NBA-SCHEDULE
Blazers fall to Celtics, lose Aldridge
UNDATED (AP) β It was a tough day for the Portland Trail Blazers. They absorbed a home loss to the lowly Boston Celtics after one of the Blazers’ top players announced he’ll be on the shelf until March.
Evan Turner canned a 3-pointer with one second left to give the Celtics a 90-89 triumph at Portland. Avery Bradley finished with a team-high 18 points, and Jared Sullinger added 17 and nine rebounds to help Boston end a three-game skid.
Damian Lillard had 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who fell to 31-13 with their second consecutive loss.
Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge announced before the game that he could be out six to eight weeks due to a thumb injury that will require surgery. The three-time All-Star tore a ligament in his left thumb during Monday’s win over Sacramento.
Also in the NBA:
β Blake Griffin scored 22 of his 24 points while the Los Angeles Clippers were building a 70-37 halftime lead in a 123-84 drubbing of Brooklyn. J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford each finished with 17 points, and DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Chris Paul had a season-high 17 assists for the Clippers, who have won three straight and nine of 12.
β Chicago had dropped six of eight before Derrick Rose scored 22 points in the Bulls’ 104-81 rout of San Antonio. Pau Gasol (pow gah-SAHL’) contributed 12 points and 17 rebounds to the victory, while Taj Gibson added 15 points and nine boards. The Bulls held the Spurs to 37 percent shooting after surrendering at least 102 points in six of their previous eight games.
β Gordon Hayward scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter of Utah’s 101-99 triumph at Milwaukee. Enes Kantner had 23 points and Dante Exum added a career-high 15 for the Jazz. The Bucks blew a 10-point, second-half lead and missed all five of their shots during the final minute.
NBA-ALL-STARS
Gasol brothers to start All-Star game
UNDATED (AP) β Pau (pow) and Marc Gasol (gah-SAHL’) have been voted the first brothers to start in the NBA All-Star game.
Pau Gasol of Chicago will start up front for the East along with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony for the Feb. 15 game in New York. Memphis’ Marc Gasol joins New Orleans’ Anthony Davis and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin in the West frontcourt.
Tom and Dick Van Arsdale played in the 1970 and 1971 games, but the Gasols are the first brothers chosen to start.
Toronto’s Kyle Lowry passed Dwyane (dwayn) Wade in the balloting and will start alongside Washington’s John Wall in the East backcourt.
The West starting guards are Golden State’s Stephen (STEH’-fehn) Curry and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Feb. 15 and Atlanta’s Mike Budenholzer will coach the East.
NBA-LAKERS-BRYANT
Torn rotator cuff shelves Bryant
LOS ANGELES (AP) β The Los Angeles Lakers say Kobe Bryant has a torn right rotator cuff.
The third-leading scorer in NBA history injured his right shoulder in the second half of the Lakers’ loss at New Orleans on Wednesday night.
Bryant briefly returned to the game and played essentially with one arm after the injury to his shooting arm.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Day 5 at Melbourne
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) β Roger Federer is done after just three rounds of the Australian Open. The second-seeded Federer dropped a pair of tiebreaks in a 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 victory by Andreas Seppi. The 30-year-old Seppi entered the tournament ranked 46th and had reached the fourth round of a grand slam event just three other times before ousting the four-time champion.
Men’s sixth seed Andy Murray and No. 7 Tomas Berdych breezed into the fourth round with straight-sets victories. No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov trailed two sets to one against Marcos Baghdatis before pulling out a 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Winners on the women’s side include No. 3 Simona Halep (HA’-lehp), seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard (yoo-JEE’-nee boo-SHAHRD’), 10th seed Ekaterina Makarova and No. 21 Peng Shuai (pehng shway). No. 14 Sara Errani won the opening set in her third-round match before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Yanina Wickmayer.
βMaria Sharapova ensured there were no match-point worries in her third-round match Friday at the Australian Open, dominating Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-1.
On Wednesday, No. 2-ranked Sharapova faced two match points but escaped with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win over fellow Russian Alexandra Panova, a qualifier ranked No. 150.
On Friday, Sharapova had no problems with the No 31-seeded Diyas and won the first set in 26 minutes. Sharapova was broken to open the second set, but won the next six games to clinch the match in 61 minutes.
She will face Shuai on Sunday.
TOP-25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Cavaliers silence Jackets
UNDATED (AP) β Second-ranked Virginia was able to prolong a few winning streaks while keeping Georgia Tech winless in the ACC.
The Cavaliers are 18-0 after Malcolm Brogdon scored a team-high 13 points in a 57-28 stifling of the Yellow Jackets. The Cavs ran their home winning streak to 21 games and improved to 6-0 in the conference.
Virginia was never threatened following a 10-0 run that give the Cavaliers a 23-10 lead. They led by 21 midway through the second half and lowered their nation-leading scoring defense average to 50.6 points.
