Tuesday Morning Sports Update-01/04/2021

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NBA – National Basketball Association
Yesterday
Detroit Pistons 115, Milwaukee Bucks 106
Chicago Bulls 102, Orlando Magic 98

Pistons 115, Bucks 106 – Pistons win 115-106 to snap Bucks’ 6-game winning streak
Saddiq Bey scored a career-high 34 points and the Detroit Pistons beat Milwaukee 115-106 to snap the Bucks’ six-game winning streak. Detroit owned the NBA’s worst record but beat the reigning NBA champions and ended its recent futility in this series by getting a boost from the return of several players who had missed multiple games due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Milwaukee had won 12 consecutive regular-season matchups with the Pistons by an average margin of 16.7 points before Monday.

Bulls 102, Magic 98 – Bulls extend win streak to 8 games, beat Magic 102-98
DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points, Zach LaVine added 27 and the Chicago Bulls won their eight straight game, beating the Orlando Magic 102-98. Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls. Coby White came off the bench to score 17 points. Franz Wagner led Orlando with 22 points. Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who lost their sixth straight. Orlando has three wins since Nov. 17.

Tonight
Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m.

NBA – NBA reschedules postponed games, makes other adjustments
The NBA has rescheduled all 11 games that were postponed in December for virus-related reasons and either shifted the times or dates of 10 other games to help accommodate those changes. Toronto had six games affected, Chicago had five and Brooklyn had four. In all, 18 of the league’s 30 teams had at least one game date changed by the postponements or future adjustments. The updates were revealed Monday.

WNBA – After 8 years as NBA assistant, Hammon to lead team in WNBA
San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon was ready to lead her own team. So she went back to where her career began — the WNBA. Hammon will take over as the Las Vegas Aces’ head coach and general manager after the NBA season concludes. Hammon has spent eight seasons as a Spurs assistant and has interviewed for several NBA head coaching jobs. But for now, her dream of becoming the first woman to lead an NBA team is on hold. She will be the WNBA’s highest-paid coach. She calls the move “a step forward and a step in the right direction” for her and for women’s basketball.

NFL – National Football League – Week 17
Yesterday
Pittsburgh Steelers 26, Cleveland Browns 14

Steelers 26, Browns 14 – Roethlisberger, Steelers top Browns to stay in playoff mix
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 123 yards and a touchdown in likely his final start at Heinz Field as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cleveland 26-14. Roethlisberger says he is leaning toward retirement. He improved to 26-3-1against the Browns in his 18-year career. The Steelers also kept their slim playoff hopes alive with the victory. Pittsburgh needs a win in its regular-season finale against Baltimore and a loss by Indianapolis to Jacksonville to reach the postseason. Baker Mayfield threw for 185 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Browns.

NFL – NFL finale is showdown for playoffs: Chargers at Raiders
The NFL’s schedule changes for Week 18 will feature a Sunday night showdown for a playoff berth. To finish off the NFL’s first 17-game season, the Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders game was flexed from daytime to primetime. Both AFC West rivals are 9-7 and the winner will advance to the postseason. The league also switched two games from Sunday to Saturday. Kansas City, already the AFC West champion, will be at Denver, followed by Dallas at Philadelphia. Neither of those games has the strong postseason implications of Chargers-Raiders.

NFL – Bucs coach: Antonio Brown didn’t claim injury before walkoff
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving on from Antonio Brown, whose NFL career is on hold again after yet another messy departure. Coach Bruce Arians said Monday he has no regrets about giving the often-troubled receiver an opportunity to play with Tom Brady and revive a career derailed by on- and off-the-field issues — even though it ended with Brown leaving the reigning Super Bowl champions in the middle of a game. Arians said he wishes Brown well and that if the receiver needs help he hopes Brown gets it. Arians declined to discuss specifics of what happened but dispelled the notion Brown left after telling coaches he was too injured to re-enter the game.

NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball
Tonight
Michigan at Rutgers, 7:00 p.m.                               News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 6:30
Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan, 7:00 p.m.
Toledo at Central Michigan, 7:00 p.m.

NCAAMBKB – Baylor, Duke remain 1-2 in AP Top 25 poll with few changes
Baylor kept its firm hold on No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll with few changes at the top and no new teams entering the latest rankings. The reigning national champion Bears earned all 61 first-place votes for the third time in four weeks to easily outdistance No. 2 Duke. No. 9 Auburn climbed into the top 10 for the first time this season. No. 16 Providence rose five spots in the week’s biggest jump. No. 24 Seton Hall had the biggest tumble by falling nine spots. LSU, Tennessee and Iowa State also fell.

