Sports briefs
In the NBA
Ben Simmons tied a career high with 34 points and added 12 rebounds and 12 assists, carrying the Philadelphia 76ers to a 117-111 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
Announced as the Eastern Conference player of the week during the game, Simmons got a good start on winning the next week’s award, too. He shot 12 for 14 from the field in his career-best fifth straight game with 20 or more points, finishing with his fourth triple-double of the season.
- Bradley Beal scored 29 points, Ian Mahinmi added 21 and the Washington Wizards broke a three-game losing streak with a 106-100 win over the Detroit Pistons. Beal passed Wes Unseld for fourth place on the team’s career scoring list.
- Kendrick Nunn scored 25 points, James Johnson added 22 on 9-for-11 shooting and the Miami Heat improved their NBA-best home record to 19-1 by beating the Sacramento Kings 118-113 in overtime.
- Jrue Holiday matched his season high with 36 points in his return after a five-game absence and the New Orleans Pelicans set a franchise record with 21 3-pointers, beating Memphis 126-116 in the Grizzlies’ annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Game.
- Chris Paul scored 28 points and Danilo Gallinari added 25 as the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat cold-shooting James Harden and the Houston Rockets, 112-107.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double and scored his 10,000th career point as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls 111-98 to sweep the four-game season series.
Antetokounmpo had 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season. He reached 10,000 points on a jump hook with 4:30 remaining in the fourth.
- Marcus Morris Sr. and Julius Randle each scored 19 points and the New York Knicks used a strong second half to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-86.
In the NHL
Nazem Kadri and Nathan MacKinnon scored 1:54 apart as the Colorado Avalanche were propelled by another second-period spurt in a 6-3 win over the reeling Detroit Red Wings on Monday.
The Avalanche also pulled away from the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues with a middle-period flurry over the weekend.
In golf
Having already battled for five extra holes into darkness without producing a champion a day earlier, Gaby Lopez and Nasa Hataoka showed up to work at 8 a.m., just like regular folks.
The early wake-up call and extra golf was worth it for Lopez, who rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt to prevail on the seventh playoff hole Monday and capture the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
It was the second LPGA title for Lopez, who 14 months ago became the second player from Mexico to win on tour, joining World Golf Hall of Fame member Lorena Ochoa. She earned $180,000 for the victory.
The elite field featured 26 players who had won tournaments in the last two seasons.
This was the LPGA’s fourth-longest playoff. The longest was 10 holes at the 1972 Corpus Christi Civitan Open, where Jo Ann Prentice beat Hall of Famers Sandra Palmer and Kathy Whitworth.
Lopez and Hataoka wound up playing the difficult 197-yard 18th hole at Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando eight times over two days, with two birdies from Lopez the difference.
In college football
Former Houston quarterback D’Eriq King announced Monday that he is transferring to Miami, a significant get for the Hurricanes as they try to bounce back from a 6-7 season.
King played in four games for Houston this past season before announcing in late September that he would take the rest of 2019 off and redshirt to preserve eligibility for 2020.
King had at least one rushing touchdown and at least one passing touchdown in each of his last 15 games with Houston – a streak that broke the FBS record held by former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.