Yahoo Sports
Fantasy ramifications of Rockets sending James Harden to Brooklyn
Yahoo Sports' Dalton Del Don explains the advantages and disadvantages of James Harden heading to the Nets.
Yahoo Sports' Dalton Del Don explains the advantages and disadvantages of James Harden heading to the Nets.
"The ultimate goal was to get somewhere where I could compete, and here I am in Brooklyn."
Patrik Laine might want to be elsewhere, but it's not going to affect his performance.
In a season unlike any other, it's important to be proactive and get aggressive on the waiver wire.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit Karl-Anthony Towns and his family extremely hard.
The Titans' offense was in the top 4 in scoring, yards per game and rushing yards per game.
We're tracking every notable free agent signing in the 2020-21 MLB offseason and giving you the details on the deal. Plus: What it means for your fantasy team.
Now a free agent and facing an indefinite suspension, Josh Gordon's future in the league is in question.
The Wizards won't host the Cavs on Sunday and Monday amid their COVID-19 outbreak.
The Toronto Raptors haven't got off to the start they wanted and the time is looming for the front office to make a decision. Do they try to improve the roster or roll with what they have?
The settlement still needs final approval. McNair died in June of 2018 after suffering heat stroke during a workout.
A police department outside of Denver confirmed the investigation, but declined details.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse explains the adjustments Aron Baynes needs to make on both ends of the floor, and argues that not being a great jumper didn't stop Marc Gasol from being an elite defender.
It's a classic in the making as Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers' offense face off against Jalen Ramsey and the Los Angeles Rams' defense.
CLEVELAND — Andre Drummond tied his career high with 33 points and grabbed 23 rebounds, and Cedi Osman scored 25 points in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 106-103 win over the New York Knicks on Friday night. Drummond posted the Cavaliers’ first 30-20 game since Carlos Boozer had 32 points and 20 rebounds against Seattle on Jan. 20, 2004. He also had three assists, two blocks and two steals as Cleveland snapped a three-game losing streak. Julius Randle had 28 points and six assists, rookie Immanuel Quigley scored a season-high 23 points and R.J. Barrett had 20 points for New York, which lost its fifth straight. The Knicks used a 16-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to go in front 84-80. Osman and Drummond each made steals in the final 31 seconds, preventing New York from getting closer than three points at 102-99. Rookie Isaac Okoro sealed the win with two free throws, making it 105-101 with 7.3 seconds remaining. Cleveland centre Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince — acquired from Brooklyn — were inactive because all players in the three-team deal involving James Harden on Thursday have not taken their physicals. The Cavaliers remain without three starters in five-time All-Star forward Kevin Love (right calf strain) and guards Collin Sexton (left ankle sprain) and Darius Garland (right shoulder sprain). Cleveland took its largest lead at 80-68 with 3:15 left in the third on a basket by Larry Nance Jr. New York immediately answered with 16 straight points, capped by back-to-back buckets by Randle to go up four. Drummond posted 20 points and 14 rebounds in the first half for the initial time in his nine-year career, helping Cleveland take a 57-55 lead into the break. Knicks forward Reggie Bullock returned after missing two games with a sore right hip, scoring four points. LONG LAYOFF The Cavaliers’ next two games were postponed by the NBA because the Wizards do not have the minimum eight available players. Cleveland was slated to play in Washington on Sunday and Monday, which was already problematic because of heightened security in the nation’s capital. “The city of D.C. logistically would have been a nightmare,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “When you add in the COVID factor, it’s definitely the right move not to play those games.” TIP-INS Knicks: G Frank Ntilikina (right knee sprain) missed his ninth straight game and will be “out a while longer,” according to coach Tom Thibodeau. Ntilikina was injured Dec. 29 in Cleveland. ... G Alec Burks (left ankle sprain), who last played Dec. 27 against Milwaukee, has been upgraded to day to day. Thibodeau said Burks has advanced to conditioning and is getting close to returning. Cavaliers: F Kevin Porter Jr. (personal reasons) joined his teammates on the bench for the first time this season. The second-year pro remains in limbo after an off-season arrest in Eastern Ohio. ... Bickerstaff is excited to have Allen on his roster. “What excites me the most is Jarrett’s ability to impact the game at both ends of the floor without the ball in his hands,” the coach said. UP NEXT Knicks: Visit Boston on Sunday. New York has lost five straight to the Celtics, including a 104-102 defeat at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 1. Cavaliers: Host Brooklyn on Wednesday. The Nets will play back-to-back games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Jan. 20 and 22. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Brian Dulik, The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Travis Konecny had a hat trick and the Philadelphia Flyers survived losing team MVP Sean Couturier to an injury in a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. Ivan Provorov and Oskar Lindblom also scored to help the Flyers sweep the season-opening series. Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh 6-3 on Wednesday night. Couturier became the first Flyers player in 33 years to win the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward. He was plowed into the boards and may have hurt his left shoulder. He left after just two shifts and 45 seconds. He scored 22 goals last season and was voted team MVP. Sidney Crosby and Brandon Tanev scored for Pittsburgh. LIGHTNING 5, BLACKHAWKS 2 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat had a goal and an assist each and defending champion Tampa Bay completed a two-game sweep of Chicago. Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman also each had a goal and an assist, Alex Killorn also scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots for Tampa Bay. The Lightning won the opener 5-1 on Wednesday night and are 16-1-2 against the Blackhawks since the 2010-11 season. Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane scored for Chicago. CAPITALS 2, SABRES 1 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Vitek Vanecek made 30 saves in his NHL debut, Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist and Washington beat Buffalo to sweep the season-opening series. Jakub Vrana scored his second goal of the season for the Capitals, 6-4 winners over the Sabres on Thursday night. Rasmus Ristolainen scored for Buffalo, and Linus Ullmark stopped 19 shots. Wilson gave Washington the lead for good midway through the third period. Nicklas Backstrom dropped the puck off in the right circle for Wilson for a wrist shot over Ullmark’s glove. SENATORS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 3 OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Brady Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, Matt Murray made 20 saves in his Ottawa debut and the Senators beat Toronto in their first game in more than 10 months. Thomas Chabot, Austin Watson, Derek Stepan and Chris Tierney also scored for Ottawa. John Tavares had a goal and assist for Toronto, Zach Hyman and Alexander Kerfoot also scored and Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots. The game was the Senators’ first in 310 days after they unknowingly took part in the final contest of the 2019-20 regular season March 11 in Los Angeles against the Kings. The league suspended its schedule the following day because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Vitek Vanecek made 30 saves in his NHL debut, Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist and the Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Friday night to sweep the season-opening series. Jakub Vrana scored his second goal of the season for the Capitals, 6-4 winners over the Sabres on Thursday night. Rasmus Ristolainen scored for Buffalo, and Linus Ullmark stopped 19 shots. Wilson gave Washington the lead for good midway through the third period. Nicklas Backstrom dropped the puck off in the right circle for Wilson, and he flung a wrist shot over Ullmark’s glove. Ristolainen tied it for Buffalo in the opening minute of the third. His snap shot from the blue line wiggled underneath Vanecek’s glove after deflecting off the skate of Wilson, who was defending Buffalo’s Sam Reinhart in front of the net. Washington went ahead early in the second period on Vrana's partial breakaway. He took the puck from Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin in the Capitals zone before setting up Vrana. RETURNING TO THE LINEUP Sabres C Eric Staal was back on the ice after leaving in the third period Thursday following a hit to the head from Capitals C Nick Dowd. Staal was listed as a game-time decision. Taylor Hall and Reinhart both went to the dressing room before returning to the Buffalo bench. Reinhart tripped and slid into the end boards during the second