
AP Sports Summary for December 13th, 2023.
Golden State's Draymond Green ejected again after hitting Jusuf Nurkic in face
PHOENIX (AP) โ Golden State bad boy Draymond Green was ejected once again on Tuesday night after hitting Jusuf Nurkic in the face while the two were battling for position in the third quarter during a game against the Phoenix Suns. It's been less than a month since Green was suspended five games by the NBA for putting Minnesota's Rudy Gobert into a headlock during an altercation in November. This fracas wasn't quite as involved, but it was still another bewildering moment for the four-time All-Star, and could lead to further league discipline, especially considering his history.
Blues fire Craig Berube, cutting ties with the coach who led St. Louis to its 1st Stanley Cup title
ST. LOUIS (AP) โ The St. Louis Blues fired coach Craig Berube on Tuesday night, hours after a 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The loss was the season-worst fourth straight for the Blues, who are off to a 13-14-1 start to the season. The 57-year-old Berube guided the Blues to the Stanley Cup championship in 2019. He replaced Mike Yeo as coach Nov. 20, 2018, as the interim coach and led an amazing turnaround. He led St. Louis to a 38-19-6 record in 2018-19. The Blues named Drew Bannister, coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League, as interim coach.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert will miss rest of season after surgery on his broken index finger
COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) โ Justin Herbert has had surgery to repair the broken index finger on his right hand. He will miss the Los Angeles Chargers' remaining four games. Herbert visited two hand specialists on Monday after he suffered the injury during the second quarter of Los Angeles' 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Herbert is the seventh starting quarterback in the league to be lost for the season because of an injury, provided the Jets' Aaron Rodgers does not return from his torn Achilles tendon. Herbert's backup, Easton Stick, will get his first NFL start on Thursday night at Las Vegas.
Zaidi: Giants made comparable offer to $700M deal Shohei Ohtani received from rival Dodgers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) โ The San Francisco Giants made three offers to Shohei Ohtani, including a final proposal that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi called "very comparable if not identical" to the record $700 million, 10-year contract the Japanese two-way star agreed to with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani spent two hours with the Giants for a ballpark meeting with Zaidi, Greg Johnson, former catcher Buster Posey and new manager Bob Melvin on Dec. 2. Zaidi said San Francisco increased its offers to meet Ohtani's requests.
Deflecting questions about long-term deal, Juan Soto looks forward to playing with Yankees in 2024
NEW YORK (AP) โ In his first public comments since the Yankees acquired him from San Diego, three-time All-Star Juan Soto deflected questions about a possible long-term deal with the Yankees. The 25-year-old outfielder said the team could deal with his agent, Scott Boras. Soto spoke six days after he was acquired by the Yankees from San Diego along with Gold Glove center fielder Trent Grisham for right-handed pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vรกsquez and Drew Thorpe plus catcher Kyle Higashioka. Soto hit .275 with 35 homers, 109 RBIs and a .930 OPS in his only full season with the Padres.
LeBron James says "moment was everything" seeing son Bronny's debut for Southern Cal
DALLAS (AP) โ LeBron James says the "moment was everything" to see oldest son Bronny James make his collegiate debut for Southern California. The elder James took a detour back to California from Las Vegas after the Lakers beat Indiana to win the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament. LA returned to the regular season with a 127-125 loss at the Dallas Mavericks. James didn't miss a beat as he finished with 33 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Bronny's debut came nearly five months after he went into cardiac arrest during a workout at USC's Galen Center.
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic ejected in second quarter against Bulls
CHICAGO (AP) โ Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was ejected in the second quarter of Denver's 114-106 victory at Chicago for the language he directed toward an official after he felt he was fouled on a layup attempt. Jokic finished with four points, nine rebounds and six assists in Denver's only scheduled visit to the United Center this season. After the 7-foot center was thrown out, the crowd of 20,775 seemed to register its displeasure with the decision by the officials. Jokic says he "crossed the line, but sometimes that word doesn't cross the line."
Doncic, Hardaway led Mavs over Lakers 127-125 in LA's first game since winning NBA Cup
DALLAS (AP) โ Luka Doncic had 33 points and 17 assists, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a season-high 32 and the Dallas Mavericks beat Los Angeles 127-125. It was the Lakers' first game since winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament. Anthony Davis finished with 37 points and 11 rebounds and LeBron James had 33 points, nine assists and eight boards as LA's season-best four-game winning streak ended. The Lakers erased a 15-point deficit early in the third quarter to set up an entertaining finish.
Bedard scores early but McDavid gets 2 assists to lead Oilers past Blackhawks 4-1 for 8th straight
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) โ Connor McDavid had two assists and the streaking Edmonton Oilers overcame an early goal by rookie Connor Bedard to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 in the first NHL matchup between the young stars. McDavid was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2015, and Bedard was selected first this past summer. Sam Gagner had a goal and an assist in the highly anticipated Clash of the Connors, helping the Oilers win their eighth game in a row. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman also scored for Edmonton, and defenseman Evan Bouchard added a pair of assists. Bedard gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal 3:21 into the first period, but Chicago lost its seventh consecutive road game.
No. 7 LSU sets school records for points, margin of victory in 133-44 win over McNeese State
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) โ Aalyah Del Rosario has 27 points and 10 rebounds and Angel Reese added 21 points and 10 boards as No. 7 LSU set school records for points in a game and margin of victory in a 133-44 rout of McNeese State on Tuesday night. LSU easily surpassed its previous point total of 125, set in a win over Bellarmine (125-41) in November 2022. The Tigers' 89-point margin of victory eclipsed their 76-point win over Prairie View (104-28) in 1995.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
___
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Boston 120 Cleveland 113
Final Dallas 127 L.A. Lakers 125
Final Denver 114 Chicago 106
Final Phoenix 119 Golden State 116
Final L.A. Clippers 119 Sacramento 99
___
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Carolina 4 Ottawa 1
Final Toronto 7 N-Y Rangers 3
Final Pittsburgh 4 Arizona 2
Final Detroit 6 St. Louis 4
Final OT Nashville 3 Philadelphia 2
Final Vancouver 4 Tampa Bay 1
Final Seattle 4 Florida 0
Final OT Vegas 5 Calgary 4
Final Edmonton 4 Chicago 1
Final San Jose 2 Winnipeg 1
___
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (12)Tennessee 74 Georgia Southern 56
Final (21)Duke 89 Hofstra 68
___
TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
___
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
New Orleans at Washington 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Detroit 7 p.m.
Atlanta at Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Charlotte at Miami 7:30 p.m.
Indiana at Milwaukee 8 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at San Antonio 8 p.m.
Memphis at Houston 8 p.m.
Brooklyn at Phoenix 9 p.m.
New York at Utah 9 p.m.
___
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Boston at New Jersey 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Montreal 7 p.m.
Anaheim at N-Y Islanders 7:30 p.m.
Buffalo at Colorado 9:30 p.m.
Winnipeg at Los Angeles 10:30 p.m.
___
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
(8)Creighton at UNLV 9 p.m.
FIU at (15)FAU 7 p.m.
Denver at (18)BYU 9 p.m.
Chicago St. at (25)Northwestern 8 p.m.
___