Weekend Sports In Brief | The Star

BASKETBALL

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Jayson Tatum put on a record-setting show, and made Giannis Antetokounmpo look like a genius.

Tatum scored an All-Star Game-record 55 points, and Team Giannis ended LeBron James’ hold on All-Star captain supremacy by beating Team LeBron 184-175 in the NBA’s annual showcase exhibition Sunday night.

Tatum had 27 points in the third quarter, another All-Star Game record for any period. He was the first pick by Antetokounmpo in the starters’ portion of the All-Star draft, and in the end, that pick proved to be the right one.

It was James’ first loss in six times as captain. Antetokounmpo improved to 1-2.

Donovan Mitchell added 40 points for Team Giannis, which got 26 points from Damian Lillard — including the winner to push his team past the target score.

Jaylen Brown had 35 points and 14 rebounds for Team LeBron, Kyrie Irving had 32 points and 15 assists and Joel Embiid scored 32 points.

On Saturday night, Mac McClung might have single-handedly restored the shine on a dunk contest that has been widely panned in recent years.

McClung, the 6-foot-2 Philadelphia guard on a two-way contract, beat New Orleans’ Trey Murphy III in the finals of the dunk contest. A 540-degree dunk — not a 360, a 540, him doing one-and-a-half rotations in the air — was his third perfect score of the night out of four dunks, but by the time the judges’ scores came up it was already decided.

McClung has played mostly in the G League. Philadelphia would become his third NBA team, and he hasn’t even played for the 76ers yet. He played in one game last season for Chicago, and one other game for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Portland star Lillard won the 3-point contest, topping Indiana teammates Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton in the final round.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kevin Love says he has picked the Miami Heat.

Love said Sunday that he will sign with the Heat for the remainder of the season once he clears waivers, a major add for a Miami team that is looking to move up in the Eastern Conference before the postseason begins.

Also Sunday, a person with knowledge of the matter said the Heat are finalizing plans to add another big man in free agent center Cody Zeller, with that deal expected to be completed before the team gathers in Miami to begin practice following the All-Star break. That person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Zeller’s contract has not been signed.

Love’s decision was first reported by ESPN. The 6-foot-9 forward and the Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to buyout terms on Saturday, ending his nine-year run with the team that he helped win the 2016 NBA championship.

PHOENIX (AP) — Brittney Griner is headed back to the Phoenix Mercury.

Griner, who was a free agent, re-signed with the Mercury on a one-year contract according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Saturday because no announcement has been made.

The 32-year-old Griner had said she would return to Phoenix in a social media post in December, after she returned home from her 10-month ordeal in Russia that included time in a Russian jail and ended with a dramatic prisoner swap.

Also, the Mercury announced that Diana Taurasi agreed to re-sign with the team in a multiyear contract. The WNBA’s all-time leading scorer has only played with the Mercury since being drafted No. 1 by the team in 2004.

Taurasi told The Associated Press earlier this month while participating in a USA Basketball training camp that she had her eyes on the 2024 Paris Olympics. She’d be 42 for those Olympics.

AUTO RACING

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 in double overtime and under caution Sunday night in the longest running of “The Great American Race.”

The two overtimes pushed the 65th running of the race to a record 212 laps — a dozen laps beyond the scheduled distance and a whopping 530 miles.

Stenhouse’s win in a Chevrolet for JTG Daugherty Racing — a single-car team partly owned by former NBA player Brad Daugherty — was the third of his career. JTG is the first single-car team to win the Daytona 500 since The Wood Brothers Racing did it with Trevor Bayne in 2011.

Stenhouse’s only other victories came in 2017 — at Talladega and the summer race at Daytona.

Now the 35-year-old from Olive Branch, Mississippi, has a repeat win at Daytona in NASCAR’s biggest race of the season. And it came in his first race reunited with crew chief Mike Kelly, who guided Stenhouse to a pair of Xfinity Series championships earlier in his career.

GOLF

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jon Rahm returned to No. 1 in the world Sunday by winning the Genesis Invitational with a performance that left no doubt who’s playing the best golf.

Caught in a battle with hometown favorite Max Homa at Riviera, Rahm delivered two big moments with a 45-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 14th and then a tee shot to 2 feet for birdie on the par-3 16th.

He closed with a 2-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Homa, finishing at 17-under 267 in the event hosted by Tiger Woods.

