WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015 SPORTS Charles Woodson to retire after 18th season

ALAMEDA: Oakland Raiders safety fans, my fans, fans that have watched defensive touchdowns. snaps this season and has five intercep- the second-most games of any defen- Charles Woodson announced Monday me play for a long time, I’d let them all He won the AP Defensive Rookie of tions and three fumble recoveries, rank- sive back in NFL history with 252. he will retire following his 18th NFL sea- know that this Thursday night would be the Year award in 1998, AP Defensive ing second in the NFL with eight take- Only Hall of Famer Darrell Green has son, ending a career that included a the last time in the Coliseum I would be Player of the Year in 2009 and is a three- aways. “It feels good,” he said. “There are more with 295 and Woodson will join Heisman Trophy, a Super Bowl title and able to run out there in front of our fans time, first-team All Pro selection. so many players who play this sport and Green in the Hall in Canton, Ohio, soon. numerous other honors. at home,” Woodson said at a news con- He is still playing at a high level at age other sports who would like to go out Woodson said he decided the morning Woodson said he realized late last ference. 39, despite dealing with a shoulder that way, playing well, doing what they of the game at Detroit on Nov. 22, that month that he couldn’t play another sea- Woodson is one of the most accom- injury he sustained in the season opener love to do. I feel very good about the this season would be it for son and wanted to announce his deci- plished defensive backs to play the and forced him out for a few plays way I performed not only this year but him.”Honestly, I think physically I could sion before playing his final home game game, ranking fifth all-time with 65 Sunday after a hard hit on former team- my whole career.” do it,” he said. “My body has responded. Thursday night against San Diego. interceptions and tied for first with Rod mate Randall Cobb. Despite dealing with several injuries But mentally, it’s not there. It’s not going “I felt it was only right that Raiders Woodson and Darren Sharper with 13 Woodson has played 965 defensive early in his career, Woodson has played to happen.”—AP Hawks beat short-handed Trail Blazers 106-97

ATLANTA: Dennis Schroder scored 18 points, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 106-97 on Monday night for their fourth straight win. Schroder, Atlanta’s backup point guard, lost a cap bonded to a tooth in a collision early in the fourth period, but was 7 for 10 from the floor in a little more than 17 minutes on the court. The Hawks had six players score in double figures. The Trail Blazers played without starting guards Damon Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Lillard has plantar fasci- itis in his left foot and missed a game for the first time in his career, ending his streak of playing in 275 consecutive games. McCollum has two sprained ankles. Allen Crabbe had 19 points for Portland in a fill-in start. Tim Frazier, making his first start of the season, had 12 points and seven assists. The Trail Blazers have lost four straight.

THUNDER 100, CLIPPERS 99 PHILADELPHIA: Goalie Steve Mason #35 of the Philadelphia Flyers makes a save in Kevin Durant hit a go-ahead jump shot with 5.8 front of Magnus Paajarvi #56 of the St. Louis Blues in the third period at Wells seconds left before blocking a potential game-win- Fargo Center on Monday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Flyers ning 18-footer by Chris Paul as time expired, and won, 4-3. — AFP Oklahoma City beat Los Angeles. Russell Westbrook scored 33 points and Serge Ibaka added 17 for Oklahoma City. Coming off a 104-100 loss at Niemi comes off bench Cleveland that snapped their six-game winning streak, the Thunder won for the 11th time in 14 games. Paul had 32 points and 10 assists in another to lead Stars past Wild classic duel with Westbrook, who won his first NBA scoring title last season. Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick ST PAUL: Antti Niemi stopped 30 shots in within one goal when he took a puck off each scored 15 for the Clippers, whose third relief and the Dallas Stars scored four the back boards and tucked it inside the straight loss equaled their longest skid of the sea- straight goals to beat the Minnesota Wild left post from between his legs. son. 6-3 on Monday night. Vernon Fiddler scored twice for Dallas, which has won five MAPLE LEAFS 7, AVALANCHE 4 of seven and is 8-2-2 in its last 12 games. Tyler Bozak scored three times in the SPURS 106, PACERS 92 Jordie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Antoine Roussel third period, and Toronto broke loose for Kawhi Leonard had 24 points, and San Antonio and Cody Eakin also had goals. Jared four goals in the final 20 minutes. Leo improved to 16-0 at home. San Antonio (24-5) is off Spurgeon, Charlie Coyle and Nino Komarov had two goals and an assist for to the second-best start in franchise history. The Niederreiter scored for Minnesota, which the Maple Leafs, and James van Riemsdyk Spurs have 21 wins by double figures. Tony Parker lost its second in a row after getting points added a goal and two assists. Joffrey Lupul scored 15 points for San Antonio, which has won in nine straight. Trailing 2-0, and with Niemi scored one of three power-play goals that six straight. David West had seven points and five having replaced Kari Lehtonen in the first helped Toronto stop Colorado’s five-game rebounds in his first game against the Pacers since period, Dallas scored three times in 4 1/2 winning streak. Defenseman Jake Gardiner leaving in the offseason to sign with the Spurs. minutes late in the second to take the lead. had four assists for the Maple Leafs, who George Hill and Jordan Hill each had 15 points for are 4-0-2 in their last six games. Jack Skille Indiana. PREDATORS 5, CANADIENS 1 scored twice for Colorado. Semyon Pekka Rinne made 35 saves for Varlamov allowed six goals on 21 shots. ROCKETS 102, HORNETS 95 Nashville, and Shea Weber had a goal and James Harden scored 36 points, and the two assists. Roman Josi and Calle Jarnkrok FLYERS 4, BLUES 3 Rockets squandered a double-digit lead in the each added a goal and an assist. Colin Evgeny Medvedev scored on a wrist fourth quarter before coming back for the win. The Wilson scored an empty-netter and had shot with 3:13 left, helping Philadelphia ral- game was tied before Harden drove into the lane ATLANTA: Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford, left, grabs Portland Trail Blazers’ Mason Plumlee for a two assists as Nashville won its second ly for the win. Wayne Simmonds had a pair and was fouled as he made a layup. He hit the free foul in the final two minutes of an NBA basketball game Monday, in Atlanta. The Hawks won straight, something the Predators hadn’t of goals and Chris VandeVelde also scored throws to put Houston up 94-91 with 31.6 seconds 106-97. — AP done since Nov. 14 and 17. Alex for Philadelphia, which enters a five-day left. Cody Zeller attempted a dunk contested by Galchenyuk scored a power-play goal for Christmas break with eight wins in its last Terrence Jones and it bounced off the rim and back Montreal, which lost its fourth straight. 12 games. Robby Fabbri, Kevin Shattenkirk to the Rockets a few seconds later. The Hornets NBA Results/Standings Montreal coach Michel Therrien changed and Magnus Paajarvi scored for St. Louis, fouled Patrick Beverley and he made two free goalies, inserting Mike Condon for Dustin which had won three straight. Medvedev throws to extend the lead to 96-91. Harden made Washington 113, Sacramento 99; Boston 113, Minnesota 99; Orlando 107, NY Knicks 99; Atlanta 106, Portland 97; Tokarski after Ryan Ellis’ goal in the third received a nice backhand pass from Ryan 16 of 19 free throws and secured Houston’s third Brooklyn 105, Chicago 102; Houston 102, Charlotte 95; San Antonio 106, Indiana 92; Utah 110, Phoenix 89; period put Nashville up 3-0 on 14 shots. White and fired the puck high past Jake straight win by making two with 13.9 seconds Oklahoma City 100, LA Clippers 99. Allen on his blocker side. Philadelphia remaining. Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 14 Eastern Conference Western Conference PENGUINS 5, BLUE JACKETS 2 came back from a 3-0 deficit to sweep the points. Atlantic Division Northwest Division Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel each scored two-game season series with St. Louis. W L PCT GB Oklahoma City 19 9 .679 - two goals, and Pittsburgh ended a five-game NETS 105, BULLS 102 Toronto 17 12 .586 - Utah 12 14 .462 6 losing streak. David Warsofsky got his first ISLANDERS 5, DUCKS 2 Brook Lopez had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Boston 15 13 .536 1.5 Denver 11 16 .407 7.5 goal in nearly two years as the Penguins John Tavares had two primary assists 43 and the Nets stopped a five-game losing streak. NY Knicks 14 15 .483 3 Minnesota 11 17 .393 8 gave coach Mike Sullivan his first victory fol- seconds apart in the first period, leading Brooklyn’s Thaddeus Young added 16 points and Brooklyn 8 20 .286 8.5 Portland 11 19 .367 9 lowing an 0-4 start. Matt Murray stopped 22 the Islanders to the victory. Tavares’ assists 13 boards. Wayne Ellington made three 3 pointers Philadelphia 1 28 .034 16 Pacific Division Central Division shots for his first NHL win. The Penguins on New York’s second and third goals were and scored 13 points. Chicago center Joakim Noah Golden State 26 1 .963 - Cleveland 18 7 .720 - played without captain Sidney Crosby, who his first since a 3-1 win against Philadelphia sprained his left shoulder late in the third quarter, LA Clippers 16 13 .552 11 Indiana 16 11 .593 3 missed his first game of the season with a on Nov. 25, a stretch of 12 games. During Phoenix 12 18 .400 15.5 forcing him from the game. Jimmy Butler scored 24 Chicago 15 11 .577 3.5 lower-body injury. Alexander Wenneberg’s that span, he scored three goals. New York points in the Bulls’ third straight loss. Pau Gasol Detroit 16 12 .571 3.5 Sacramento 11 17 .393 15.5 third goal gave Columbus an early lead, but snapped its three-game losing streak and added 20 points and nine rebounds. Butler said Milwaukee 11 18 .379 9 LA Lakers 4 23 .148 22 Pittsburgh responded with four in the sec- improved to 19-11-5. The Islanders also before the game that he didn’t regret his critical Southeast Division Southwest Division ond to match the total it put up in Sullivan’s passed the idle New York Rangers for sec- comments of first-year coach Fred Hoiberg two Miami 16 10 .615 - San Antonio 24 5 .828 - first four games combined. Boone Jenner ond place in the Metropolitan Division. Cal days earlier following a loss in New York. Atlanta 18 12 .600 - Dallas 15 12 .556 8 added his 13th for the Blue Jackets. Clutterbuck, Travis Hamonic, Brock Nelson, Orlando 16 12 .571 1 Memphis 15 14 .517 9 Josh Bailey and Matt Martin scored for the WIZARDS 113, KINGS 99 Charlotte 15 12 .556 1.5 Houston 15 14 .517 9 CAPITALS 2, HURRICANES 1 Islanders. Anaheim dropped to 12-15-5 John Wall had a career-high 19 assists and also Washington 12 14 .462 4 New Orleans 8 19 .296 15 Jason Chimera and Michael Latta with its third loss in five games. Carl scored 12 points, leading Washington to the victo- scored, and Washington beat Carolina for Hagelin and Josh Manson scored for the ry. Marcin Gortat had 27 points and 16 rebounds MAGIC 107, KNICKS 99 ished that decisive run with a breakaway dunk that its sixth straight win. Phillipp Grubauer NHL’s lowest-scoring team. for the Wizards, and Garrett Temple added a career- Nikola Vucevic tied his season high with 26 made it 104-94 with 1:07 to go. Tobias Harris scored made 31 saves for the Eastern Conference- high 23 points. Wall was just 4-for-15 shooting but points and grabbed nine rebounds, powering 20 points and Fournier had 16 for the Magic, who leading Capitals. They improved to 12-3-1 OILERS 3, JETS 1 assisted on nearly half of Washington’s 42 baskets. Orlando to the road win. Vucevic had a pair of bas- rebounded from Sunday’s loss to Atlanta to win for on the road and enter the holiday break Cam Talbot made 44 saves and Teddy He connected with Gortat several times on a night kets and Evan Fournier added a 3-pointer and the fourth time in five games. Lance Thomas was 9 with their second six-game winning streak Purcell had two goals and an assist as when injuries limited coach Randy Wittman to another basket in an 11-2 spurt after the Knicks for 9 and tied his career with 24 points for the of the season. Kris Versteeg scored with Edmonton earned its