period, and Hall took an errant puck to the face in the third. Hall, Buffalo’s marquee off-season acquisition, assisted on Ristolainen’s goal. SCHEDULE SHUFFLE Both teams had games rescheduled after the postponement of Friday’s matchup between the Dallas Stars and the Nashville Predators due to positive COVID-19 tests. Buffalo will now play March 26 at Pittsburgh on March 26 and at home against Pittsburgh on April 19. Washington will play April 10 at Boston. All three games were originally scheduled for the following date. WHAT’S NEXT: Capitals: At Pittsburgh on Sunday. Sabres: At Philadelphia on Monday and Tuesday nights. ___ https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Jonah Bronstein, The Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels avoided arbitration with right-hander Dylan Bundy and four other players Friday. The Angels agreed to 2021 contracts with Bundy ($8,325,000), left-hander Andrew Heaney ($6.75 million), right-hander Mike Mayers ($1.2 million), right-hander Felix Peña ($1.1 million) and catcher Max Stassi ($1.6 million). Two-way standout Shohei Ohtani is the team's last remaining player still eligible for arbitration. The Angels also announced a one-year, $1.5 million agreement with catcher Kurt Suzuki, who played for Washington last season. Ohtani asked for $3.3 million and the team offered $2.5 million. Ohtani had a rough year, batting .190 with seven homers and 24 RBIs in 175 plate appearances. He also performed poorly in his first two mound starts since 2018 before being shut down as a pitcher. Ohtani earned $259,259 in the prorated portion of his $700,000 contract in 2020. Bundy had a standout debut season with the Angels after they acquired him from Baltimore, going 6-3 with a 3.29 ERA, a career-best 1.036 WHIP and 72 strikeouts against just 17 walks. He earned a prorated $1,851,852 portion of his $5 million salary. He gets a solid raise in his final year before free agency. Heaney went 4-3 with a 4.46 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 12 mostly solid appearances while receiving a prorated $1,592,593 portion of his $4.3 million salary. Mayers was outstanding in his first season with the Angels after they claimed him off waivers from St. Louis in November 2019. He went 2-0 with a 2.10 ERA in a team-leading 29 appearances while earning the prorated $212,222 portion of his $573,000 salary. New general manager Perry Minasian got rid of most of last season’s underachieving bullpen, but Mayers remains a key piece in Anaheim. Peña, a veteran reliever and occasional starter, went 3-0 with a 4.05 ERA and 29 strikeouts over 26 2/3 innings. He made the prorated $217,593 portion of his $587,500 contract. Stassi broke through as the Angels’ starting catcher in his first full season in Orange County, batting .278 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in just 31 games while making the prorated $296,296 portion of his $800,000 contract. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Travis Konecny had a hat trick and the Philadelphia Flyers survived losing team MVP Sean Couturier to an injury in a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. Ivan Provorov scored and Oskar Lindblom added an empty-netter for the Flyers. The Flyers swept their rival in the two-game home set, but can only hope they won’t lose Couturier for extended time. Couturier became the first Flyers player in 33 years to win the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward. Couturier was plowed into the boards and may have hurt his left shoulder. He left after just two shifts and 45 seconds. He scored 22 goals last season and was voted team MVP. The Flyers, who won 6-3 on Wednesday, appeared to have an easy time, even with Couturier out. Konecny scored a power-play goal 7:27 into the game and added a second two minutes later when he crashed the net and pounded in a rebound. Provorov made it 3-0 on a slap shot from the circle, and that was enough to chase goalie Tristan Jarry. Jarry allowed three goals on only six shots and was benched in favour of Casey DeSmith. DeSmith held the Flyers in check while the Penguins rallied against Carter Hart. Sidney Crosby and Brandon Tanev, who scored in the opener, had goals in the first, cutting it to 3-2. Crosby scored his 45th goal against the Flyers, his most against any team. Mario Lemieux (51) and Jaromir Jagr (47) are the only Penguins to score more goals against the Flyers. The Flyers took only four shots in the second period and played sloppy and out of sync following the fast first 10 minutes. “We can’t be giving up a 3-0 lead that easy,” Konency said. The 23-year-old Konecny needed those goals as a confidence boost in the wake of a dreadful post-season in which he failed to score in 16 games. He