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NBA-SCHEDULE
Mavs top 76ers
UNDATED (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks continue to win games without the services of their top scorer.
The Mavs are 11-2 on the road after Kristaps Porzingis (KRIHS’-tahps pohr-ZIHN’-gihs) had 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in a 117-98 win over the suddenly-slumping Philadelphia 76ers. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 27 points for the Mavericks, who played their third straight game without star guard Luka Doncic (DAHN’-chihch) because of sprained right ankle.
Joel Embiid (joh-EHL’ ehm-BEED’) had 33 points and 17 rebounds in the Sixers’ third consecutive loss overall and second straight at home. The 76ers were booed for much of the night while falling to 14-2 at home.
Checking out Friday’s other NBA action:
— Nikola Jokic (nih-KOH’-lah YOH’-kihch) had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his fifth triple-double of the season to carry the Nuggets past the Timberwolves, 109-100. Jamal Murray delivered 28 points as Denver completed a sweep of its five-game homestand.
— Kyle Lowry had team highs with 26 points and nine assists in the Raptors’ 122-118 victory against the Wizards. OG Anunoby (an-oo-NOH’-bee) finished with 18 points and Fred VanVleet added 18 in his first game since missing five straight with a knee contusion.
— Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each furnished 26 points before sitting out the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ 114-93 rout of the Pistons. Rookie Grant Williams added a season-high 18 points and Enes Kanter pulled down 18 rebounds to help Boston finish with a 51-36 advantage on the boards.
— Bam Adebayo (ad-ah-BAY’-oh) scored 20 points and Goran Dragic (DRAH’-gihch) returned from a nine-game injury absence to add 18 in the Heat’s 129-114 blowout over the Knicks. Duncan Robinson scored 18 for Miami on 6-for-10 shooting from 3-point range in Miami’s sixth wire-to-wire win of the season.
— The Pacers picked up their fifth straight win as T.J. Warren contributed 23 points in a 119-105 downing of the Kings. Myles Turner added 17 points and Domantas Sabonis (doh-MAHN’-tahs sah-BOH’-nihs) added 15 with nine boards to help Indiana improve to 20-9.
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 32 points and Dennis Schroder (SHROO’-dur) finished with 24 as the Thunder clobbered the Suns, 126-108. Danilo Gallinari scored 22 for Oklahoma City, which shot 56.3% from the field in winning for the eighth time in 11 games.
— Damian Lillard scored 36 points and CJ McCollum had 31 in the Trail Blazers’ 118-103 downing of the Magic. Portland earned its season-high third straight win despite losing Carmelo Anthony to a bruised left knee in the second quarter.
— The Warriors coughed up a 20-point lead before D’Angelo Russell made a tiebreaking 22-foot jumper with 32.9 seconds remaining in a 106-102 win over the Pelicans. Russell finished with 25 points and seven assists as Golden State snapped a five-game losing streak with its second win over the Pelicans this season.
— The Cavaliers were 114-107 winners against the Grizzlies as Jordan Clarkson scored a season-high 33 points and Kevin Love hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with just over a minute to play. Clarkson hit 6 of 8 3-pointers and helped Cleveland come back from a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit.
NBA-RAPTORS-INJURIES
Siakam, Gasol, Powell out indefinitely
TORONTO (AP) — The Raptors will be without three significant players for a while.
Pascal Siakam (see-A'-kam), Marc Gasol (gah-SAHL') and Norman Powell are out indefinitely after all three were injured at Detroit Wednesday night. Siakam hurt his groin during an awkward landing late in the fourth quarter of Toronto's win. Gasol strained his left hamstring in the first quarter, and Powell left in the fourth with a left shoulder injury after colliding with another player.
Siakam leads the Raptors with 25.1 points and eight rebounds per game. Powell is scoring 14.4 points a game this season, and Gasol has been averaging 6.6 points and 6.6 boards.
NBA-SHORTER SCHEDULE
NBA looks to tweak schedule
MIAMI (AP) — The NBA has sent a proposal to teams calling for a 78-game regular season. The plan also calls for an in-season tournament for all teams and a reseeding of the playoffs when the field is cut to the final four clubs.
