NBA
Paolo Banchero had 21 points and nine assists to lead the Orlando Magic to a 114-106 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Six other Orlando players scored in double figures including Wendell Carter Jr., who had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Jalen Suggs, who scored 11 of his 14 points in the first quarter to help the Magic take a 17-point lead that kept them ahead the rest of the game. Cam Thomas led the Nets with 21 points and eight rebounds. The Magic shot 51.9% for the game, moving to 20-1 on the season when they shoot 50% or better.
Jalen Duren had a career-high 23 rebounds along with 24 points and five assists as the Detroit Pistons won three of four games for the first time in nearly two years, beating the Toronto Raptors 113-104. Detroit hadn’t won three of four since late in the 2021-22 season — a stretch of 145 games. Duren posted his second game this season with at least 20 points, 20 boards and five assists. Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis are the only other players with two this season. Immanuel Quickley scored 25 points for Toronto, which matched a season high by losing five straight.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points, Aaron Gordon added 16 and the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets took sole possession of first place in the Western Conference standings with a 100-88 win over the sliding Miami Heat in a finals rematch. Jamal Murray scored 14 points and Nikola Jokic finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets (46-20), who moved a half-game ahead of Oklahoma City (45-20) and a full game up on Minnesota (45-21) in the West race. Denver is an NBA-best 10-1 since the All-Star break. Bam Adebayo scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Miami, which has lost four in a row.
Donovan Mitchell scored 14 points in his return from a seven-game absence and the Cleveland Cavaliers combined for 20 3-pointers in a 116-95 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. Mitchell, who made four 3s, was one of four Cavs with at least that many. Darius Garland finished with 27 points and 11 assists for his second straight double-double. Center Jarrett Allen had 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Georges Niang scored 16 and Sam Merrill 15. Zion Williamson had 33 points and nine rebounds for New Orleans.
Miles Bridges scored 27 points, rookie Vasa Micic added a career-best 25 and the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 110-98. Micic shot 9 of 10, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, and had eight assists. Grant Williams added 18 points for the Hornets. Tre Mann, who missed the previous three games with a groin strain, finished with 10 points, as did Brandon Miller. GG Jackson led the Grizzlies with 26 points, while Luke Kennard scored 17. The Hornets didn’t get to the free-throw line until early in the fourth quarter.
DeMar DeRozan scored 46 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime and the last three points in regulation to extend the game, and the Chicago Bulls outlasted the host Indiana Pacers 132-129 on Wednesday night. The All-Star forward’s only 3-pointer at the 2:17 mark of overtime pushed the Bulls ahead 127-123. Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton missed a 3-pointer just before the final buzzer. The final 72 seconds of regulation were entertaining as Pacers center Myles Turner hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions with 1:12 and 56.7 seconds remaining for a 3-point lead. But DeRozan sank a free throw and swished a baseline fadeaway jumper with 0.3 seconds remaining to force overtime. The teams traded the lead 12 times in the fourth.
Luka Doncic scored 21 points while his triple-double streak ended at seven games, and the Dallas Mavericks slogged to a 109-99 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Doncic left the game in the fourth quarter with left hamstring soreness. Golden State was without Stephen Curry for a third consecutive game. It showed with sub-40% shooting almost the entire game in a fifth loss in six games this season without the star guard. Jonathan Kuminga led Golden State with 27 points. Daniel Gafford went 5 of 5 from the field for Dallas and has made 33 consecutive baskets, two short of Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record.
Anfernee Simons had 36 points and the Portland Trail Blazers held off the Atlanta Hawks in the final quarter for a 106-102 victory on Wednesday night. DeAndre Ayton had a season-high 33 points and 19 rebounds for Portland, which had lost four of its last five games. Dejounte Murray had 40 points, one shy of his season high, for the Hawks in the first of an 11-day, five-game road trip, the team’s longest of the season. The Blazers trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half but led 82-75 going into the final period.
Domantas Sabonis had 17 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Lakers 120-107. The Kings have won seven of eight against the Lakers, including a four-game sweep this season. Harrison Barnes made seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points, De’Aaron Fox added 21 and Keegan Murray had 19 as all five starters for the Kings scored in double figures. Sabonis’ triple-double was his league-leading 23rd, with his last one coming in the Kings’ victory at the Lakers last week. Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 28 points. Anthony Davis added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and LeBron James had 18 points and 13 boards.
NFL
A person with knowledge of the deal says the New York Jets are acquiring offensive tackle Morgan Moses from the Baltimore Ravens in a trade that includes draft picks for both teams. The move Wednesday reunites Moses with the Jets after he spent the 2021 season with New York. The Jets will also receive the Ravens’ fourth-round pick and New York will send a fourth-rounder and a sixth-rounder to Baltimore.
The Tennessee Titans landed wide receiver Calvin Ridley (on a) when free agency opened Wednesday. Ridley’s four-year, $92 million deal (which) includes $50 million in guarantees, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement. It comes one day after the Titans lost longtime running back Derrick Henry to the Baltimore Ravens. The league’s teams are reshaping their rosters in pursuit of two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City. But the Chiefs have made several moves to keep their championship core intact.
