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.
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
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