led the Flyers with 24 goals in the regular season and was stumped when his scoring dried up in two post-season rounds. He found the touch against Pittsburgh and scored his first career hat trick -- with no fans in the arena, Gritty tossed an oversized hat on the ice -- with 7:07 left in the game. “Yessir!!! Hat trick! TK 11," Phillies star outfielder Bryce Harper posted on Instagram. COVID-19 ABSENCES Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere and Penguins F Kasperi Kapanen sat out for COVID-related reasons. Kapanen could rejoin the Penguins on Sunday. “We’re certainly excited and encouraged that we’re going to get him with the team here fairly shortly,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’re going to try to assimilate him into the group as quickly and as effectively as we can.” TROTMAN OUT Penguins defenceman Zach Trotman underwent surgery on his right knee Thursday to repair a torn meniscus and is expected to miss four to six weeks. WHAT’S NEXT Penguins: Head home for a two-game set against Washington. Home opener Sunday and the second game on Tuesday. Flyers: Host Buffalo on Monday and Tuesday. “It looks almost like a semi-playoff series,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said Friday. ___ More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
BOSTON — Jaylen Brown had 21 points and eight assists, Semi Ojeleye added 18 points and the Boston Celtics rolled to an 124-97 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night in their return to action following an virus-related week-long hiatus. Jeff Teague finished with 17 points and rookie Payton Pritchard had 16 points to help Boston post its fifth straight victory. Boston returned to action after having three games postponed due to some players testing positive for the coronavirus and others being ruled out because contact tracing showed that they could have been exposed to it. But the Celtics didn’t seem to be affected by the layoff, sharing the ball and turning stops into opportunities to run the floor against an Orlando team that struggled to find a rhythm at both ends of the floor. Aaron Gordon had 17 points to lead the Magic, who have lost four straight. Nik Vucevic, Dwayne Bacon and Cole Anthony added 15 points apiece. The Celtics took an 88-72 advantage into the fourth quarter and opened the period with a 13-0 run to effectively put the game away. Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams remained in the NBA’s health and safety protocols Friday along with reserve guard Carsen Edwards. But the Celtics had 12 players available thanks to Brown, Tristan Thompson, Javonte Green, Daniel Theis and Semi Ojeleye all being cleared to return. Magic centre Mo Bamba didn’t travel with the team as a precaution while he goes through contact tracing, the latest roster hit to a team that has battled injuries all season. Celtics coach Brad Stevens went deep into his bench to spread out minutes following the layoff. For the game, Boston held a 66-33 edge in bench scoring. TIP-INS Magic: Were 3 for 12 from 3-point range in first half and finished 7 for 28 for the game. … Finished with 16 turnovers. Celtics: Went 17 of 42 from 3-point distance. … Led by as many as 14 in the first half and took a 60-48 lead into halftime. … Had no turnovers in the first quarter. NEW PROTOCOLS The NBA’s tightened safety protocols were on display Friday with players being handed a mask along with the customary water and towel whenever they were subbed out. UP NEXT Magic: Continue five-game road trip with visit to Brooklyn on Saturday. Celtics: Host the Knicks on Sunday. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Kyle Hightower, The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals and ace Jack Flaherty have not agreed to terms on a 2021 contract and they swapped figures for salary arbitration Friday. The 25-year-old Flaherty asked for $3.9 million and the team offered $3 million. The sides can come to an agreement until an arbitrator hears their case and makes a decision next month. If left to the arbitrator, the ruling will go entirely to one side or the other — no settling in the middle. After finishing fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2019, Flaherty went 4-3 with a 4.91 ERA over nine starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He made one post-season start, pitching one-run ball over six innings in a 4-0 loss to San Diego in the deciding Game 3 of their first-round series. Flaherty was set to make $604,000 last year and ended up with $223,889 in prorated pay. This is Flaherty's first season eligible for arbitration, and he's not eligible for free agency until after the 2023 season. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports The Associated Press