Also in top-25 action:
β Third-ranked Gonzaga sits atop the West Coast Conference at 8-0 after Kevin Pangos scored 14 points and Przemek Karnowski added 12 in a 68-47 romp over Saint Mary’s. The Bulldogs held Saint Mary’s to 36 percent shooting and broke open the game with a 22-2 midway through the second half. The Zags are off to their best start at 19-1 overall.
β Stanley Johnson had 19 points and seven rebounds in seventh-ranked Arizona’s 89-82 triumph at Stanford. Brandon Ashley added 17 points while playing with foul trouble in the Wildcats’ 10th straight win in the rivalry.
β Jerian Grant scored 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting to lead No. 8 Notre Dame to an 85-60 victory over Virginia Tech. Pat Connaughton added 17 points and tied a season high with five 3-pointers as the Fighting Irish improved to 18-2 with their third straight win.
β No. 25 Indiana hammered 13th-ranked Maryland 89-70 as Yogi Ferrell scored 24 points and Collin Hartman added a career high 15. The Hoosiers drained 15 3-pointers and moved into a tie with Wisconsin atop the Big Ten.
β DePaul had dropped 51 straight games against ranked teams since 2008 before Billy Garrett Jr. and Myke Henry scored 14 points apiece in the Blue Demons’ 64-60 victory over Seton Hall. The Pirates blew an eight-point lead by allowing DePaul to end the game on a 17-5 run.
NFL-DEFLATED BALLS
Pats’ Belichick, Brady deny how balls got deflated
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) β The New England Patriots did little to deflate the NFL’s latest controversy.
New England coach Bill Belichick and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said Thursday they have no explanation for how footballs used in the AFC championship game were underinflated by 2 pounds per square inch. Brady said he has not been contacted by the NFL, even as league officials investigate whether the team cheated against the Indianapolis Colts. Belichick said he almost never thinks about football pressure and doesn’t know what happened, either.
Both said they were unaware of any issue with the balls until reports surfaced Monday morning.
Brady indicated he inspected the balls before the game, and they appeared fine. He says he forgot about them once the game started and didn’t notice any issues with them.
NFL-SEAHAWKS-LYNCH
Lynch fined for obscene gesture
NEW YORK (AP) β A person with knowledge of the matter has told The Associated Press the NFL has fined Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch $20,000 for making an obscene gesture during the NFC championship game.
The league did not specify what the gesture was in the win over Green Bay, but Lynch grabbed his crotch after scoring a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Lynch was fined $11,000 for a similar gesture in Seattle’s win over Arizona in December.
NASCAR-GORDON’S FINAL SEASON
Jeff Gordon to downshift after 2015 season
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) βFour-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon will retire as a full-time driver after the 2015 season.
Gordon did not call his decision a retirement, leaving open the option of competing in selected events. But it is clear that he is ready to step away after spending his entire 23-year career in the No. 24 car with Hendrick Motorsports.
The 43-year-old Gordon is coming off one of his best seasons in years. He won four times in 2014, including the Brickyard 400.
Gordon has 92 career Sprint Cup wins and championships in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2001. Gordon is third in career victories, trailing Hall of Fame drivers Richard Petty and David Pearson. He has three Daytona 500 victories and a record five Brickyard 400 wins.
MLB-NEWS
Capping off great careers
UNDATED (AP) β Pedro Martinez’s Hall of Fame plaque will have the cap of the Boston Red Sox and John Smoltz’s will have the Atlanta Braves. The Hall of Fame said last week that Randy Johnson’s plaque will have the cap of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
GOLF-PGA TOUR
Wilson vaults to lead
LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) β Michael Putnam carded nine birdies in an 11-hole stretch en route to a 9-under 63 and a one-stroke lead in the PGA’s Humana Challenge in California. Mark Wilson, Blake Adams, John Peterson, Francesco Molinari and Scott Pinckney were tied for second. Phil Mickelson shot a 71 in his first event since the Ryder Cup.
COLLEGE SPORTS-NORTH CAROLINA-ACADEMIC PROBE-LAWSUIT
Athletes sue UNC, NCAA
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) β Two former University of North Carolina athletes have filed a lawsuit against the school and the NCAA, saying neither is doing enough to ensure athletes receive a quality education.
The lawsuit names former women’s basketball player Rashanda McCants and former football player Devon Ramsay as plaintiffs but seeks class-action status. It is the second lawsuit to emerge in the wake of UNC’s long-running academic fraud scandal that heavily involved athletes.
The first was filed by former football player Michael McAdoo in November.
NFL-OBIT-MASON
First Vikings draft pick dies
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) β Former All-Pro running back Tommy Mason has died at his home in Newport Beach, California, at age 75. Mason was the first draft pick in Minnesota Vikings history, taking first overall in 1961 after an outstanding college career at Tulane. He was the Vikings’ first All-Pro player in 1963, was selected to three Pro Bowls and is eighth on the team’s all-time rushing list with 3,252 yards.
