NBA News

NEW YORK (AP) — Devin Booker is back for the Phoenix Suns after missing a game with a sprained left ankle, while the New York Knicks will be without Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart for their game Saturday night. Booker sat out the Suns’ loss in Detroit on Thursday, but coach Jordan Ott said the star guard seemed to be …

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — Ashley Chea scored 16 points, Fadima Tall added 15 and Skye Belker chipped in with 14, and No. 22 Princeton jumped out early to cruise past Dartmouth 69-41 on Saturday for the Tigers’ 13th straight win. Chea shot 5 of 13 from the floor that included a pair of 3-pointers. Tall and Belker combined for 12-of-25 …

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (AP) — Fred Payne scored 26 points, and Donald Hand Jr. hit a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation as Boston College outscored Syracuse 17-9 in overtime to win 81-73 and earn its first Atlantic Coast Conference win of the season on Saturday. Payne added six assists and three steals for the Eagles (8-10, 1-4 …

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Carter Welling scored a season-high 18 points and Jestin Porter added 11 as No. 22 Clemson won its ninth straight and remained perfect in Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 69-59 victory over Miami on Saturday. The Tigers (16-3, 6-0 ACC) are one of two undefeated teams in league play after ending the Hurricanes’ (15-3, 4-1) …

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — John Mobley Jr. scored a career-high 28 points and knocked down a career-high six 3-pointers as Ohio State pulled away in the second half for an 86-74 win over UCLA on Saturday. Bruce Thornton added 21 points and eight rebounds, while Devin Royal finished with 22 points and nine rebounds for the Buckeyes (12-5, 4-3 Big …

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Zvonimir Ivisic scored 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds off the bench and Keaton Wagler had 17 points to lead No. 13 Illinois to a 77-67 victory over Minnesota on Saturday. David Mirkovic and Tomislav Ivisic each scored 10 points, all in the second half, for the Illini (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten), who won their …

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali saved two penalties including the first from Mohamed Salah for Nigeria to beat Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shootout for third place at the Africa Cup Nations on Saturday. Ademola Lookman scored the winning penalty. Advertisement Salah and Omar Marmoush had their penalty kicks saved by Nwabali at the start of the shootout …

LENS, France (AP) — Winger Wesley Saïd scored a brilliant goal to secure Lens’ 10th consecutive win across all competitions and place atop the Ligue 1 standings on Saturday. Lens defeated Auxerre 1-0 after Saïd controlled with his chest Malang Sarr’s cross into the box and finished with a left-footed volley from the bounce. The 65th-minute score was his eighth …

Saturday’s nine-game NBA schedule offers a plethora of prop betting opportunities.  I’ve sorted through the betting markets and selected my top player props for all of the action. Read more in my NBA picks for January 17.  Best NBA player props today Player Pick Cade Cunningham Over 9.5 assists <<+102>> Kyshawn George Over 14.5 points <<-112>> LaMelo Ball Over 18.5 points …

With Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys divvying up the four Grand Slam titles last season, women’s tennis offers quite a bit more intrigue these days than the “ Sincaraz ” dominance in the men’s game. Indeed, seven of the past nine years ended with different female champions at every major tournament. Advertisement No. 1-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, …

The Boston Celtics hit the road tonight for a matchup with the new-look Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Jaylen Brown continues to torch his opponents, but his total is too high for my liking. I’ll explain in my Celtics vs. Hawks predictions why I see value in the Under. Advertisement Read more …

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Nacho Elvira will head into the final day of the Dubai Invitational with a two-shot lead after a 3-under 68 in Saturday’s third round, while Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry also remained in contention. Elvira started the day tied for the lead with Lowry and started slowly with six pars and a bogey on …

LONDON (AP) — There’s a “good chance” that Memphis guard Ja Morant will return from a calf injury to play against the Orlando Magic in London, Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said Saturday. The two-time All-Star missed the first of the two-game NBA Europe series when the Magic beat the Grizzlies 118-111 in the NBA’s first regular-season game in Germany. Advertisement …

YANBU, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Luciano Benavides exploited a navigation blunder by Ricky Brabec minutes from the finish of the Dakar Rally to sensationally win the motorbike title on Saturday by two seconds — the smallest margin ever. Meanwhile, Nasser Al-Attiyah safely secured his sixth car title on the 13th and final stage, a flat-out 105-kilometer sprint along the Red …

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian Open’s first formal opening ceremony became the Roger Federer show on the eve of the season-opening major. There was Crowded House, the band, playing a set of four hits. There was a full house — a capacity crowd in the 15,000-seat stadium. Advertisement Rod Laver, the great Australian player of Grand Slam fame, was …

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Domantas Sabonis scored 13 points in his return from a knee injury, Russell Westbrook had 26 and the Sacramento Kings beat the Washington Wizards 128-115 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory. Sabonis returned after missing 27 games because of a partially torn meniscus in his left knee. The three-time All-Star forward/center came off the …

LONDON (AP) — European basketball often is a hot mess of passionate fandom, heated rivalries and financial problems. Holding some powerful fiefdoms together is the EuroLeague. It’s not thrilled about the NBA’s plans to create a new competition on the continent. Advertisement It’s not concerned, either. “We’ve only heard the plan or the fireworks of how amazing it will be, …

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury shared a letter with fans saying the franchise feels their disappointment. Drury wrote on Friday that he plans to “retool” by possibly trading established players. Advertisement Coming off an underachieving this season and missing the playoffs last year, the Rangers are the only team with a losing record in …

PISA, Italy (AP) — Second-to-last Pisa scored only its second home goal of the season with three minutes left to tie high-flying Atalanta 1-1 and record a Serie A-high 11th draw on Friday. Pisa had the better of a dour match but it had scored only once in eight home matches this season and rarely threatened to increase that meager …

MIAMI (AP) — The Power 4 conference that didn’t get its champion into the College Football Playoff has a team that tied for second playing in the CFP’s national title game. So much for the demise of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Advertisement The league that looked most vulnerable a few short years ago when the latest round of realignment shook …

Miami plays Indiana in the College Football Playoff championship game on Monday night, with BetMGM Sportsbook listing Indiana as an 8.5-point favorite as the weekend arrived. Will it be a blowout? The top-seeded Hoosiers (15-0) have beaten Alabama (38-3) and Oregon (56-22) in the CFP as they pursue the program’s first championship. That’s a winning margin of 34.5 points. Advertisement …

HOUSTON (AP) — Asked how he’d describe Houston’s pass rush to someone who hasn’t seen the Texans play before, coach DeMeco Ryans took a few seconds before landing on an answer. “It’s like four Tasmanian devils just wrecking everything that’s in front of them. That’s how I look at our guys,” Ryans said. “They are fast. They are physical. The …

It was 40 years ago this week that the United States first officially paused to remember and celebrate the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr. with a day in his honor. On that first Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in the city where King was born, Dominique Wilkins and the Atlanta Hawks took to court as part of …

The gasps from the crowd at Crypto.com Arena — a mix of shock from Lakers fans and anticipation from fans rooting for the local hero — grew each time LaMelo Ball pulled up from seemingly more and more audacious spots on the court. The Charlotte Hornets star guard held three fingers to his bicep each time he splashed a shot …

The NBA has discussed its “vision” for a proposed European basketball league with Real Madrid and other Spanish clubs, says commissioner Adam Silver. Initial plans for ‘NBA Europe’, starting in 2027, are for 10 to 12 set franchises that would stay in the league on an annual basis. Advertisement Silver said the idea would be to mix established European teams …