A copy of the proposal was obtained by The Associated Press on Friday. The plan laid out for teams calls for a play-in tournament to decide the seventh and eighth seeds in both conferences. The top 10 finishers in both the East and West would therefore have a chance at the playoffs as well as a $1 million per player prize for the in-season tournament.
The league would make the changes for the 2021-22 season on a trial basis, with an option to continue the next season.
NASCAR-JOHNSON OBIT
Junior Johnson dies
UNDATED (AP) — Moonshine runner turned stockcar driver “Junior” Johnson has died at age 88, according to NASCAR.
Johnson won 50 races in 14 years as a driver and had 132 victories while winning six championships as an owner. Johnson is also credited with bringing the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company to NASCAR, which then led to Winston sponsoring its premier series from 1971-2003.
He was a member of the inaugural class inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-BOWL SCHEDULE
Buffalo, Kent State get bowl wins
UNDATED (AP) — The college football bowl schedule has begun with the Bahamas Bowl in Nassau.
Buffalo has picked up its first bowl victory as Jaret Patterson ran for 173 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries in the Bulls’ 31-9 rout of Charlotte. Patterson finished the year with a slew of school single-season records, including 330 carries, 1,799 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns.
Kyle Vantrease passed for a touchdown and ran for another to help Buffalo win a bowl game for the first time in four appearances.
Later on, Dustin Crum passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a career-high 147 yards and the clinching score to help Kent State beat Utah State 51-41 in the Frisco Bowl. Matthew Trickett kicked five field goals and the Golden Flashes closed out their season with four straight wins to finish 7-6, their first winning season since 2012.
NFL-NEWS
AP source: Cardinals' Shaw drops appeal of ban for gambling
UNDATED (AP) — Arizona Cardinals cornerback Josh Shaw has dropped his appeal of a one-year NFL suspension for gambling on league games, according to a person with knowledge of the move.
Shaw was suspended late last month through at least the end of the 2020 season for betting on NFL games on multiple occasions this season. It’s the first time in more than 35 years an NFL player has been banned for gambling.
Shaw hasn’t played for the Cardinals this season after being placed on injured reserve following an injury during the preseason.
In other NFL news:
— Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Vance McDonald both practiced for the Steelers Friday, meaning they should be available to face the Jets on Sunday. Smith-Schuster has missed Pittsburgh's last four games while dealing with a knee injury suffered in Cleveland on Nov. 11. The Steelers also cut reserve safety Kameron Kelly, hours after he was arrested during a dispute with police at a bar.
— Seahawks defensive tackle Al Woods has received a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances. Woods will miss Seattle’s final two regular season games and two potential playoff games if the Seahawks advances to the divisional round. The punishment was announced four days after wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended indefinitely for violating policies on performance-enhancers and “substances of abuse.”
— Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry practiced fully Friday for the Tennessee Titans, who will be without starting cornerback Adoree' Jackson for a third straight game against the Saints. Henry did not practice Thursday and was limited Wednesday. He ran for 86 yards in a loss to Houston despite not practicing at all last week leading up to the game.
T25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Penn State cruises
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State was the lone top-25 men’s basketball team in action on Friday, and the Nittany Lions had no trouble improving to 10-2.
Myreon Jones scored 11 of his 21 points in the first half as No. 23 Penn State ripped Central Connecticut, 87-58. Izaiah Brockington scored 11 points and Lamar Stevens added 10 to help the Nittany Lions win as a ranked team for the first time in 23 seasons.
It was Penn State’s third straight win and 12th in a row at home dating to last season.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Backstrom leads Caps win
UNDATED (AP) — The Washington Capitals are an NHL-best 26-6-5 after bouncing back from a 3-0 loss at Columbus.
Nicklas Backstrom had two goals and two assists as the Caps doubled up the Devils, 6-3 in New Jersey. Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who are 16-3-1 on the road and still haven’t lost consecutive games in regulation this season.
