Sports briefs
Source: NBA targets Dec. 22 start
A person with knowledge of the situation says the NBA’s board of governors is considering a December start to the 2020-21 season, with Dec. 22 being the initial target for opening night and the season being trimmed to about 70 games.
That option, which would have the NBA Finals back in their normal June slot, was one of many options discussed by the league’s owners Friday, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press because no details were revealed publicly.
No decisions have been finalized and talks with the National Basketball Players Association remain ongoing on many matters, including the financial parameters that will be in place next season. Those talks, especially on the money issue, would have to be concluded before any real decisions about next season are made.
Raiders test negative
The Las Vegas Raiders’ latest batch of COVID-19 tests all came back negative and their game scheduled for Sunday against Tampa Bay is on for now.
The Raiders placed two players on the COVID-19 list following positive tests earlier in the week and put five more players on the list because of “high risk” close contacts.
A person familiar with the tests says on condition of anonymity that all the players tested negative in results returned Friday morning. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league doesn’t release test results.
“We’re going to play Sunday at 1 o’clock they tell me,” coach Jon Gruden said. “We’ll be ready to go.”
Baffert horse fails drug test
A filly trained by two-time Triple Crown winner Bob Baffert has tested positive in a postrace drug test for the second time this year, making it the third positive test by a horse in Baffert’s stable in the last six months.
Craig Robertson, Baffert’s attorney, issued a statement confirming Gamine’s test results after her third-place finish as the 7-10 favorite in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Sept. 4. The two-time Grade 1 winner tested positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid, which Robertson said is “a legal, commonly used anti-inflammatory medication.”
Former Vikings great Blair dies at 70
Matt Blair, one of the great linebackers in Minnesota Vikings history and a six-time Pro Bowler who played in two Super Bowls, has died. He was 70 years old.
His death was announced by the team. Blair, who had been suffering from dementia, died Thursday after an extended period in hospice care.
Drafted in the second round out of Iowa State in 1974, Blair played all 12 of his NFL seasons for the Vikings, from 1974 to 1985. He started 130 of the 160 regular-season games he played, racking up 1,452 tackles, the second most in team history.
In golf
Ally McDonald is trying to leave everyone behind – and not get too far ahead of herself.
McDonald shot a 4-under 68 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend in the LPGA Drive On Championship-Lake Reynolds Oconee.
“I’m trying to just execute and stick to my game plan,” McDonald said. “I think it’s really easy as a person who has never won to get ahead of yourself. We all really, really want to win. That’s why we do this. That’s why we compete – to put yourself in contention as much as we can.”
The 27-year-old from Mississippi made five straight birdies in the middle of the round, then gave back two strokes with bogeys on the par-4 fifth and par-5 sixth.