Update on the latest sports - KVIA El Paso

NFL PLAYOFFS

Bills, Rams advance

UNDATED (AP) — The Buffalo Bills were able to celebrate their first playoff win in a quarter-century. And the Los Angeles Rams advanced by knocking off a division rival on the road. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won a playoff game for the first time since winning the Super Bowl 18 years ago.

Josh Allen threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Bills held off the Colts, 27-24. Allen hit Stephon Diggs in the end zone with a 35-yard pass that put Buffalo ahead, 24-10 early in the fourth quarter.

Allen ran for 54 yards on 11 carries and was 26 of 35 passing for 324 and no interceptions.

Indianapolis didn’t roll over after falling behind by two touchdowns in the final period. Philip Rivers hit Pascal and Doyle for touchdowns to draw the Colts closer, and the game wasn’t decided on the final play. Micah Hyde secured the win by batting down a Rivers pass in the end zone.

Buffalo is 14-3 overall following its seventh straight win.

In Seattle, Cam Akers rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown in the Rams’ 30-20 win over the Seahawks.

Darious Williams returned Russell Wilson’s interception 42 yards for a score while Los Angeles hounded the Seattle quarterback most of the afternoon. The best defense in the league during the regular season carried its dominance into the playoffs despite missing unanimous All-Pro tackle Aaron Donald for much of the second half.

Donald and Leonard Floyd each had two sacks for the Rams, who allowed just 278 total yards and 11 first downs.

Jared Goff returned from a broken thumb and was 9 of 19 for 155 yards. He capped the victory with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Robert Woods with 4:46 left after Seattle’s D.J. Reed fumbled a punt.

Wilson had one of his worst playoff performances, completing just 11 of 27 for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns to DK Metcalf.

Tom Brady threw for 381 yards in leading the Buccaneers to their first playoff victory since winning the Super Bowl in 2003, 31-23 at Washington.

Brady misfired on six of his first nine passes before finishing 22 of 40 with two touchdowns. He became the oldest quarterback to throw a playoff TD when he hit Antonio Brown from 36 yards out.

Brady engineered a 69-yard scoring drive capped by a 3-yard run by Leonard Fournette.

Washington’s Taylor Heinicke ran for 46 yards and a touchdown and threw for 306 yards and a score. Heinicke was signed to Washington’s practice squad just a month ago.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NFL-BROWNS

Three Browns activated

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Browns finally caught a break when safety Ronnie Harrison, tight end Harrison Bryant and linebacker Malcolm Smith were activated from the COVID-19 list. All three can play in Sunday night’s wild-card game at Pittsburgh.

Cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson remain on the COVID-19 list and will not play. First-year coach Kevin Stefanski and Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio tested positive this week and cannot take part in the game.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NBA-76ERS

76ers lose without Simmons, Embiid, others

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The pandemic has caught up to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Sixers faced Denver without All-Stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid (joh-EHL’ ehm-BEED’) and had the minimum eight players active as the team deals with injuries and COVID-19 concerns. Simmons and Embiid were nursing injuries, while Seth Curry and Tobias Harris sat out due to COVID.

Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 39 points on 18-of-33 shooting in his first career start, but the Nuggets took advantage of the short-handed 76ers by posting a 115-103 win at Philadelphia. Nikola Jokic (nih-KOH’-lah YOH’-kihch) provided 15 points and 12 assists for Denver, while Gary Harris chipped in 21 points.

NBA-CELTICS

Coronavirus hits Celtics

UNDATED (AP) — The Boston Celtics could be without stars Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and a number of other players because of coronavirus safety protocols when they face Miami on Sunday.

The Celtics are listing Tatum as doubtful and Brown as questionable for the rematch of the Eastern Conference finals.

Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams and Robert Williams have already been ruled out for that reason, and the status of Semi Ojeleye and Javonte Green is unknown.

