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NBA-SCHEDULE
Celtics outscore Wizards for ninth straight win
UNDATED (AP) — The Boston Celtics remain unbeaten since their opening-night loss to Philadelphia, but they needed almost all of their 140 points to get past the Washington Wizards.
Kemba Walker poured in 25 points and the Celtics picked up their ninth consecutive win by outscoring the Wizards, 140-133. Jayson Tatum bounced back from a historically bad shooting night with 23 points to help Boston overtime Bradley Beal’s 44-point performance. Tatum shot 9-for-20 after missing 17 of his 18 attempts in Monday’s win over the Mavericks.
Jaylen Brown scored 22 and Enes Kanter added 13 with nine rebounds for the Celtics.
Checking out Wednesday’s other NBA action:
— James Harden delivered 47 points and Russell Westbrook added 17 points as the Rockets claimed their fifth consecutive win, 102-93 against the Clippers. Houston led just 90-88 until Harden hit two free throws and grabbed a rebound before draining a 3-pointer to put the Rockets ahead by seven.
— Nikola Vucevic (NEE'-koh-lah VOOCH'-uh-vihch) had 23 points and seven Orlando players scored in double figures to lead a 112-97 comeback win against the 76ers. Aaron Gordon had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Magic, who outscored Philadelphia, 32-15 in the fourth quarter.
— Rookie Ja Morant scored on a driving left-handed layup with 0.7 seconds left to give the Grizzlies 119-117 victory over the Hornets. Morant had his first double-double with 23 points and 11 assists to help Memphis win consecutive games for the first time this season.
NBA-NEWS
Houston’s Gordon expected to miss 6 weeks
UNDATED (AP) — Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon is expected to miss about six weeks following arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey announced the surgery was performance Wednesday, two days after Gordon was injured in a win over the Pelicans.
Gordon has averaged 10.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in nine games this season.
Elsewhere around the NBA:
— Hawks guard Kevin Huerter (HUR’-tur) is returning to Atlanta after injuring his left shoulder in Tuesday’s victory over Denver. Huerter was ruled out of Thursday night’s game in Phoenix and seems unlikely to play on the rest of the West Coast road trip, which concludes with weekend games in Los Angeles against the Clippers and the Lakers.
— The Nets have signed Iman Shumpert, adding the veteran guard to their roster with Wilson Chandler on the league’s suspended list. Shumpert helped Cleveland win the 2016 NBA title and has also played for the Knicks, Sacramento and Houston. Chandler is suspended for the first 25 games of the season without pay after testing positive for a drug that increases the release of growth hormone.
T25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Buckeyes blast Wildcats
UNDATED (AP) — No. 18 Ohio State got off to a blazing start and never looked back in a 76-51 win over No. 10 Villanova.
Duane Washington Jr. had a team-high 14 points for the Buckeyes, who bolted to a 19-3 lead and improved to 3-0. Washington opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers to set the tone.
D.J. Carton and Luther Muhammad each had 11 points, while CJ Walker and Kaleb Wesson added 10 apiece.
Jermaine Samuels had 14 points for the Wildcats, who shot 30.6%.
In other top-25 games:
— Jordan Nwora scored 21 points and fourth-ranked Louisville shot 59% from the field to run past Indiana State 91-62. Dwayne Sutton added 14 for the Cardinals, who made 14 of their first 17 shots for a 16-point lead through 11 minutes.
— VCU scored 37 points off LSU’s 26 turnovers in an 84-82 triumph over the 23rd-rated Tigers. Marcus Santos-Silva hit a pair of free throws with 4.9 seconds left and finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the Rams beat former coach Will Wade.
MLB-CY YOUNG AWARDS
DeGrom, Verlander take Cy honors again
NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom has become the 11th player to win a Cy Young Award in consecutive years, while Justin Verlander has captured the postseason honor for the second time and first since 2011.
DeGrom took NL honors after leading the league with 255 strikeouts and finishing second with a 2.43 ERA for the New York Mets. DeGrom totaled 204 innings, compared to 172 1/3 for Washington’s Max Scherzer and 182 2/3 for Hyun-Jin Ryu (hyoon-jihn ree-OO’) of the Dodgers. Ryu finished second in the balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, just ahead of Scherzer.
DeGrom joins Tom Seaver as the only Mets to win multiple Cy Young awards.
Verlander beat out Houston Astros teammate Gerrit Cole for the AL Award. Verlander led the majors with 21 victories and reached 300 strikeouts in a season for the first time. He no-hit Toronto on Sept. 1 and padded his Hall of Fame resume by getting his 3,000th strikeout in his final start of the regular season.
Rays righty Charlie Morton finished third a year after leaving Houston in free agency.
