NBA-SCHEDULE
Wiz end Clippers’ win streak, but Hawks continue theirs
UNDATED (AP) β The Los Angeles Clippers’ lengthy winning streak is over, but the Atlanta Hawks’ string of good fortune continues.
The Clippers had won nine straight until Bradley Beal poured in a game-high 29 points in the Wizards’ 104-96 win over Los Angeles in Washington. John Wall scored 10 points, had 11 assists and made several key plays during a 12-2 run that gave the Wizards a 57-42 lead at the half.
Marcin Gortat (MAHR’-shihn GOHR’-taht) added 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting in Washington’s third consecutive win.
The Hawks stretched their winning streak to nine games as Paul Millsap scored 23 points and Al Horford added 17 in an 87-81 triumph against Orlando. The Hawks trailed by as many as 12 in the second half before continuing what is now their longest win streak in 17 years.
Even the Detroit Pistons won on Friday. Detroit beat the Suns 105-103 on Andre Drummond’s two free throws with 2.5 seconds left. Drummond finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds as the Pistons avoided a team record-tying 14th consecutive loss.
Checking out the rest of the NBA finals:
β Derrick Rose went over the 30-point plateau for the first time since March 2012, erupting for 31 in Chicago’s 115-106 triumph against Portland. Pau Gasol (pow gah-SAHL’) had 13 points and 10 rebounds to help the Bulls beat the Trail Blazers for the first time in eight tries.
β Toronto remains atop the Eastern Conference at 17-6 after Lou Williams contributed 26 points in the Raptors’ 106-94 win over Indiana. Jonas Valanciunas (val-ehn-CHOO’-nuhs) had 10 points and 14 rebounds as the Raptors dealt the Pacers their seventh straight loss.
β LeBron James scored 41 points after missing Thursday’s game with a sore knee, but Cleveland suffered its second straight loss as New Orleans dumped the Cavaliers 119-114. Tyreke (ty-REEK’) Evans 31 points and 10 assists to compensate for the loss of Anthony Davis, who left the game in the first quarter after taking an elbow to chest.
β Nick Young capped his 29-point night by draining a 3-pointer with 7.4 seconds left in overtime to lift the Los Angeles Lakers past the Spurs 112-110 in San Antonio. Carlos Boozer had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers.
β Mike Conley scored six of his 19 points in the second overtime to push Memphis past Charlotte 113-107. Zach Randolph had 20 points and Marc Gasol also scored 19 for the Grizzlies, who got a tying 3-pointer from Vince Carter with 4.5 seconds left in the first overtime.
β Russell Westbrook scored 20 of his 34 points in the first half of Oklahoma City’s fifth straight win, a 111-92 rout of Minnesota. Steven Adams scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Thunder.
β Miami had dropped five of six before Dwayne Wade scored a season-high 29 points, including three free throws in the final 9 seconds of the Heat’s 100-95 triumph at Utah. Chris Bosh had 22 points and Luol Deng added 14 to help the Heat complete a five-game road trip 2-3.
β New York’s 10-game losing streak is over. Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points and Amare Stoudemire had 20 in a 101-95 victory at Boston. Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 16 points for the Knicks, who led just 75-73 before scoring 11 straight points early in the fourth quarter.
β Mason Plumlee scored a season-high 18 points and had 10 rebounds as Brooklyn beat Philadelphia 88-70, the 76ers’ 20th loss in 22 games. The Nets pulled away after leading by just three entering the final period.
NFL-VIKINGS-PETERSON APPEAL
Arbiter denies Peterson appeal
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) β Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson will remain suspended until at least next spring in the child-abuse case that has sidelined him for all but one game this season.
The decision by arbiter and former league official Harold Henderson upheld the NFL’s decision last month to suspend Peterson without pay for the remainder of the season and not consider him for reinstatement before April 15. Peterson was paid during his appeal, but Henderson’s ruling means Peterson will forfeit checks totaling more than $4.1 million from the team’s last six games.
The NFL Players Association balked at the punishment. Peterson was charged with felony child abuse in September for using a wooden switch to discipline his son. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault in November.
Peterson was paid during his appeal, but Henderson’s ruling means Peterson will forfeit checks from the team’s last six games. That amounts to a fine of more than $4.1 million.
