WAMC Sports Report 12/6/24: Anunoby, Towns help blow it open as Knicks rout Hornets 125-101

NBA

OG Anunoby scored 15 of his 25 points during a third quarter in which he also blocked consecutive 3-point shots on opposite sides of the floor, helping the New York Knicks pull away to beat the Charlotte Hornets 125-101 last night. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who won their fourth straight. Jalen Brunson scored 24 points, 19 in the first quarter. Brandon Miller scored 26 points in the Hornets’ seventh straight loss.

There are moments when Nikola Jokic does things on the court that seem to defy reason — almost magical. On Thursday, he passed a player who had the same skill. Denver’s superstar center moved past Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and into third place on the career list for triple-doubles by recording his 139th in a 126-114 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The three-time MVP finished with 27 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists. But he missed some easy shots and the Nuggets couldn’t defend the Cavs, who made a season-high 22 3-pointers. Jokic now trails only teammate Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson on the career triple-doubles list.

Luka Doncic had 21 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds and Kyrie Irving added 25 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 137-101 victory over Washington, which has now lost 16 in a row. Washington tied a franchise record for consecutive defeats and fell to 2-18. It’s the second straight season the Wizards have had a 16-game skid. Dallas made 11 of its first 16 shots from 3-point range and finished 20 of 38 from beyond the arc. The Mavericks have won six in a row. Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 for the Wizards.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points, Jalen Williams had 20 and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Toronto Raptors 129-92 for their sixth win in seven games. Isaiah Joe scored 16 points and Isaiah Hartenstein had 16 rebounds as the Western Conference-leading Thunder improved to 8-3 on the road. RJ Barrett had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Scottie Barnes added 12 points and 12 rebounds but the Raptors lost by their biggest margin this season, eclipsing a 30-point loss to Cleveland on opening night.

Brandon Ingram scored 29 points in his return from a five-game absence, Herb Jones capped off his first game back from a shoulder injury by blocking Devin Booker’s last-second shot, and the New Orleans Pelicans snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 126-124 victory over the Phoenix Suns. CJ McCollum scored 25 points, Trey Murphy scored 19 points and Dejounte Murray scored 17 for the Pelicans. Jones finished with 12 points and four steals and Pelicans rookie center Yves Missi grabbed 12 rebounds. devin Booker scored 28 points for the Suns, who played without injured star forward Kevin Durant and center Jusuf Nurkic. Bradley Beal scored 24 points and Royce O’Neale 19 for Phoenix.

Nikola Vucevic had a season-high 39 points, Ayo Dosunmu had 27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls beat the San Antonio Spurs 139-124 with Victor Wembanyama sidelined with a back injury. Dosunmu had season highs in points, assists and rebounds in collecting the first triple-double of his four-year career. Keldon Johnson had a season-high 28 points and Devin Vassell added 17 points for San Antonio, which lost for the third time in its last four games. Wembanyama is day-to-day with a sore lower back he suffered in Tuesday’s loss to Phoenix.

Marcus Smart scored 18 points — the last two on clinching free throws with 2.9 seconds left — and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Sacramento Kings 115-110 on Thursday night. Desmond Bane also had 18 points along with seven assists. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Santi Aldama scored 15 points each, with Aldama grabbing 10 rebounds as Memphis won its seventh straight at home. DeMar DeRozan led the Kings with 26 points. Malik Monk had 23 points, De’Aaron Fox added 18 and Domantas Sabonis had 17 points and 13 rebounds. They have lost seven of nine.

Jonathan Kuminga scored a career-high 33 points and made two crucial layups over the final 1:04, and the Golden State Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Houston Rockets 99-93. Andrew Wiggins added 23 points and Brandin Podziemski grabbed 12 rebounds for the Warriors in the opening game of a home back-to-back. Golden State was missing starters Stephen Curry and Draymond Green because of injuries. Alperen Sengun had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Houston. Dillon Brooks finished with 15 points.

The NBA is returning to China next season. The league has struck a deal to play preseason games there more than five years after the league was effectively banned for Commissioner Adam Silver not punishing Daryl Morey for tweeting support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. A person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity says an agreement will be announced on Friday. The person requested anonymity because neither the NBA nor Chinese officials have spoken publicly on the matter. Brooklyn and Phoenix will play games in China’s gambling hub of Macao on Oct. 10, 2025, and again two days later.

