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By STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Devin Booker scored 24 points, Jalen Smith tied a career high with 19 points and 12 rebounds and the short-handed Phoenix Suns hammered the Charlotte Hornets 133-99 on Sunday night. Chris Paul had 16 assists to help the Suns improve to 28-8 — a half-game behind Golden State for the NBA lead — after they lost three of their previous four. The Suns got 11 points and six rebounds from Bismack Biyombo, who signed a 10-day contract Saturday with four Phoenix players in the NBA's health and safety protocols, Hey Dude Women's Shoes,including starting center Deandre Ayton, starting forward Jae Crowder and backup center JaVale McGee. Coach Monty Williams also is out. Paul said acting coach Kevin Young talked ...

By DOUG ALDEN, Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 50 points, rallying the Boston Celtics from 14 points down late in the fourth quarter to a 116-111 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night. Brown scored 21 in the fourth quarter, then opened OT with his fifth 3-pointer of the game. Brown, whose previous career high was 46 against the Knicks on Oct. 20, also finished with 11 rebounds as the Celtics avoided losing for the fourth time in five games. “We needed to win. No way we could have lost this game. It wouldn’t have been good,” said Brown, who made nine of 12 shots in the fourth quarter while leading the Celtics on a frenzied comeback. Marcus Smart added 17 points, seven assists and seven Brooks Shoes  rebou...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City rookie Josh Giddey became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double on Sunday night. Giddey had 17 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds for his first triple-double in the Thunder's 95-86 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The 6-foot-8 guard accomplished the feat at 19 years, 2 months, 23 days, beating Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, who had a triple-double at 19 years, 10 months, 17 days. Giddey, the sixth overall pick in last year's draft from Australia, was back in the lineup after missing three games while in the NBA's health and safety protocols. He shot 7 for 16 from the field and 3 for 5 from long distance against Dallas. “It’s cool, as I said earlier in the year. The individual stats are good, you enjoy it for the ni...

By SCHUYLER DIXON, AP Pro Football Writer ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The troubles for Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals weren't anything that a trip to the star quarterback's favorite stadium couldn't fix. They might be back in two weeks for a wild-card game. Murray threw two touchdown passes to Antoine Wesley and the Cardinals held on to beat the Dallas Cowboys 25-22 in a matchup of playoff-bound teams Sunday. The outcome didn’t do much to change the races for the NFC’s No. 1 seed or the NFC West, but did leave the Cowboys and Cardinals with matching 11-5 records after Arizona ended a three-game skid and stopped the NFC East champion's four-game winning streak. The teams go into the final weekend as the fourth and fifth seeds in the playoffs, whi...

By MITCH STACY, AP Sports Writer CINCINNATI (AP) — Patrick Mahomes had a message for young Bengals star Ja'Marr Chase when the two met on the field after Cincinnati's dramatic 34-31 win over Kansas City to clinch the AFC North title. “Keep going — we'll see you in the playoffs,” the Chiefs quarterback told Chase. The Bengals (10-6) are finally back in the postseason, thanks to Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow, who both shattered team records on Sunday. Chase's 266 receiving yards was more than Mahomes had passing (259) in the game. Kansas City (11-5) had its eight-game winning streak snapped San Francisco 49ers Jersey and fell out of the top seed in the AFC, ceding that spot to Tennessee. The last Cincinnati playoff appearance was 2015 when the team...