The Cleveland Cavaliers will look for their seventh consecutive win Monday night when they host the slumping San Antonio Spurs.
Cleveland improved to 6-0 in February with a 97-89 home defeat of the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
The stout defensive showing marked the Cavaliers’ sixth game holding an opponent to fewer than 90 points this season, as they continue to boast the league’s top scoring defense at 105.9 points allowed per game.
Mitchell finished with 29 points and 10 assists against the Bulls.
His 26.9 points per game lead Cleveland for the season, but over the course of the Cavaliers’ current winning streak, Darius Garland has stepped up to lead the team with 32 points Feb. 2 against Memphis; 24 points Feb. 5 at Indiana; and matching Jarrett Allen’s 23 points Feb. 6 vs. Washington.
Allen also scored a team-high 20 points Feb. 8 against Detroit, the first in a current, three-game stretch of 20-point, 10-rebound double-doubles that extended with Saturday’s 23 points and 10 boards.
Monday’s contest puts that concept to the test, as San Antonio limps into Cleveland riding a 12-game losing streak after its 125-106 defeat Saturday at Atlanta.
The blowout loss came one night after dropping a 138-131 decision in double-overtime at Detroit. The game against the Cavaliers marks the midway point of the Spurs’ annual rodeo road trip.
San Antonio was active at last week’s trade deadline amid the nine-game road swing, acquiring Devonte’ Graham from Charlotte, who scored 31 points off the bench in Detroit.
San Antonio also added Khem Birch in a trade that moved Jakob Poeltl — part of the deal that sent Kawhi Leonard to Toronto in 2018 — back to the Raptors. Birch has not played since Dec. 29.
Keldon Johnson, San Antonio’s leading scorer on the season at 21.8 points per game, has scored at least 21 points in his last three appearances after finishing with 25 Saturday in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Hawks keep showing signs of breaking through and they have another chance to show they’re heading in the right direction Monday night against the host Charlotte Hornets.
The Hawks have won two in a row and four of their last six outings.
The Hornets have a seven-game losing streak. Charlotte already has two eight-game losing streaks, so it will try to avoid a third such skid.
In Saturday’s 125-106 romp past visiting San Antonio, De’Andre Hunter had 24 points to lead the Hawks in scoring for the first time in almost two months, though Trae Young also poured in 24 points.
Atlanta held a 64-46 edge in the second half.
The Hornets can’t seem to get their defense sorted out, something of a season-long issue.
Charlotte’s interior is being put to the test, particularly since last week’s trade of center Mason Plumlee. The lane was exploited by Denver’s Nikola Jokic in Charlotte’s 119-105 loss Saturday night.
Rookie Mark Williams has started the past two games at center for the Hornets, a heightened role that should challenge his development.
A disastrous third quarter put the Hornets in a bind against Denver.
The Hornets should be plenty familiar with the Hawks, who are 1-2 in the series this season. Charlotte’s loss came during the team’s previous eight-game skid.
Plumlee had a 25-point, 11-rebound effort in Charlotte’s road win in the most recent meeting with the Hawks on Jan. 21, so that production will need to be replaced.
Young, who supplied a season-high 17 assists on Saturday night, has averaged 28 points in the three games this season against Charlotte.
The Hornets are in need of more all-round production in the paint, particularly as some of their perimeter resources on offense have been slowed. They’ve made 10 or more 3-point baskets in only three of their last 11 games.
For Atlanta, the trip to Charlotte serves as its only road assignment during an eight-game span, though there are just two games left before the All-Star Game.
So far this month, the Hawks have avoided any late-game drama. Their last six games have been decided by seven or more points.
Gramaglia will join the Brazilian club for the remainder of the year Gramaglia is the youngest player in club history to make their NWSL debut as a 19-year-old on July 16, 2022 in a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars Houston exercised the option for Gramaglia’s permanent transfer at the end of the 2022 season from Argentinian club UAI Urquiza.
HOUSTON – The Houston Dash will loan forward Paulina Gramaglia to Red Bull Bragantino FC Femenino from Brazil for the remainder of the year, the team announced today.