In Saturday’s other NBA action:

— Khris Middleton dropped in 27 points and the Bucks withstood the absence of two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (YAH’-nihs an-teh-toh-KOON’-poh) to beat the Cavaliers, 100-90. Bobby Portis chipped in 17 points while starting in place of Antetokounmpo, who sat out with back spasms after taking a hard fall one night earlier in a loss to Utah.

— Tyler Herro (HEE’-roh) delivered a career-high 31 points and Jimmy Butler nearly had a triple-double in the Heat’s 128-124 verdict over the Wizards. Butler finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists against Washington, which played without starting guards Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook. Beal was placed in the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocol after scoring 101 points in his last two games.

— LaMelo Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, contributing 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to the Hornets’ third straight win, 113-105 over the Hawks. The 19-year-old Ball replaced Markelle Fultz as the youngest NBA player to record a triple-double by 177 days.

— Phoenix is 7-3 after Mikal Bridges scored a career-high 34 points and Devin Booker added 25 in a 125-117 victory over the Pacers. Bridges drained a trey to cap an 11-0 run that made it 109-96 with 5:49 left.

— Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke each had season highs for points while Luka Doncic (DAHN’-chihch) had a triple-double in the Mavericks’ 112-98 decision over the Magic. Hardaway finished with 36 points, Burke had 29 and Doncic contributed 20, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

— CJ McCollum nailed six 3-pointers and delivered 37 points in the Trail Blazers’ 125-99 thrashing of the Kings. Damian Lillard scored 17 points and Carmelo Anthony added 13 for Portland.

— DeMar DeRozan scored 13 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help the Spurs beat Minnesota, 125-122. Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and 13 boards in 37 minutes after missing the last six games with a partial dislocation of his left wrist.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE

Longhorns nip Mountaineers

UNDATED (AP) — Saturday’s best top-25 men’s basketball matchup of the day was won by Texas.

Andrew Jones hit a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to lift the fourth-ranked Longhorns to a 72-70 victory over No. 14 West Virginia. The game-winning bucket came after West Virginia’s Emmitt Matthews missed two free throws with 11 seconds left.

Courtney Ramey scored 19 points for Texas, which trailed for most of the game and had to come from nine points down in the second half. Jones finished with 16 points, including the 1,000th of his college career.

In other top-25 action:

— Joel Ayayi (joh-EHL’ ah-YAH’-ee) posted the first triple-double in Gonzaga history and the top-ranked Bulldogs picked up their 16th straight win by blowing out Portland, 116-88. Ayayi had 12 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds, and Drew Timme had 26 points for the Zags.

— Jared Butler poured in a season-high 28 points and No. 2 Baylor stayed undefeated with a 67-49 rout of TCU. Butler was 11 of 17 from the field, with all four of his 3-pointers coming after halftime. MaCio Teague (MAY’-see-oh teeg) added 12 points and Davion Mitchell had 10 for the 11-0 Bears.

— David McCormack’s 17-point performance included the clinching short hook shot with 12.8 seconds to go, leading No. 6 Kansas to a 63-59 victory against Oklahoma. Ochai Agbaji (OH’-chay ahg-BAH’-hee) added 14 points and Jalen Wilson had nine with 11 rebounds, helping the Jayhawks avoid back-to-back losses in Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since 1988-89.

— Seventh-ranked Creighton coasted to a 97-79 win over St. John’s as Denzel Mahoney furnished a season-high 24 points to lead six Bluejays in double figures. Duke transfer Alex O’Connell came off the bench to add a season-high 16 points for the Bluejays, who were without Big East preseason player of the year Marcus Zegarowski because of an undisclosed injury.

— Sophomore guard Santiago Vescovi drained six 3-pointers while scoring a career-high 23 points in ninth-ranked Tennessee’s 68-54 victory at Texas A&M. Vescovi hit his first four shots from behind the arc as part of a 17-4 run that pushed the Volunteers’ lead to 14 midway through the opening half.

— Marcus Sasser scored 20 of his career-high 28 points in the first half to power 11th-rated Houston to a 71-50 thumping of Tulane. Sasser shot 7 of 9 in the first half, including 6 of 7 on 3-pointers as the Cougars built a 12-point lead.