Peterson told ESPN.com that he plans to file a lawsuit against the NFL and might walk away from the game, possibly even trying to run in the Olympics.
NFL-NEWS
Stanton won’t need surgery
UNDATED (AP) β Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians had encouraging news concerning the health of Drew Stanton, who was injured during Thursday’s win over St. Louis.
Arians says his quarterback will not require right knee surgery and “definitely has a chance” to play again this season. He would not reveal the severity of the injury, but multiple reports said Stanton has a sprained knee.
Arians says he would be surprised if Stanton is able to play when the Cardinals are home against Seattle in a crucial NFC West showdown Dec. 21. Ryan Lindley and Logan Thomas are the team’s other quarterback options.
In other NFL news:
β Buffalo Bills safety Da’Norris Searcy has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers because of a hamstring injury. Searcy was injured in Sunday’s loss to Denver and was unable to practice after participating on a limited basis on Thursday.
β Falcons coach Mike Smith says he still expects Julio Jones to play on Sunday against the Steelers after the star wide receiver missed his third straight practice with a hip injury. Jones had 11 catches for a team-record 259 yards with one touchdown before the fourth-quarter injury in the 43-37 loss to the Packers.
β Slumping Browns kicker Billy Cundiff is questionable for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati with an unspecified left knee injury. Coach Mike Pettine (PEH’-tihn) said Cundiff’s injury occurred Thursday.
β Colt McCoy has received the OK from the doctor to start Sunday against the New York Giants. McCoy has been dealing with a sprained neck this week, but he was a full participant in Friday’s practice, getting all of the first-team snaps.
β Panthers coach Ron Rivera says running back Jonathan Stewart will start Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Running back DeAngelo Williams is listed as doubtful on the injury report with a broken hand.
β President Barack Obama says the Ray Rice domestic violence case showed that the National Football League was “behind the curve” in setting policies about athlete behavior. He says new policies now in effect will send a message that there is no place for such behavior.
MLB-PLAYER MOVES
Red Sox, Rangers bolster their rotations
UNDATED (AP) β The Boston Red Sox have rebuilt their starting rotation this week.
The Red Sox acquired their third starter in two days on Friday, getting lefty Wade Miley from Arizona for righties Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster and infielder Raymel Flores. Miley led the Diamondbacks with 183 strikeouts and 201 1/3 innings pitched last season while going 8-12 with a 4.34 ERA.
The trade came a day after the Bosox acquired Rick Porcello from Detroit and signed free-agent right-hander Justin Masterson.
Elsewhere in the majors:
β The Rangers and Washington Nationals have completed a deal that sends lefty Ross Detwiler to Texas for minor leaguers Chris Bostick and Abel De Los Santos. Detwiler has started 69 of his 132 games and is 20-32 with a 3.82 ERA since his big league debut.
β The Minnesota Twins called a news conference for Saturday to announce a four-year contract with free-agent right-hander Ervin Santana, who was 14-10 with a 3.95 ERA for Atlanta this year. The package guarantees him $55 million and contains a club option for 2019 that could become guaranteed.
β The Pirates have finalized their three-year, $39 million contract with Francisco Liriano. The lefty went 23-18 with a 3.20 ERA for Pittsburgh in 2013 and 2014, helping the franchise reach consecutive playoff berths for the first time in over 20 years.
β Pitcher Jason Hammel and the Cubs finalized a $20 million, two-year contract to return to the Cubs, a deal agreed to earlier in the week. The contract includes a $12 million club option for 2017 with a $2 million buyout.
β The Astros have finalized contracts with relievers Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek (NEE’-shehk). Gregerson is guaranteed $18.5 million over three years from Houston and Neshek $12.5 million over two years.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-MISSISSIPPI/FREEZE
Pay hike for Freeze
UNDATED (AP) β Mississippi coach Hugh Freeze has earned a big raise after leading the program to a nine-win season and a spot in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31.
The school says it has finalized a contract with Freeze that will pay a base salary of $4.3 million next season, a raise of more than a million from his 2014 salary. The increase puts him closer to some of his highly paid SEC Western Division contemporaries.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-OKLAHOMA STATE/ARREST
All-Big 12 player arrested following domestic incident
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) β Tyreek Hill has been kicked off Oklahoma State’s football and track teams following his arrest Thursday night on a charge of domestic abuse by strangulation of his girlfriend.
