James Harden scored 26 points
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The Rockets passed the Boston Celtics for the longest winning streak in the NBA this season. Houston hasn’t lost since Jan. 26 at New Orleans.
The latest victory came on the second of a tough back-to-back stretch of road games that started with a 10-point victory at Oklahoma City. No wonder the Rockets looked sluggish at times against the Bucks.
Trailing by about 10 points for most of the fourth quarter, Milwaukee got within 104-99 with 1:06 left on Sterling Brown’s layup.
Chris Paul answered with a short floater in the lane with 45 seconds left after driving on Jason Terry to silence Bucks fans who were pleading ”Defense! Defense!”
DALLAS (AP) – The NBA is reviewing 2011 allegations of sexual assault against Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the investigation that led to a decision by prosecutors not to pursue the case.
League spokesman Mike Bass said the NBA was looking into the matter, a day after a weekly alternative newspaper in Portland, Oregon, reported a woman’s claim that Cuban put his hands down her pants and touched her inappropriately while they were taking a photo at a Portland nightclub. The report Tuesday in the Willamette Week came about a week and half after a Sports Illustrated account that portrayed a hostile work environment for women in the front office of the Mavericks. While Cuban wasn’t implicated, the SI report raised questions about what he knew and when.
Cuban flatly denied the woman’s allegations and provided a prosecutors’ report detailing the decision not to file charges.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
SAN DIEGO (AP) – University of San Diego coach Lamont Smith resigned 10 days after he was arrested for investigation of domestic violence at the end of a road trip.
Smith’s resignation came one day after the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said he wouldn’t face charges ”at this time” in a domestic violence investigation. Even though no charges were filed
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Athletic director Bill McGillis said Smith, who played at USD and was in his third season as coach, offered his resignation and the school accepted it. McGillis said he then notified the team.
LEWISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Stephen Brown scored 22 points and reserve Nate Sestina added 16 as Bucknell won its second straight Patriot League Tournament championship with an 83-54 victory over Colgate.
The top-seeded Bison (25-9) head to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in program history and sixth time as the Patriot League representative. Four of those six titles have come in the last eight years.
PRO FOOTBALL
The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles bolstered their formidable pass rush with another top-level defensive lineman.
The Eagles acquired three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Bennett from the Seattle Seahawks, three people familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The deal won’t be officially announced until the NFL’s league year opens next Wednesday. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the trade information.
Seattle gets wide receiver Marcus Johnson and a fifth-round pick, while Philadelphia also receives a seventh-round pick.
Bennett had 8 sacks last season and 54 in his nine-year career.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles Rams agreed to trade linebacker Alec Ogletree to the New York Giants for two draft picks, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because NFL trades can’t be announced until March 14. ESPN first reported the deal.
Los Angeles gets the Giants’ fourth-round and sixth-round picks in the 2018 draft. The NFC West champion Rams also will send a seventh-round pick in 2019 to the Giants along with Ogletree
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NEW YORK (AP) – Jerry Jones agreed to pay the NFL more than $2 million in legal fees resulting from two disputes the Dallas Cowboys owner had with the league, a person with direct knowledge of the settlement told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL did not announce details.
Commissioner Roger Goodell held an appeal hearing with Jones on Monday. That came a few days after Goodell assessed the financial penalties for Jones’ lawsuit to overturn the suspension of Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott, and for a lawsuit Jones threatened to stop Goodell’s newly approved contract.
DENVER (AP) – Peyton Manning sold 31 Denver-area Papa John’s stores last week, two days before the NFL dropped the chain as its official pizza sponsor.
The Denver Post reported that Papa John’s spokesman Peter Collins confirmed the former NFL quarterback sold his stake to an existing Papa John’s franchisee. Manning will remain Papa John’s celebrity spokesman and brand ambassador. He wasn’t immediately available for comment.
The NFL and Papa John’s ended their deal Feb. 27.
HORSE RACING
NEW YORK (AP) – An aggrieved harness-racing bettor has gone to court to recoup more than $31,000 in winnings he said he was cheated out of when a doped horse won a race in New Jersey two years ago.
Leading figures in harness racing said they had never before heard of such a lawsuit, which accuses the train Shohei Ohtani’s elbow injury has healed enough that the Los Angeles Angels‘ two-way star can begin a hitting program immediately.
General manager Billy Eppler said Thursday that Ohtani underwent an MRI in Los Angeles that showed improvement to his ulnar collateral ligament, clearing him to take batting practice in private.
”That’s news I was hoping to hear
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Ohtani was placed on the disabled list with a UCL sprain June 8. He will be re-evaluated by doctors in three weeks.
Asked whether Ohtani needs Tommy John surgery that could cause him to miss the rest of this season as well as all of the 2019 season, Eppler said, ”No doctor has told me that Shohei needs surgical intervention at this time.”
Ohtani has a Grade 2 sprain, or partial tear, of the UCL in his right elbow. In hopes of avoiding Tommy John surgery, the Angels had Ohtani’s ligament injected with platelet-rich plasma and stem cells earlier this month. Eppler said he has not had additional injections.
Eppler said Ohtani will not play in rehab games but will take batting practice in a ”private and controlled environment” and could face live pitching as soon as this weekend. Because Ohtani is not a position player, rehab games were deemed unnecessary.
”We can control a little bit more the progression
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Ohtani has not been cleared to pitch yet.
His last appearance came June 6 in a start against Kansas City. Ohtani left after four innings with a blister and also mentioned he was feeling tightness in his elbow. An MRI taken the next day revealed the UCL in his right elbow had progressed from a Grade 1 strain to a more serious Grade 2 level.
Ohtani won four of his first five decisions before getting injured. He was batting .289 with six home runs and 20 RBIs.
”I know that not being able to play baseball competitively and only being able to train doesn’t really satisfy his appetite and his hunger to play,” Eppler said. ”He’s now one step closer. I can only assume he’s excited about it.”
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