Gramaglia agreed to a new contract with Dash earlier this year through the 2023 season with an option for 2024.
“At 19, Paulina has a big opportunity to earn a spot with Argentina’s squad at the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer,” Dash general manager Alex Singer said. “Getting her in an environment to play consistent game minutes to prepare her was something we discussed and prioritized as part of our planning to make sure she’s maximizing match play and furthering the opportunity for her development.”
Gramaglia first joined the Dash at the start of preseason in 2022 on loan from UAI Urquiza, from the Argentinian first division. While at UAI Urquiza, Gramaglia appeared in seven games and scored nine goals.
Gramaglia became the youngest player to debut for the Houston Dash on July 16, 2022. The 19-year-old came on as a second-half substitute in Houston’s 4-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars.
Internationally, Gramaglia has represented the Argentina Women’s National Team at various levels. The Cordoba, Argentina native made her senior team debut in November 2021 in a friendly against Ecuador. Last spring, Gramaglia was called up by La Albiceleste to participate in the Under-20 CONMEBOL Women’s Championship and has earned several call ups to the Argentina U-20 WNT since.
TRANSACTION: Houston Dash signed Paulina Gramaglia to a one-year contract through the 2023 season with an option for 2024. Additionally, Houston will send Gramaglia on loan to Red Bull Bragantino through Dec. 31, 2023.
* Connor McDavid joined Wayne Gretzky as the second player in NHL history with multiple point streaks of 15-plus games in the same season more than once in his career.
* Artemi Panarin, widely known as the “Breadman”, made it rain both hats and bread with a natural hat trick and four-goal, five-point performance before Adrian Kempe thrilled Kings fans with four straight goals.
* Ryan O’Reilly scored the overtime winner to help the Blues fend off a three-goal, third-period rally from the Coyotes as St. Louis became the third team to earn a multi-goal comeback victory Saturday.
* Eight teams are in action before the NFL’s finale – the slate opens with Montreal looking to earn its League-leading 21st all-time win on Super Bowl Sunday and closes with a nationally-televised tangle at T-Mobile Arena.
McDAVID JOINS GRETZKY WITH SECOND 15-GAME POINT STREAK OF SEASON
Connor McDavid scored his League-leading 42nd goal of the season just 2:18 into the contest to extend his point streak to 15 games (10-15—25), the second time this season and fourth in his career that he has posted a point streak of 15 or more contests.
* McDavid, the only active player with at least four point streaks of 15-plus games, joined Wayne Gretzky as the second player in NHL history with multiple point streaks of 15-plus games in the same season more than once in his career. Gretzky had multiple point streaks of 15-plus contests in 1981-82, 1982-83, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1988-89 and 1990-91. McDavid, meanwhile, matched a career high with a 17-game point streak earlier in 2022-23 (equaling a mark set in 2021-22 when he tallied 15- & 17-game runs).
“BREADMAN”, KEMPE SCORE NATURAL HAT TRICKS AND FOUR GOALS
Artemi Panarin (4-1—5) and Adrian Kempe (4-0—4) each scored natural hat tricks and four goals to help their clubs, which both sit third in their respective divisions, earn wins Saturday:
* Kempe scored four straight goals and became the first Kings player to record a four-goal outing since Dustin Brown (April 5, 2018), whose No. 23 was raised into the rafters ahead of the game. Kempe became the seventh player in the past 30 years to score four consecutive goals, joining David Backes (Jan. 6, 2015), Ilya Kovalchuk (Nov. 11, 2005), Dany Heatley (Oct. 29, 2005), Patrik Elias (March 30, 2003), Wendel Clark (Nov. 9, 1996) and Peter Bondra (Feb. 5, 1994).
* Panarin tallied five points – which included both a natural hat trick and four goals to surpass the 200-career goal milestone – and became the seventh Rangers player in the past 30 years to record a natural hat trick, joining Andrew Copp (April 21, 2022), Mika Zibanejad (March 25 & March 17, 2021), Chris Kreider (March 4, 2021), Michael Grabner (Dec. 1, 2017), Marian Gaborik (Jan. 31, 2010) and Martin Straka (March 29, 2006).
BLUES FEND OFF COYOTES COMEBACK IN BACK-AND-FORTH BATTLE After Arizona took a 2-0 first-period lead, St. Louis responded with five straight goals to build its own three-goal cushion with just over 10 minutes to play. The Coyotes rallied with a three-goal, third-period comeback – which included a tying tally with 57 seconds remaining in regulation – but Ryan O’Reilly netted the winner in overtime as the Blues (24-25-3, 51 points) became the third team to register a multi-goal comeback victory Saturday (also CGY & CBJ).
* Calle Rosen (2-0—2) scored twice in the third period over a span of 1:49 – the third-fastest pair of goals by a defenseman this season behind Erik Karlsson (0:23 on Nov. 1, 2022)and Miro Heiskanen (1:48 on Dec. 8, 2022), as well as the fourth-fastest two tallies by a blueliner in Blues history.
* There have been 23 game-tying goals in the final minute of regulation this season but St. Louis became just the seventh team to withstand that tying tally to win, joining Vegas (Dec. 31, 2022), Carolina (Nov. 29, 2022), Detroit (Nov. 25, 2022), Winnipeg (Nov. 25 & 21, 2022) Colorado (Nov. 21, 2022) and Los Angeles (Oct. 17, 2022).
* Nick Schmaltz (1-3—4) and Clayton Keller (2-2—4) each had four points, marking just the third time since 2009-10 that multiple Coyotes skaters have had four-plus points in the same game. The other instances came on March 5, 2022 (Schmaltz: 2-5—7, Keller: 2-2—4 & Shayne Gostisbehere: 1-3—4) and Dec. 28, 2021 (Phil Kessel: 0-4—4 & Lawson Crouse: 2-2—4).
MacKINNON HELPS COLORADO CONTINUE TO CLIMB WEST STANDINGS The Panthers erased a two-goal deficit but Nathan MacKinnon (2-1—3) factored on his team’s next three goals to help the Avalanche (28-19-4, 60 points) improve to 8-2-1 in their past 11 games. Prior to this current stretch, Colorado sat six points back of the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference and seven points behind Minnesota for third in the Central Division; they now sit third in their division ahead of the Wild (28-20-4, 60 points).
* MacKinnon now has 16-42—58 (40 GP) this season (1.45 P/GP) thanks to his 47th career game-winning goal and 59th career outing with three-plus points – behind Joe Sakic (158 GP), Peter Stastny (128 GP), Michel Goulet (98 GP) and Peter Forsberg (92 GP) for the most in franchise history.
DEFENSEMEN DRIVE TEAMS TO VICTORY IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Saturday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates saw defensemen across the League propel their teams to victory, with a couple reaching franchise and career benchmarks in the process:
* Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot assisted on both of the Red Wings’ goals in the opening 2:35, which marked the second-fastest two points from the start of a game by defensemen in franchise history behind Willie Huber (0:46 on Oct. 29, 1981).
* Calen Addison (0-1—1) factored on one of two Minnesota goals in regulation to boost his career totals to 5-25—30 (69 GP). His 30 points tied Filip Kuba (9-21—30 in 75 GP) for the most by a rookie defenseman in Wild history.
NOT ONE PATH: K’ANDRE MILLER’S CHOICE BETWEEN TWO SPORTS Heading into Super Bowl Sunday, we’re sharing a Not One Path feature on K’Andre Miller who was one choice away from becoming a college football player. Miller was mistaken by the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers football team as one of their recruits after having just watched some of his film while Miller was touring the campus for hockey. His decision to play NCAA hockey as opposed to football led him to become a first-round draft pick for the Rangers – he enters Super Bowl Sunday sitting second on his team in scoring among defensemen (5-24—29 in 53 GP).
