Nets Pound Bulls on The Road; Hornets Snap Long Skid Against Sixers
  | The Brooklyn Nets gave the basketball world a sign of what they could be with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving on the floor together, making a statement with a 138-112 blowout of the Chicago Bulls. Durant led the way with 27 points, while Harden had 25 points and a season-high 16 assists. The road team used a dominant third quarter to pull away for good, thanks to Durant posting 17 points during those 12 minutes. Irving played in his third game since returning as a part time player, scoring nine points, but he will not be eligible to play in their home game Thursday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Patty Mills chipped in 21 points and shot 6-of-8 from three-point range, helping the Nets avoid a three-game sweep against the Bulls. Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hornets snapped their long losing streak against the Philadelphia 76ers, getting a 109-98 road win in the Wells Fargo Center. The win snaps their 16-game losing streak against the Sixers, which was the longest active streak against one team in the league. Gordon Hayward was red hot on this night, making his first nine shots from the field and finishing with 30 points, He had 20 points in the first half alone, helping the road team hold a 14-point lead by the break, and becoming the fourth Hornets player with a 20-point half since the 1996-1997 season. Terry Rozier added 22 points, while Miles Bridges had 21, all to help them overcome Joel Embiid's fifth straight 31-point effort and snap the Sixers' winning streak at seven consecutive games. Other key scores saw Lamar Stevens post a career-high 23 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers blew out the shorthanded Utah Jazz, 111-91. R.J. Barrett's 32 points helped the New York Knicks snap the Dallas Mavericks' win streak at six straight games with a 108-85 home rout. Tyler Herro's 21 points powered the Miami Heat to a 115-91 blowout of the Atlanta Hawks. And LeBron James' 34 points was not enough as the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Sacramento Kings, 125-116. |
Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard to Undergo Surgery
 | The Portland Trail Blazers' first season with Chauncey Billups as head coach is not going as planned, and Wednesday did not make it any better, as star Damian Lillard confirmed that he will undergo surgery to help his abdominal injury. This procedure will keep him out for another six to eight weeks, but his overall recovery timeline will depend on how his body responds to the surgery. Lillard has not played since December 31st, and his team surely is missing him, sitting in 10th place in the Western Conference, which is still good to get in to the Play-In Tournament. The Blazers are 4-7 without him, and they are already playing without C.J. McCollum due to a collapsed lung. This is an injury for Lillard that he aggravated while playing for Team USA last summer in the Tokyo Olympics, but the six-time All-Star is still averaging 24 points and 7.3 assists over 29 games this season. |
Nova Top Xavier in Big East Play; Duke Wins Without Coach K
  | The 14th-ranked Villanova Wildcats earned a nice Big East victory on Wednesday night, holding off the 17th-ranked Xavier Musketeers, 64-60, on the road. Collin Gillespie had 21 points, while Justin Moore added 16 points to rally off his Big East Player of The Week honors. Moore got hot in the second half, scoring 10 points in the final 20 minutes, and added nine rebounds in the Wildcats fifth straight victory and 12th win of the season. They have now won five of six in conference play, thanks in part to a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds from Eric Dixon. Gillespie stayed hot for the road team as well, coming off a 28-point effort against DePaul last Saturday, and the Wildcats led by as many as 12 points on Wednesday before holding off the home team, who dropped to 12-3 on the year. Meanwhile, the eighth-ranked Duke Blue Devils did not let being without Coach K affect them and they earned a 76-64 road win over Wake Forest. The head coach was not present due to a non-COVID--19 related illness, but Paolo Banchero still took over with 24 points to lead the way. The Blue Devils pulled away heading in to halftime by hitting 13 straight shots, as freshman A.J. Griffin had a breakout game with a season-high 22 points in his first career start. The win bounces the Blue Devils back from a home loss to the Miami Hurricanes this past weekend, as they have now won three of their first four ACC games. Alondes Williams led the Demon Deacons with 25 points, but they made just 2-of-16 shots from three-point range and committed 15 turnovers to open the door that the Blue Devils stormed through. Two other ranked teams got big wins on Wednesday, including Joey Hauser's basket with 0.1 second left lifting the 10th-ranked Michigan State Spartans over the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 71-69. And Darius Days scored 20 points in the 12th-ranked LSU Tigers' 64-58 win over the Florida Gators. |