MLB-NEWS
Wainwright guaranteed $5M by Cards
UNDATED (AP) — Adam Wainwright is guaranteed $5 million in his one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals and can earn up to $5 million in performance bonuses, which allows the pitcher to match his 2019 earnings.
That is up from a $2 million guarantee in his 2019 deal, in which he earned an additional $8 million based on starts.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza says he has agreed to become manager of Italy's national baseball team. The Pennsylvania native is of Italian ancestry and tweeted Wednesday he will manage Italy at a European tournament in 2020 and at the 2021 World Baseball Classic. Piazza was Italy's hitting coach at the 2009 and 2013 WBC tournaments.
— The major league minimum salary will rise to $563,500 next season, a hike of $8,500. The increase is calculated as the rise from October to October in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Isles, Caps win again
UNDATED (AP) — The NHL’s two hottest teams stayed that way by winning on Wednesday.
Anthony Beauvillier (boh-VIH’-lee-ay) scored twice and the New York Islanders improved to 12-0-1 in their last 13 games by holding off the Maple Leafs, 5-4. Derick Brassard had a goal and two assists for the Isles who took a 5-2 lead on an empty-netter by Casey Cizikas (sih-ZEE’-kuhs) before Toronto scored twice in the final 1:47.
John Tavares had a goal and an assist in his return to Nassau Coliseum.
The Capitals are 11-0-2 in their last 13 contests after Evgeny Kuznetsov (kooz-NEHT’-sahv) provided the deciding shootout goal in a 2-1 verdict over the Flyers. Brendan Leipsic scored 6:13 into the game and Washington held onto the lead until Claude Giroux (juh-ROO’) netted a power-play goal early in the third period.
Giroux also had a shootout goal for the Flyers, who are 5-0-2 in their last seven games.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Jean-Gabriel Pageau (pa-ZHOH’) completed his first career hat trick by scoring the winning and insurance goals in the last 2:01 to send the Senators past the Devils, 4-2. Mark Borowiecki (bahr-oh-EH’-kee) sparked Ottawa’s rally by scoring with 6 ½ minutes remaining before Pageau added his team-high 10th and 11th goals of the season. The Senators have won three of their last four games since a 4-9-1 start.
T25 FOOTBALL-OHIO STATE-YOUNG
Ohio State’s Young to miss 1 more game for NCAA violation
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State star defensive end Chase Young will be held out of one more game as punishment for breaking NCAA rules by accepting a personal loan.
That means the preseason All-American will miss Saturday’s game against Rutgers and be back for showdowns with No. 9 Penn State and No. 14 Michigan to end the regular season.
No. 3 Ohio State announced the day before its game with Maryland that Young would be held out amid concerns he violated NCAA rules by taking a loan last year from someone he describes as a “family friend.”
NFL-NEWS
Stafford sits out Lions practice
UNDATED (AP) — Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford did not practice with teammates Wednesday as he watched Jeff Driskell and David Blough take snaps.
Stafford had his streak of 139 consecutive starts end when he missed Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the Chicago Bears because of back and hip injuries.
Driskel was 27 for 46 for 269 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his sixth career start versus the Bears.
In other NFL news:
— A person familiar with the situation says Saints starting left guard Andrus Peat has had surgery to repair a broken arm and is expected to be sidelined about six weeks. The 2018 Pro Bowl selection was injured during the first half of Sunday’s loss to Atlanta.
— Dolphins safety Reshad Jones says he expects to play against the Bills this weekend after missing the past four games with a cracked rib. Miami’s highest-paid player appeared in just three games this season and was limited in practice Wednesday.
— Miami rookie linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel has been activated from injured reserve after missing the first nine games with a foot injury. The move means Miami cornerbacks Xavien Howard and Aqib Talib (a-KEEB' tah-LEEB') must remain on injured reserve and won’t return this season.
— Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson says Adam Gase's job is safe and he will remain the coach next season despite the team's 2-7 record so far this year. Johnson says Gase has his trust as well as the trust of general manager Joe Douglas moving forward. Gase replaced the fired Todd Bowles last January, and Douglas was hired to replace Mike Maccagnan in June.
— Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt believes the NFL must “seriously consider” reducing the preseason and expanding the regular season to 17 games. Hunt sees the addition of one regular-season game as an opportunity to give the league additional inventory that would allow for more games internationally. Hunt has long been a proponent of expanding the NFL to new markets and believes the schedule will become a crucial issue in the next round of collective bargaining talks.
TENNIS-BRYANS
Bryan twins to retire after 2020 US Open
LONDON (AP) — Bob and Mike Bryan say they will retire after the 2020 U.S. Open, closing a professional tennis partnership that includes a men’s doubles record of 16 Grand Slam championships. The 41-year-old American twins have won 118 titles in all, including 39 at ATP Masters tournaments.
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