PRO FOOTBALL
CINCINNATI (AP)Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon has been charged in a warrant with pointing a gun at a woman and threatening her, according to court documents.
Mixon faces a misdemeanor charge of aggravated menacing, according to the documents, which were filed Thursday in Hamilton County Municipal Court and obtained by The Associated Press. No attorney is listed for him in court records.
According to the warrant, Mixon pointed the gun at the woman and told her, ”You should be popped in the face. I should shoot you, the police (can’t) get me.”
The incident occurred on Jan. 21, the day before the Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills in a divisional-round playoff game.
The 26-year-old Mixon rushed for 814 yards and seven touchdowns this season, his sixth. He also had 60 receptions for 441 yards, both career highs, and two touchdowns.
A second-round draft pick out of Oklahoma in 2017, Mixon has spent his entire career with Cincinnati and rushed for career highs of 1,205 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2021.
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) – Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr scored an event-high 31 points in the precision passing contest of the Pro Bowl skills competitions Thursday night to give the AFC an early 9-3 lead over the NFC.
Carr, in familiar territory with the events being held at Raiders headquarters, said he will not extend the Feb. 15 deadline to help facilitate a trade from Las Vegas. The Raiders must trade or release the quarterback by that date – three days after the Super Bowl – or Carr’s contract will become guaranteed and Las Vegas will have to pay him $40.4 million over the next two years.
But his performance during the two-day competitions boosted the AFC with each event counting as three points.
The AFC also won the lightning round – a series of competitions that included a water balloon toss – and long drive contest, and the NFC got on the scoreboard by winning the dodgeball tournament.
The NFL changed the Pro Bowl format this year, replacing the traditional all-star game with a flag football contest and series of other skills events. Four skills events take place Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, and those also will be three points each.
NBA
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Portland’s Damian Lillard had to have known they were going to the All-Star Game. Players averaging more than 30 points per game typically don’t have to worry about not hearing their name called.
Other players – like Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Utah’s Lauri Markkanen – had reason for concern.
From the Western Conference, the picks were Gilgeous-Alexander, Lillard, Memphis teammates Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., Markkanen, Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – LeBron James had 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and pulled within 63 points of becoming the NBA’s career scoring leader as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Indiana Pacers 112-111 on Thursday night.
James has 38,325 points, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holding the record at 38,387.
James gave Los Angeles its first lead on a 3-pointer with 2:35 left, and Anthony Davis’ 11-footer with 35.1 seconds left was the decisive basket. Davis had 31 points and 14 rebounds.
Aaron Nesmith scored a career-high 24 points for Indiana, with Buddy Hield’s 17-foot jumper clanking off the rim in the closing seconds.
CLEVELAND (AP) – Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell was ejected in the third quarter Thursday night against Memphis for throwing the ball at Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks after the players tangled under the basket.
Brooks was called for a flagrant-2 foul and was also tossed following the fracas with 5:48 left and the Cavs leading 81-76.
After missing a shot and falling in the foul lane, Brooks flung his arm back and struck Mitchell, who was standing over him, in the groin area. Mitchell dropped in pain and retaliated by firing the ball at Brooks and then charging and shoving him along the baseline in front of the Memphiss bench.
The officials and players were able to get things under control before any punches were thrown.
Mitchell received a loud ovation from the Cleveland crowd as he made his way to the locker room following his ejection.
TENNIS
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Nick Kyrgios had suffered severe depression, suicidal ideation and insomnia in the past, a psychologist told a court on Friday when the Australian tennis star pleaded guilty to pushing a former girlfriend to the ground two years ago.
The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up pleaded guilty in the Australian Capital Territory Magistrates Court to assaulting Chiara Passari during an argument in his hometown of Canberra in January 2021.
Magistrate Jane Campbell didn’t record a conviction against Kyrgios for reasons including that the offense was at the low end of seriousness for a common assault, and was not premeditated.
Campbell described it as an act of ”stupidity” and ”frustration.”
WNBA
NEW YORK (AP) – Courtney Vandersloot became the latest star to join the New York Liberty.
Vandersloot, who had played her entire 12-year career with the Chicago Sky, announced Thursday on social media that she would play with the Liberty this season, a day after Breanna Stewart said she’d play in New York.
The moves give New York a potent lineup, with Stewart, Vandersloot, Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney and Jonquel Jones making the Liberty an instant championship contender. New York, one of the WNBA’s original franchises, has never won a title.
Vandersloot had announced late Tuesday on social media that she wasn’t returning to Chicago. She has led the league in assists six times and helped the Sky win the 2021 WNBA championship.
Stewart and Vandersloot currently are playing together in Turkey.
