NEW YORK (AP) – Joe Johnson scored 26 points, including five 3-pointers, C.J Watson added 25 points and five 3s, and the Brooklyn Nets avoided another second-half meltdown with a 119-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. All-Star center Brook Lopez had 23 points and eight rebounds and Kris Humphries chipped in 14 points for Brooklyn. The 119 points were a season high for the Nets. They also tied a season-high with 16 3-pointers. Ty Lawson led the Nuggets with 26 points and hit all of his five 3-point attempts. Denver has lost three in a row.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – The injury-riddled Colorado Avalanche will be without Erik Johnson indefinitely after the defenseman suffered a head injury in a game against Phoenix. Johnson was hurt on a hit during an overtime loss to the Coyotes on Monday. The Avs already are missing captain Gabriel Landeskog (head) and defenseman Ryan Wilson (ankle), along with forward Steve Downie, who’s out for the season with a torn ACL.
But they’re expecting to have forward John Mitchell (flu) and defenseman Matt Hunwick (torso) back when they play at Minnesota on Thursday. Although Matt Duchene (DOO’-shayn) skipped practice on Wednesday, coach Joe Sacco (SAK’-oh) said he will be in the lineup. Given the rash of injuries, Colorado could certainly use the offensive flair of Ryan O’Reilly, who is holding out due to a contract dispute.
SCHLADMING, Austria (AP) – Tessa Worley won the giant slalom, earning France its fourth medal of the world championships. Worley held on to her lead after the first run and finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 8.06 seconds to lead the field by over a second.
Tina Maze of Slovenia came 1.12 back in second for her third medal of the worlds. Anna Fenninger of Austria was third, 1.18 behind. American teen Mikaela Shiffrin finished 2.30 behind in sixth in her first appearance at a major championship.
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) – Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius (pihs-TOHR’-ee-uhs) has been charged with murdering his girlfriend. Police say she was shot four times in his home in South Africa. Media outlets in that country have been reporting that his girlfriend may have been trying to surprise Pistorius for Valentine’s Day and he could have mistaken her for an intruder breaking into his home. But police say those reports did not come from them.
UNDATED (AP) – Fifth-ranked Gonzaga (gahn-ZAG’-uh) is the highest-ranked school in action tonight in men’s basketball. The Bulldogs are on the road for a game at Saint Mary’s of California. The only other top-10 school on the court tonight is No. 9 Arizona. The Wildcats, who have won 20 of 23 games, are at Colorado.
UNDATED (AP) – In college basketball last night, top-ranked Indiana improved to 22-3 with a 76-47 win over Nebraska. Second-ranked Duke also won, holding off arch-rival North Carolina 73-68.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Miami and Oklahoma City, the two teams in the NBA Finals last year, are squaring off tonight on the Thunder’s home floor. In their lone meeting of the season, the Heat beat the Thunder in Miami on Christmas Day. LeBron James is on a roll with six straight games of scoring at least 30 points on 60 percent or better field goal shooting.
CLEVELAND (AP) – The top team in the NBA, San Antonio, won its 42nd game of the season last night, holding off the Cavaliers in Cleveland 96-95. Kawhi (kah-WEYE’) Leonard’s 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining gave the Spurs the win. The Cavs dropped to 16-37.
