Sports

By BRETT MARTEL – AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ja Morant stood near the end of the Memphis bench, cheering on his teammates but leaving his right arm hanging below his injured shoulder, as Memphis closed out a 132-124 victory over the Pelicans on Friday night. Morant was hurt when he crashed into

By DAVID BRANDT – AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic and Dallas forwards Naji Marshall and P.J Washington were ejected following a brief fight between the players during the Mavericks’ 98-89 victory over the Suns on Friday night. Nurkic was called for an offensive foul while being guarded by Daniel Gafford

By CLAY BAILEY – Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Taylen Green threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 81 yards in Arkansas’ 39-26 victory over Texas Tech on Friday night in the Liberty Bowl. Green completed 11 of 21 passes and Arkansas (7-6) had 573 yards of total offense. “All the

By JOHN COON – Associated Press SALT LAKE CTIY (AP) — Artturi Lehkonen scored three goals, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 34 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Utah Hockey Club 4-1 on Friday night. Mikko Rantanen also scored and Nathan MacKinnon had three assists for Colorado, which has won four straight. Blackwood has four wins

By The Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jalen Brunson had 26 points and nine assists, Josh Hart added 23 points and 13 rebounds and the New York Knicks extended their winning streak to six games with a 108-85 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night. Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and eight rebounds

By BETH HARRIS – AP Sports Writer INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Norman Powell scored 24 points and the Los Angeles Clippers held on to beat the slumping Golden State Warriors for the third time this season, 102-92 on Friday night. James Harden added 18 points and seven assists and Ivica Zubac had 17 points and

By MIKE FITZPATRICK – AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Manaea and the New York Mets finalized a $75 million, three-year contract Friday night that keeps one of the team’s best pitchers last season at the front of a remodeled rotation. The sides agreed to terms earlier this week, subject to a successful

By BERNIE WILSON – AP Sports Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kyle McCord threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns to break Deshaun Watson’s Atlantic Coast Conference season passing record and lead No. 22 Syracuse to a 52-35 victory over depleted-yet-scrappy Washington State in the Holiday Bowl on Friday night. LeQuint Allen rushed for 120

By MICHAEL KELLY – Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, Evan Mobley had 26 points and the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 149-135 on Friday night for their sixth straight win. Cleveland set a season high in points and improved to 10-1 since dropping two in a row to

By AP Kings fire coach Mike Brown less than halfway through his 3rd season The Sacramento Kings have fired coach Mike Brown less than halfway through his third season with the team mired in a five-game losing streak. General manager Monte McNair called the move a “difficult decision” and thanked Brown for his work. Assistant

By JOSH DUBOW – AP Sports Writer The Sacramento Kings have fired coach Mike Brown less than halfway through his third season with the team mired in a five-game losing streak. General manager Monte McNair called the move Friday a “difficult decision” and thanked Brown for his work. Assistant Doug Christie will take over as

By AP DALLAS (AP) — Stars forward Mason Marchment was helped off the ice during Friday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild and taken to a hospital after being hit in the face by a puck. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said Marchment is OK, but was not sure how long he’ll be sidelined. Marchment was

By DAVID BRANDT – AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 20 points, Daniel Gafford added 16 and the Dallas Mavericks won their first game since star Luka Doncic was injured, beating the Phoenix Suns 98-89 on Friday night. Kevin Durant scored 35 points for the Suns, who have lost four of their

By WARREN MAYES – Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas scored twice, Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Nashville Predators 7-4 on Friday night. Joel Hofer made 26 saves for the Blues, and defenseman Cam Fowler added a goal and two assists. Zack Bolduc,

By AP DALLAS (AP) — Defenseman Brock Faber scored a wraparound goal 35 seconds into overtime and the Minnesota Wild rallied from two goals down midway through the third period to beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Friday night. Jonas Brodin and Marcus Foligno scored 57 seconds apart in the third to tie the score

By PAT PICKENS – Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 19 points, seven rebounds and six blocks, Jeremy Sochan had 12 points and 14 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-87 on Friday night. Julian Champagnie scored 18 points, and Keldon Johnson had 15 points and six rebounds

By BRETT MARTEL – AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 33 points, Ja Morant scored 25 before leaving with what appeared to be a minor right shoulder injury, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the slumping New Orleans Pelicans 132-124 on Friday night. Morant was knocked from the game when he

By KRISTIE RIEKEN – AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Anthony Edwards made a step-back 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to cap a furious rally and lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 113-112 win over the Houston Rockets Friday night. The Rockets were up by by 12 with about three minutes left before a 10-0

By AP ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — All-Star baseball players Alex Bregman and Walker Buehler have teamed as owners of a 3-year-old colt that won for the first time at Santa Anita on Friday. March of Time defeated four rivals by 2 1/4 lengths to win a six-furlong sprint race worth $60,000 that was designated for

By The Associated Press All Times EST Saturday, Dec. 28 NFL L.A. Chargers at New England, 1 p.m. Denver at Cincinnati, 4:30 p.m. Arizona at L.A. Rams, 8:10 p.m. NBA Miami at Atlanta, 3 p.m. Oklahoma City at Charlotte, 6 p.m. New York at Washington, 7 p.m. Milwaukee at Chicago, 8 p.m. Phoenix at Golden

By DENNIS PASSA – AP Sports Writer Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney to Hobart line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when defending champion LawConnect won the race in the early hours of Saturday

By DICK SCANLON – Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jalen Brunson had 26 points and nine assists, Josh Hart added 23 points and 13 rebounds and the New York Knicks extended their winning streak to six games with a 108-85 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night. Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and

By KYLE HIGHTOWER – AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 44 points, including six 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics snapped a two-game skid with a 142-105 rout over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. Jayson Tatum added 22 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, which connected on 23 3s and

By AP TORONTO (AP) — Blayre Turnbull and Jess Kondas scored their first goals of the season to lift the Toronto Sceptres to a 4-2 win over the Boston Fleet on Friday night. Rookie goalie Raygan Kirk stopped 26 shots for her first Professional Women’s Hockey League victory as the Sceptres snapped a four-game losing

By AP BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Alex Tuch scored a hat trick for the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night. Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn each had a goal and an assist in the first period. The Sabres also got goals from Zach Benson and Tuch to build

By ALLAN KREDA – Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Devils defenseman Luke Hughes had a goal and an assist, Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves and New Jersey defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night. Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer also scored for New Jersey, which has won three straight and six

By NICOLE KRAFT – Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Sean Monahan scored twice in his 800th NHL game, helping Columbus beat the Boston Bruins 6-2 Friday night and extending the Blue Jackets’ home win streak to three games. Dmitri Voronkov added two goals and an assist, extending his point streak to six games. Kirill

By DANA GAURUDER – Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Mitch Marner’s third career hat trick spoiled Todd McClellan’s Detroit coaching debut as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the struggling Red Wings 5-2 on Friday night. David Kampf scored his first goal of the season in his 500th career game and Nicolas Robertson also scored for

By AP WACO, Texas (AP) — Norchad Omier had 19 points and a season-high 24 rebounds, leading No. 25 Baylor to a 107-53 rout of Arlington Baptist on Friday night. Omier scored 13 of his 19 in the first half, including a two-handed dunk 17 seconds into the game, and led six Bears (8-3) in

By JOHN ZENOR – AP Sports Writer BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt delivered another victory to end a surprising season. Pavia threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and Vanderbilt secured its first winning season since 2013 with a 35-27 victory over Georgia Tech on Friday in the Birmingham