— Chris Duarte provided 25 points and Eric Williams Jr. added 19 to lift No. 17 Oregon to a 79-73 victory over Utah. LJ Figueroa scored 15 points for the Ducks before exiting late in the second half with an apparent leg injury.

— Duane Washington Jr. provided 17 points and Ohio State closed the first half with a 22-4 run before defeating No. 15 Rutgers, 79-68. E.J. Liddell had 15 points and helped the Buckeyes shoot 51% for the game, including 42% from 3-point range.

— Kyler Edwards scored 16 of his 19 points while 18th-ranked Texas Tech was building a huge first-half lead in a 91-64 pounding of Iowa State. Mac McClung added 18 points for the Red Raiders, who used a pair of 12-0 runs to make it 54-28 with just over a minute left before the break.

— No. 21 Duke was a 79-68 winner against Wake Forest behind Matthew Hurt’s career-high 26 points. Freshman DJ Steward added 21 points for the Blue Devils, who had coach Mike Krzyzewski (shuh-SHEHF’-skee) back on the bench after a one-game absence due to COVID-19 protocol.

— Jay Huff matched his career-high with 18 points and grabbed eight boards to send No. 22 Virginia past Boston College, 61-49. Sam Hauser scored 17 with 10 boards to help the Cavaliers win their third straight since a defeat to top-ranked Gonzaga.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-PANDEMIC

SEC slate slashed by COVID-19

UNDATED (AP) — Tuesday’s SEC men’s basketball schedule has become a little lighter.

Games pitting Tennessee at South Carolina and Vanderbilt at No. 13 Missouri have been postponed due to a combination of positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Missouri and South Carolina basketball programs.

It’s the seventh time in just over a month that the South Carolina men won’t be able to play a scheduled game due to issues with COVID-19.

MLB-NATIONALS-SCHWARBER

Schwarber signs with Nats

UNDATED (AP) — The Washington Nationals are banking on outfielder Kyle Schwarber to regain his hitting streak.

The Nats and the free agent have agreed to a one-year contract worth a guaranteed $10 million. Schwarber will get $7 million this season, while the package includes a mutual $11.5 million option for 2022 or a $3 million buyout.

The 27-year-old Schwarber struggled at the plate during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, hitting .188. A year earlier, he produced 38 homers and 92 RBIs for Chicago.

He was a member of the Cubs’ drought-ending 2016 World Series championship team, hitting .412 in the Fall Classic after missing much of that season with an injured left knee.

Elsewhere in the Majors:

— The Phillies have acquired right-hander Sam Coonrod from the Giants for right-hander Carson Ragsdale. The 28-year-old Coonrod went 0-2 with three saves and a 9.82 ERA in 18 appearances for the Giants last season.

NHL-NEWS

Barzal agrees to contract

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Islanders welcomed their top player back to the ice on Saturday after ending a contract impasse.

The Isles and center Mathew Barzal have worked out a three-year package with a reported average annual salary of $7 million. Barzal missed the first several days of training camp as a restricted free agent without a deal for the upcoming season.

Barzal led the Islanders with 60 points in 68 games last season and had 17 points in the playoffs during their run to the Eastern Conference final.

Also around the NHL:

— Devils goaltender Corey Crawford is retiring less than three months after signing with the team and less than a week before the start of the NHL season. Devils coach Lindy Ruff says Crawford’s decision was for personal reasons. Crawford signed a two-year, $7.8 million contract with the Devils in October.

NCAA-COMPENSATION RULES

NCAA preparing to delay vote on athlete compensation rules

MIAMI (AP) — The NCAA is preparing to delay a potential landmark vote on legislation that would permit college athletes to be compensated for their fame for the first time. The decision comes after it received a warning from the Department of Justice about potential antitrust violations. NCAA President Mark Emmert emailed a letter to the DOJ’s antitrust division saying he was strongly recommending delaying votes on new name, image and likeness rules. Two key NCAA legislative bodies had been scheduled to vote on the measure next week.

Let's block ads! (Why?)