WAMC Sports Report 11/7/24: Risacher scores 33 as Hawks rally late to down Knicks 121-116

NBA

No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher scored 33 points and had seven rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks rallied late to beat the New York Knicks 121-116 last night. Risacher’s 33 points were the most by a rookie this season. The Hawks trailed 110-105 with 2:57 to play, but went on a 13-1 run to put the game away. Jalen Johnson had 23 points and 15 rebounds. Trae Young had 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 34 points and 16 rebounds. Jalen Brunson scored 21 points.

Stephen Curry scored 27 points, Buddy Hield had 16 and the Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics 118-112 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight victory. Andrew Wiggins also added 16 points for Golden State. Curry played his second straight after missing three with an ankle injury. Jayson Tatum led Boston with 32 points, and Derrick White had 26 with six rebounds.

Norman Powell scored 26 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 110-98 in Paul George’s return to face his old team. It was Powell’s seventh straight game with 20 or more points. George had 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting and seven rebounds in 24 minutes in his second game of the season. The Clippers led by 22 points in the fourth quarter on their way to getting back to .500 at 4-4. The Sixers have just one win on the season. They were without suspended Joel Embiid.

Paul George was booed in his return to Los Angeles for the first time since leaving the Clippers last summer for the Philadelphia 76ers. Fans booed George when he was introduced at Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena that wasn’t close to being full. They got vocal each time he touched the ball in the opening minutes, and he responded by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers that pulled the Sixers into an early tie. George was playing just his second game of the season after a left knee injury kept him out. The Clippers honored him with a tribute video in the first quarter and George waved to acknowledge the polite applause.

Brandon Miller scored off an offensive rebound at the buzzer to lift Charlotte Hornets to a dramatic 108-107 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. Miles Bridges had 27 points and LaMelo Ball added 25 points on five 3-pointers for the Hornets, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Miller finished with 19 points. Cade Cunningham had a triple double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and assists to the lead the Pistons. On Charlotte’s final possession, Grant Williams attempted a 3 but missed. Miller grabbed the ball on the left side of the basket and put it back in off the backboard for the winner and was promptly mobbed by his teammates.

Bennedict Mathurin scored 20 points, four teammates each had 17, and the Indiana Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic 118-111 on Wednesday night. Ahead two in the final minute, the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton sank a 3 and Mathurin made two foul shots. Six of nine Pacers scored in double digits. Haliburton, Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam and Jarace Walker each scored 17. T.J. McConnell had 15. Orlando’s Franz Wagner led all scorers with 28. Jalen Suggs added 15 and Moritz Wagner had 14 off the bench.

Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet had 21 points each and the Houston Rockets built a huge lead early and coasted to a 127-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night. Houston never trailed, had built a 25-point lead by halftime and was up by 27 points when coach Ime Udoka cleared the bench with about 6 ½ minutes remaining. Alperen Sengun added 16 points for the Rockets, who won for the fourth time in five games. VanVleet had 10 assists and seven rebounds -both season-highs- to go with his top scoring effort of the season.

Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 131-122 to open 9-0 for the first time in their 55-year NBA history. Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen each added 16 points, and Allen grabbed 14 rebounds as the Cavaliers surpassed an 8-0 start by the 1976-77 squad that finished 43-39 under coach Bill Fitch. Zion Williamson returned from a two-game absence and had 29 points for the Pelicans. He temporarily took himself out after playing 10 minutes, but returned to start the second half and scored 23 after halftime. Jose Alvarado hit all seven 3-pointers he took and finished with 27 points for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram added 20 points for the Pelicans, who have lost three straight and six of seven.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are returning home in rare air. They’re 9-0 for the first time in the franchise’s 55-year history after a 131-122 victory in New Orleans. First-year coach Kenny Atkinson says players celebrated by dumping water bottles over his head in the locker room. Although the Cavs have their sights set on bigger things, Atkinson says it’s important to recognize and enjoy such accomplishments because it’s a long season and it’s hard to win in the NBA. The Cavaliers are shooting an NBA-best 52.6% after making 54.2% of their shots in New Orleans. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell says the vibes and energy around the Cavs are great and that Atkinson has done a “phenomenal job” in his first season running the team.

Ja Morant scored 20 points before leaving in the third quarter with a right hamstring injury and the Memphis Grizzlies used their 3-point shooting to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 131-114. Rookie Jaylen Wells and Jaren Jackson Jr. also scored 20 points each for the Grizzlies. There was no immediate word on the extent of Morant’s injury. LeBron James led the Lakers with 39 points, while Austin Reaves added 19 despite going 2 for 9 from 3-point range. The Lakers played without starting center Anthony Davis, who was suffering from left heel soreness. Rui Hachimura was also out with an illness, giving rookie Dalton Knect from Tennessee his first NBA start.

Luka Doncic had 27 points and 13 assists, Kyrie Irving scored 17 points and Daniel Gafford also scored 17 playing a season-high 24 minutes as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Chicago Bulls 119-99 on Wednesday night. Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and 10 rebounds while sitting out the fourth quarter to lead the Bulls, who have lost three straight games. Rookie Matas Buzelis, who had five total points this season going into play, had 13 points and nine rebounds.

Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Peyton Watson blocked a shot in the closing seconds after missing a pair of free throws at the other end and the injury-riddled Denver Nuggets rallied to beat Oklahoma City 124-122 to hand the Thunder their first loss of the season. Nikola Jokic finished with 23 points, 20 rebounds and 16 assists as the Nuggets rebounded from a 16-point deficit in the third quarter. Michael Porter Jr. came up big after a slow start, scoring 21 of his 24 points in the second half in a game where the Nuggets were without power forward Aaron Gordon (strained calf) and point guard Jamal Murray (concussion protocol).

