BASKETBALL
Love out 6 weeks
Cavaliers All-Star forward Kevin Love will be out at least six weeks following knee surgery. Love had the operation on his left knee Tuesday in New York. The Cavs said he will be sidelined approximately six weeks, which would have him returning by April 1. The playoffs start later that month. The 28-year-old had complained of soreness and had swelling in his knee following Saturday's victory over Denver. Love is averaging 20 points and 11.1 rebounds for the defending NBA champions. Love, who recently missed some games with back spasms, has been having his best season with Cleveland. Following two seasons of drama and trade rumors, he has blended in with stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Love's absence will put further stress on Cleveland's depth and could force General Manager David Griffin to make a major move before the Feb. 23 trading deadline.
Raptors, Magic trade
Toronto and Orlando have finalized a trade that sends Serge Ibaka to the Raptors for Terrence Ross and a 2017 first-round pick. Orlando General Manager Rob Hennigan said Tuesday evening the trade of Ibaka for Ross was necessary if the Magic hope to salvage a season that has gone drastically off course. Ibaka averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Magic this season. He has long been considered a rugged defensive power forward, and his experience making deep playoff runs with the Thunder should be a tremendous asset to the Raptors. Ibaka will be a free agent this summer. Ross is in the first year of a three-year, $31 million contract. Ross averaged 10.4 points and 2.6 rebounds with the Raptors, who entered Tuesday tied for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Oakley ban lifted
Madison Square Garden has lifted its ban on Charles Oakley, a person briefed on the discussions told The Associated Press. The person who spoke to the AP on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the discussions were to remain private said the former Knicks star who was arrested at a game last week is welcome back at the arena. Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan banned Oakley on Friday, two days after the former power forward had an altercation with security guards while attending a game. But the sides reconciled quickly, helped by a meeting Monday at NBA headquarters with Commissioner Adam Silver and Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. Jordan and Oakley were teammates in Chicago before Oakley was traded to New York, where he became a fan favorite with the Knicks from 1988-98. Dolan then decided Oakley is welcome back at the arena, the person told the AP. The Knicks said they had nothing to add beyond a statement Monday from Silver, who said both sides were apologetic and thanked them for working toward a resolution.
D-League rebranded
The NBA Development League will be renamed the NBA Gatorade League for the 2017-18 season. NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said the agreement also allows the "G-League" to take advantage of Gatorade's Sports Science Institute. Tatum said the league will use the institute's "sports science expertise and knowledge to enhance player performance in our game" through nutrition, training and other advances. Gatorade senior vice president and general manager Brett O'Brien listed several examples: testing for a player's sweat type and amount, if they are a fat burner or carbohydrate burner, recovery advances and joint health. The league also remains a testing ground for changes that could be implemented into the parent league.
FOOTBALL
Sandusky son arrested
Jeffrey Sandusky, 41, a son of former Penn State University assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, has been jailed as he awaits a hearing on charges he pressured a teenage girl to send him naked photos and asked her teen sister to give him oral sex. Jeffrey Sandusky was arrested Monday, more than five years after his father was arrested in a child molestation case that shook Penn State and is still working its way through criminal and civil courts. He faces 14 counts, including solicitation of statutory sexual assault and solicitation of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. His lawyer isn't commenting on the allegations. Jeffrey Sandusky, a state prison guard, knew the girls through their mother, authorities said. A state trooper said in the arrest affidavit that on Nov. 21, the girls' father turned over to investigators text messages from Sandusky in which he asked one of the girls for nude photographs. The affidavit said Sandusky told the teen in texts in March that his request was "not weird" because he had "studied medicine" and instructed her not to show the texts to anyone. Prosecutors allege Jeffrey Sandusky sought oral sex from the other girl in 2013. She was 15 years old at the time. One of six adopted children of Jerry Sandusky, Jeffrey Sandusky has been a stalwart supporter of his father, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for the sexual abuse of 10 boys. Jerry Sandusky maintains he was wrongly convicted and is appealing. Jeffrey Sandusky was suspended without pay Monday from employment as a corrections officer at Rockview State Prison, near State College, Pa. He was hired in August 2015.
BASEBALL
Cuban players testify
Two Cuban baseball players told a federal jury they paid tens of thousands of dollars from signing bonuses with Major League Baseball teams to a smuggling network that prosecutors say was overseen by a Florida sports agent and his associate. Players Jorge Padron and Reinier Roibal told a Miami jury Tuesday how they were spirited off the communist-governed island on speedboats bound for Cancun, Mexico, to train while awaiting documents necessary to come to the U.S., where they eventually signed lucrative free-agent contracts. The two testified in the alien-smuggling and conspiracy trial of agent Bartolo Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada, who contend their business was legitimate. Roibal says he paid the group about $170,000 out of his San Francisco Giants contract. Padron says he paid them about $140,000 after signing with the Boston Red Sox.
TENNIS
No. 5 Tomic upset
Darian King, a qualifier from Barbados, knocked off No. 5 seed Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday in the first round of the Memphis Open. King, ranked 140th in the world, dropped just 12 points in 10 service games and never faced a break-point situation against the 32nd-ranked Tomic. Other first-round winners Tuesday included No. 7 seed Steve Darcis of Belgium, Ryan Harrison of the United States and Matthew Ebden of Australia. Harrison won 6-3, 7-5 over Russia's Konstantin Kravchuk to advance to a second-round matchup with No. 3 seed Sam Querrey. Darcis won 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 over Radu Albot of Moldova. Ebden rallied from a break down in each of the last two sets to beat Canada's Peter Polansky 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 in a matchup between two qualifiers. Ebden won the last six games of a match that featured a total of 14 service breaks.
Klizan advances
Defending champion Martin Klizan of Slovakia beat Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 to reach the second round of the World Tennis Tournament at Rotterdam on Tuesday. In an erratic contest, both players dropped serve four times. The unseeded Klizan, who had lost their two previous meetings, next plays Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber. Kohlschreiber advanced after beating eighth-seeded Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-2, breaking the Frenchman's serve four times. Pouille, 22, ranked 17th and considered a future top 10 player, has been hampered by a right foot injury in the past month. Sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France dropped serve three times in a 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas, 18, a Greek player making his ATP main draw debut. Tsonga, ranked 14th, next plays Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, who had 14 aces in a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Tallon Griekspoor, a Dutchman ranked 319. Also, Gilles Simon beat last year's semifinalist Nicolas Mahut 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-French match. Later, top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia was facing Frenchman Benoit Paire and Croatian Borna Coric was taking on Russian Karen Khachanov.
HOCKEY
Canadiens fire, hire coach
The Montreal Canadiens have fired coach Michel Therrien and hired Claude Julien to replace him. Julien was just fired as coach of the Boston Bruins last week. Montreal General Manager Marc Bergevin made the announcement Tuesday, two days into his team’s bye week. The Canadiens are the NHL’s worst team since the start of January and lost 4-0 to the Bruins on Sunday. They next play Saturday against Winnipeg. Therrien was in his fifth season of his second tour of duty as Canadiens coach. They missed the playoffs last season after goaltender Carey Price injured his knee in November. Julien returns to Montreal, where he coached from 2003-2006. He won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and was the longest-tenured coach until last week.
Sports on 02/15/2017