Sports

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Pro Football Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings faced plenty of questions about their legitimacy as a contender in the NFC. They were the rare 13-win team with a negative point differential during the regular season. The source of the doubt could be clearly traced back to a defense that

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Blake Wheeler’s goal in the second period proved to be the winner as the Winnipeg Jets beat Arizona 2-1 and dealt the Coyotes their ninth straight loss. Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for the Jets, who have won three straight and improved to 8-1-0 in their last nine. Connor Hellebuyck made 20

By DENIS P. GORMAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Simmons missed the Brooklyn Nets’ 112-102 loss the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night due to back soreness. The Nets announced on Twitter shortly before tipoff that Simmons was out. About 50 minutes before the start of the game, the team initially said Simmons

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty are finalizing a trade for 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones as part of a three-team deal with the Connecticut Sun and Dallas Wings according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday night on

By BOB SUTTON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Elias Pettersson scored on the final attempt in the shootout as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 and avoided a winless five-game trip. Ethan Bear, J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser scored in regulation for the Canucks, who went 1-4-0 in the five road games.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres have signed 16-year-old catcher Ethan Salas of Caracas, Venezuela, to a $5.6 million bonus on the first day of the international signing period. Salas is the consensus top overall prospect in this year’s class. The left-handed hitter is the younger brother of Jose Salas, one of the

By DENIS P. GORMAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey each scored 28 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 112-102 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Lu Dort added 22 points for the Thunder, who earned a three straight win to wrap up a road trip to the

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer HONOLULU (AP) — Si Woo Kim delivered another come-from-behind win in Hawaii on the PGA Tour. This wasn’t nearly as stunning as last week on Kapalua when Jon Rahm overcame a six-shot deficit to beat Collin Morikawa. Kim was three behind and shot 64 to beat Hayden Buckley by

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Jessica Pegula began her bid for a first Grand Slam singles title by overwhelming Jaqueline Cristian 6-0, 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open. The third-seeded Pegula was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne in each of the past two years. She needed just 59 minutes to beat the 161st-ranked Romanian

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Pro Football Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — First-year head coach Brian Daboll had his upstart team fully prepared. Daniel Jones played at a level well beyond his experience. The New York Giants came confidently into Minnesota’s raucous stadium and beat the tight-finish masters at their own game. Jones passed for 301 yards

By JONAH BRONSTEIN Associated Press ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel’s team showed resilience after his injury-depleted group fell short in a 34-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills in a wild-card playoff. The AFC’s seventh-seeded Dolphins leaned on their defense to offset an offense missing numerous starters, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Miami’s

DOUG PADILLA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Destiny Littleton scored 18 points with six assists as Southern California pulled off a program-defining victory Sunday with a 55-46 upset victory over No. 2 Stanford. Okako Adika scored 11 points with 11 rebounds, while Taylor Bigby and Kayla Williams added nine points each as the Trojans

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been charged with capital murder after a fatal shooting near campus. Tuscaloosa Police Capt. Jack Kennedy said that the shooting occurred early Sunday morning in the Strip off University Blvd. near campus. He said Jamea Harris, 23, of the Birmingham area was

ATLANTA (AP) — Celeste Taylor scored 13 points, Elizabeth Balogun added 12 and No. 16 Duke overcome a halftime deficit to defeat Georgia Tech 65-47. Kayla Blackshear scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in the first half to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 28-27 halftime lead. The Blue Devils responded by making 10

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Terance Mann scored a career-high 31 points, Kawhi Leonard added 30, and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated Houston 121-100. The loss extended the Rockets’ season-worst skid to 10 straight games. Both teams were shorthanded. Houston starters Jalen Green and Jae’Sean Tate served one-game suspensions. The

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer PARIS (AP) — Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé couldn’t stop Paris Saint-Germain losing 1-0 at Rennes for a second straight away defeat in the French league as its lead over second-place Lens dropped to three points. PSG started with Messi and Neymar in attack before bringing on Mbappé

By MARK GONZALES Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Nikola Vucevic matched a career high with 43 points and the Chicago Bulls snapped an 11-game losing streak against Golden State, beating the Warriors 132-118. The Warriors last lost to the Bulls on March 2, 2017. The Bulls won without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, who missed his

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Kennedy Todd-Williams scored eight of her 15 points in the fourth quarter, Destiny Adams scored all of her eight points in the final four minutes and the North Carolina women beat 11th-ranked N.C. State 56-47. Alyssa Ustby added nine points, a career-high 18 rebounds, four assists and two steals for