Brook Lopez leads Brooklyn past short-handed Portland in NBA makeup game
NBA: Brook Lopez dominated twin brother Robin and the short-handed Portland frontcourt with 32 points and nine rebounds, and Brooklyn beat the visiting Trail Blazers 106-96 on Monday night.
The Trail Blazers left LaMarcus Aldridge and others home for the makeup of a game that was postponed by weather on Jan. 26. The Blazers couldn’t stop Brook Lopez, who has won the last two Eastern Conference player-of-the-week awards. He shot 15 of 25 from the field.
Damian Lillard scored 36 points for the Trail Blazers, who had won two in a row. Meyers Leonard had 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Robin Lopez had just eight points and seven boards.
Stepan forces OT, then hits winner
NHL: Derek Stepan scored with 28 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, then got the winner late in the extra period in the New York Rangers’ 4-3 victory over visiting. Columbus.
With their fourth straight win, the Rangers improved to 51-21-7 for a league-best 109 points. With three games remaining, the Rangers are two points ahead of Anaheim for the Presidents’ Trophy.
• Winnipeg blanks Minnesota: Blake Wheeler and Drew Stafford scored, Ondrej Pavelec made 32 saves and Winnipeg gave its playoff push a big boost with a 2-0 victory over Minnesota at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Looney leaves UCLA for NBA draft
College basketball: Kevon Looney is leaving UCLA after one season to enter the NBA draft.
The forward from Milwaukee averaged 11.6 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds as a freshman.
• Zahui B. declares for WNBA draft: Minnesota sophomore Amanda Zahui B. has declared for the WNBA draft.
The 6-foot-5 center was an AP All-American, averaging 18.8 points, 12.9 rebounds and 4.1 blocks.
Testimony ends in Hernandez trial
NFL: Testimony in the murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez ended after the defense called just three witnesses and rested its case in a single day at Falls River, Massachusetts.
Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh told jurors they had heard all the evidence they would hear, and that they were due in court this morning to hear closing arguments and receive instructions. They will then begin deliberations.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd, who was shot six times at an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez’s home in North Attleborough. Lloyd was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. At the time of the killing, the star tight end had a $40 million contract.
Montreal defenseman Dollard St. Laurent dies
Miscellany: Dollard St. Laurent, a defenseman who won five Stanley Cups and played on the powerhouse Montreal Canadiens in the 1950s, has died. He was 85.
St. Laurent played eight seasons for Montreal, winning Stanley Cups in 1953, 1956, 1957 and 1958. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1958 for cash and future considerations and won a title with them in 1961.
• Sharper pleads not guilty: Former NFL star Darren Sharper entered a not guilty plea in his first court appearance in Louisiana to face charges that he drugged women in order to rape them.
Sharper already has pleaded guilty or no-contest to related charges in three other states.