Lakers hire D’Antoni as new coach

NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Mike D’Antoni, signing the former coach of the Suns and Knicks to a four-year contract to replace Mike Brown.

The Lakers and D’Antoni’s agent, Warren LeGarie, confirmed the deal late Sunday night, two days after the Lakers fired Brown five games into the season.

D’Antoni got the high-profile job running the 16-time NBA champions after negotiations broke down with former Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The 11-time NBA champion coach spoke to the club’s top brass Saturday about a return.

Lakers owners Jerry and Jim Buss instead went with D’Antoni, who spent five seasons coaching Lakers point guard Steve Nash in Phoenix. Nash won two MVP awards while running D’Antoni’s up-tempo offense, and they won at least 54 games in each of D’Antoni’s last four seasons.

Nash and Kobe Bryant both expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of playing for D’Antoni, although Bryant eagerly campaigned for a third stint for Jackson on the Lakers’ bench. Bryant idolized D’Antoni while growing up in Italy, where D’Antoni was a star player in the Italian league.

• Jefferson pushes Jazz past Raptors in triple OT: Paul Millsap scored seven of his 34 points in the third overtime, Al Jefferson had 24 points and 17 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz picked up their first road win of the season, beating the host Toronto Raptors 140-133.

Utah rallied after trailing by 11 in the fourth quarter, no basket bigger than Jefferson’s 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation, a shot that bounced around the rim before falling through.

• James scores 38 in Heat’s win at Houston: LeBron James scored a season-high 38 points, Chris Bosh had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and the visiting Miami Heat rallied to beat the Houston Rockets 113-110.

Jeremy Lin of Houston shot an airball from 3-point range with 10 seconds left.

• Smith leads Hawks over Trail Blazers: Josh Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Kyle Korver had 16 points and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a two- game skid with a 95-87 win over the host Portland Trail Blazers.

No. 1 Indiana fends off North Dakota St.

College Basketball: Cody Zeller scored 22 points and Remy Abell added a career-high 14 to lead No. 1 Indiana past North Dakota State 87-61 in Bloomington, Ind.

North Dakota State was led by Marshall Bjorklund with 16 points and Mike Felt with 11.

• No. 5 Michigan routs IUPUI: Trey Burke scored 22 points and Glenn Robinson III added 21, leading No. 5 Michigan to a 91-54 victory over IUPUI in Ann Arbor, Mich., in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Burke equaled a career high with nine assists and Robinson made his first eight shots from the field. Michigan (2-0) has been a model of efficiency on offense so far this season. • Oregon defeats Portland State: Freshman point guard Dominic Artis scored 16 points to lead Oregon over Portland State 80-69 in Eugene, Ore.

Carlos Emory added 15 points and Damyean Dotson had 12 points and six rebounds for Oregon, which made 8 of its first 11 3-point attempts to build a big lead and never trailed.

• Carrier Classic will return to Yorktown: The Carrier Classic will return to the USS Yorktown to open the college basketball season despite last weekend’s cancelled contest between Ohio State and Marquette.

Morale Entertainment president Mike Whalen said his group and the Patriots Point Development Authority have agreed to hold the event again next year.

Djokovic tops Federer to win ATP

Tennis: Even when Roger Federer had the lead, Novak Djokovic had the answers.

The top-ranked Serb recovered from early breaks in both sets and beat Federer 7-6 (6), 7-5 in the championship match at the ATP finals in London.

Federer broke Djokovic’s serve to take a quick 2-0 lead in the first set, and then again to open to the second set, but the world’s No. 1 player rebounded each time.

Six, not seven games for NCAA playoff

Miscellany: The new college football postseason system will have six games as originally planned, but now a spot in the marquee bowls will be reserved for the best team from a group of five conferences.

The tweak to the postseason format that will start in 2014 was made during a meeting of conference commissioners and university presidents.

• Rose teams with Hanson to win Skills Challenge: Justin Rose of Britain and Peter Hanson of Sweden won the Tyco Golf Skills Challenge at the Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

Rose and Hanson beat recent U.S. Ryder Cup rivals Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley in the Reverse Scramble finale to secure the title.

The six skills were: long drive, mid-iron, bunker shot, chip shot, trouble shot, and short iron.

• Eaton, Felix win 2012 Jesse Owens Award: Ashton Eaton owns the world record and an Olympic gold medal in the decathlon – accomplishments that helped him join four-time recipient Allyson Felix as a 2012 Jesse Owens Award winner.

USA Track and Field will present Eaton and Felix their awards on Dec. 1 in Daytona Beach, Fla.