HARRIS – AP Racing Writer ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Raging Torrent won the $200,000 Malibu Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths on Thursday at Santa Anita, with Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan finishing last in the final Grade 1 stakes of the year in the United States. Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Raging Torrent ran

By DAVE HOGG – Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Tucker Gleason ran for one overtime score and threw for four more as Toledo beat Pittsburgh 48-46 in a bowl-record six overtimes at the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field on Thursday. The game surpassed the previous mark set 48 hours earlier when South Florida beat

By MARK LONG – AP Pro Football Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Calvin Ridley was relatively quiet at EverBank Stadium in 2023. He caught 31 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns in eight games in Jacksonville last season. He was held to 40 yards or fewer in seven of those. He’s looking for better

By BETH HARRIS – AP Racing Writer ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Flavien Prat won the $200,000 Mathis Mile Stakes at Santa Anita on Thursday, the French jockey’s record-setting 56th graded stakes victory of the year. Prat broke the old mark of 55, set by Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey in 2003. “It is definitely

By JOHN WAWROW – AP Sports Writer ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen was a big fan of Aaron Rodgers while growing up in central California, and was left impressed upon discovering the latest milestone the New York Jets quarterback is approaching: 500 passing touchdowns. “That’s a spectacular stat. Aaron’s one of the, if

By AP CHICAGO (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks placed running back Kenneth Walker III on injured reserve prior to Thursday night’s game at Chicago because of an ankle injury. Walker got hurt during Sunday’s 27-24 loss against Minnesota. He left that game after sitting out the previous two because of a calf problem. He also

By GREG BEACHAM – AP Sports Writer INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — When the Los Angeles Rams host the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night, one team will be steaming toward a division title, while the other will be playing out a disappointing non-playoff season. If you had only watched these NFC West rivals’ first meeting in

By JOSH DUBOW – AP Pro Football Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Dan Campbell stood at the podium after Detroit blew a 17-point lead to San Francisco in last season’s NFC title game and talked about how that might have been the Lions’ only shot at reaching the Super Bowl. The coach knew how

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The National Football League Inactive Report. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS at CHICAGO BEARS — SEATTLE: TE Brady Russell (foot), LB Patrick O’Connell, OT Michael Jerrell, WR Cody White, CB Nehemiah Pritchett, QB Jaren Hall (emergency third QB). CHICAGO: RB Travis Homer, DB Tavarius Moore, OL Teven Jenkins, DB Elijah

By DAVE CAMPBELL – AP Pro Football Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell’s stirring locker room tribute to his team last week at Seattle was respectfully interrupted by seven-year veteran right tackle Brian O’Neill, who flipped the script on the game ball awards by tossing one to the boss in honor of

By FRED GOODALL – AP Sports Writer TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — This isn’t a week when coach Todd Bowles feels he needs to find the right words to ensure his Tampa Bay Buccaneers are motivated to face the last-place Carolina Panthers. The Bucs (8-7) have won eight of the last nine meetings between the NFC

By BERNIE WILSON – AP Sports Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) — Syracuse coach Fran Brown and Washington State acting coach Pete Kaligis shared a heartfelt hug after their Holiday Bowl news conference on Thursday. Kaligis can certainly use all the support he can get, especially an embrace and some encouraging words from the opposing coach.

By STEPHEN WHYNO – AP Sports Writer Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix Jr. trained and went through the NFL draft process together on the way to becoming two of the five quarterbacks taken in the top 10. After going off the board earlier with the second pick by the Washington Commanders, Daniels has been their

By The Associated Press Denver (9-6) at Cincinnati (7-8) Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST, NFL Network BetMGM NFL Odds: Bengals by 3. Against the spread: Broncos 11-4, Bengals 9-6. Series record: Broncos lead 22-11. Last meeting: Bengals beat Broncos 15-10 on Dec. 19, 2021, at Denver. Last week: Chargers beat Broncos 34-27; Bengals beat Browns 24-6.

By ARNIE STAPLETON – AP Pro Football Writer ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Cornerback Riley Moss is “good to go” for the Denver Broncos’ crucial game at Cincinnati on Saturday. “He’s doing good,” coach Sean Payton said Thursday. “He’ll be ready to go.” The Broncos (9-6), who would end their eight-year playoff drought with a win

By AP ANN ARBOR, Michigan (AP) — Michigan defensive lineman Kenneth Grant is skipping his final college season to enter the NFL draft. Grant, a key part of the Wolverines’ 2023 national championship team, announced his decision Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter. Fellow Michigan interior lineman Mason Graham had already declared for the

By KYLE HIGHTOWER – AP Sports Writer FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — If Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh has given any thought to the possibility of clinching a playoff berth in his first season with the team with a win at New England on Saturday, he isn’t letting it show. “Just attacking, that’s our mindset.

By JOSH DUBOW – AP Pro Football Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — When the San Francisco 49ers used a third-round pick to draft Jake Moody last year, the hope was it would settle their kicking position for years to come. A shaky second half to Moody’s second season with San Francisco has put that

By JAMES ROBSON and STEVE DOUGLAS – AP Soccer Writers Erling Haaland’s failure from the penalty spot and Bruno Fernandes’ latest red card compounded the woes of Manchester City and Manchester United on another tough day for the two Premier League giants. There were no such problems Thursday for Liverpool, which rallied to a 3-1