NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Indiana Pacers 133, Detroit Pistons 119
Boston Celtics 122, Chicago Bulls 100
Pacers 133, Pistons 119 – Siakam scores 37, Haliburton adds 30 to lead Pacers past Pistons 133-119
Pascal Siakam scored 37 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 30 points and eight assists, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons 133-119. Siakam and Haliburton combined to hit 25 of 38 shots, including 8 of 16 from 3-point range. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 32 points and nine assists. Indiana scored 40 first-quarter points on 16-of-20 shooting, including 7 of 10 from 3. The Pacers finished 46 of 81 overall (56.8%), 19 of 38 on 3-pointers. Myles Turner had 24 points for Indiana. Malik Beasley had 20 points with six 3-pointers for Detroit. The Pistons host Dallas on Friday night.
Celtics 122, Bulls 100 – Kristaps Porzingis finishes with 34 points, carrying Celtics over Bulls 122-100
Kristaps Porzingis scored 26 of his season-high 34 points in the first half, and the Boston Celtics coasted to a 122-100 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. The 7-foot-2 Porzingis made a season-best eight 3-point shots in 14 attempts with 11 rebounds over 33 minutes, helping Boston bounce back from a rough home loss to the Rockets on Monday. Jaylen Brown added 28 points, Derrick White had 22 and Jayson Tatum 16 for the recently up-and-down Celtics, who are just 7-6 in their last 13 games. Coby White led Chicago with 16 points in 31 minutes in his first game after missing four straight with an ankle injury. The Bulls have dropped eight of nine.
WNBA – Courtney Vandersloot signs with Chicago Sky, returning to team that drafted her
Free agent guard Courtney Vandersloot is headed back to Chicago. Her agent confirmed the signing on Wednesday. The veteran guard will rejoin the team that drafted her in 2011 after spending the last two seasons in New York. WNBA free agents can’t sign contracts until Feb. 1. Vandersloot is Chicago’s all-time assist leader and is second in WNBA history behind Sue Bird. She helped the Sky win the franchise’s first WNBA title in 2021. Now she’ll provide veteran leadership to the young team that’s led by the frontcourt duo of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. The Chicago Sun Times was the first to report the move.
WNBA – Caitlin Clark declines invite to a 3-point shootout at NBA All-Star weekend
Caitlin Clark is going to wait until Indianapolis hosts the WNBA All-Star weekend to enter her first 3-point contest. Clark’s representatives said Wednesday that the Fever star declined an invitation to participate in a special challenge during NBA All-Star weekend next month. There had been discussions for Clark to participate in a contest similar to the one that pitted Stephen Curry against Sabrina Ionescu in a 3-point shootout during last season’s NBA All-Star festivities. The upcoming season’s WNBA All-Star weekend is scheduled at the end of July in Indianapolis.
WNBA – Indiana Fever re-sign Kelsey Mitchell, keeping intact All-Star pairing with Clark
Caitlin Clark will have both of her All-Star teammates back next season after the Indiana Fever announced that they re-signed free agent guard Kelsey Mitchell. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Playing alongside Clark in the backcourt last season, Mitchell posted the best statistical season of her seven-year career. She averaged 19.2 points, shot 46.8% from the field and 40.2% from 3-point range while counseling Clark about making the adjustment from college to the WNBA. Clark, Mitchell and 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston formed the nucleus of an Indiana team that made its first playoff appearance since 2016.
NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball
Last Night
Buffalo 73, Western Michigan 40
Kent State 79, Eastern Michigan 59
Northern Illinois 80, Central Michigan 75
Wisconsin 82, Michigan 75
Tonight
Oregon at (19) Michigan State, 6:00 p.m.
(3) Notre Dame at Virginia Tech, 6:00 p.m.
MLB – Tigers sign RHP Tommy Kahnle to 1-year deal worth $7.75 million
Veteran right-hander Tommy Kahnle has signed a one-year, $7.75 million contract with the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. The move boosts the Tigers’ bullpen as they come off their first playoff season in a decade. The 35-year-old Kahnle went 0-2 with a 2.11 ERA and one save in 50 relief appearances with the American League champion New York Yankees last season. He struck out 46 and walked 19 in 42 2/3 innings. The Tigers also designated right-handed pitcher Alex Faedo for assignment.
NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
Chicago Blackhawks at Carolina Hurricanes, 7:00 p.m.
Detroit Red Wings at Edmonton Oilers, 9:00 p.m.
