National Sports

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

By ROY LANG III – Associated Press SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Army coach Jeff Monken says he’s still losing sleep over the Black Knights’ previous game. A “bad taste” remains in the mouth of quarterback Bryson Daily, who finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Two weeks after a gutting loss to rival Navy, Army

By TIM REYNOLDS – AP Basketball Writer ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Not even two years ago, Rick Carlisle publicly lauded Mike Brown for the job he did on the way to winning the NBA’s coach of the year award. And on Friday, Carlisle was among a slew of coaches reacting with dismay — some even

By AP TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Former Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke is headed to Arizona. Locke announced his decision in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday, giving the Wildcats two veteran quarterbacks with Noah Fifita returning. Locke sat out as a redshirt at Mississippi State in 2022 before throwing for 1,936

By AP NEW YORK (AP) — Philadelphia center Joel Embiid was fined $75,000 by the NBA on Friday for making obscene gestures during the first half of the the 76ers’ 118-114 road victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. The fine comes nearly two months after Embiid was suspended for three games without pay for

By TIM REYNOLDS – AP Basketball Writer ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero is getting closer to a return, with the Orlando Magic forward hoping he may be able to play again sometime within the next couple of weeks. The Magic said Friday that Banchero — an All-Star last season — has entered the “return

By AP EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Running back J.K. Dobbins could return for the Los Angeles Chargers this weekend after being activated off injured reserve on Friday. Dobbins missed four games after suffering a knee injury late in the first half of the Chargers’ 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 25. Los

By AP LONDON (AP) — Bukayo Saka is likely to be sidelined until at least March following surgery on his hamstring, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. Arsenal moved up to second place in the Premier League with a 1-0 home win against Ipswich on Friday, its first game without Saka after the England winger tore

By The Associated Press Scottie Scheffler injured his right hand on a broken glass preparing Christmas dinner, forcing the top-ranked player to withdraw from the PGA Tour’s season-opening event in Hawaii. “Scottie sustained a puncture wound to the palm of his right hand from a broken glass,” Scheffler’s manager, Blake Smith, said Friday in a

By SCHUYLER DIXON – AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic will be out about a month before being re-evaluated for a calf injury sustained in a Christmas Day loss to Minnesota, a person with knowledge of the injury said Friday. Doncic underwent an MRI on his strained left calf, the