Friday’s Sports In Brief

NBA

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid had 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 110-102.

Embiid, who averaged 40 points and 11 rebounds in his previous four games, had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the second half after 76ers star guard Tyrese Maxey left just before halftime with a left foot injury.

Maxey had 24 points, five assists and four rebounds before rolling his ankle while driving to the basket against Jevon Carter. Philadelphia said he will have an MRI Saturday. Rivers added that Maxey was already wearing a walking boot after the game.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 25 points and 14 rebounds, however, his struggles from the free-throw line — he went 4 of 15 — were amplified with each attempt in the second half by a raucous Philadelphia crowd.

He was so frustrated by his performance, that after the game he went back onto the court to practice free throws and got into an argument with an arena worker who was preparing to do some work on the basket. Antetokounmpo shoved the worker’s ladder across the court in disgust.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Derrick White highlighted a 26-point performance with six 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics beat the New Orleans Pelicans 117-109 for their ninth straight win.

Jayson Tatum had 19 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who combined to make 20 3s and shot 48.2% (41 of 85) overall. Al Horford was 4 of 5 from deep and scored 18 for Boston, which led by double digits for much of the game and by as many as 19.

Brandon Ingram hit season-high five 3s and scored 25 for New Orleans, which was playing without star power forward Zion Williamson (bruised right foot) for a third straight game. The Pelicans lost for the first time in four games. CJ MCCollum scored 18 points and Herb Jones added 17 for New Orleans.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Armaan Franklin scored a career-high 26 points, and No. 16 Virginia used a big second-half run to knock off No. 5 Baylor 86-79 in the team’s first game since three Cavaliers football players were killed in a campus shooting.

Virginia’s players wore sweatshirts during warmups that honored the victims from Sunday’s shooting, which led to the cancellation of the Cavaliers’ scheduled home game a day later. A former Virginia football player has been charged with murder in the slayings of Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry.

The Cavaliers (3-0) will play No. 19 Illinois in Sunday’s championship of the Continental Tire Main Event. Baylor (3-1) faces No. 8 UCLA in the consolation game.

Keyonte George scored 20 points for Baylor and LJ Cryer had 19.

Virginia went on a 21-2 run in the second half and twice went ahead by 22 points.

BASEBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Cody Bellinger, Brian Anderson and Luke Voit were among 83 players who became free agents Friday night when their former teams declined to offer them contracts for next season.

Alex Reyes, Ryan Yarbrough and Jeimer Candelario also were cut loose ahead of baseball’s tender deadline, with clubs choosing to dump dozens of players who otherwise would have been eligible for salary arbitration. Aristides Aquino, Garrett Hampson, Adam Engel, Dominic Smith, Jorge Alfaro, Raimel Tapia and Erick Fedde hit the open market as well.

Bellinger was by far the biggest name of the bunch. The 2019 NL MVP was jettisoned by the Los Angeles Dodgers after batting .210 with 19 homers this season. The 27-year-old outfielder had 150 strikeouts and a .654 OPS in 144 games while earning $17 million. He likely would have received a slight raise in his latest round of arbitration.

Several players agreed to one-year deals before the deadline, including San Francisco outfielder Mike Yastrzemski ($6.1 million) and Detroit outfielder Austin Meadows ($4.3 million). Others were Yankees reliever Lou Trivino ($4.1 million), Miami reliever Dylan Floro ($3.9 million), Milwaukee pitcher Adrian Houser ($3.6 million), Atlanta pitcher Mike Soroka ($2.8 million), Chicago Cubs pitcher Adrian Sampson ($1.9 million), Detroit left-hander Tyler Alexander ($1,875,000), Brewers reliever Matt Bush ($1.85 million), Cubs reliever Rowan Wick ($1.55 million), Pittsburgh third baseman Miguel Andújar ($1,525,000), Arizona reliever Cole Sulser ($825,000), Philadelphia reliever Sam Coonrod ($775,000) and San Diego lefty Jose Castillo ($730,000). Colorado claimed Brent Suter off waivers from Milwaukee and signed the left-hander to a $3 million, one-year contract.

GOLF

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Lydia Ko is in total control at the halfway mark of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Total control of the season-long scoring and money races, too.

Ko shot a 6-under 66 in Friday’s second round of the LPGA Tour’s season finale, pushing her to 13 under for the tournament and five shots clear of Hyo Joo Kim through 36 holes.

Ko’s 66 was the best score of the day; four other players shot 67′s. Through two rounds at Tiburon, there have been four scores of 66 or lower; Ko has two of them after an opening 65 on Thursday.

Kim (69) made back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to get to 8 under, alone in second. World No. 1 Nelly Korda (69) is in a pack tied for third at 7 under, along with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (67), Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist (69) and Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh (70).

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — More than $100 million will be awarded to LPGA players for the first time in 2023, an increase of about 18% over what was planned for this season and more than doubling what was paid out on the tour just a decade ago.

The LPGA’s 33 official events next year will have a combined $101.4 million in purses, the tour announced Friday while unveiling the schedule. The schedule has events in 11 states and 12 countries. It has two tournaments — if they happen — in China. The LPGA has not played there since October 2019, canceling each of its last five planned events in China after the coronavirus pandemic.

The five women’s golf majors account for $37.9 million of the planned purses, led by $10 million set to be paid out at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach next July. That tournament is immediately preceded on the schedule by the Women’s PGA Championship at Baltrusol, a $9 million event.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Harry Higgs lost his full PGA Tour card toward the end of last season and took a step Friday at Sea Island toward getting it back.

Higgs played bogey-free on the more difficult Seaside course for a 7-under 63, giving him a share of the lead with recent Texas grad Cole Hammer and Andrew Putnam going into the weekend of the RSM Classic. They were at 12-under 130.

Joel Dahmen (64 on Plantation), Beau Hossler (67 on Plantation) and Sahith Theegala, who matched Higgs with a 63 on Seaside, were one shot behind.

SOCCER

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Flag-draped fans poured into Qatar on Friday ahead of the Middle East’s first World Cup as organizers banned the sale of beer at stadiums — a last-minute decision that stunned FIFA sponsor Budweiser but was largely welcomed by the country’s conservative Muslims and shrugged off by some visitors.

This small, energy-rich country, home to some 3 million people and roughly the size of Jamaica, expects another 1.2 million fans to fly in for the tournament that begins on Sunday.

After Friday prayers, the talk of Doha became the sudden ruling by the government to halt all beer sales at stadiums.

Many welcomed the decision in this conservative emirate, which follows the same austere Wahhabi Islam of neighboring Saudi Arabia — despite allowing beers, wine and liquor to be sold at discrete hotel bars in the country. Already, the country’s some 300,000 citizens have criticized the Western excesses of some celebrations and vehemently dismissed criticism of its views on LGBTQ rights.

Alcohol will still be served in hotels, luxury suites and private homes during the tournament.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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