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The four teams in contention for the final two spots are the 49ers (9-7), Eagles (9-7), Saints (8-8) and Vikings (7-8). If the Vikings lose at Green Bay, they're out and the Eagles are in. That would leave the Niners and Saints in the mix. All San Francisco would have to do to get the final NFC wild-card berth is beat the Rams next weekend. The Saints would need to win at Atlanta and they would need the Rams to beat the Niners. ___ )7:30 p.m. The AFC playoff picture came into focus with four teams clinching postseason berths Sunday. That leaves two wild-card spots to be decided next weekend. The day began with only the Chiefs having punched their ticket to the AFC playoffs, but their 34-31 loss to the Bengals dropped them b...

By KYLE HIGHTOWER, AP Sports Writer FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The Patriots squandered an opportunity to lock up the AFC East title in a humbling loss to the Bills last week. They took out their frustrations on the lowly Jaguars to earn their way back into the postseason. New England returned to the playoffs when rookie quarterback Mac Jones threw three touchdown passes and Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for two scores apiece in their 50-10 win over Jacksonville on Sunday. The victory by the Patriots (10-6) snapped a two-game losing streak and gave Bill Belichick his 20th 10-win season as a head coach, tying Don Shula for the most in NFL Jerseys for Cheap history. A loss by Miami at Tennessee secured New England’s first trip to the postseason...

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...