Ty Jerome scored 27 points and made five 3-pointers to help the Memphis Grizzlies earn a 118-102 victory over the host Toronto Raptors on Monday.
DAKAR—Naomi Marjorie Cesar continues to grow and develop into a potential track star for the Philippines. At the Youth Olympic Games here, Cesar continued to carve her own niche, finishing third in her heat and looking every inch a medalist for a country that has yet to make the podium in this year’s edition of
Mapua wrapped up its NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball elimination-round campaign with a 71-68 victory over Lyceum on Monday at Philsports Arena, gaining a confidence boost ahead of its play-in showdown against the same opponent. The Cardinals finished the eliminations with a 7-6 record and will face the Pirates again on Thursday, this time holding
John Collins had 24 points and 10 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons overcame a big night from Anthony Davis and downed the visiting Washington Wizards, 122-111, on Monday night.
Grayson Allen's 27 points and Naz Reid's 25 points and 13 rebounds carried the Charlotte Hornets past the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 124-112 to halt a six-game losing streak Monday night.
Luka Doncic returned to the lineup and scored 32 points in helping the Los Angeles Lakers extend their winning streak to six games with a 124-114 win over the host Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
ATLANTA — Luka Doncic had 32 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to six games with a 124-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. Walker Kessler had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Collin Sexton had 18 points and six assists off the bench. The Lakers were without guard Austin Reeves, who missed the game due to illness one day after scoring 43 points at Detroit. Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 23 points and was 5 of 8 from 3-point range. The Lakers as a team shot 43% from beyond the arc (15 of 35). CJ McCollum led the Hawks with 21 points off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 20 points and Oneka Okongwu had 16 for Atlanta, which saw its winning streak end at four games. Dyson Daniels was the primary defender on Doncic, and he also had 10 points, eight assists, four steals and a rare 3-pointer. The Hawks pulled cut the Lakers lead 115-111 on a Daniels bucket with 3:30 to play, but a 6-0 burst by the Los Angeles put the game out of reach. Doncic had a driving layup and an assist during the run. The Lakers built a 20-point lead in the second quarter as they sliced through the Hawks defense repeatedly. Doncic set up teammates with eight first-half assists and Kessler had three easy alley-oop dunks off Sexton drives to the basket. The Hawks recovered late in the half with some improved shooting and cut the deficit to nine at the break. Lakers rookie Cameron Carr had a two-handed dunk in transition in the first quarter for his first career points.
LOS ANGELES — Aryna Sabalenka battled past Karolina Muchova in straight sets to make a winning start at the season-ending WTA Finals in Indian Wells on Monday. Former world number one Sabalenka was forced to dig deep before finally prevailing 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 in just under two hours. Second-seeded Sabalenka is chasing her first ever WTA Finals victory after suffering defeats in the 2022 and 2025 finals. The four-time Grand Slam champion from Belarus looked to be in trouble after conceding a break of serve to go 5-4 down in the opening set. But she broke back immediately for 5-5 and subsequently went on to hold her nerve in the tie-break 7-2 to seize the early initiative. Both players struggled on serve in the second set, with Sabalenka suffering her fourth break as she served for the match at 5-4 up. Crucially though, Sabalenka responded to that stumble by breaking back immediately to lead 6-5 and she made no mistake when serving for the match again, wrapping up victory when Czech opponent Muchova netted a backhand. "I'm just trying to win every match I play, and at the same time trying to stay in the moment and focus on my game on each point and trying to stay calm and in control," Sabalenka said afterward. In Monday's other group game, WTA Finals debutant Mirra Andreeva motored past Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-0, despite overcoming pre-match tightness. Third-seed Andreeva, the 19-year-old reigning French Open champion, took control with a break to open up a 4-2 first-set lead and never looked back against her sixth-seeded opponent. She duly held serve to close out the first set, and then demolished Svitolina in the second set, rattling off three service breaks to wrap up victory. "I was so tight, I felt I was moving like a turtle," the teenager said afterwards. "I felt like I couldn't really hit the ball so I'm just very happy to get through the match and control my emotions." Andreeva will face Sabalenka in her second round robin game on Wednesday. This year's WTA Finals were scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia but in July were moved to Indian Wells after US military strikes on Iran in February and the subsequent war in the region.