Wayne Byers Show – Morning – Dec. 29

NBA

— Mitchell Robinson had 14 points and a season-high 18 rebounds, Julius Randle added 13 points and 15 boards, and the New York Knicks topped the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves 96-88. Evan Fournier scored 13, while Quentin Grimes added 11 off the bench for the Knicks in their second straight win. Malik Beasley had 20 points and Jaden McDaniels added 18 for Minnesota, which has lost three of four. Minnesota shot just 40% from the floor and a season-low 18.4% from 3-point range. New York shot 41.1% in the win but did connect on 16 of 40 from deep.

UNDATED (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points, Bobby Portis scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Orlando Magic 127-110 on Tuesday night. Milwaukee has won four in a row and five of its last seven.

Khris Middleton scored 21 points for the Bucks, while Jrue Holiday chipped in 18 points and 10 assists. Orlando rookie forward Franz Wagner scored 27 of his career-best 38 points in the second half. He made 12 of 20 shots and 4 of 8 3s.

Elsewhere in the NBA:

— Tyrese Haliburton had 24 points and 10 assists, and the Sacramento Kings held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 117-111. Buddy Hield added 21 points off the bench for the Kings. Harrison Barnes scored 17 and De’Aaron Fox had 12 points and eight assists. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points for the Thunder. Earlier in the day, Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault, rookie Josh Giddey and forward Derrick Favors entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Assistant coach Mike Wilks ran the team in Daigneault’s absence.

— Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to make 3,000 career 3-pointers Tuesday night in a game where the Denver Nuggets barely held off the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors 89-86. Denver’s Nikola Jokic blocked a potential game-tying shot by Jonathan Kuminga in the final seconds after his team nearly blew a 24-point halftime lead. Jokic had 22 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Andrew Wiggins had 21 points and eight rebounds for Golden State in his first game back from the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Curry scored 23.

— LeBron James and Russell Westbrook both had triple-doubles as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a season-high,five-game skid with a 132-123 win over the Houston Rockets. James had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists and Westbrook scored 24 with 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Houston stuck around for most of the night, but James took over late to allow the Lakers to pull away and hand the Rockets their fifth consecutive loss.

— Tobias Harris had 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists for his first career triple-double, Joel Embiid (joh-EHL’ ehm-BEED’) had 36 points and 11 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers hung on late to beat the Toronto Raptors 114-109 Tuesday. Georges Niang scored 19 points, Seth Curry had 12 and Furkan Korkmaz 10 as the 76ers won their second straight. Chris Boucher scored a season-high 28 points and matched his career-high with 19 rebounds, but the depleted Raptors lost their second straight.

— Garrett Temple nailed four 3-pointers in a 3:50 span of the fourth quarter and rookie Herb Jones scored a career-high 26 points to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 108-104 comeback victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers led by as many as 23 points in the first quarter but could not ward off a strong three quarters by the Pelicans. Ricky Rubio had 27 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for Cleveland before injuring his left knee on a non-contact stop in the lane with 2:20 left. Rubio had to be carried off the court by teammates.

— Tyler Herro scored 32 points off the Miami bench, Jimmy Butler finished with 25 points and a career-best 15 assists, and the depleted Heat held off the depleted Washington Wizards 119-112. Duncan Robinson scored 26 for Miami, making eight 3-pointers on a night where the Heat got by with an eight-man rotation that might be facing a new challenge after Butler twisted his right ankle with 1:03 remaining.

NBA-NEWS

Nets’ Irving clears NBA protocols, Hawks add to COVID list

UNDATED (AP) — Kyrie Irving is a step closer to making his season debut. The Eastern Conference-leading Brooklyn Nets announced today that Irving, along with Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge, have cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols — a major step toward getting them back on the court.

But the Atlanta Hawks added three more players to their list, and Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault (DAN’-yoh) is now sidelined as well.

The league began Tuesday with about 120 players in the protocols. Numbers tend to change frequently as players test in and out over the course of each day.

T25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE

No. 1 Baylor wins 18th in row 104-68 over Northwestern State

UNDATED (AP) — James Akinjo scored a career-high 27 points and top-ranked Baylor extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 18 in a row by beating Northwestern State 104-68 on Tuesday night.