NCAAFB – College Football – Bowls
Tonight
LSU vs. Kansas State, 9:00 p.m.           TaxAct Texas Bowl – NRG Stadium – Houston, TX

NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
San Jose Sharks at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.
Colorado Avalanche at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m.

NCAAWBKB – Women’s College Basketball
Last Night
Michigan State at Northwestern, PPD

Tonight
(8) Michigan at Nebraska, 9:00 p.m.

MLB – Cameron Maybin retires after 15 major league seasons
Outfielder Cameron Maybin is retiring after 15 major league seasons. The 34-year-old had one hit in 28 at-bats from May 19-29 last season for the New York Mets. He was assigned to Triple-A Syracuse on June 3 and hit .182 with no homers and five RBIs in 44 at-bats for the Mets’ top farm team. Detroit selected him with the 10th overall pick in the 2005 amateur draft. Maybin had a .254 career batting average with 72 homers and 354 RBIs. He played for 10 major league teams and won a World Series title in 2017 with the Houston Astros.

MILB – Iowa Cubs outgoing owner, associates give $600K in bonuses
When outgoing Iowa Cubs chairman and owner Michael Gartner gathered the team’s 23 full-time employees last week in Principal Park’s Betfred Sports Lounge, he told them he was handing out new business cards. What he handed out instead were bonus checks to the tune of $600,000. The Des Moines Register reports the money came from profits from the recent sale of the team, and Gartner and his four associates wanted to share those profits with staff members. Everyone, including the club’s custodian, got a check — $2,000 for every year they had been employed, even as interns. The longest tenured employee received a check for $70,000.

MCCAA – Junior College Athletics
Last Night
Women’s Basketball
Lake Michigan College 65, Kalamazoo Valley Community College 54

Men’s Basketball
Kalamazoo Valley Community College 91, Lake Michigan College 70

MHSAA – High School Sports
Tonight
Boys Basketball
Grand Haven at St. Joseph, 7:00 p.m.
Bangor at Countryside Academy, 6:30 p.m.
Cassopolis at Berrien Springs, 7:30 p.m.
Watervliet at South Haven, 7:00 p.m.
River Valley at Decatur, 7:00 p.m.
Coloma at Dowagiac, 7:15 p.m.
Gobles at Brandywine, 7:00 p.m.
South Bend Career Academy (IN) at New Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Buchanan at Three Rivers, 7:00 p.m.
Paw Paw at Lawton, 7:00 p.m.
Caledonia at Mattawan, 7:00 p.m.
Goshen Clinton Christian (IN) at Howardsville Christian, 7:30 p.m.
Centreville at Kalamazoo Christian, 7:00 p.m.
Portage Central at Harper Creek, 7:00 p.m.
Vicksburg at Portage Northern, 7:00 p.m.
Plainwell at Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, 7:00 p.m.
Battle Creek Academy at Galesburg-Augusta, 7:00 p.m.
Marshall at Gull Lake, 7:00 p.m.
Sturgis at Adrian, 7:00 p.m.
Allegan at Delton-Kellogg, 7:00 p.m.
Wyoming Potter’s House Christian at Saugatuck, 7:00 p.m.

Girls Basketball
Niles at Lakeshore, 6:30 p.m.
Berrien Springs at Cassopolis, 7:30 p.m.
Three Rivers at Buchanan, 7:00 p.m.
Dowagiac at Coloma, 7:00 p.m.
New Buffalo at Lawrence, 7:00 p.m.
Gobles at Brandywine, 5:30 p.m.
Watervliet at South Haven, 5:30 p.m.
Decatur at River Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Mattawan at Edwardsburg, 7:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Christian at Paw Paw, 7:15 p.m.
Middleville Thornapple Kellogg at Plainwell, 7:15 p.m.
Battle Creek Pennfield at Otsego, 7:15 p.m.
Colon at Centreville, 7:00 p.m.
Harper Creek at Portage Central, 7:00 p.m.
Portage Northern at Vicksburg, 7:00 p.m.
Chelsea at Battle Creek Lakeview, 7:15 p.m.
Delton-Kellogg at Allegan, 7:00 p.m.
Battle Creek Academy at Galesburg-Augusta, 5:30 p.m.