WAMC Sports Report 11/13/24: Anunoby leads Knicks past struggling 76ers 111-99 in Embiid’s debut

NBA

OG Anunoby scored 24 points and the New York Knicks spoiled 76ers star Joel Embiid’s season debut, beating Philadelphia 111-99 in the opener of NBA Cup group play for both teams. Embiid finished with 13 points and 26 minutes and was unable to lift the struggling Sixers, who fell to 2-8. He shot 2 of 11 and had only three rebounds. Paul George led the Sixers with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Hart added 14 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson scored 18 points.

Onyeka Okongwu tipped in a missed shot with 6.1 seconds left as the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 15-point, second-half deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 117-116 in their NBA Cup opener. Jaylen Brown had a season-high 37 points but missed a jumper at the buzzer. Dyson Daniels scored a career-high 28 points, and Jalen Johnson had a triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Atlanta snapped a two-game losing streak despite playing without star Trae Young.

Franz Wagner scored 32 points and Jalen Suggs hit his first seven shots, including three 3-pointers, to lead the Orlando Magic to a 114-89 win over the Charlotte Hornets. LaMelo Ball scored 16 of his 35 points in the first quarter for the Hornets in the opening round of Group A play in the NBA Cup. Coming off a career-high 38 points in Sunday’s overtime loss at Philadelphia, Ball added six rebounds and seven assists. Suggs had 13 points in the first quarter and finished with 17 points and two steals.

Malik Beasley made a tiebreaking free throw with 1.1 seconds left in overtime after Miami was given a technical foul for calling a timeout when it had none left, and the Detroit Pistons edged the Heat 123-121 in an NBA Cup game on Tuesday night. Tyler Herro’s jumper put Miami up 121-119 with 1.8 seconds left, but after a timeout, Cade Cunningham hit Jalen Duren with an alley-oop on the inbounds pass. The Heat then called time. Beasley hit the foul shot to put Detroit up 122-121, then added another free throw with 0.1 seconds left.

Erik Spoelstra is blaming himself for a “horrendous mistake” after calling a timeout the Miami Heat didn’t have with 1.1 seconds left in overtime. The resulting technical foul gave the Detroit Pistons the tiebreaking free throw. Malik Beasley made it and the Pistons went on to beat the Heat 123-121 on Tuesday night on the opening night of NBA Cup play. The Heat had a 121-119 lead after Tyler Herro’s basket with 1.8 seconds remaining. But after a timeout, the Pistons ran a well-executed inbounds play, with Cade Cunningham throwing a lob pass that Jalen Duren slammed down. Spoelstra quickly and angrily stormed onto the court and motioned for a timeout.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 23 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks past the Toronto Raptors 99-85 in an NBA Cup game between teams that entered with the two worst records in the league. Bobby Portis added 17 points off the bench for Milwaukee. Brook Lopez scored 13 points while AJ Green and Ryan Rollins had 12 apiece. Gradey Dick paced the Raptors with 32 points, a career high for the second-year player. Jakob Poeltl scored 13 points and Chris Boucher had 12. Milwaukee ended a two-game skid to improve to 3-8, while Toronto has lost five straight and is 2-10.

Devin Booker scored 31 points and Bradley Beal added 24 to help the Phoenix Suns open NBA Cup pool play with a 120-112 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. Grayson Allen chipped in 15 points for the Suns. Booker, Beal, and Allen combined to make 13 3-pointers. Mason Plumlee finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds while starting in place of injured center Jusuf Nurkic. John Collins led the Jazz with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Filipowski added 18 points off the bench while Lauri Markkanen chipped in 17. Jordan Clarkson finished with 16 points and a team-high eight assist

Jaren Jackson Jr. had 20 points and seven rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies routed the Portland Trail Blazers 134-89 on Sunday night. Jake LaRavia added 18 points off the bench for the Grizzlies, who led by as many as 45 points. Memphis has won five of their last six games. Jerami Grant scored 20 points for Portland, which has lost three straight.

Stephen Curry drove past Luka Doncic for a go-ahead layup with 1:50 left before Donic missed a 13-footer in the key and Curry connected for a 3-pointer moments later, scoring 37 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 120-117. Klay Thompson hit a key 3-pointer with 5:17 to play in an emotional return to Chase Center for the first time since he departed to join Dallas in July and scored 22 in the NBA Cup game.

Klay Thompson exited the team bus then beamed as he strolled back into Chase Center, greeted by some 400 cheering Warriors employees showing their love and appreciation for the former Golden State star and lined up lined up along his path to the Dallas locker room. They sported “Captain Klay” hats, the giveaway for all fans on a celebratory night remembering Thompson’s 13 years with the franchise, two of those spent injured, and four championships he helped win here. He departed for Dallas in July on a three-year, $50 million contract.

MLB

Dominican Republic prosecutors say Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was charged with illegally carrying a gun in his vehicle during the altercation in a parking lot that led to his arrest over the weekend. The attorney general’s office in the Dominican Republic said Tuesday in a statement that police found a Glock pistol with a 15-round magazine inside the Mercedes Benz that Franco was driving during what police called an altercation over a woman’s attention. Authorities said the gun was registered to Franco’s uncle. Franco is scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 12 in a sexual abuse case involving a 14-year-old girl.

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each scored twice, Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves, and the Winnipeg Jets won their seventh straight, 6-3 over the New York Rangers. Gabriel Vilardi and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Jets, who have now won 15 of their first 16 games. Will Cuylle, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko scored for the Rangers, who dropped their second straight home game following last Thursday’s 6-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Hellebuyck improved to 12-1-0 this season. Scheifele scored his first goal just 57 seconds into the contest.

