Sports
NBA roundup: Nuggets get two triple-doubles, down Jazz
Dec 30, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) dunks the ball during the second half against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook recorded triple-doubles, Jamal Murray had 20 points and 10 assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz 132-121 in Salt Lake City on Monday.
Jokic finished with 36 points, 22 rebounds and 11 assists for his league-leading 13th triple-double of the season and the 143rd of his career — third all-time behind Oscar Robertson (181) and Westbrook (201).
Westbrook finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points for Denver, which won its second game in a row.
Jordan Clarkson led a balanced Utah attack with 24 points off the bench. Collin Sexton had 22 as the Jazz took their fourth consecutive loss.
Knicks 126, Wizards 106
Josh Hart posted a triple-double for visiting New York, which extended its season-best winning streak to eight games by pulling away from Washington.
Hart finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in his third triple-double of the season and the ninth of his career. Karl-Anthony Towns produced 32 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 22 points off the bench for the Wizards, who have lost 23 of 26 since splitting their first four games.
Kings 110, Mavericks 100
De’Aaron Fox recorded 33 points, six rebounds and six assists and Sacramento snapped a season-worst six-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Dallas.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists as the Kings recovered from an 18-point first-quarter deficit to give interim coach Doug Christie his first win. It was Christie’s second game as coach after Mike Brown was fired on Friday.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored a season-best 30 points and P.J. Washington had a season-high 28 points for the Mavericks, who lost their second straight game. Dallas played without Kyrie Irving (shoulder), Luka Doncic (calf), Klay Thompson (illness), Dereck Lively II (hip) and Naji Marshall (suspension).
Bulls 115, Hornets 108 (OT)
Coby White scored 23 points and had the first basket of Chicago’s 8-0 burst to begin overtime to help the Bulls defeat host Charlotte.
White, playing in a return to his home state, also had 10 rebounds and nine assists on a night when the Bulls shot 37.5 percent from the field. They launched more than half of their shots from beyond the 3-point arc, making 18 of 60 attempts from deep.
The Hornets trailed the entire fourth quarter until Miles Bridges hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left. Charlotte played without team scoring leaders LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. Bridges led the way with 31 points despite going 1-for-10 on 3-point attempts before draining the shot that forced the extra session.
Clippers 116, Pelicans 113
Norman Powell scored 35 points, James Harden added 27 — including four decisive free throws in the final minute — and Los Angeles won at New Orleans.
Ivica Zubac had 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who have won three in a row and five of their past six games.
CJ McCollum scored 33 and Dejounte Murray tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and six steals as the Pelicans lost despite making a season-high 18 3-pointers. It was New Orleans’ 10th straight loss and 19th loss in 20 games.
76ers 125, Trail Blazers 103
Joel Embiid scored a season-best 37 points to guide Philadelphia to a clinical win at Portland.
Embiid went 12 of 21 from the floor and 12 of 13 from the free-throw line and had nine rebounds as the Sixers won their fourth straight game. Tyrese Maxey added 23 points.
Anfernee Simons scored 25 points for Portland while Deni Avdija’s 17-point haul was offset by 10 turnovers. The Blazers shot 8-for-36 from 3-point range while also coughing up 26 turnovers as their two-game winning run ended.
Cavaliers 113, Warriors 95
Darius Garland finished with game highs of 25 points and eight assists as visiting Cleveland cruised to its seventh straight win, defeating host Golden State in San Francisco.
Donovan Mitchell finished with 23 points, and his 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc led Cleveland to an 18-of-47 night (38.3 percent) from long distance.
Golden State star Stephen Curry went 4-for-14 and scored just 11 points, his third-lowest output of the season. Moses Moody paced the Warriors with 19 points.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tundra Esports advances to grand final of DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs
Tundra Esports swept Team Liquid in the upper-bracket final on Saturday to advance to the grand final of the DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs.
The grand final on Sunday will pit Tundra Esports against the winner of the lower-bracket final earlier in the day between Team Liquid and Aurora Gaming in the double-elimination format.
The $1 million Dota 2 event began with 16 teams competing in a round-robin stage split into two groups of eight teams. All series consisted of two games, and the top four teams from each group advanced to Group Stage 2, a single round robin featuring best-of-three matches that ran through Friday.
The playoffs feature best-of-three matches until the grand final, which will be best-of-five.
The championship team will receive $250,000 in prize money and a $40,000 club reward. The runner-up side will get $100,000 and a $30,000 club reward.
Aurora Gaming opened play on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Xtreme Gaming in the lower-bracket semifinal. Xtreme Gaming opened with a win in 40 minutes on red before Aurora Gaming rallied to wins in 47 and 29 minutes, both on red.
Russia’s Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko logged a 21-4-28 kill-death-assist ratio for Aurora Gaming, while teammate Artem “Lorenof” Melnyk of Ukraine post a 23-8-30 K-D-A over three games. Wang “Ame” Chunyu of China had a 23-9-13 K-D-A ratio for Xtreme Gaming, which finished fourth in the tournament.
Tundra Esports dispatched Team Liquid 2-0 in the upper-bracket final, winning in 46 minutes on red and 39 minutes on green.
Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko of Russia posted a 32-2-19 K-D-A ratio for Tundra Esports and teammate Neta “33” Shapira of Israel had a 24-5-30. Michael “MiCKe” Vu of Sweden posted a 13-10-6 ratio for Team Liquid.
