NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Detroit Pistons 117, Los Angeles Lakers 114
Milwaukee Bucks 112, Chicago Bulls 91
Indiana Pacers 111, Golden State Warriors 105
Pistons 117, Lakers 114 – Pistons overcome LeBron’s triple-double, beat Lakers 117-114 to sweep season series
Malik Beasley scored 21 points, Cade Cunningham had 20 points and 10 assists, and the Detroit Pistons held off the Los Angeles Lakers 117-114 Monday night to sweep the clubs’ season series. LeBron James had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the 120th triple-double of his career, but he missed a 3-point attempt right before the buzzer. Only Nikola Jokic (11) has more triple-doubles this season than the 39-year-old James (8). Jaden Ivey scored 18 points for the Pistons, who have beaten Phoenix and Los Angeles on the road to win back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 17 and just the third time all season. Detroit, which beat the Lakers at home last month, also snapped a seven-game road losing streak against the Lakers since 2017.
Bucks 112, Bulls 91 – Middleton and Lopez lead the way as Bucks pound Bulls 112-91 without Giannis, Lillard
Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez each scored 21 points, Bobby Portis added 19 points and 13 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls 112-91 without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Middleton set a season high for the second game in a row after scoring 18 in Saturday’s win over Washington. The three-time All-Star missed the first 21 games following surgery on both ankles. Middleton and Lopez each made three of Milwaukee’s 18 3-pointers. Gary Trent Jr. nailed four from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points, helping the Bucks come away with an easy win even though they were again without two of their biggest stars. Nikola Vucevic had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Chicago.
Pacers 111, Warriors 105 – Myles Turner hits late 3-pointer, scores 23 as Pacers beat Warriors 111-105
Myles Turner made a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 16 seconds left and had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Pascal Siakam added 20 points and the Indiana Pacers beat the Golden State Warriors 111-105 on Monday night for their fifth straight win. Jonathan Kuminga came off the bench to contribute 26 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors on a cold night by Stephen Curry. Curry finished with 10 points on 2-for-13 shooting, missing his initial five tries before hitting a 3-pointer for his first field goal with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
NFL – National Football League – Week 16
Last Night
Green Bay Packers 34, New Orleans Saints 0
Packers 34, Saints 0 – Packers clinch playoff berth with 1st shutout in NFL this season, 34-0 over Saints
Josh Jacobs gained 107 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown for a sixth straight game as the Green Bay Packers clinched a playoff berth while producing the first shutout of the NFL season, 34-0 over the hapless New Orleans Saints. Green Bay improved to 11-4 and earned its fifth postseason appearance in six years. New Orleans played without injured quarterback Derek Carr and running back Alvin Kamara. Rookie Spencer Rattler started and went 15 of 30 for 153 yards with an interception and a fumble. The Packers have won nine of their last 11 games.
NFL – Aiming for top seed, Lions play at 49ers, then at home against the Vikings
The Detroit Lions watched Washington beat Philadelphia on their phones following a 34-17 bounce-back win at Chicago that helped them keep pace with Minnesota in the race for the NFC North title and top seeding in the conference. The Lions and Vikings are 13-2 with two games left, including the regular-season finale against each other Jan. 5 at Ford Field. The Eagles dropped to 12-3. Detroit plays slumping San Francisco on the road next Monday night, a rematch of the NFC championship game in which the Lions lost a 17-point lead in the second half.
NFL – Bears can find optimism in thriving connection of rookies Williams and Odunze
The future is murky at best for the Chicago Bears because of their need to hire a coach in the offseason, but one thing the Bears can be optimistic about is their rookie passing combination of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. The two have heated up over the second half of the season and look to be a force in 2025 regardless of what happens with the roster and coaching staff. Williams went 26 of 40 for for 334 yards and two TDs in Sunday’s 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions. Odunze had four catches for 77 yards.
NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
St. Louis Blues 4, Detroit Red Wings 0
Minnesota Wild 4, Chicago Blackhawks 3
Blues 4, Red Wings 0 – Holloway gets 1st career hat trick as the Blues blank the Red Wings 4-0
Dylan Holloway scored three times, Jordan Binnington made 19 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-0. St. Louis had dropped three in a row. Alexandre Texier also scored, and Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko each had two assists. Holloway scored in each period in his first career hat trick, including a clinching empty-netter. He is up to a career-high 13 goals on the season after he was held without a point in his previous six games. It was Binnington’s second shutout of the season and No. 17 for his career. Cam Talbot made 17 saves for the Red Wings in their third consecutive loss.
Wild 4, Blackhawks 3 – Faber scores as the Wild snap a 4-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Blackhawks
Brock Faber snapped a tie in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild stopped a four-game losing streak by edging the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3. Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon and Marcus Foligno also scored for Minnesota. Yakov Trenin had two assists, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 28 shots. Foligno’s empty-netter made it 4-2 with 1:24 remaining. Jason Dickinson scored for Chicago with 33 seconds left, but the Blackhawks were unable to come up with the tying goal. Connor Bedard and Nick Foligno also scored for Chicago, and Arvid Soderblom made 23 saves.
NCAAMBB – Tennessee and Auburn remain 1-2 in AP Top 25 poll featuring 10 SEC teams
Tennessee and Auburn remained Nos. 1-2 atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. They were the headliners among the Southeastern Conference’s haul of 10 ranked teams. Iowa State, Duke and Alabama rounded out the top five. Kentucky had the week’s biggest fall, sliding six spots to No. 10 after a loss to Ohio State. Mississippi State, Arkansas, Illinois and Baylor rejoined the poll after stints in the rankings earlier this season. They replaced Memphis, Dayton, Michigan and Clemson. The Big 12 and Big Ten were tied for second with five teams each in the AP Top 25.
NCAAWBB – USC up to No. 4 in AP Top 25, UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame stay 1-3
Southern California jumped to No. 4 in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll on Monday after edging UConn. The Trojans moved up three spots after beating the then-No. 4 Huskies 72-70 in a rematch of last season’s Elite Eight game that UConn won. UCLA, South Carolina and Notre Dame remained the top three teams. The Bruins received 30 of the 32 first-place votes from a national media panel. The Gamecocks and the Fighting Irish each got one first-place vote. UConn fell to seventh behind Texas and LSU. Maryland, Oklahoma and Ohio State rounded out the top 10 teams.
NCAAFB – Georgia turns to backup Stockton at QB; Beck has season-ending surgery
No. 2 Georgia is resting its national championship hopes on backup quarterback Gunner Stockton. Coach Kirby Smart says Georgia is preparing Stockton to start in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against No. 3 Notre Dame. Stockton took over when starter Carson Beck suffered a right elbow injury in the the first half in the Bulldogs’ 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta. Beck had surgery on Monday in Los Angeles to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow..