Baylor scored the game’s first 13 points. Later in the first half, Akinjo started another 13-0 run with three consecutive 3-pointers in a span of 64 seconds. The Bears are 12-0.

Adam Flagler added 21 points with five 3s and also had 11 assists, while. Jeremy Sochan scored 16 points and 11 rebounds in his first career start. Carvell Teasett scored a career-high 18 points on six 3s for 3-11 Northwestern State.

Elsewhere in college basketball action:

— Julian Strawther scored 15 points, Rasir Bolton added 14 points, and No. 4 Gonzaga beat North Alabama 93-63 on Tuesday, extending the nation’s longest home winning streak to 59 games. Nolan Hickman scored 13 points, Drew Timme had 12, and Anton Watson had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the 11-2 Gonzaga that wrapped up its nonconference schedule. C.J. Brim scored 15 points for North Alabama.

— Davion Warren scored 15 points, and No. 25 Texas Tech rolled to a 75-53 victory over Alabama State in the final Big 12 tune-up for the Red Raiders. Warren put Texas Tech ahead for good on a 3-pointer midway through the first half. The Red Raiders will open Big 12 play Jan. 5 at eighth-ranked Iowa State after the original conference opener against Oklahoma State was postponed because of COVID-19. Gerald Liddell scored 15 points for Alabama State.

— Dylan Disu had 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in his longest appearance of the season for No. 17 Texas, which beat Incarnate Word 78-33 on Tuesday night. Disu played 20 minutes. He had missed the first eight games of the season while recovering from knee surgery that he underwent while at Vanderbilt last season. played 20 minutes. Tre Mitchell contributed 14 points, six rebounds and three steals for Texas, which is 10-2. RJ Glasper led Incarnate Word with 13 points. The 2-11 Cardinals shot 26.5% from the field, the worst by a Texas opponent this season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL-BOWL SCHEDULE

No. 21 Houston edges Auburn 17-13 in Birmingham Bowl

UNDATED (AP) — Jake Herslow caught a 26-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass from Clayton Tune with 3:27 left to help lift No. 21 Houston to a 17-13 victory over Auburn in the Birmingham Bowl.

The Cougars marched 80 yards on eight plays to cap the third season in program history with at least 12 wins. They snapped a four-game bowl losing streak.

The Tigers ended coach Bryan Harsin’s first season with five straight losses for the first time in 71 years. Game MVP Tune completed 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, while also rushing for 43 yards.

In other college bowl action:

— Ky Thomas ran for 144 yards and a touchdown, Mar’Kiese Irving added 129 yards rushing and Minnesota shut down West Virginia to win the Guaranteed Rate Bowl 18-6. Thomas and Irving became the Gophers’ 1-2 punch after Mohamed Ibrahim and Trey Potts sustained season-ending injuries. The two running backs carried most of the load offensively against West Virginia, accounting for 273 of Minnesota’s 358 total yards. The Gophers overwhelmed the Mountaineers defensively, holding them to 206 total yards to win their fifth straight bowl game, third under coach P.J. Fleck.

— Haaziq Daniels passed for two touchdowns and ran for two others as Air Force beat Louisville 31-28 in the First Responder Bowl at SMU’s home field in Dallas. Daniels completed 9 of 10 passes for a season-high 252 yards leading a triple-option offense that came into the game averaging an FBS-best 340.8 rushing yards and the second-fewest passing yards at 82.5 per game.

— Donovan Smith threw for 252 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score, and Texas Tech beat Mississippi State 34-7 in the Liberty Bowl. Tahj Brooks rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown and SaRodorick Thompson ran for 80 yards and a score for the Red Raiders, who finished with a winning record for the first time since 2015. They were appearing in their first bowl game since 2017. Mississippi State fell short in coach Mike Leach’s first game against a former program of his. Leach went 84-43 at Texas Tech from 2000-09.

COLLEGE SPORTS-NEWS

Holiday Bowl scrapped as virus issues hit UCLA before kickoff

UNDATED (AP) — The Holiday Bowl has become the fifth postseason college football game to be canceled. UCLA was forced to pull out just hours before kickoff because of COVID-19 issues with the team. The Bruins were scheduled to face No. 18 North Carolina State at Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres.

