Love will join Heat after clearing waivers

Kevin Love said Sunday that he will sign with the Heat for the remainder of the season once he clears waivers, a major add for a team that is looking to move up in the Eastern Conference before the postseason begins.

“Miami it is, yes,” Love said in a text to The AP.

Also Sunday, the Heat were finalizing plans to add another big man in free agent center Cody Zeller, with that deal expected to be completed before the team gathers following the All-Star break.

The 6-foot-9 Love and the Cavaliers agreed to buyout terms Saturday, ending his nine-year run with the team that he helped win the 2016 NBA championship.

Over parts of 15 seasons with the Cavaliers and Timberwolves, Love has averaged 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds. He averaged career-lows of 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 20 minutes per game in 41 games this season and didn’t play in the Cavs’ final 12 games before the All-Star break.

Golf: New Zealand’s Lydia Ko won the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International. Ko, the 25-year-old world’s top-ranked player, got married in December and skipped the LPGA Tour’s season opener last month.

NHL: Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews announced that he’s dealing with symptoms of long COVID-19 and chronic immune response syndrome. Toews, 34, hasn’t played since Jan. 28.

Soccer: Mallory Swanson scored in the 45th minute, and the U.S. shut out Japan 1-0 in Nashville, Tenn., to remain undefeated in the SheBelieves Cup.

Women’s basketball:

Zia Cooke scored five of her 24 points in OT to help No. 1 South Carolina remain unbeaten with a 64-57 victory over host Mississippi. The defending national champs won their 33rd straight game . ... No. 2 Indiana routed visitor Purdue 83-60 to clinch a share of its first Big Ten regular-season title since 1982-83.