Leon Draisaitl had two goals, including the overtime winner, and Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists to move one point shy of 1,000 for his career as the Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Islanders 4-3. McDavid, who has seven points in his last two games, fed the puck to Draisaitl who scored on goalie Ilya Sorokin from a tough angle 1:52 into overtime. Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists for the Oilers. Anders Lee had two goals and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Islanders. Stuart Skinner made 19 saves for the Oilers, while Sorokin made 38 stops for the Islanders.

David Pastrnak scored with 1:47 to play and the Boston Bruins scored three third-period goals to come back for a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. Morgan Geekie and Charlie McAvoy also scored for the Bruins who trailed 2-0 after two periods. Boston had been outscored 16-5 in the third period and was 0-7-0 this season when trailing after two games entering the game. Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves as Boston won for the fourth time in its last six games. Brayden Schenn and Oskar Sundqvist scored second-period power-play goals for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 27 saves as the Blues lost their third straight.

Timo Meier scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves and the New Jersey Devils snapped Florida’s seven-game winning streak by beating the Panthers 4-1. Jack Hughes scored in the first period for the Devils, Paul Cotter put New Jersey up 3-1 with 15:07 left and Dougie Hamilton and Jesper Bratt each had a pair of assists. Ondrej Palat had an empty-netter to cap the win. Sam Reinhart got his 12th goal for Florida, and Spencer Knight made 20 saves for the Panthers.

Ottawa 3 Toronto 0

Linus Ullmark made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Ottawa Senators blanked the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 on Tuesday night. Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle and Michael Amadio scored for Ottawa. Artem Zub added two assists. Anthony Stolarz stopped 38 shots for Toronto, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.

The Seattle Kraken scored twice in 10 seconds as part of a four-goal second period, coming back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Tuesday night. Brandon Tanev scored on a breakaway 7:13 into the second period, and Eeli Tolvanen followed with a power-play goal at 7:23 to give the Kraken the lead. Tye Kartye and Will Borgen also scored for Seattle in the second period. Jared McCann added a late empty-net goal and Joey Daccord had 38 saves. Sean Kuraly and Zachary Aston-Reese scored 22 seconds apart for Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 28 shots for the Blue Jackets.

Elias Pettersson tied the game on the power play early in the second period and assisted on Erik Brannstrom’s goal in the third as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames 3-1. Pius Suter also scored for the Canucks while J.T. Miller had two assists. Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen stopped 28 shots. Justin Kirkland scored for Calgary and Flames goalie Dan Vladar made 29 saves. Brannstrom’s goal was his first as a Canuck since he was obtained in an Oct. 6 deal with Colorado.

NFL

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has decided on season-ending surgery for his torn hamstring. Owner Jerry Jones says Prescott will have the surgery Wednesday in New York. The decision comes with the playoff hopes already fading fast for a team that has reached the postseason the past three seasons. Prescott was injured in a 27-21 loss at Atlanta on Nov. 3. He was on the sideline a week later for the 34-6 loss at home to Philadelphia. The Cowboys have lost four consecutive games and are 0-4 at home. Cooper Rush struggled filling in for Prescott against the Eagles.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Oregon stayed on top in the second batch of College Football Playoff rankings, while the new poll shoved Georgia completely out of the bracket after its lopsided loss to Mississippi. Led by the Ducks, then Ohio State, the Big Ten captured four of the top five spots. The string was interrupted only by Texas of the Southeastern Conference, which was slotted in at No. 3. Georgia’s loss to Ole Miss dropped the Bulldogs from third to all the way to 12th, but they would be the first team out because No. 13 Boise State of the Mountain West would receive an automatic bid and the 12th seed as the fifth-best conference champion.

Bill Self brushed off becoming the winningest coach in Kansas basketball history, even as he surpassed the guy whose name is on the arena. The 61-year-old Self says it just means he’s old. Of course, he’s much more than that. Self claimed the top spot at one of college basketball’s most storied programs when No. 1 Kansas held off Michigan State 77-69 at the Champions Classic in Atlanta. Self improved to 591-143 in his 22nd season coaching the Jayhawks, pushing beyond Phog Allen’s mark of 590-219 in 39 seasons on the Kansas sideline. The Jayhawks, of course, play at Allen Fieldhouse — named in honor of the Hall of Fame coach whose brilliant career spanned most of first half of the 20th century.

Otega Oweh knocked down four free throws in the final 10.3 seconds and No. 19 Kentucky claimed the first big win of Mark Pope’s coaching tenure, knocking off No. 6 Duke 77-72 at the Champions Classic in Atlanta. In the frenetic closing seconds, Duke tied the game at 72 on Cooper Flagg’s lay-in with 1:14 remaining but never got off another shot. Flagg ruined a 26-point night by turning it over twice in the final minute to hand the victory to the Wildcats, who improved to 3-0, Duke dropped to 2-1. Andrew Carr paced Kentucky with 17 points, while Oweh added 15.

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Siena 74 American University 66

Syracuse 74 Colgate 72

Delaware 64 Iona 58

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Navy 55 Iona 53

Providence 58 Vermont 53

SOCCER

Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman has been fired after an independent review of a drone surveillance scandal at the Paris Olympics. Assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi were also fired as Canada Soccer released findings of the investigation. New Zealand complained about a drone flying over practices before the start of the Olympic tournament, prompting FIFA to fine Canada Soccer $228,000 and strip six standings points from the team. Priestman, Mander and Lombardi were all suspended by soccer’s international governing body for a year. The investigation found no evidence that players had viewed the drone footage.

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