The Hawaii, Military, Fenway and Arizona bowls have already been canceled with virus issues leaving teams without enough available players. The Sun and Gator bowls have had to scramble to find replacement teams.

Wake Forest is set to play in the Gator Bowl, but will face Rutgers instead of Texas A&M as originally scheduled.

North Carolina State is the fifth Atlantic Coast Conference team to have its bowl disrupted.

Numerous college programs have coronavirus issues coming out of the Christmas break. No. 2 Duke is one of several basketball programs with COVID-19 issues, postponing games against Clemson and Notre Dame this week. And UConn’s game against No. 23 Xavier scheduled for Tuesday was scrapped because of COVID-19 issues involving the Huskies.

In other college sports news:

— Georgia wide receiver George Pickens will be available Friday for the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl against No. 2 Michigan. The junior was expected to be third-ranked Georgia’s go-to receiver before he tore the ACL in his right knee during spring practice.

NHL…

Palat scores in OT, Lightning rally past Habs in NHL return

TAMPA (AP) — Ondrej Palat scored 36 seconds into overtime after Tampa Bay teammate Corey Perry tied it late in the third period, and the Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in the first NHL game following an extended holiday break.

Perry got the equalizer with 19.7 seconds left in regulation and the Lightning net empty before Palat won it off a pass from Victor Hedman. It was the first NHL game since the Lightning won 4-3 at Vegas on Dec. 21 in the only game played that night.

Dozens more were postponed over the past week-plus as the league turned a Christmas break scheduled to last three days into a six-day hiatus because of COVID-19 outbreaks and protocols.

In other NHL action:

— Jonathan Marchessault had two goals and an assist in the Vegas Golden Knights’ 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Reilly Smith and Chandler Stephenson each added a goal and an assist as Vegas returned from the extended Christmas break to push its road winning streak to six games. Keegan Kolesar and Mattias Janmark also scored, and Laurent Brossoit made 24 saves. Golden Knights assistant Steve Spott ran the bench, with head coach Peter DeBoer in virus protocol. Jonathan Quick was pulled early in the second period after allowing five goals on 15 shots for the Kings, who had not played since Dec. 19 after their past three games were postponed because of the NHL’s ongoing issues with COVID-19.

— Tomas Hertl came out of COVID-19 protocols and delivered twice for the San Jose Sharks in their 8-7 shootout victory over the Arizona Coyotes. Hertl scored his team-leading 15th goal and added a shootout goal for San Jose, which played for the first time since Dec. 16 amid a flurry of pandemic-related postponements and an extended NHL holiday break. Logan Couture had a goal and an assist and scored in the shootout. Lawson Crouse and Janis Moser each scored twice for the Coyotes, who hadn’t played since Dec. 17 and lost for the eighth time in 10 games.

NHL-NEWS

Lightning star Point back after missing 14 games with injury

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Lightning star center Brayden Point will return to the lineup for Tuesday night’s game against Montréal after missing 14 games with an upper-body injury.

Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde announced the news after the team’s morning skate. Lalonde is filling in for coach Jon Cooper, who is in COVID-19 protocols. In addition to Cooper, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and forward Anthony Cirelli are among six players in the protocols.

Point was hurt Nov. 20 in a game against New Jersey when he crashed hard into the end boards during the third period. He favored his left arm and shoulder afterward.

In other NHL news:

— Chicago Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira could return when the team visits Nashville on Saturday. Khaira hasn’t played since he was stretchered off the ice following a big hit by New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba on Dec. 7. He spent the night in the hospital and the team cited the NHL’s concussion protocol when it placed him on injured reserve. The Blackhawks’ matchup with the Predators is their first game since Dec. 18.

NFL-NEWS

NFL cuts isolation time to five days for players who test positive

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NFL is reducing isolation time for players who test positive for COVID-19 and are asymptomatic, including unvaccinated players, to five days from 10.

The league and the NFL Players Association revised the protocols after the CDC changed its guidelines for those who are asymptomatic, recommending a five-day isolation period and masking over the second five days.