Patrick Cantlay got within one shot on the back nine until two bogeys. He had a 67 to finish alone in third, moving him to No. 4 in the world.

Woods had four bogeys in an eight-hole stretch and shot 73 to tie for 45th.

His success was measured in progress. It was his first time playing 72 holes since the Masters last April — Woods only played twice more since then as he tries to cope with leg and back injuries that will make PGA Tour appearances rare. He did not know if he would play again before the Masters.

Rahm has five wins in his last nine starts worldwide, dating to his win in the Spanish Open. He has not finished out of the top 10 in his last 10 tournaments. It was his third win in five starts on the PGA Tour this year, and he already has earned more than $9 million the last two months.

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Bernhard Langer matched Hale Irwin’s PGA Tour Champions victory record of 45 on Sunday, winning the Chubb Classic for the fifth time.

The 65-year-old Langer matched his age with a closing 7-under 65 for a three-stroke victory over Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington.

Langer finished at 17-under 199 on Tiburon Golf Club’s Black Course. At 65 years, 5 months, 23 days, the German star extended his record as the oldest winner. He holds the top three spots on the list.

Stricker shot a 66, and Harrington closed with a 65.

KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Lydia Ko, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, made her 2023 debut by closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-shot victory Aditi Ashok of India on Sunday in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International.

Ko finished last year by winning the $2 million prize at the LPGA Tour finale. She got married, skipped the LPGA Tour season opener in Florida and then showed at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club that she was still it form.

CHONBURI, Thailand (AP) — Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark won his seventh European tour title by closing with a 6-under 66 for a four-shot victory in the Thailand Classic.

FOOTBALL

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Eric Bieniemy has agreed to be the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, the team announced Saturday.

Bieniemy, a two-time Super Bowl-winning assistant with Kansas City, now gets the chance to show what he can do without Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.

Bieniemy, who turns 54 in August, emerged from a pool of more than a half-dozen candidates as Washington’s choice for the job following the Chiefs’ second championship in his five seasons as their offensive coordinator. The longtime NFL assistant has interviewed for numerous head coaching jobs, but Reid calling plays for an offense featuring a two-time MVP in Mahomes clouded Bieniemy’s stock.

SKIING

COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — Greek racer AJ Ginnis finished second behind Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway in slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships Sunday to earn his country’s first world championships medal in a Winter Olympic sport.

Ginnis stood second after the opening run and held on to his position to finish 0.20 behind Kristoffersen in the final race of the competition.

On Saturday, Mikaela Shiffrin didn’t hold on to a first-run lead and was beaten by unheralded Canadian skier Laurence St-Germain in the women’s slalom. The American finished 0.57 seconds behind St-Germain after the final run to settle for silver.

St-Germain’s victory marked the first gold for Canada in women’s slalom since Anne Heggtveit won at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, which also counted as the world championships.

TENNIS

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz won his first title since his milestone U.S. Open triumph, beating Cameron Norrie 6-3, 7-5 in the Argentina Open on Sunday.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz dropped only one set — to Serbia’s Laslo Djere — in his first tournament of the year. A right leg injury sidelined Alcaraz from the Australian Open, with Novak Djokovic reclaiming the No. 1 ranking from Alcaraz after winning the title there.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek successfully defended her Qatar Open title, beating No. 4 Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday.

Swiatek dropped only five sets all week en route to her 12th career title.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Sixth-seeded Daniil Medvedev rallied past Jannik Sinner 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the Rotterdam Open on Sunday for his 16th title.

Medvedev prevailed in the indoor hard-court final against the Italian, who was looking for back-to-back titles following his victory at Montpellier, France.

HOCKEY

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews announced Sunday that he is dealing with symptoms of long COVID-19 and chronic immune response syndrome.

Toews hasn’t played since Jan. 28. The Blackhawks placed the 34-year-old center on injured reserve Wednesday with what they said was a non-COVID-19-related illness. Toews missed the 2020-21 season with what he described as chronic immune response syndrome.

TRACK AND FIELD

APELDOORN, Netherlands (AP) — Femke Bol broke a 40-year-old world indoor record in the women’s 400 meters Sunday, finishing in 49.26 seconds.

The previous record of 49.59 was set by Jarmila Kratochvilova on March 7, 1982. Bol was running in front of a home crowd at the Dutch Indoor Championships.

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