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief Dana White turned down President Donald Trump's — apparently jovial — offer of a job as press secretary in a surprise appearance at the White House on Monday. Trump stunned the world by saying on social media on Saturday that he had asked White to take on the high-profile post — but a day later the 80-year-old president said he was "only kidding." The 57-year-old cage fighting boss visited the White House on Monday, and Trump brought him out for a chaotic news conference in the James Brady Briefing Room. "So let me ask you the big question. Would you like to be press secretary of the United States of America? Or do you just want to stay with this ridiculous UFC? Huh?" Trump said. "Thank you for the offer, sir — for the offer, I have no, no — I do not want to be in politics," White replied. Trump smiled and headed out of the room, saying: "I am devastated to hear this. Goodbye, everybody." The press secretary's post has been been vacant since Katie Zacharia left on October 16 after less than a week in the post. Her combative predecessor Karoline Leavitt left in August after a year and a half in the job. Trump's announcement that he had offered the high-profile job to "violent Fighter and Warrior" White had sparked speculation that he was ready for a aggressive stance after the Republican Party's stunning midterm elections defeat. White is a long-time friend of the president and helped host a massive UFC match on the White House lawn earlier this year. But there was also some skepticism about the president's announcement, and Trump said Sunday night that he had been joking. 'Beat the hell out of you' Leading out White to the podium on Monday, Trump said he had been "having a little fun." "He's a great guy," Trump told the room full of reporters. "The only problem is he'll talk for a little while and then he's going to beat the hell out of you." Standing at the lectern and wearing a black t-shirt and jacket, White looked like he might be more comfortable in the octagon -- the ring used for UFC fights. "I've always wanted to do this. Who has the first question?" he joked — before quickliy adding: "I have zero political aspirations." White added that "the last 24 hours of my life has been insane" since Trump made the announcement. Asked by a journalist to confirm he had said no to the job, White added: "I don't tell the president 'no' to anything... I didn't want to be disrespectful and say anything until he said something first." Trump then took a series of questions on more weighty matters, from the Iran and Ukraine wars to the possible impeachment of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and a spy scandal engulfing Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.
TAGBILARAN CITY, BOHOL, Philippines — Two track and field athletes from Bohol won gold and bronze medals for the Philippines in the 18th Southeast Asian (SEA) U20 and U18 Athletics Championships in Pathum Thani, Thailand. Jhul Ian Cañalita captured the gold medal in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase U20 event, setting a new meet record of
MANILA, Philippines — The PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup quarterfinal series between sister teams San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra has gone down to one, final game. Game 5 between the Beermen and the Gin Kings is set on Tuesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, with the winner advancing to the best-of-five semifinal series against the defending champions TNT Tropang 5G. Game time begins at 7:30 p.m. George King, who struggled on offense in SMB’s 0-2 series start, has rediscovered his shooting touch, especially in Game 4, where he dropped 18 of his game-high 35 points in the third canto, combining with Chris Ross in a swashbuckling stretch run that enabled the Beermen to register a come-from-behind 108-102 win last week. Ross, fired up by his halftime verbal spat with Ginebra assistant coach Olsen Racela, scored 13 of his 20 in the third period, to go along with six rebounds, nine assists and five steals as he helped the Beermen overhaul a 17-point deficit behind a 46-18 third quarter exchange. “We haven’t done nothing yet, we just evened the series,” said Ross, the 41-year-old Fil-American guard, who hopes to help the Beermen achieve another “Beer-acle” run reminiscent of their record-setting 0-3 Finals comeback against Alaska to win the 2016 Philippine Cup title. “They won two straight we won two straight. We’re on to a decider. That’s usually how it goes when we play Ginebra. When we play Ginebra we go to a Game 6 or 7. We’re excited to play in the next game,” added the 12-time PBA champion guard. SMB coach Leo Austria knows they are in good hands with Ross still quarterbacking the SMB backcourt at his game, knowing he is a different “animal” so to speak come playoff time. “We all know that Chris Ross during the playoffs is a different animal, that’s evident,” said Austria. “He’s really focused on this game and I’m so happy he delivered a lot, especially in the time we’re trying to (make a run),” added the 11-time PBA champion coach. “He’s the key, he’s the leader of the team and he knows what to do.” For Ginebra, the league’s most popular squad wouldn’t want to be on the opposite side of history as one that blew a 2-0 series lead. Jordan Murphy, do-it-all guard Scottie Thompson, RJ Abarrientos, Troy Rosario and Japeth Aguilar, as well as Stephen Holt and big man Isaac Go will be at the forefront of the Gin Kings. Abarrientos hopes to also rediscover his shooting touch after being held down to just seven points on 2-of-13 field shooting in Game 4. The Gilas mainstay averaged 19.7 points per contest through the first three games of the series.
MANILA, Philippines — Naomi Marjorie Cesar zoomed to a women's 800m silver medal finish at the Dakar 4th Youth Olympic Games Monday afternoon in Senegal, early Tuesday in Manila. The 17-year-old Cesar clocked 2:09.34 to give the Philippines its first medal in 2-week sports spectacle which will end on Friday. Cesar finished behind gold medalist Netsanet Selemon of Ethiopia who topped the competition with a personal best of 2:04.43. Khadija Elmostaqim of Morocco settled for the bronze medal with 2:10.05.