NHL

Adam Lowry scored 3:59 into overtime to end the Winnipeg Jets’ four-game losing streak in a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres. Gabriel Vilardi and Kyle Connor also scored for Winnipeg, and Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves. Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens scored for the Sabres, who are winless in their past five games (0-3-2). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves.

Vince Dunn had a goal and two assists, Joey Daccord stopped 27 shots, and the Seattle Kraken beat the New York Islanders 5-2. Tye Kartye, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Shane Wright and Jaden Schwartz also scored for the Kraken, who have won two straight. Noah Dobson and Maxim Tysplakov scored in the third period for New York. Ilya Sorokin made nine saves on 13 shots through two periods as the Islanders lost for the eighth time in 10 games (2-5-3). Marcus Hogberg made his season debut when he replaced Sorokin to begin the third period and made 10 saves in relief.

Sam Reinhart scored the go-ahead power-play goal with 1:59 left in the game to help the Florida Panthers overcome a blown three-goal lead and beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7-5. Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-netter in the final seconds to seal the win. The Flyers got rolling when Owen Tippett scored consecutive goals and Garnet Hathaway pounced on a rebound in the crease to give them a 5-4 lead. Gustav Forsling tied the game at 5 with just over five minutes left after the Panthers wasted 3-0 and 4-2 leads.

Brayden Point had four assists and Brandon Hagel scored twice to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to an 8-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks. Jake Guentzel, Conor Geekie and Cam Atkinson each scored a goal and assist. Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix and Nicholas Paul scored the Lightning’s other goals. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 20 saves. Alex Wennberg scored for San Jose, while Vitek Vanecek took the loss after allowing five goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood to start the second period. Blackwood made 21 saves.

Sam Montembeault stopped 29 shots and Patrik Laine scored his second goal in two games for the Canadiens to lead Montreal past the Nashville Predators 3-0. Jake Evans scored a short-handed goal and Joel Armia added an empty-netter for Montreal. Montembeault earned his third shutout this season one day after being named to Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster. The Predators lost their sixth straight game. Laine returned on Tuesday after missing nearly a year because of injury and mental health concerns.

Martin Necas had a goal and an assist as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 to snap a season-high three-game losing streak. Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and three assists for his first career four-point game, and Eric Robinson, Seth Jarvis and Jack Roslovic also scored for the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov had 17 saves for his first victory since Nov. 20. Valeri Nichushkin had two goals and Artturi Lehkonen also scored for Colorado. Cale Makar had two assists and Scott Wedgewood stopped 29 shots in his first start with the Avalanche.

Josh Norris scored his second goal of the game with 41.6 seconds remaining to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Linus Ullmark stopped 19 shots for the Senators, who had allowed at least three goals in each of their previous nine games. Ottawa controlled play for long stretches but struggled to beat Ville Husso, who made 30 saves for Detroit. The Senators opened the scoring at 12:14 of the first period when Norris, a Michigan native, was able to get his own rebound and put it past a sprawled Husso. Detroit tied it at 6:15 of the third on a 4-on-3 advantage. Alex DeBrincat caught Ullmark moving for his 11th goal of the season.

Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each scored twice and Connor McDavid had four assists as the Edmonton Oilers rolled to a 6-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mattias Ekholm and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Oilers, who have won four of five. Draisaitl moved into a tie for the NHL lead with 19 goals, while McDavid became the third player in Edmonton history with 10 career four-assist games. Jari Kurri also had 10, and Wayne Gretzky had 51. Kevin Lablanc, Damon Severson and Cole Sillinger scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost two straight following a 6-1-1 stretch. Calvin Pickard made 19 saves for the Oilers, while Daniil Tarasov stopped 31 sots for Columbus.

Colton Parayko scored the overtime winner on a rebound and the St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames 4-3. Robert Thomas had a goal and two assists, Zack Bolduc and Pavel Buchnevich scored and Philip Broberg had two assists for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 36 saves in the win. Jakob Pelletier, Matt Coronato and MacKenzie Weegar scored for the Flames, whose six-game win streak at home ended. Dan Vladar stopped 20 of 24 shots.

