NBA-BULLS-ROSE
Rose has surgery
CHICAGO (AP) β Chicago guard Derrick Rose has undergone knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus and is expected back in four to six weeks. General manager Gar Forman described the procedure as minor and said that Rose was able to walk out of the hospital.
The team isn’t sure when the injury occurred. Rose had an MRI on Tuesday after complaining of knee pain.
Rose played in only 10 games last season before having surgery for a similar injury in November 2013, cutting short his long-awaited comeback from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Red hot Cavs hit the road
UNDATED (AP) β Cleveland will be without All-Star Kyrie (KY’-ree) Irving for tonight’s game at Indiana after he suffered a strained shoulder in last night’s win over Golden State.
The victory over the league-leading Warriors was Cleveland’s 18th out of its last 20 games and moved the Cavs past Chicago into first place in the Central Division. Chicago is home to Minnesota tonight.
The league-leading Warriors continue their road trip with a game against the Raptors this evening.
In a good matchup tonight, Portland, the leading team in the Northwest Division, is hosting second-place Oklahoma City. The Thunder, who got off to a slow start to the season because of injuries, have won eight of their last 10 games to move within six games of the Blazers. If the playoffs were to start today the Thunder would be the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Tonight’s remaining games feature the Wizards in Philadelphia to face the 76ers, the Hawks home to the Magic, New York and its eight-game losing streak in Detroit for a game with the Pistons, Boston home to the Bobcats, Miami at New Orleans, Brooklyn at Houston, the Grizzlies home to the Clippers, Denver entertaining Utah, the league-champion Spurs at Sacramento and Milwaukee in L.A. to play the Lakers.
OBIT-LLOYD
First NBA black player dies
UNDATED (AP) β Earl Lloyd, the first black player in NBA history, died Thursday at the age of 86. Lloyd made his NBA debut in 1950 for the old Washington Capitals. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement the league “will strive to always honor his memory.”
Lloyd helped the Syracuse Nationals win the 1955 NBA title, joining teammate Jim Tucker as the first black players to play on a championship team.
NFL-MOVES
Miami releases Hartline
UNDATED (AP) β Receiver Brian Hartline has been released by the Miami Dolphins he started every game last season, but only managed 39 receptions for 474 yards and two touchdowns. He was due to make $5.9 million in 2015, the third year of a $30.8 million, five-year deal he signed in 2013. Hartline spent his entire six-year career with Miami and was a 1,000-yard receiver in 2012 and 2013.
In other moves;
β Arizona has released defensive tackle Darnell Dockett allowing the three-time Pro-Bowl lineman to test the free agent market. The Cardinals are still interested in retaining Dockett who has played his entire 11-year career with Arizona.
β The Philadelphia Eagles have released offensive lineman Todd Herremans. The 32-year-old started 132 games while playing his first 10 seasons in Philadelphia. The move saves the Eagles $2.8 million in salary cap money.
β The Redskins have announced that they have released defensive end Stephen Bowen and defensive lineman Barry Cofield, both of whom spent the last four years with the team.
β The Atlanta Falcons released wide receiver Harry Douglas and starting offensive guard Justin Blalock.
MLB-TRAINING CAMPS
Wainwright might miss season opener
UNDATED (AP) β St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright won’t pitch in exhibition games until mid-March because of his abdominal strain. The delay could prevent him from starting the major league season opener against the Cubs on April 5. Wainwright was hurt Monday while putting a 45-pound weight on a rack. He returned to St. Louis for an examination which detected the strain.
Elsewhere;
β Outfielder Juan Pierre has announced his retirement after a 14-year major-league career that included a World Series championship with the 2003 Florida Marlins. He goes out ranked 18th in career stolen bases with 614. He was a .295 hitter who finished with 2,217 hits.