The Indianapolis Colts are proposing a rule change that would allow for challenges of penalty calls in the last two minutes of the half. The NFL released a list of several rule change proposals on Wednesday made by teams that included an option to run a fourth-and-20 play in lieu of an onside kick, the moving of the trade deadline and giving teams an additional challenge if they are successful on one of their first two tries. The competition committee will make its own rule change proposals next week and owners are scheduled to vote on them at the league meetings later this month with 24 votes needed for approval.
The Las Vegas Raiders kicked off the start of the new league year by releasing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and receiver Hunter Renfrow to give the new regime more room to operate under the salary cap. The Raiders also released backup quarterback Brian Hoyer and defensive tackle Jerry Tillery just minutes after the start of the 2024 league year. The moves create significant salary cap space for the Raiders to use this offseason as a new regime led by general manager Tom Telesco and coach Antonio Pierce looks to build the team into a contender.
The Kansas City Chiefs have restructured quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the financial details were not public. The restructuring frees up more than $21 million in salary cap space that the Chiefs can use elsewhere. That could include a much-publicized pursuit of help at wide receiver, their need for a new left tackle to protect Mahomes’ blind side, or in re-signing their own free agents.
NHL
Jordan Binnington made 40 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 in a key game in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Alexey Toropchenko, Jake Neighbours and Brandon Saad scored for the Blues, who kicked off a four-game home stand. Adrian Kempe scored the Kings’ goal and Cam Talbot made 27 saves as Los Angeles lost for the third time in five games. The win moved St. Louis within six points of idle Vegas for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist and the Nashville Predators extended their points streak to 13 games with a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Jason Zucker, Filip Forsberg and Kiefer Sherwood also scored for the Predators, who have gone 11-0-2 in their last 13 contests. Roman Josi had two assists and Juuse Saros made 27 saves. Alex Iafallo and Mason Appleton scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 34 of 38 shots for Winnipeg.
Zach Hyman had a natural hat trick and the Edmonton Oilers rolled to a 7-2 victory over the Washington Capitals. Leon Draisaitl had a power-play goal and three assists for the Oilers, who have won two in a row and are 7-1-1 in their last nine games. Connor McDavid had a power-play goal and two assists for Edmonton, while Warren Foegele and Connor Brown also scored. Stuart Skinner made 23 saves. Ivan Miroshnichenko and Connor McMichael scored for the Capitals and Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots.
Valeri Nichushkin scored 30 seconds into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche erased a three-goal deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon each had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who have now won five straight. Ross Colton also scored and Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves. Nikita Zadorov and J.T. Miller each contributed a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who had won four in a row. Ilya Mikheyev also had a goal and Casey DeSmith stopped 30 of 34 shots for Vancouver filling in for the injured Thatcher Demko.
MLB
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole traveled to Los Angeles to see specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache for additional tests on his right elbow. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he has no timetable for how long Cole will be sidelined. ElAttrache is the Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician and is an expert on elbows. Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, has made at least 30 starts in each of the last six full regular seasons. He had an MRI on Monday and X-rays and a CT scan on Tuesday.
Boston Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito is expected to miss this season after his right ulnar collateral ligament was repaired with an internal brace. Dr. Jeffrey R. Dugas operated Tuesday at the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama. Giolito was able to avoid ligament replacement surgery, which he had on Aug. 31, 2012, with Dr. Lewis Yocum, less than two months after Washington made Giolito its top pick in the 2012 amateur draft. Red Sox manager Alex Cora says he doesn’t think Giolito will take the mound again in 2024.
The San Diego Padres have acquired right-hander Dylan Cease in a trade with the Chicago White Sox for reliever Steven Wilson and three prospects: right-handers Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte, and outfielder Samuel Zavala. Cease, who turned 28 in December, was second in AL Cy Young Award voting in 2022 after going 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA. He went 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA last year for a White Sox team that went 61-101. Cease joins a rotation that includes Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. He agreed in January to an $8 million, one-year contract and is eligible for free agency after the 2025 World Series.
SOCCER
Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi is dealing with a leg injury that will likely cause him to miss the team’s next match. Messi checked out of Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Nashville just a few minutes into the second half, and coach Tata Martino said the 36-year-old was experiencing discomfort in his right hamstring area. The team took him out as a precaution. Martino said Messi will likely be rested for Inter Miami’s MLS match against D.C. United on Saturday as further precaution.
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NC State 83 Syracuse 65
Fairfield 68 Iona 63
NCAA
The NCAA says athletes who have transferred multiple times can compete in the next academic year. The NCAA issued the updated guidance Wednesday, with college basketball’s portal season about to tip off. In December, multiple-transfer athletes who were denied the chance to compete immediately were allowed by a court to play through the remainder of this academic year. The NCAA says while it’s not certain whether the preliminary injunction will remain in place during the 2024-25 season, multiple-transfer athletes won’t have to sit out one year. However, transfer window notification rules must be followed. The window for college basketball runs from March 18 to May 1.
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