NHL – Utah Hockey Club narrows the choice of a name to 3 finalists. It won’t be the Yeti
The Utah Hockey Club has chosen three finalists for the permanent team name it will adopt beginning with the 2025-26 NHL season. Yeti isn’t one of them. The franchise will use a final round of fan voting to decide among the Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch. Fans in attendance the next four home games beginning Wednesday night against Pittsburgh will vote at designated iPad stations at the Delta Center to help decide the name and logo. Team officials backed away from including Yeti as a finalist after being unable to work out a co-existence agreement with Yeti Coolers to use the name in branding and merchandising.
NFL – Eagles’ run to the Super Bowl is fueled by changes after epic collapse last season
The Philadelphia Eagles can trace their run to the Super Bowl to an epic collapse last season. The Eagles were 10-1 and flying high as the best team in the NFL in 2023. Then they limped to a 1-5 regular-season finish before they were put of their misery in a wild-card loss to Tampa Bay. Changes were mandated. The Eagles needed to fix everything from the assistants to the game plan to drafting to repairing the loose connective tissue inside the locker room. The pain and lessons learned from last season fueled the Eagles on their way to a 14-win regular season and three more wins in the playoffs.
NFL – This year’s hottest Super Bowl ticket? Advertising space, Fox says
Get ready for an onslaught of ads full of celebrities, cute animals and snack brands during breaks in the action at Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 9, when the Philadelphia Eagles face the Kansas City Chiefs. Anheuser-Busch, Meta, PepsiCo Frito-Lay, Taco Bell, Uber Eats and others will vie to win over the more than 120 million viewers expected to tune in for the broadcast on Fox and via the free livestream on Tubi. Demand for ad space was robust this year, said Mark Evans, executive vice president of ad sales for Fox Sports, with ad space selling out in November.
Golf – PGA Tour contemplates announcing fines as part of study into slow play
More changes could be on the way for the PGA Tour. That might include the use of rangefinders to speed play and even disclosing violations and fines related to pace of play. It’s all part of the “Fan Forward” program announced last year. That included a survey of some 50,000 fans to see what they like and what they want to see. Among the key topics are improving the broadcast and speeding play. Also being studied is change to the Tour Championship format. Commissioner Jay Monahan is expected to go into more detail at The Players Championship in March.
NCAA – Objections flow in on NCAA settlement over impact of roster limits
Most of the objections posted so far to the lawsuit settlement set to alter the college-sports model concerned the impact roster limits will have on players in so-called “Olympic sports,” some of whom have already been cut from their teams. As part of the settlement, the NCAA proposed limits on rosters that would be imposed for schools that choose to adhere to the terms of the deal. While the new roster limits expand the number of scholarships schools can provide, estimates are they could lead to the loss of 10,000 or more spots in “non-revenue," or Olympic sports, across the NCAA.
AHL – American Hockey League
Last Night
Grand Rapids Griffins 4, Rockford IceHogs 1
MCCAA – Michigan Community College Athletic Association
Tonight
Women’s Basketball
Marian University Ancilla 85, Lake Michigan College 49
Southwestern Michigan College 81, Glen Oaks Community College 53
Men’s Basketball
Marian University Ancilla 93, Lake Michigan College 84
Glen Oaks Community College 78, Southwestern Michigan College 68
MHSAA – Michigan High School Athletic Association
Last Night
Boys Basketball
River Valley 57, Colon 52
Buchanan 66, Saugatuck 20
Girls Basketball
Coloma 38, Comstock 21
South Haven 43, Kalamazoo Homeschool 38
Kalamazoo Hackett 66, Galesburg-Augusta 33
Tonight
Boys Basketball
Non-Conference
Benton Harbor at Lakeshore, 7:00 p.m. News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM
BCS
Michigan Lutheran at Covert, 6:30 p.m.
Southwest 10
Decatur at Bangor, 7:30 p.m.
White Pigeon at Cassopolis, 7:30 p.m.
Marcellus at Centreville, 7:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball
SMAC
St. Joseph at Portage Central, 7:00 p.m.
Lakeshore at Mattawan, 7:00 p.m.
Gull Lake at Portage Northern, 7:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Central at BC Lakeview, 7:00 p.m.
Kal. Loy Norrix at Battle Creek Central, 7:00 p.m.
BCS
Michigan Lutheran at Covert, 5:00 p.m.
Lakeland
Berrien Springs at Buchanan, 7:15 p.m.
Brandywine at Dowagiac, 6:30 p.m.
SAC
Fennville at Bridgman, 7:00 p.m.
Non-Conference
Howardsville Chr. at Climax-Scotts, 7:00 p.m.