Durant powers Thunder past Mavericks
NBA: Kevin Durant scored 28 points, Russell Westbrook had 15 points and nine assists and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder beat the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 99-95 on Thursday night.
Shawn Marion had a season-high 25 points for the Mavericks, who were without top scorer Dirk Nowitzki for a career-high sixth straight game with a sprained right knee.
• Evans helps Kings in rare rout of Nuggets: Tyreke Evans had 27 points and a season-high 12 assists to help the Sacramento Kings rout the Denver Nuggets 122-102 in Sacramento, Calif. The Kings scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to build a 21-point lead in their highest-scoring game of the season. They shot 56 percent and gave coach Paul Westphal his 300th career victory.
Pouliot gives Habs SO win over Penguins
NHL: Benoit Pouliot scored on Montreal’s fifth shootout attempt to give the Canadiens a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were missing injured captain Sidney Crosby in Montreal.
Carey Pricemade 31 saves through overtime and perfect in the shootout for the Canadiens.
• Maple Leafs blow lead, beat Blues in SO: Tyler Bozak scored the shootout winner for the host Toronto Maple Leafs, who bounced back from blowing a three-goal lead and beat the St. Louis Blues 6-5. After Phil Kessel gave Toronto a 5-2 lead early in the third period, the Blues tied the game by scoring three times in a 7-minute stretch.
Blue Devils beat Terps to reach 15-0
Women’s basketball: Jasmine Thomas scored seven of her 22 points in the final 2 minutes, and No. 3 Duke remained undefeated by rallying past No. 14 Maryland 71-64 in Durham, N.C. Kim Rodgers scored 18 points and Diandra Tchatchouang added 14 for Maryland.
• Georgia Tech upsets No. 8 North Carolina: Metra Walthour hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 23.6 seconds remaining, Tyaunna Marshall scored 24 points and Georgia Tech beat No. 8 North Carolina 71-70 in Atlanta.
• Rickets, Arkansas upset No. 10 Kentucky: C’eira Ricketts scored 19 points to lead No. 25 Arkansas to a 78-67 win over No. 10 Kentucky in Fayetteville, Ark. The Razorbacks led by four in the second half before going on a 17-4 run to go up 56-39.
Cowboys pick Garrett as eighth head coach
NFL: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones officially dropped the interim tag from head coach Jason Garrett’s title and announced a four-year contract that makes Garrett, 44, the team’s head coach and offensive coordinator through the 2014 season.
• Sources: Harbaugh not joining Dolphins: Two people familiar with the negotiations said talks between Jim Harbaugh and the Miami Dolphins have broken off, and the team is expected to retain Tony Sparano as coach.
Harbaugh met Thursday with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross in the San Francisco area, two other people with knowledge of the situation said. After the meeting, Harbaugh was still considering staying at Stanford, one person said.
The NFL’s 49ers and Denver Broncos are also reportedly are in the running.
Braves lock up Uggla with five-year deal
MLB: The Braves locked up Dan Uggla with the team’s largest contract in nearly a decade. Uggla completed a $62 million, five-year contract with Atlanta, passing up the chance to perhaps earn a more lucrative deal in free agency after the 2011 season.
• Lee finalizes contract with Orioles: First baseman Derrek Lee finalized a $7.25 million, one-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles, who hope he can provide punch to a lineup that ranked 21st in home runs last season.
• Murphy, Rangers avoid arbitration with deal: Outfielder David Murphy and the Texas Rangers have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a $2.4 million, one-year contract.
Byrd, Pettersson share first-round lead
Miscellany: Jonathan Byrd and Carl Pettersson enjoyed the views and surprising calm conditions to open the new PGA Tour season at 7-under 66 to share the lead at Kapalua, Hawaii. Ben Crane was a shot back after a 6-under 67.
• Taurasi’s contract in Turkey terminated: The uncertainty caused by Diana Taurasi’s two positive tests in Turkey for the banned stimulant modafinil resulted in the termination of her contract by her European team, Fenerbahce. Team officials made the decision after the Turkish Basketball Federation announced the results of the second test.
• Myhrer wins men’s World Cup slalom race: At Zagreb, Croatia, Andre Myhrer won a men’s World Cup night slalom for his second career victory. The Swede finished in a time of 1 minute, 52.74 seconds. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia was 0.10 seconds back in second, and Swedish teammate Mattias Hargin was 0.36 back in third.
• Sisters finish 1-2-3-4 at Santa Anita: Four sisters – all daughters of California sire Unusual Heat – grabbed the top four spots in the fifth race at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. The winner was the longest shot of the four by far – 20-1 Phi Beta Heat – followed by heavy favorite Bitt a Heat in second, Unknown Heat in third and Favoloso in fourth.