Jose Abreu tests positive for virus; Miller says he had it

American League MVP José Abreu tested positive for COVID-19 and will spend a few days away from the Chicago White Sox, while Cardinals reliever Andrew Miller told a St. Louis newspaper he tested positive 10 days before reporting to

camp.

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said Wednesday in a statement that Abreu is “completely asymptomatic.” Hahn said testing also showed the presence of COVID-19 antibodies, and the Cuban slugger believes he had a mild case of the virus in January.

Suns’ Booker replaces Lakers’ Davis in NBA AllStar Game

NEW YORK — Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker was selected Wednesday to replace injured Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis in the NBA All-Star Game.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver choose Booker to take Davis’ spot a day after Booker was snubbed by the league’s head coaches for a reserve spot in the March 7 game in Atlanta.

“Devin Booker is the most disrespected player in our league!!! Simple as that,” Lakers star LeBron James tweeted after Booker was left out Tuesday.

Davis, voted in as a reserve, is sidelined by a strained right calf.

Booker received his second straight All-Star selection, both as an injury replacement. He’s averaging 24.7 points, 4.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds and shooting a career-high 50.1% from the field.

Clippers rout Wizards 135-116, snap Washington’s win streak

LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points and the Los Angeles Clippers routed Washington 135-116 on Tuesday night, snapping the Wizards’ season-high five-game winning streak.

Paul George had 30 points before leaving with 7:19 remaining because of a minutes restriction after a toe injury. The Clippers had four bench players in double figures as their reserves outscored the Wizards’ subs 58-29.

Bradley Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer at 32.9 points per game, finished with 28 points and 10 assists. Russell Westbrook had 20 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

Washington cut an 18-point deficit to five going into the fourth quarter. But the Clippers’ bench was too much even with top reserve Lou Williams resting. Terrance Mann scored their first seven points in the period.

Westbrook scored on his offensive rebound, getting the Wizards within nine. They never got any closer, and were outscored 21-8 as the Clippers went up 132-110.

Reggie Jackson sandwiched consecutive 3-pointers between two dunks by Ivica Zubac, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson finished with 17 points. Marcus Morris hit one of LA’s eight 3s in the fourth.

Leonard and George teamed up for the Clippers’ first eight points of the third.

Canadiens fire coach Claude Julien amid losing stretch

MONTREAL — The struggling Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller on Wednesday following a three-game skid.

Assistant coach Dominique Ducharme was appointed interim coach, and Alex Burrows was added to the Canadiens’ coaching staff.

After a one-week break in their schedule, the Canadiens have lost three in a row. They’ve lost five of six and six of eight since a strong start.

A 5-4 shootout loss in Ottawa against the Senators on Tuesday night marked the end of the line for Julien, who returned for his second goround as Montreal’s coach midway through the 2016-17 season.

The Canadiens were battling the Toronto Maple Leafs for top spot in the North Division earlier in the season but have since dropped into fourth.

Julien had to leave the team during the first round of the playoffs last year in Toronto when he had a stent installed in a coronary artery. Muller took over the head coaching duties and the Habs extended the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers to six games before bowing out.

Rapinoe-led US beats Argentina 6-0 to win SheBelieves Cup

ORLANDO, Fla. — Megan Rapinoe scored twice and the United States won the SheBelieves Cup title with a 6-0 victory over Argentina on Wednesday night

The United States is undefeated in 37 games in a row overall and 53 on American soil.

Carli Lloyd, Kristie Mewis, Alex Morgan and Christen Press also scored, and the U.S. women also become the first team to have three straight shutouts in the SheBelieves Cup, which is in its sixth year.

The United States shut out Canada in the round-robin tournament opener and then downed Brazil 2-0 on Sunday. Earlier Wednesday, Brazil beat Canada 2-0 at Exploria Stadium. Brazil finished second.

Argentina, a late addition after Japan dropped out because of coronavirus concerns, did not win a match but did impress with gritty performances.

Rapinoe scored in the 16th minute with a well-timed strike on a through ball from Rose Lavelle for the early lead.

Rapinoe added another in the 26th minute, tapping in a cross from Lloyd. Rapinoe is the top all-time SheBelieves scorer with seven goals, including three in this edition. Hectic finish awaits all NBA teams in 2nd half of season

The second half of the NBA schedule will be hectic, all the way to the end.

The league on Wednesday released the list of games that will be played between March 10 and May 16, with Memphis and San Antonio — two of the teams that dealt with long unplanned shutdowns because of coronavirus-related issues — set to play 40 times apiece, tied for the most in the league during the 68day sprint to the end of the regular season.

And every team is scheduled to play on the final day of the regular season, a rarity. The 15 games on May 16 will mark the first time that every NBA team plays on the same day since Nov. 25, 2016 — and the first time all have done so on the final day of the regular season since April 16, 2014.

The season reopens following the All-Star break on March 10 when Washington visits Memphis and San Antonio goes to Dallas.

Most of the league resumes on March 11, with 21 teams playing their second-half openers that night, and the remaining five — Denver, Cleveland, Utah, Indiana and the Los Angeles Lakers — get back to game action on March 12.

That means the Cavaliers, Lakers and Jazz, all of whom end their first-half schedules on March 3, get the longest All-Star breaks in the league at nine days apiece. Washington, Memphis and San Antonio get the shortest breaks, all six days.

Teams will finish the season averaging about 15 back-tobacks, about three more per team than was the case last season but still well below the norm before the league made player rest a scheduling priority and changed its methods three years ago.

There are only two instances of teams having four games in five days in the season’s second half, both toward the very end.