Dream League Season 28 prize pool, with prize money and club reward
1. $250,000, $40,000
2. $125,000, $30,000
3. $80,000, $25,000
4. $60,000, $20,000 — Xtreme Gaming
5. $45,000, $15,000 — Team Falcons
6. $35,000, $15,000 — PARIVISION
7. $30,000, $12,500 — BetBoom Team
8. $25,000, $12,500 — MOUZ
9-10. $20,000, $10,000 — OG, Natus Vincere
11-12. $17,500, $10,000 — Team Yandex, Team Spirit
13-14. $15,000, $10,000 — paiN Gaming, GamerLegion
15-16. $10,000, $10,000 — Yakult Brothers, Execration
–Field Level Media
Sports
LYON, Cloud9 in LCS Lock-In grand final
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
LYON knocked out Sentinels to earn a meeting on Sunday with Cloud9 in the grand final of the League Championship Series 2026 Lock-In at Los Angeles.
LYON won 3-1 on Saturday in the lower-bracket final, taking the first map in 31 minutes as Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol of South Korea posted a 7-0-1 kill-death-assist ratio. LYON won again in 37 minutes as Niship “Dhokla” Doshi, an American/Indian player, had a 7-3-6 K-D-A and Berserker a 5-0-6.
Sentinels stayed alive with a victory in 34 minutes in the third game as Ham “HamBak” Yoo-jin of South Korea recorded a 5-0-8 K-D-A.
But LYON wrapped up the match by winning the fourth game in 39 minutes on red. Berserker contributed a 6-3-7 K-D-A.
Following the eight-team Swiss stage in the League of Legends event, six teams competed in the double-elimination playoffs, with all matches best-of-five. The overall winner qualifies for the First Stand Tournament, while the second- and third-place teams will head to the Americas Cup.
Both of the latter two events will be contested in Sao Paulo.
Cloud9, which finished atop the Swiss stage standings with a 3-0 record, has moved through the playoffs by beating FlyQuest 3-0 in the upper-bracket semifinal and Sentinels 3-0 in the upper-bracket final.
LYON, who finished fifth in the Swiss stage, eliminated FlyQuest with a 3-0 victory in the lower-bracket quarterfinals, then a 3-1 triumph over Team Liquid in the bracket’s semifinal before Saturday’s victory.
2026 League Championship Series Lock-In at Los Angeles prize pool
1. TBD, qualifies for First Stand Tournament
2. TBD, qualifies for America’s Cup
3. Sentinels, qualifies for America’s Cup
4. Team Liquid
5-6. FlyQuest, Disguised
7. Dignitas
8. Shopify Rebellion
–Field Level Media
Sports
OpTic Texas moves into first place in CDL Major 2 qualifying
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. OpTic Texas defeated Los Angeles Thieves in a battle of 4-0 teams to move to the top of the standings in qualifying for the Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major on Saturday.
In other second-day action of Week 3 competition, G2 Minnesota edged Riyadh Falcons, Toronto KOI beat Miami Heretics and Carolina Royal Ravens defeated Vancouver Surge.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the second major of the season, to be held March 27-29 in Marston Green, England, as part of the DreamHack Birmingham event.
The top six teams in qualifying head straight into the Stage 2 Major playoffs, while the teams in seventh through 10th place will compete in a play-in round.
The Stage 2 Major champion will receive $150,000 and 100 Call of Duty League points, while the runner-up will get $90,000 and 75 CDL points.
After Los Angeles Thieves claimed an opening 250-238 Den Hardpoint victory, OpTic Texas won the next three to claim a 3-1 victory. A 6-2 Exposure Search and Destroy triumph was followed by a 4-2 Den Overload win before the result was clinched with a 250-173 Colossus Hardpoint triumph.
In Saturday’s first match, G2 Minnesota won the final two games to come away with a 3-2 win. Riyadh opened with a 250-229 Scar Hardpoint victory and took a 2-1 lead with a 5-0 Scar Overload win. G2 leveled it at 1 with a 6-1 Raid Search and Destroy win, tied it at 2 with a convincing 250-134 Colossus Hardpoint victory and won the deciding Colossus Search and Destroy game 6-3.
Toronto finished a sweep of Miami with 250-182 Hardpoint, 6-4 Search and Destroy and 4-2 Overload victories, all on the Den map.
Carolina also swept Vancouver for its second victory in as many days after a 1-3 start. After opening with a 250-186 Blackheart Hardpoint win and following with a 6-2 Den Search and Destroy victory, the team closed out the win with an 8-2 Exposure Overload win.
The weekend schedule:
Sunday
–Toronto KOI vs. Paris Gentle Mates
–FaZe Vegas vs. Boston Breach
–Miami Heretics vs. Cloud9 New York
–Vancouver Surge vs. OpTic Texas
Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifiers standings (match record, map differential)
1. OpTic Texas, 5-0, +11
2. Los Angeles Thieves, 4-1, +8
3. Paris Gentle Mates, 3-1, +5
4. G2 Minnesota, 3-2, +1
5. Riyadh Falcons, 3-3, +2
6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 3-3, -1
7. FaZe Vegas, 2-3, 0
8. Toronto KOI, 2-3, -2
9. Miami Heretics, 1-3, -4
10.. Vancouver Surge, 1-3, -6
11. Cloud9 New York, 1-3, -7
12. Boston Breach, 1-4, -7
–Field Level Media
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Tundra Esports advances to grand final of DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs
