BASKETBALL
Acy sits one out after foul
New York Knicks forward Quincy Acy was suspended for one game on Friday after a foul that sparked an altercation with Washington’s John Wall in a Thursday loss. Acy was whistled for a flagrant foul and ejected for his role in the incident, which took place with 5:31 remaining in the fourth quarter of Washington’s 102-91 victory over the Knicks at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Wall was fined US$15,000 for pushing Acy and escalating the incident after being fouled. Teammates had to keep the rivals apart after the incident. Acy missed yesterday’s Knicks game at Sacramento as a result of the suspension. At 20-8, the Wizards rank third in the Eastern Conference and only one game behind Atlanta in the Southeast division. The Knicks, 5-26 after their sixth loss in a row, own the second-worst record in the NBA, with only cellar-dwelling Philadelphia, 4-23, below them.
ICE HOCKEY
Devils fire coach DeBoer
The slumping New Jersey Devils fired coach Peter DeBoer on Friday, the NHL team said. The Devils, with a 12-17-7 record, are seventh in the Metropolitan Division with 31 points after losing their last two games. DeBoer, 46, took over in July 2011 and had a 114-93-41 record for three-plus seasons. He is the third NHL coach to be fired this season. Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators was dismissed on Dec. 8 and Dallas Eakins of the Edmonton Oilers was let go on Dec. 15. DeBoer led the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012, but they have not made the postseason since. The Devils were scheduled to play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden yesterday.
FOOTBALL
Chiefs’ Smith on injured list
With their slim NFL playoff hopes at stake, the Kansas City Chiefs are set to face San Diego without quarterback Alex Smith because he has a lacerated spleen, the team announced on Friday. Smith had practiced earlier this week after suffering the injury in the third quarter of Kansas City’s 20-12 loss to Pittsburgh. He was struck in the abdomen after a throw to Chiefs rookie receiver Albert Wilson. Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said that Smith felt an injury, but did not consider it serious and worked out twice before having it checked. While Smith’s injury does not require surgery, it typically requires six weeks to heal, which would sideline Smith even if the Chiefs reached the Super Bowl. Reserve quarterback Chase Daniel is set to start against the visiting Chargers (9-6), who would swipe the final American Conference playoff spot with a victory. Daniel’s only prior career NFL start came in a last-game win over San Diego last year. The Chiefs (8-7) need a victory and home losses by Baltimore and Houston to claim the final AFC berth.
GOLF
McIlroy sheepish on BBC
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy experienced an awkward moment when he went to watch Ulster take on Connacht in a rugby match on Friday. The Ulster supporter was in the middle of a television interview with the BBC when the Neil Diamond song Sweet Caroline was played over the public address system at halftime. McIlroy responded by smiling sheepishly, looking down at the ground and exclaiming “Oh dear.” The Northern Irishman broke off his engagement to former world No. 1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki in May, the same week as he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite