US prosecutors seek to dismiss federal Trump casesPHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George has a bone bruise on his left knee and will miss two games, the team said Thursday. The 76ers said George did not suffer any structural damage when he that he hyperextended during in Wednesday night's loss at Memphis. The game marked the first time this season the All-Star trio of George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey started a game together. George will miss home games Friday against Brooklyn and Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers, his former team. A nine-time All-Star, the 34-year-old George will be evaluated again on Monday. dropped the Sixers to 2-12, the worst record in the NBA headed into Thursday night's games. George signed a four-year, $212 million contract with Philadelphia after five seasons with the Clippers. He has averaged 14.9 points in eight games this season. Embiid has been out with injuries, load management rest and a suspension, while Maxey was sidelined with a hamstring injury. An expected contender in the Eastern Conference, the Sixers haven't won since an overtime victory against Charlotte on Nov. 10. ___ AP NBA: The Associated Press
Asian shares were mixed on Monday after stocks fell broadly on Friday as Wall Street closed out a holiday-shortened week on a down note. U.S. futures were lower while oil prices were little changed. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get the latest need-to-know information delivered to your inbox as it happens. Our flagship newsletter. Get our front page stories each morning as well as the latest updates each afternoon during the week + more in-depth weekend editions on Saturdays & Sundays.
DETROIT — Dan Campbell's gambles paid off. Detroit went for it on fourth down for a fifth time to set up Jake Bates' 35-yard field goal as time expired, Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes and the Lions clinched a playoff spot with a 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. Campbell has been perhaps the NFL's most aggressive coach since taking over what was a league laughingstock in 2021, but he turned it up a notch against the Packers with a short-handed defense that he wanted to keep off the field. “That was how I wanted to play that team with where we are at,” Campbell said. The NFC-best Lions (12-1) broke a franchise record with their 11th straight win — including two over the Packers (9-4) — to stay ahead of Minnesota (10-2) in the highly competitive NFC North. “This will be one of those you’ll never forget,” Campbell said. Campbell kept his offense on the field on a fourth-and-1 at the Green Bay 21 with 43 seconds left. David Montgomery ran for 7 yards, barely getting a handoff from Goff after the quarterback got his feet tangled up and was falling toward the turf. Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) celebrates after a touchdown catch against the Green Bay Packers during the first half of an NFL football game in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. Credit: AP/Duane Burleson “It's a bad feeling,” Goff said. The play ensured the Lions could try a field goal without giving Green Bay the ball back, and Bates hit his third-game winning kick this season. “I just felt like we needed to end it on offense,” Campbell said. “I did not want to give the ball back and I believed we could convert. I trust the O-line. I trust David.” Goff threw two touchdown passes on fourth-and-goal, one to Tim Patrick, who had two TD catches. He also threw an interception in the third quarter to set up one of Josh Jacobs’ career-high matching three TD runs. Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) makes a catch for a touchdown in front of Green Bay Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie (58) during the first half of an NFL football game in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. Credit: AP/Carlos Osorio Goff found Jahymr Gibbs open in the end zone for a 2-yard pass on a fourth down with 11 seconds left in the first half to put Detroit ahead 17-7. Goff later connected with Patrick on a go-ahead, 1-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter. Green Bay took advantage of the only time Campbell’s aggressiveness didn’t pan out, denying Gibbs on a fourth-down run late in the third quarter from the Detroit 31. Jacobs scored for a third time on a 3-yard run on the ensuing drive. “The risk was there,” Campbell said. Brandon McManus made a 32-yard field goal with 3:38 left to pull the Packers into a 31-all tie in a game that had four lead changes earlier in the second half. “That’s exactly the kind of game we expected,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. “It was tough and it went back and forth. There were just a couple plays that didn’t go our way.” The Lions' final drive began with Goff’s 19-yard pass to Jameson Williams. He also connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for 16 yards on the decisive possession. Goff finished 32 of 41 for 283 yards, and six Lions had at least five receptions, the first time that's happened in NFL history, according to OptaSTATS. “They have great playmakers and they just get them the ball,” LaFleur said. “Jared Goff is an excellent quarterback and we gave him time to throw.” Jordan Love was 12 of 20 for 206 yards with a touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft early in the third quarter. “They have a really good offense, but so do we,” Love said. “I don’t think there was any extra pressure on us. We just got off to a slow start.” Odd scene LaFleur lamented that someone holding the American flag during the national anthem ended up shouting at the Packers and had to be separated from them by officials before the game. “He was yelling at our players and giving the throat-slash gesture,” LaFleur said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. I would just like security to step in there and get him off the field.” Injuries Packers: S Evan Williams (concussion), S Javon Bullard (ankle), DE Lukas Van Ness (thumb) were hurt during the game. CB Jaire Alexander (knee), LB Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring), CB Corey Ballentine (knee) and WR Romeo Doubs (concussion) were inactive. Lions: DL Alim McNeill left with a head injury after he was evaluated for a concussion and returned to play briefly. OT Taylor Decker (shoulder), DT DJ Reader (shoulder), DE Josh Paschal (knee) and DL Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring) were inactive. Up next Packers: At NFC West-leading Seattle in a Sunday night game on Dec. 15. Lions: Host AFC East-leading Buffalo on Dec. 15.
Bruce Cassidy became the eighth active coach in the NHL to hit the 400-win mark on Thursday when his Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights held on for a 3-2 victory at Ottawa on Thursday. But the Ottawa native had little time to celebrate. The Golden Knights jumped on a train for Montreal shortly after the contest and will continue a season-long five-game road trip against the resurgent Canadiens on Saturday night. "It feels great," Cassidy said of hitting the 400-win milestone. "You never know where your numbers are going to end up but I'm going to tell you that in this business I'm just worried about No. 401 right now." The win over the Senators was the second game of a back-to-back that began with the team's first shutout loss since early January, 3-0, at Toronto on Wednesday. It was just the fourth road victory in 10 games (4-4-2) for Vegas, which improved 6-0-1 all-time at the Canadian Tire Centre. Ilya Samsonov made 38 saves, including 16 in the final period when the Senators outshot the Golden Knights, 18-5, and Pavel Dorofeyev scored his team-leading 10th goal midway through the third period for what proved to be the game-winner as Vegas snapped a two-game losing streak. "We managed to get it to the finish line," Cassidy said. "That's a good win for the team even though it got a little hectic there but you've got to find ways to win. There are no easy wins in this league, so good on the guys." Now the Golden Knights play a Montreal team that has won two straight and three of its last four games and is coming off an impressive 3-0 blanking of Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. Sam Montembeault made 30 saves for his second shutout of the season, Jake Evans had a goal and an assist and Brendan Gallagher and Kaiden Guhle also scored to lead the Canadiens. "I'm just really proud of the way we played tonight," Montembeault said after posting his third career shutout. "The last few games we took a really good step in the right direction defensively and now we've just got to be more consistent with it." Montembeault is 3-1-0 with a 0.93 goals-against average and .966 save percentage and a shutout in his last four games. Montreal outscored Columbus and Edmonton, 8-1, in the two wins but still has allowed an Atlantic Division-high 71 goals this season and is minus-17 in goal differential. "The win was great," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "Obviously the result. But to me it's how we won that galvanized the group. ... To me, it's how we did it, not so much the result. I feel, right now, we're in a good place to reinforce the stuff that's working." It will be the third game in four nights for the Golden Knights while Montreal is enjoying a rare four-day break. Montreal held team practices on three of those days. "We should come out with some good energy (Saturday)," St. Louis said. "I think our start is (going to be) very, very important." --Field Level Media