95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports @wsjmsports wsjmsports.com Thursday, December 15, 2016
NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Detroit Pistons 95, Dallas Mavericks 85
Miami Heat 95, Indiana Pacers 89
Pistons 95, Mavericks 85 – Jackson, Drummond lead Pistons over last-place Mavs 95-85
Reggie Jackson scored 20 points, Andre Drummond led a dominant rebounding effort with 17 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Dallas Mavericks 95-85 on Wednesday night. Jon Leuer had a season-high 19 points off the bench as the Pistons beat the team with the worst record in the Western Conference three nights after losing to Philadelphia, the last-place team in the East. Drummond had 10 rebounds in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the game and the Pistons had a 29-9 edge on the boards at halftime and 50-30 for the game. The 6-foot-11 center had more rebounds than Dallas by himself until the middle of the third quarter, when the Mavericks finally went ahead 15-14. Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks with 19 points.
Heat 85, Pacers 89 – Whiteside gets 26 points, 22 boards as Heat top Pacers 95-89
Miami earned a 95-89 win over Indiana behind Hassan Whiteside’s 26 points and 22 rebounds. James Johnson added 14 points for the Heat, who outrebounded Indiana 58-38 and won consecutive games at home for the first time all season.
Tonight
Chicago Bulls at Milwaukee Bucks, 8:00 p.m.
Indiana Pacers at New Orleans Pelicans, 8:00 p.m.
NBA – NBA, players reach tentative agreement on labor deal
The NBA and its players have agreed in principle on a new collective bargaining agreement, one that still needs to be formally ratified by players and owners in the coming weeks. The league announced the tentative agreement Wednesday night, one day before the sides faced a deadline for opting out of the current deal. That deadline for opting out has now been extended to Jan. 13, with the NBA saying that’s “In order to give both sides enough time to review the terms of the agreement and vote to ratify.”
NFL – National Football League – Week 15
Tonight
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks, 8:25 p.m. 95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports 8:00
NFL – Lions’ Stafford throws with glove covering only hurt finger
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had a different look at practice Wednesday. He wore a glove on his right throwing hand that covered only his injured middle finger. He seemed to throw accurately with a decent degree of velocity to teammates during the portion of practice that was open to reporters. The New York Giants will provide a much tougher test for Stafford’s ability to pass effectively with a banged-up finger outdoors and on the road this weekend. Stafford hurt his finger in the first quarter of Sunday’s win over Chicago. He played the rest of the game with a glove covering all his fingers and thumb on his right hand.
NFL – Bears WR Jeffery takes responsibility for 4-game suspension
Chicago Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery accepted responsibility for his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy against performance-enhancing drugs and acknowledged letting down the team on Wednesday. He said the Bears (3-10) likely would have won a few more games had he been playing. They dropped three of four in his absence and will host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (7-6) on Sunday.
NFL – Rodgers gets a day off…AP coming back
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers got the day off from practice to rehab his leg injuries. The team says he probably won’t work out on Thursday, either. Rodgers is expected to play when the Packers visit Chicago Sunday. He’s nursing left hamstring and right calf injuries.
NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
Chicago Blackhawks at New York Islanders, 7:00 p.m.
Los Angeles Kings at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.
NHL – Detroit Red Wings honoring cops, especially fallen officers
The Detroit Red Wings are honoring law enforcers, especially five Michigan officers killed in the line of duty this year. The Red Wings play the Los Angeles Kings at Joe Louis Arena on Thursday. The team says the opening ceremony will be dedicated to the fallen officers, three from Detroit and two from Berrien County in southwestern Michigan. They are Wayne State University Officer Collin Rose, Detroit Sgt. Ken Steil, Detroit Officer Myron Jarrett and Berrien County courthouse officers Ron Kienzle and Joe Zangaro. Kienzle and Zangaro were killed in a shootout with a man who tried to escape from the Berrien County courthouse. The Red Wings say more than 1,100 police officers and their families will attend the game.
NCAAFB – Western Kentucky hires Notre Dame assistant Mike Sanford as coach
Western Kentucky athletic director Todd Stewart has hired Mike Sanford as football coach. A news conference was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon to introduce the 34-year-old Sanford, who had spent the past two seasons as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Sanford also coached QBs at WKU in 2010 in a 12-year coaching career with stops at Stanford, Yale, UNLV and Boise State, where he played QB from 2000-04. Sanford replaces Jeff Brohm, who left WKU last week to take Purdue’s head coaching job. He takes over a Hilltoppers program that went 30-10 in three seasons under Brohm and has won back-to-back Conference USA championships. Defensive coordinator and interim coach Nick Holt will guide WKU (10-3) in the Boca Raton Bowl against Memphis (8-4) on Dec. 20.
NCAAFB – Cardinals AD says ex-Wake analyst shared plays with assistant
Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich has confirmed that former Wake Forest assistant football coach and broadcaster Tommy Elrod shared a few plays with a Cardinals assistant before the teams played last month. Jurich said Elrod passed along the plays to offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway, who then shared them with the defensive staff. Jurich added that “none of the special plays were run during the course of the game.” Galloway and Elrod were assistants to Jim Grobe at Wake Forest from 2001-12. The statement came a day after Wake Forest disclosed the findings of its nearly month-long internal investigation into potential leaks when documents related to the team’s game plan were found at Louisville’s stadium. Elrod has been fired from his job as an analyst on the Demon Deacons’ radio broadcasts and banned from the school’s athletic facilities.
MLB – Cubs agree to $6 million, 1-year deal with Koji Uehara
The World Series champion Cubs have come to terms on a $6 million, one-year contract with relief pitcher Koji Uehara. Uehara went 2-3 with a 3.45 ERA and seven saves in 50 appearances for Boston last season. He spent the last four seasons with the Red Sox.
MLB – Sox sign Holland
The White Sox have agreed to a $6 million, one-year contract with left-hander Derek Holland who has been plagued by injuries for the past three seasons. He missed two months while with Texas last season due to inflammation in his left shoulder and finished 7-9 with a 4.95 ERA in 22 games.
MLB – New deal approved
Major League Baseball will continue to enjoy labor peace for five more seasons. Owners and players have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement that runs through 2021. Teams yesterday voted 29-1 to approve the deal, and the union said its executive board unanimously ratified it. A person familiar with the owners’ vote tells The Associated Press that Tampa Bay managing general partner Suart Sternberg cast the lone dissenting vote. Baseball hasn’t had a work stoppage since 1995.
WNBA – Seattle to host 2017 WNBA All-Star Game
Seattle will host the WNBA All-Star Game next year. The league announced Wednesday that the game will take place July 22 in the city for the first time. The league didn’t have an All-Star Game last season because of the Olympics. The midseason showcase has been held out west only twice, both times in Phoenix, most recently in 2014. The 2015 All-Star Game was held in Connecticut. The West beat the East 117-112 as Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx scored a game-record 30 points.
The WNBA will begin its 21st season on May 13 with three games.
AHL – American Hockey League
Today
Grand Rapids Griffins at Chicago Wolves, 12:00 p.m.
ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Last Night
Toledo Walleye 5, Utah Grizzlies 3
NBADL – NBA Developmental League
Last Night
Grand Rapids Drive 121, Windy City Bulls 91
MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Boys Basketball
Kalamazoo Lakeside 71, Covert 39
Boys Wrestling
Portage Northern 72, St. Joseph 12
Three Rivers 52, South Haven 0
Tonight
Boys Basketball
Vicksburg at Allegan, 7:15 p.m.
Girls Basketball
Michigan Lutheran at Countryside Academy, 6:00 p.m.
Brandywine at Bridgman, 7:30 p.m.
New Buffalo at Bronson, 7:30 p.m.
Comstock at Buchanan, 7:30 p.m.
Allegan at Vicksburg, 7:15 p.m.
Mendon at White Pigeon, 7:30 p.m.
Parchment at Berrien Springs, 7:30 p.m.
Boys Swimming and Diving
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix at St. Joseph, 6:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Central at Bridgman/Lakeshore, 6:00 p.m.
