HOUSTON — Determined to bounce back from an embarrassing loss, the Houston Texans used big performances from Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins and solid defense to beat the Indianapolis Colts and move into first place in the AFC South.
THOUSAND OAKS — Jared Goff was seeing things for the first time in a month at practice Thursday.
LOS ANGELES — Michael Pittman Jr. wants to be perfect, and the Southern California wide receiver has come close in his senior season.
MADRID — Canada became the first team to reach the semifinals of the new Davis Cup Finals, winning the decisive doubles match to beat Australia 2-1 on Thursday.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Major League Baseball has widened its investigation of alleged sign stealing by the Houston Astros and will probe activity by the team over the past three seasons.
LOS ANGELES — Career nights from Desure Buie and Jalen Ray helped propel Hofstra to one of its biggest wins in school history.
Bucks 137, Trail Blazers 129
COSTA MESA — The Los Angeles Chargers’ final five regular-season games after their bye this week could go a long way toward determining whether Philip Rivers will return next year.
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers are showing a capacity for comebacks the NHL hasn’t seen since Wayne Gretzky’s prime.
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Kings coach Todd McLellan described the offensive prowess of Edmonton Oilers stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as “as close to unstoppable right now” as anyone in the NHL.
Islanders 4, Penguins 3, OT
DEL MAR — The California Horse Racing Board has chosen a longtime veterinarian as its new chairman.
MADRID — Andy Murray had been in a similar position before, struggling and needing a big comeback to pull off an important victory.
TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos celebrated another milestone in a stellar career with grace and humility.
Earlier in the schedule, the AFC South looked like one of the NFL’s deepest divisions. That might still be true, though none of the four members has exactly distinguished itself.
76ers 109, Knicks 104
TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Mike Babcock and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe.
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LOS ANGELES — Lou Williams scored 27 points, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 42 points in their first game together for the Clippers, and Los Angeles rallied to edge the Boston Celtics 107-104 in overtime Wednesday night.
Senators 2, Canadiens 1, OT
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Amid the thunder and contrails of another NHRA Finals at Pomona there were echoes of Los Angeles County Raceway.
Pac-12 powers No. 6 Oregon and No. 7 Utah are on the road this weekend, trying to continue their march to a mega-meeting with huge playoff ramifications in the conference championship game next month.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The freefall is over, rock bottom hit more than a year ago, the restart button officially activated.
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Fourth Saturday Classic Car Show: 4 to 8 p.m. the fourth Saturday of each month in the Rancho Vista shopping center at 30th Street West and Rancho Vista Boulevard (Avenue P). Registration is a $5 donation. For details, call (661) 816-2216.
Brandon Dickson, the U.S. closer who blew a ninth-inning lead, threw his last major league pitch in 2012. Caleb Thielbar, who gave up the game-winning hit in the 10th, threw his last big league pitch in 2015.
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Ron Hornaday, Jr. handed out hundreds of business cards with his phone number at auto shows over the years.
LOS ANGELES — Landon Donovan can be excused for thinking Major League Soccer’s top players had faced their Mexican league counterparts in an All-Star game before.
The College Football Playoff rankings were unchanged at the top this week, with LSU first followed by Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia.
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LOS ANGELES — When Kobe Bryant put his hand out in friendship, Dwight Howard naturally recoiled into a defensive posture.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred hopes the investigation into sign stealing by the Houston Astros will be complete by next season and says he has authority to impose discipline beyond the loss of amateur draft picks.
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The Lancaster JetHawks were named on a short list of Minor League Baseball teams that could have their Major League Baseball affiliation severed in a proposed plan from Major League Baseball.
MEXICO CITY — No matter the opponent and no matter the country, the Los Angeles Chargers’ offense just can’t seem to score consistently when it really counts this season.
MEXICO CITY — Nearly everything about this Monday night game felt foreign to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, from the gasp-inducing altitude of raucous Azteca Stadium to the struggles of their powerhouse offense.
THOUSAND OAKS — Even Sean McVay had to recognize that the Los Angeles Rams didn’t really look like a McVay-coached team during their 17-7 victory over the Chicago Bears.
DEL MAR — A 3-year-old filly has collapsed and died after a workout at Del Mar, while another horse that was injured in a race on Nov. 10 has been euthanized, making it four horses that have died since the track’s fall meet began Nov. 6.
WASHINGTON — Just as combatants were being separated in the aftermath of a heated brawl, Erik Gudbranson gave Garnet Hathaway another punch and received something he didn’t expect in return.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s team surgeon said Tua Tagovailoa’s prognosis was “excellent” after the quarterback underwent surgery to repair a dislocated hip, although there is no timeline for Tagovailoa’s recovery.
NEW YORK — Derek Jeter is among 18 newcomers on the 2020 Hall of Fame ballot. He is likely to be an overwhelming choice to join former New York Yankees teammate Mariano Rivera in Cooperstown after the reliever last year became the first unanimous pick by the Baseball Writers’ Association of …
LOS ANGELES — Paul George hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 25 seconds left, lifting the Los Angeles Clippers over the Oklahoma City Thunder 90-88 on Monday night to improve to 8-1 at home.
NEW YORK — Notre Dame’s 12-year run in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll is over.
Duke is back at No. 1, moving up a spot following a pair of victories last week.
PLEASANTVILLE, N.J. — The Philadelphia Eagles have offered to host a high school football game that was interrupted by a shooting that left a 10-year-old boy in critical condition.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Antti Raanta got a surprise start in net for the Arizona Coyotes and made the most of it.
U.S. bobsledder Steven Holcomb is getting one last victory celebration.
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