Jonas Siegenthaler and Richard Panik also tallied to back rookie Ilya Samsonov (sam-SOH’-nahv), who made 24 saves.
Kyle Palmieri, Blake Coleman and Miles Wood scored for the Devils, who were denied their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Tristian Jarry stopped 26 shots and the Penguins extended their point streak against the Oilers to 19 games with a 5-2 victory at Edmonton. Jared McCann scored the game-winner and Kris Letang (leh-TANG’) added a power-play tally as Pittsburgh improved to 15-0-4 against the Oilers since January 2006.
— Noel Acciari (ah-CHAH’-ree) completed his second straight hat trick with a penalty shot and added an assist in a five-goal second period that pushed the Panthers past the Stars, 7-4. Acciari had the natural hat trick in a Florida-record 3:59 span, pushing his season goal total to a career-high 11.
— William Nylander (NEE’-lan-dur) and Mitch Marner each scored their second goal of the game early in the third period to help the Maple Leafs beat the Rangers, 6-3. Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev (mih-KAY’-ehv) also scored, and Frederik Andersen made 19 saves in Toronto’s third consecutive win.
NHL-NEWS
Eichel down with upper body injury
UNDATED (AP) — Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel (EYE'-kul) has been listed as day to day with an upper body injury.
The NHL’s second-leading scorer was scratched 10 minutes before the start of Thursday’s 6-1 loss at Philadelphia after he participated in warmups.
Eichel has scored points in his last 17 games, the NHL’s longest streak this season. The hot stretch gives him 24 goals and 50 points in 35 games.
Also in the NHL:
— Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper (KEHM'-pur) could be out for an extended period after suffering a lower-body injury while making a save against the Wild on Thursday. Kuemper entered the game second in the NHL with a 1.97 goals-against average and a record of 15-7-2 for the Pacific Division leaders.
MLB-NEWS
Twins in Clippard, keep Romo
UNDATED (AP) — Relievers Tyler Clippard and Sergio Romo have finalized contracts with the Minnesota Twins.
Clippard accepted a one-year package worth at least $5 million after compiling a 2.90 ERA in 62 innings for the Indians last season, striking out 64 and walking just 15. The Twins are his 10th major league team.
Romo stays with Minnesota after taking a one-year, $4.75 million offer that includes a $5 million team option for 2021 or a $250,000 buyout. Romo posted a 3.18 ERA with four walks and 27 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings for the Twins after being acquired from Miami in July.
In other MLB news:
— The White Sox and two-time All-Star lefty Gio Gonzalez have finalized a one-year, $5 million contract that includes a 2021 option. González debuted with Oakland in 2008 and is 130-99 with a 3.68 ERA over 12 years with the Athletics, Nationals and Brewers. He was 3-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 17 starts and 19 appearances for Milwaukee last season.
— The Tigers and right-hander Zack Godley have worked out a minor league contract that includes an invitation to big league camp. Godley won 15 games for Arizona in 2018 but was just 4-5 with a 5.97 ERA for with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays last season.
— The Cubs have added bullpen help by working out a one-year deal with Ryan Tepera. The 32-year-old right-hander is 12-11 with a 3.64 ERA and 10 saves over five seasons with the Blue Jays.
— Reliever Yimi García has worked out a one-year, $1.1 million package with the Marlins. García was 1-4 with a 3.61 ERA in 64 games for the Dodgers this year.
— The average major league player salary has dropped in consecutive years for the first time since the union started keeping records more than a half-century ago. The union says the 988 players on Aug. 31 rosters and injured lists averaged $4,051,490, down 1.1% from $4,095,686 last year. This was just the fifth decline since records started in 1967, when the average was $19,000.
MILITARY-HAND SIGNALS
Navy, Army probes find no racism intent in hand gestures
WASHINGTON (AP) — Military investigations have concluded that hand gestures flashed by West Point cadets and Naval Academy midshipmen during the televised Army-Navy football game were not racist signals.
A Navy probe of the event found that the students were participating in a “sophomoric game” on Saturday and had no racist intent. An Army statement Friday also rejected any racist overtones.
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