The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Fox drops 44 on Lakers; Clippers rally in Houston
De’aaron Fox tied his career high with 44 points, Malik Monk added 26 and the Sacramento Kings bounced back with a 130120 victory over the Lakers late on Wednesday night.
It was Fox’s seventh game this season with at least 40 points, fourthmost in the NBA.
Domantas Sabonis recorded his fourth tripledouble in seven games with 16 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists. He’s the sixth player in NBA history with at least 22 triple-doubles in a season.
Sacramento came in having dropped three of its last four, including a 113-109 defeat against Chicago on Monday after it had a 22-point lead late in the third quarter.
Lebron James led the Lakers with 31 points and 13 assists, while Rui Hachimura scored 29. The Lakers play host to Milwaukee tonight.
• Kawhi Leonard had 28 points, and Paul George and James Harden each scored 21 as the Clippers rallied for a win at Houston.
The Clippers trailed by as many as 20 and didn’t lead in the second half until there were less than three minutes remaining.
Alperen Sengun had 23 points, a season-high 19 rebounds and 14 assists for his fourth career tripledouble to lead the Rockets.
• The WNBA will play a preseason game in Canada for the second consecutive year with the Sparks facing the Seattle Storm on May 5 in Edmonton, Alberta.
The inaugural WNBA Canada Game last season set records for broadcast viewership, attendance and merchandise sales in Canada.
Early signing period moved up a week
College football’s early signing period will move up from mid-december to the week preceding conference championship games, starting this fall.
The Collegiate Commissioners Association, which oversees and administers the National Letter of Intent program that schools and recruits use to make verbal commitments official and binding, announced the change.
The start of the traditional signing period will remain on the first Wednesday of February and continue to run through April
1. The three-day early signing period will now start the Wednesday after Thanksgiving weekend, when the major college football regular season ends.
• Among NFL news: Denver released veteran safety Justin Simmons in a cap-saving move, the Bears and Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson agreed to a four-year, $76 million contract, and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky signed a two-year deal to return to Buffalo to reprise his role as Josh Allen’s backup.
GOLF Good form wins out for Lowry at Bay Hill
Shane Lowry knew he was playing good golf because he gave himself a chance to win last week. He also knew his record at Bay Hill was as bad as any course he has played.
Good form won out Thursday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Lowry made three birdie putts from outside 20 feet, chipped in for eagle and
avoided most of the trouble for a 6-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead after the opening round.
• Rookie Joe Highsmith shot a bogey-free, 7-under 65 on Thursday to share the early first-round lead with veteran Scott Piercy at the weather-delayed Puerto Rico Open.
Play was stopped for nearly two hours in the afternoon because of heavy rain at Grand Reserve Golf Club, resulting in 54 players failing to finish before play was suspended due to darkness. The 132-man tournament is played opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which has a limited field as a PGA Tour signature event.
• Minjee Lee shot a 7-under 65 for a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Blue Bay LPGA on China’s southern island of Hainan on Thursday. Sarah Schmelzel, Miranda Wang, and Ruixin Liu were tied for second after 66s on the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course.
Killorn’s goal lifts Ducks over Senators
Alex Killorn scored the tiebreaking goal on a pass from rookie Olen Zellweger early in the third period of the Ducks’ third victory in four games, 2-1 over the Ottawa Senators late on Wednesday night in Anaheim.
The Ducks play host to Dallas tonight.