Kevin Durant scored 32 points, Jusuf Nurkic had 20 points and 18 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat the Miami Heat 115-112 and extend their winning streak to six games. The Suns trailed 79-64 in the third quarter but were down by only three entering the fourth. Tyler Herro led the Heat with 28 points. Miami had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but failed to get off a shot.

DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107. Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line. Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21. The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Alex Ovechkin scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to reach 861 in his career and help the Washington Capitals beat the Nashville Predators 3-2. The Predators have lost nine of their first 13 games. The Capitals have won nine of their first 12. Ovechkin beat Juuse Saros with 9:35 left in regulation for his eighth goal of the season. Ovechkin is now just 34 goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record and is on pace to do it before this season is over.

Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat each had a goal and an assist, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1. Joe Veleno and Andrew Copp also scored for Detroit, and Cam Talbot stopped 28 shots. The Red Wings have won two straight after a three-game skid. Nick Foligno scored for Chicago, which snapped a two-game win streak. Petr Mrazek finished with 21 saves.

Brett Howden deked Alexander Kerfoot, skated to the front of the net and scored at 2:15 of overtime to keep the Vegas Golden Knights perfect at home with a 4-3 victory over the Utah Hockey Club. Noah Hanifin had a goal and two assists for the Golden Knights, and Howden also had an assist. Pavel Dorofeyev and William Karlsson scored the other Vegas goals, and Adin Hill made 16 saves. Logan Cooley had a goal and an assist for Utah, which also got goals from Ian Cole and Kerfoot. Nick Bjugstad had two assists and Connor Ingram made 31 stops.

MLB

The Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t counting on Shohei Ohtani to pitch at the start of next season and will wait to see how his rehabilitation progresses following shoulder surgery on his non-throwing arm. Ohtani had a procedure Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, an injury sustained while sliding during a stolen base attempt in Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 26. The two-way star did not pitch this year while recovering from elbow surgery on Sept. 19, 2023. General manager Brandon Gomes says the Dodgers are “going to let the rehab process play out.”

Agent Scott Boras indicated Juan Soto may be seeking to top Shohei Ohtani’s record $700 million contract because he is three years younger than the Japanese two-way star was when he reached his deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Boras gave a pun-filled, 48-minute assessment of the market at the general managers meetings on Wednesday, calling Soto “the Mona Lisa of the museum.” Boras said only a handful of players have matched Soto’s accomplishments at age 26, mentioning Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ted Williams. Boras says Soto is “in an age category that separates him from all.”

NFL

On Thursday night football,  The Cincinnati Bengals are at Baltimore to take on the Ravens at 8:15 p.m.    

Whenever a team is trailing by seven points late in an NFL game and driving, the talk quickly turns to whether it will go for 2 and the win if it happens to score a touchdown. Tampa Bay, New England and Seattle all opted against it in Week 9 and ended up as overtime losers. The situations weren’t entirely identical, with the Seahawks scoring with 51 seconds left, the Patriots on the final play with an exhausted Drake Maye and the Buccaneers with 27 seconds left and Patrick Mahomes on the other side. But the decisions and the outcomes were the same.

Jayden Daniels has not thought much about his rookie year. The rest of the NFL has plenty to say about his breakout season. Daniels has quarterbacked the Washington Commanders to their first 7-2 start since 1996 and is now not only the favorite for the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award, but in the conversation as league MVP. And it’s not all that surprising for those who knew the Southern California native at Arizona State and at LSU, where he blossomed into the Heisman Trophy winner and second pick in the draft.

SOCCER

Bayern Munich is mourning the death of a fan who attended the team’s 1-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League. Bayern fans chose not to sing or chant during the game out of respect for the person. The atmosphere in Bayern’s stadium was noticeably muted some minutes after kickoff when it became apparent there was an incident requiring the attention of paramedics and police officers. The Bayern supporters’ group Club Nr. 12 said its members would “not be supporting as usual today because of an emergency medical intervention. Life comes before sport.” Bayern later said it received the news that the fan had died on their way to the hospital.

Barcelona and Inter Milan won again in the Champions League on Wednesday though both former title holders are looking up in the standings toward upstart newcomer Brest. Barcelona carried on its hot goalscoring form in a 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade. Inter Milan stifled Arsenal in a 1-0 win at San Siro sealed by Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s penalty in first-half stoppage time. Brest is in fourth place in the 36-team standings after winning 2-1 at Sparta Prague. Aston Villa started the week leading the table but a bizarre penalty for handball led to a 1-0 loss at Club Brugge.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

John Calipari won his debut as Arkansas coach when the 16th-ranked Razorbacks held off a second-half rally by Lipscomb and pulled away for a 76-60 victory. Freshman guard Boogie Fland scored 17 points and Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis added 15 for Arkansas. Calipari, who left Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky after last season, had previously been booed incessantly whenever stepping foot in Bud Walton Arena. That changed when Eric Musselman, who coached Arkansas to three Sweet 16s in five seasons, departed last spring and Calipari bolted from the bluegrass of Kentucky for the foothills of the Ozarks. His new team looked a lot like his old ones.

A real injury or a fake? It’s almost always hard to tell these days in college football. That’s why Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey recently sent around a memo to his membership that if they’re feigning injuries to cause a time out, knock it off. Coaches throughout the league have backed Sankey’s stance even if they’ve been accused of their players faking it on the field. Mississippi acknowledged critics who complain they use the tactic and have shared relevant information with the SEC for review.

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Auburn 94 UVM 43

UConn 92 Sacred Heart 56

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Army West Point 66 Siena 56

© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.