Marchand's Hat Trick Powers Bruins; Coyotes Upset Maple Leafs
  | Brad Marchand did big things with a busted nose earlier this week against the Washington Capitals, and he did even bigger things at home Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens. The veteran recorded his fifth-career hat trick over two periods, leading the Bruins to a 5-1 home win over the Canadiens. The hat trick included two goals just 15 second apart in the first period by the veteran, leading the Bruins to their third straight win and their sixth victory in the past seven games. Curtis Lazar also scored for the Bruins, while Urho Vaakanainen added his first-career NHL goal in the win. Linus Ullmark was confidence with Tuukka Rask backing him up, making 24 saves, only allowing a goal to Michael Pezzetta. The Bruins can now look forward to Rask's season debut on Thursday night. And the Toronto Maple Leafs were clearly hung over from their win earlier this week in Las Vegas as they fell in an upset to the Arizona Coyotes, 2-1, on the road. Ryan Dzingel scored twice, while Karel Vejmelka made 45 saves in just the eighth win of the year for the home team. Dzingel was playing in his first game since December 10th and doubled his season goal total in one night. Auston Matthews' 24th goal of the season was the lone tally for the Leafs, who had 35 shots in the first two periods, while Petr Mrazek made 16 saves in just his second game since November and fourth of the season due to a groin injury. The only other game on the NHL schedule on Wednesday saw Joe Pavelski total five points in the Dallas Stars' 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken. |
Sabres Agree to Sign Michael Houser
 | The Buffalo Sabres are hurting bad at the goalie position, which led to them signing Michael Houser to a one-year contract on Wednesday, and that will pay him $750,000. The team also called up Aaron Dell from the minors to help on the position thanks to injuries to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Malcolm Subban. Luukkonen is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and Subban has been ruled out for at least a month with an upper-body injury. That adds on to Craig Anderson's upper-body injury and Dustin Tokarski dealing with COVID-19. Houser most recently spent last season with the Sabres' minor league affiliates, and did make his NHL debut last year, going 2-2 over four games. The Sabres are 0-4-2 over their past six games, knocking them down to 3-13-4 over their past 20 after a surprisingly quick start to the year. |
Eric Weddle Unretires, Rejoins Rams For Playoffs
 | The Los Angeles Rams are getting an unexpected assist come the playoffs starting this weekend as safety Eric Weddle has unretired and will rejoin the team for the postseason. This news come after Jordan Fuller suffered a season-ending injury, which led to Weddle's agent David Canter announcing the news, and the team confirmed it by adding him to the practice squad. Fuller's injury was to his ankle and took place during last Sunday's overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and the team placed him on injured reserve on Wednesday. The 37-year-old Weddle retired after the 2019 season after starting all 16 games for the team that year. He was the captain and the defensive signal caller at the time of this move. Over 13 NFL seasons, he was a six-time Pro Bowler, a two-time All-Pro, and recorded 29 interceptions, returning four for a touchdown, along with eight forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, 9.5 sacks, and 98 pass deflections. Weddle played just one season for the Rams, this after spending his first nine seasons with the Chargers, who selected him in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He also spent three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, and now has at least one more game left in him come this weekend. |
Jon Lester Announces Retirement From Baseball
 | Veteran pitcher Jon Lester announced on Wednesday morning that he is retiring from the game of baseball, this after 16 major league seasons. The 38-year-old reported this to ESPN, claiming that his body just isn't up for a major league season anymore. The left-hander won three World Series, most famously with the Boston Red Sox, and was one of the more reliable options in the big leagues. He made 30 or more starts 12 times during his career, and was on the mound to start the game 28 times in his final season with both the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals. The five-time All-Star was also solid come October baseball, posting a 2.51 Postseason ERA, which led to him winning a World Series in 2007 and 2013 with the Boston Red Sox, and then another with the Chicago Cubs in 2016. He found himself in the Postseason six other times during his run and painted himself up to be one of the most successful left-handers. He is one of just nine lefties with 200 wins, a .600 winning percentage, and a career ERA under 4.00. |