Elsewhere in NFL news:

— For the third consecutive week, the Green Bay Packers have the top spot in the AP Pro32 poll. The Packers earned 10 of the 12 first-place votes. The Kansas City Chiefs, who have won eight in a row, earned the remaining two first-place votes and remained at No. 2. The Dallas Cowboys gained two spots to move to No. 3. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers slipped a spot to No. 4 despite routing Carolina on Sunday and the Los Angeles Rams also fell one place after a win as they are at No. 5 after edging Minnesota.

— Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz is expected to miss Sunday’s crucial game against the Las Vegas Raiders after joining the team’s rapidly expanding reserve/COVID-19 list. It’s the biggest blow yet for Indy, which can clinch a playoff spot with a win. Rookie Sam Ehlinger is Wentz’s backup. Veteran Brett Hundley is on Indy’s practice squad and is 3-6 as a starter.

MLB-MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

One of a kind: Ohtani wins AP Male Athlete of Year award

UNDATED (AP) — Shohei Ohtani (SHOH’-hay oh-TAH’-nee) did things during 2021 that almost nobody alive had ever seen in sports. That’s why the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way superstar is the winner of The Associated Press’ Male Athlete of the Year award.

Nobody has been both one of baseball’s top power hitters and one of its best starting pitchers since Babe Ruth starred at the plate and on the mound in 1919.

Ohtani hit 46 homers and drove in 100 runs with a .965 OPS while playing in 126 games as the AL’s best designated hitter. He finished third in the majors in homers after leading the sport for much of the season. Ohtani also started 23 games on the mound, going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts over 130 1/3 innings as the Angels’ ace and one of the AL’s top right-handers.

In world and national news

BERLIN (AP) — The World Health Organization says the number of COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide increased by 11% last week compared with the previous week, with the biggest increase in the Americas. The gain followed a gradual increase since October. It said in its weekly epidemiological report that the overall risk related to the advancing omicron variant “remains very high.” The U.N. health agency said in the report released late Tuesday that there were nearly 4.99 million newly reported cases from Dec. 20-26. Europe accounted for more than half the total, with 2.84 million, though that amounted to only a 3% increase over the previous week. WHO said that new cases in the Americas were up 39% to nearly 1.48 million.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government says it will allow cruise ships carrying people infected with the coronavirus to dock. The announcement Tuesday came after two Mexican ports refused to allowed passengers ashore because their ships had coronavirus cases. The Health Department says passengers or crew who show no symptoms will be allowed to come ashore normally, while those with symptoms or a positive virus test will be quarantined or given medical care. The department says a cruise ship that was prevented from docking at one Pacific coast port will be allowed to dock farther north, at the port of Guaymas.

SYDNEY (AP) — Coronavirus cases are surging across Australia as an outbreak of the omicron variant spreads, prompting Prime Minister Scott Morrison to schedule an emergency national cabinet meeting. The surge has already overwhelmed testing stations, prompted new vaccine mandates and caused at least one state to cut back on elective surgeries. New infections in Sydney and surrounding parts of New South Wales state skyrocketed on Wednesday to more than 11,000, up from 6,000 a day earlier. More than three-quarters of Australians are fully vaccinated, and just how deadly the latest outbreak will prove remains to be seen. Australia has so far avoided the worst ravages of the pandemic, reporting a total of 2,200 virus deaths among its population of 26 million.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia is lifting its ban on Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft, three years after one crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board. The Transportation Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the aircraft will be permitted to fly in Indonesia, but only after airlines carry out airworthiness directives. The ministry also will conduct inspections before letting them operate in the country. Some relatives of victims of the 2018 crash said the decision to lift the ban on the 737 Max was regrettable. Families of some crash victims have complained a $2.5 billion settlement between Boeing and the U.S. Department of Justice excluded them from involvement in negotiating their compensation.

BEIJING (AP) — China is calling on the United States to protect a Chinese space station and its three-member crew after Beijing complained that satellites launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX nearly struck the station. The foreign ministry accused Washington of ignoring its treaty obligations to protect the Tiangong’s crew following the incidents in July and October. The Chinese government said in a complaint to the United Nations that the Tiangong performed “evasive maneuvers” on July 1 and Oct. 21 to “prevent a potential collision” with Starlink satellites launched by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. The foreign ministry said the United States should “take immediate measures to prevent such incidents from happening again.”