According to a report from the Stillwater Police department, the woman said she and the All-Big 12 player had an argument that escalated into physical violence. She said she was punched in the face and stomach, had a busted lip and was choked.
TOP-25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Cyclones win
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) β The only Top-25 men’s basketball game of the night was in Iowa City, where the 14th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones whipped the Hawkeyes 90-75. Reserve Abdel Nader scored 19 points and Georges Niang (NEE’-ang) had 16 with seven assists for the 7-1 Cyclones.
Iowa State won easily despite the absence of No. 2 scorer Bryce Dejean-Jones, who was suspended by coach Fred Hoiberg following his arrest Thursday for noise violations.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-KENTUCKY/POYTHRESS
Wildcats lose Poythress for season
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) β The top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats say starting forward Alex Poythress will miss the rest of the season after tearing the ACL in his left knee during practice.
Poythress started eight games for the 10-0 Wildcats this season, averaging 5 1/2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Head coach John Calipari called the injury a big blow to his team.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Pens win without Crosby
UNDATED (AP) β The Pittsburgh Penguins managed to earn a victory in the first of at least two straight games without captain Sidney Crosby.
Blake Comeau (KOH’-moh) and Kris Letang (leh-TANG’) scored in the first five minutes of the Penguins’ 3-1 win over Calgary. Rob Klinkhammer also tallied to help the Penguins beat the Flames for the eighth straight time.
Meanwhile, Crosby also will miss Saturday’s game at Columbus while he awaits results from medical tests for an illness that caused the right side of his face to swell. Though there have been more than a dozen cases of mumps around the NHL, Crosby doesn’t believe he has that illness, but the Pens are being careful.
Elsewhere on ice:
β Anaheim earned its sixth straight win and expanded its lead in the Western Conference as Kyle Palmieri and Ryan Getzlaf (GEHTS’-laf) scored in the first minute of the second period to lead a 4-2 victory at Edmonton. The Oilers are 1-10-4 in their last 15 games.
β Jiri Sekac (YEER’-ee SEH’-kach) scored twice and Cary Price stopped 44 shots in Montreal’s 6-2 pounding of Los Angeles. P.K. Subban had a goal and two assists to help the Canadiens pick up their second straight win since a three-game skid.
β Vincent Trocheck and Brandon Pirri had the only shootout goals in Florida’s 3-2 triumph at Detroit. Roberto Luongo (loh-AHN’-goh) made 29 saves through overtime and stopped Pavel Datsyuk (DAT’-sook) and Gustav Nyquist in the tiebreaker to help the Panthers improve to 2-0 against the Red Wings this season.
GOLF-FRANKLIN TEMPLETON SHOOTOUT
Day, Tringale stay on top
NAPLES, Fla. (AP) β Jason Day and Cameron Tringale (TRIHN’-gay-ehl) shot an 8-under 64 on to increase their lead to three strokes after two rounds of the Franklin Templeton Shootout. Graeme McDowell and Gary Woodland were second after a 63.
NFL-HERNANDEZ/CASE
No mention of other alleged murders in Hernandez trial
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) β A judge has ruled that prosecutors in a murder case against Aaron Hernandez won’t be allowed to tell a jury about two other killings with which the ex-New England Patriot is charged or the final text messages the victim sent to his sister.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder in the June 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. He has also pleaded not guilty to the fatal shootings of two men in 2012 after an encounter at a Boston nightclub.
NFL-SHARPER/RAPE
Sharper indicted again
NEW ORLEANS (AP) β Former Saints safety Darren Sharper and two other men have been indicted on multiple rape allegations in New Orleans, adding to a list of charges and allegations the ex-player faces in several states.
The district attorney says Sharper was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of aggravated rape stemming from accusations that he sexually assaulted two impaired women at his apartment in September 2013. Sharper also was charged with simple rape of a different woman in August 2013.
He has been jailed in California since Feb. 27, awaiting his next hearing there on charges that he drugged and raped two women in Los Angeles County. He has also been indicted in Arizona on charges he drugged three women and sexually assaulted two of them. Similar accusations in Las Vegas remain under investigation.