The Chicago Blackhawks have fired coach Luke Richardson, signaling their frustration with the state of the franchise’s rebuilding project. Chicago has dropped four in a row to fall to an NHL-worst 8-16-2 on the season. It was outscored 41-27 while going 3-9-1 in its last 13 games. Anders Sorensen was elevated to interim coach. Sorensen had been coaching the team’s top minor league affiliate in Rockford.

NFL  

Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes, Jake Bates made a 35-yard field goal as time expired and the Detroit Lions clinched a playoff spot with a 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers. The NFC-best Lions broke a franchise record with their 11th straight win, including two over the Packers. Detroit coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down five times, including with 1 yard to go at the Green Bay 21 with 43 seconds left. David Montgomery ran for 7 yards on that play, ensuring the Lions could kick the go-ahead field goal without giving the Packers the ball again.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Iona 58 Stetson 46

UMass 81 Northeastern 50

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

North Carolina has interviewed former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick for its head coaching position. That’s according to two people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school isn’t commenting publicly on its search. Belichick’s interview was first reported by Inside Carolina. It comes a week after the school fired its winningest all-time coach in 73-year-old Mack Brown. The 72-year-old Belichick completed a 24-season run with the Patriots after last season and has been linked to NFL jobs.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has hired a new football coach. Two weeks after dismissing Don Brown, the university says it hired Rutgers coordinator Joe Harasymiak to lead the Minutemen. A graduate of Springfield College, Harasymiak spent the last three seasons with Rutgers after stints at the University of Minnesota and University of Maine. He was named the National FCS Coach of the Year in 2018 while leading the Maine Black Bears to a 10-4 record, winning the Colonial Athletic Association championship. He’ll lead a struggling UMass Amherst program that posted a 2-10 record this year as it moves to the Mid-American Conference in 2025. The university plans to officially introduce the new coach Friday at 10.

There’s more than just school pride and bragging rights to all that bellyaching over who might be in and who might be out of college football’s first 12-team playoff. Try the more than $115 million that will be spread across the conferences at the end of the season, all depending on who gets in and which teams go the farthest. When it’s all said and done, the teams that make the title game will bring $20 million to their conferences, all of which distribute that money, along with billions in TV revenue and other sources, in different ways.

GOLF

Scottie Scheffler has a new putting grip, and it helped him shoot a 5-under 67 in the first round of the Hero World Challenge. He trails Cameron Young by three shots in the 20-man invitational hosted by Tiger Woods. Young was playing for the first time since the BMW Championship more than three months ago and found great success on and around the greens of Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. He made four birdie putts from 15 feet or longer for his 64. Justin Thomas was two shots back. Thomas and his wife welcomed a daughter a few weeks ago.

BASEBALL

Two people familiar with the negotiations tell The Associated Press that right-hander Luis Severino and the Athletics have agreed to a $67 million, three-year contract. Severino can opt out and become a free agent again after the 2026 season. Severino’s deal is the largest for the low-budget franchise, topping a $66 million contract for third baseman Eric Chavez covering 2005-10. Severino, who turns 31 on Feb. 20, was a free agent for the second straight offseason after going 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA in his only season with the New York Mets.

FORMULA ONE

Mercedes driver George Russell has accused Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen of bullying and threatening behavior as a dispute between the two at last week’s race in Qatar deepened. Russell says that “someone needs to stand up to a bully like this” in comments broadcast by Sky Sports. Verstappen said Sunday he had “lost all respect” for Russell over an incident in qualifying for last week’s Qatar Grand Prix that saw the Red Bull driver dropped behind Russell on the grid.

SOCCER

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will open the Club World Cup against Egyptian club Al Ahly, with Palmeiras and Porto also part of that group for the tournament that will take place in the U.S. next year. The draw was held Thursday in Miami, with the 32 teams finally finding out their first three opponents in the newly expanded event. The tournament will be held in the U.S. from June 15 to July 13, using 12 stadiums in 11 different cities. The final will be at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the same stadium that will play host to the 2026 World Cup final.

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