NASCAR-STOLEN CAR
Sprint Cup car stolen
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) β Travis Kvapil (KWAH’-pihl) will be on the sidelines for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway after his car was stolen. The $250,000 stock car was taken from a hotel parking lot near the track and hadn’t been found in time for mandatory inspection before qualifying. .
The No. 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup car is owned by small-budget Team XTREME which doesn’t have a back-up car to run.
The owner of one NASCAR sponsor offered a pit pass to every race the rest of the year to anyone who helped located the high-powered Chevrolet.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Battling for a playoff berth
UNDATED (AP) β Two teams vying for the second playoff berth in the NHL’s Eastern Conference are on the ice together tonight as New Jersey entertains Boston. The Bruins start the day in the final playoff berth in the East, eight points in front of the Devils. New Jersey made some news last night when the Devils traded Jaromir Jagr (YAH’-oh-meer YAH’-gur) to the Panthers.
The Capitals, who have won eight of their last 12 games, have dropped back-to-back games to two of their closest rivals, the Penguins and Flyers. Tonight the Caps are at Carolina, which has gone 12-7-3 since Jan. 1.
The remaining four games tonight feature the Flames in New York to face the Islanders, the Lightning home to Chicago, Colorado at Dallas and the Kings in Anaheim to face the Ducks, who top the Pacific Division, 13 points in front of the defending champion Kings.
NHL-FLAMES
Calgary loses its captain
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) β Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano (jee-ohr-DAN’-oh) has been sidelined indefinitely with an undisclosed upper-body injury. The NHL’s top-scoring defenseman left Wednesday night’s 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils in the third period after he was hauled down by Devils forward Steve Bernier (burn-YAY’). Giordano has 11 goals and 37 assists in 61 games.
NHL-SHARKS
League fines Couture of San Jose
NEW YORK (AP) β San Jose’s Logan Couture has been fined $5,000 by the NHL for tripping Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith. Couture came from behind and used his skate to knock Smith to the ice in the third period of Detroit’s win Thursday night.
PGA-HONDA CLASSIC
Reed leads, Rory’s out
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) β Patrick Reed shot a second straight 3-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead in the second round of the Honda Classic. Luke Donald also shot 67 and trails by two shots.
The start of play was delayed by roughly four hours because of bad weather. Because of that, the round won’t be completed today.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy will miss the cut after going 7-over par for the two rounds.
PGA-MATCH PLAY
WGC event moving
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) β The PGA Tour is completing plans to bring the Match Play Championship to Austin, Texas, starting in 2016.
Three people aware of the negotiations told The Associated Press that Texas-based Dell will be the title sponsor of the World Golf Championship event that features the top 64 players from the world ranking. They spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement has not been made. The tournament would move to March, making it inviting for international players to stay in the US to play in the Masters.
The format would also change from single elimination to a round robin for the first three days.
The Match Play is being held this year from April 29 to May 3 at Harding Park in San Francisco.
LPGA
Lewis leads
CHONBURI, Thailand (AP) β Stacy Lewis shot an unblemished round of 8-under-par 64 for a three-shot advantage over Amy Yang after the second round of the LPGA Thailand event. Lewis, the third-ranked player in the world, enjoyed four straight birdies from holes four through seven plus four more on the back nine to stand 14-under after 36 holes. She also led at Siam Country Club at the halfway stage in 2013, and finished third.
Former world No. 1 and two-time champion Yani Tseng of Taiwan, who was tied for first after the opening round with Lewis and fellow American Brittany Lang, carded 72 to drop to 6 under, while Lang shot a 73 to be at 5 under.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Coach suspended
IRVING, Texas (AP) β UTEP coach Tim Floyd has been suspended for a game by Conference USA for failing to leave the court quickly after receiving two quick technical fouls and getting ejected in a loss at Louisiana Tech. The league says Floyd violated the league’s conduct policy, which calls for an automatic suspension if a coach doesn’t leave the floor in a timely manner after an ejection. He will miss Saturday’s game at Southern Miss.