FOUR GAMES PRECEDE SUPER BOWL INCLUDING ANAHEIM-VEGAS ON SPORTSNET Eight teams are in action before the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs clash at Super Bowl LVII, including the Ducks (17-30-6, 40 points) and Golden Knights (31-18-4, 66 points) on Sportsnet and Sportsnet ONE.
Today’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates explores if some of the top storylines surrounding the NFL’s finale have ever happened in the NHL and also features other Super Bowl Sunday-centric team and player notes for the eight clubs in action. Some highlights include:
* Super Bowl LVII is set to feature brothers Travis and JasonKelce going head-to-head for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The only Stanley Cup Final in the last 76 years that saw siblings go head-to-head was in 2003 when Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer squared off with his younger brother Rob, a forward for the Mighty Ducks. The elder Niedermayer joined forces with his sibling when he was signed by Anaheim on Aug. 4, 2005, and the brothers won a championship together in 2007.
* Alex Ovechkin (12-7—19 in 15 GP) owns the second-most career goals and points during games on Super Bowl Sunday in NHL history behind Phil Esposito (16-16—32 in 12 GP). Nicklas Backstrom (4-12—16 in 13 GP) has the third-highest assist total in League history, trailing only Esposito and Johnny Bucyk (5-13—18 in 9 GP).
The Detroit Pistons aim to carry the momentum from a double-overtime win into their game against the host Toronto Raptors on Sunday afternoon.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 10 of his 32 points in the two overtime periods and rookie Jalen Duren had a career-high 30 points in the Pistons’ 138-131 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
Detroit will face a reeling Raptors team that squandered a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead in losing 122-116 to the visiting Utah Jazz on Friday.
Duren also grabbed 17 rebounds — two short of his career best — as the Pistons ended a three-game losing streak on Friday.
Over his past 10 games, Duren is averaging 13.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots.
In their loss to the Jazz, the Raptors took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter and still led by 13 with 5:17 to play.
The Raptors wasted a 35-point effort by Pascal Siakam.
Utah was 11-for-13 from the foul line in the final period and shot 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) from the field in the quarter against a porous Raptors defense.
The Raptors shot 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from the field in the final 12 minutes.
Jakob Poeltl, who played his first game for Toronto after being acquired in a trade with the Spurs on Thursday, had six points, four rebounds and five fouls in 16:41 playing time as a reserve.
He started the game on the bench because he had not had a chance to practice with the team, but Nurse expects Poeltl to eventually become a starter and provide an anchor for the defense.
The Raptors were without O.G. Anunoby (wrist) for the seventh consecutive game on Friday.
After an up-and-down stretch that included three straight losses and four in six games, the Boston Celtics are back on a winning streak and are the first NBA team to reach 40 victories this season.
Boston seeks its fourth straight triumph in a Sunday afternoon game against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, who are 23-5 at home and just 11-16 on the road.
Despite playing without three starters in Jaylen Brown (facial swelling), Marcus Smart (ankle) and Al Horford (knee), the Celtics led wire-to-wire and earned a 127-116 win Friday over the Charlotte Hornets.
Derrick White scored a career-high 33 points on the strength of eight of the team’s 25 3-pointers and Jayson Tatum led Boston with 41.
The Celtics integrated a fresh face into the lineup Friday as center Mike Muscala debuted with his new team just a day after being acquired in a trade from Oklahoma City. He scored 12 points in just 16 minutes, including making his first 3-point attempt.
Muscala fit right into the offense in a game in which the Celtics tied for the third-most 3-point makes in franchise history. Muscala made four of his eight attempts from behind the arc.
The Grizzlies have won back-to-back games following a three-game skid and 1-8 stretch, bouncing back for a 128-107 win Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Memphis was hot from beyond the arc, shooting 40 percent from 3-point range (10 of 25) for only the second time in its past 12 games. That was without newcomer Luke Kennard, the sharpshooter who arrived Friday after being acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers a day earlier.
Ja Morant had 32 points, nine assists and nine rebounds in a similar complete-game performance to his last head-to-head meeting with the Celtics.
The teams have not met since Nov. 7, a 109-106 Boston road win in which Tatum went for 39 points, Malcolm Brogdon had 10 rebounds and Smart dished 12 assists.
Morant had 30 points, eight boards and nine assists in that game.
The Celtics have won eight straight home games in the series.
The following are the NFL transactions for Friday, February 10. Transactions will be published each day after they are circulated to NFL clubs. This public version will include waiver requests, assignments via waivers, terminations, free agent signings, reserve list and practice squad additions and deletions, and trades.
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that free agent Minor League pitcher Sonny Vargas has received a 110-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Boldenone, his second positive test for a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
The suspension of Vargas will be effective upon his signing with another Major League organization.
25-year-old hurler coming off stellar season; Deal runs from 2023-27
HOUSTON, TX – The Astros have signed right-handed pitcher Cristian Javier to a five-year contract extension, Astros General Manager Dana Brown announced today. The deal will run through the 2027 season.
Media Note: Both Javier and Brown will be available to the media at a press conference on Thursday, Feb. 16 at Noon ET at the Astros Spring Training facility in West Palm Beach, FL.
“Cristian is an outstanding pitcher, so we are really excited about signing him to a long-term deal,” Brown said. “As a core piece of our rotation, we felt that he is the perfect candidate for this type of deal. This is in line with our vision to try to lock players up to sustain our success both now and in the future.”
Javier, 25, enjoyed a dominant season in 2023 and was a key figure in the Astros run to a World Series championship. In his 148.2 innings of work in the 2022 regular season, Javier tallied 194 strikeouts while allowing just 89 hits. His .170 opponents batting average and 11.74 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings pitched ratio ranked first and second in the Majors, respectively, among pitchers with 140.0 or more innings pitched. He also posted a career-low 2.54 ERA. Javier’s regular season highlight came on June 25 at Yankee Stadium when he hurled the first 7.0 innings of a combined no-hitter vs. the Yankees. In that historic 3-0 victory, Javier allowed just one walk while tallying 13 strikeouts.
In the postseason, Javier was even more dominant as he was 2-0 in three appearances (two starts) with an 0.71 ERA (1ER/21.2IP) while posting a minuscule .051 opponents batting average. In his 12.2 postseason innings overall, he allowed just two hits with 16 strikeouts. His postseason highlight came in Game 4 of the World Series in Philadelphia when he again was a part of a no-hitter. In that historic performance, Javier hurled 6.0 scoreless frames with nine strikeouts as he became a part of just the second no-hitter in World Series history and the first since the Yankees Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
Notably, Javier’s performance in 2022 improved as the season progressed. In his final five regular season starts (after Sept. 1), he was 3-0 with an 0.32 ERA (1ER/28.1IP), allowing just 10 hits and one run in that span (.110 opp. avg.). His ERA and opponents average after Sept. 1 were by far the best in baseball among starters.
Since making his debut in the Major Leagues in 2020, Javier has been one of the most effective pitchers in the Majors. Over the last three seasons (2020-22), in 78 appearances (44 starts), Javier is 20-12 with a 3.05 ERA (103ER/304.1IP) and 378 strikeouts. In that span, his .178 opponents average is the lowest in all of baseball among pitchers with 300+ innings pitched. RHP Corbin Burnes’ .195 opponents average in that span is the second-lowest.
Javier was originally signed by the Astros as a non-drafted free agent on March 19, 2015.
The TorontoBlue Jays have agreed to terms with RHP Luke Bard on a Minor League contract with an invite to 2023 Major League Spring Training.
Bard, 32, appeared in nine Major League games while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees last season, combining for a 1.80 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP across 15.0 innings. The 6-3, 200 lb. righty was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the 2012 draft and made his debut with the Los Angeles Angels in 2018. The native of Charlotte, NC, has pitched in parts of four MLB seasons, going 4-4 with a 4.44 ERA.
Additionally, the Blue Jays have invited internal non-roster C Jamie Ritchie to 2023 Major League Spring Training.
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