seventh consecutive using only eight players. DeMarcus Cousins led had cut it to 93-92 with 3:25 left. Victor Oladipo fin- Knicks, who had won four in a row. —AP 17:42 remaining and Cam Ward made 19 home win. Justin Schultz also scored for Sacramento with 22 points, Rudy Gay had 16. stops for Carolina, which had earned points the Oilers, who snapped a three-game skid. in six of eight games while scoring 28 goals Bryan Little had the goal for the Jets, who JAZZ 110, SUNS 89 in that span. Versteeg got the Hurricanes have lost three of four. —AP Gordon Hayward scored 24 points to help Utah Doughty wins finale, WKU tops cruise to the win. The Jazz won consecutive games for the first time in December and reached 100 USF 45-35 in Miami Beach Bowl NHL Results/Standings points for the first time in the last six games. Utah MIAMI: Brandon Doughty’s final game at 35. But Anthony Wales’ second touchdown of the opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run to push a Western Kentucky perfectly epitomized his career day, a 42-yard scamper with 5:05 left, helped seal NY Islanders 5, Anaheim 2; Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 3; Pittsburgh 5, Columbus 2; Washington 2, Carolina 10-point halftime lead to 66-43. Jazz forward with the Hilltoppers, with a slow start followed by it for the Hilltoppers. Nicholas Norris hauled in 1; Nashville 5, Montreal 1; Dallas 6, Minnesota 3; Toronto 7, Colorado 4; Edmonton 3, Winnipeg 1. Derrick Favors finished with 18 points and nine a record-setting finish. touchdown passes of 69 and 55 yards in the third rebounds. Brandon Knight led the Suns with 26 Doughty threw for 461 yards and three touch- quarter for Western Kentucky, and Jared Western Conference Boston 19 9 4 104 83 42 points. Central Division Detroit 17 9 7 86 85 41 downs, and No. 25 Western Kentucky overcame Dangerfield made a highlight-caliber 26-yard TD WLOTLGFGAPTS an early 14-point deficit to beat South Florida 45- catch over three defenders to cap a 28-point third Florida 18 12 4 93 80 40 CELTICS 113, TIMBERWOLVES 99 Dallas 25 7 2 120 88 52 Ottawa 17 12 5 104 102 39 35 in the Miami Beach Bowl on Monday. Doughty quarter for the Hilltoppers. Chicago 20 11 4 96 83 44 Kelly Olynyk scored 19 points, Jae Crowder had Tampa Bay 17 14 3 86 80 37 finished the season with 5,055 yards for the “Brandon is a great quarterback,” Taggart said. St. Louis 20 11 4 90 85 44 18 and the Celtics beat the Timberwolves while the Buffalo 14 16 4 79 89 32 Hilltoppers (12-2), the 14th time in FBS history “Not only did he do it against us, he did it against Minnesota 17 9 6 89 79 40 crowd begged to see former Boston player Kevin that a quarterback has reached the 5,000 mark. everybody.” Quinton Flowers rushed for two Nashville 17 11 6 90 86 40 Toronto 12 13 7 84 90 31 Garnett. Tyler Zeller scored 14 points and grabbed His six-year career at the school - it took him touchdowns and threw for another for USF (8-5), Colorado 17 17 1 99 97 35 Metropolitan Division eight rebounds before fouling out. David Lee had Winnipeg 15 16 2 91 100 32 Washington 25 6 2 105 71 52 three to become the starter - ended with these finishing with 273 yards passing and 108 more on 13 points and eight boards to help Boston snap a numbers: 1,023 completions, 12,855 yards and the ground. Marlon Mack rushed for another 108 Pacific Division NY Islanders 19 11 5 96 82 43 three-game losing streak. Minnesota coach Sam Los Angeles 20 10 2 81 71 42 NY Rangers 19 12 4 101 91 42 111 touchdowns. for the Bulls, who were in a bowl for the first time San Jose 16 15 2 88 91 34 Mitchell said before the game that the 39-year-old “It’s been a heck of a run,” Doughty said just since 2010 and rewarded Taggart with a three- New Jersey 16 13 5 79 84 37 Garnett would rest because it was the second of Vancouver 12 14 9 89 102 33 Philadelphia 15 12 7 74 92 37 before hoisting the bowl trophy. He was probably year extension through 2020 earlier in the day. Arizona 15 15 2 87 102 32 back-to-backs after the Timberwolves beat Pittsburgh 16 14 3 76 84 35 even better than Willie Taggart thought he would “I believe in Coach T,” Flowers said. “He Calgary 15 16 2 87 112 32 Brooklyn. The crowd loudly chanted “We want KG!” Carolina 13 16 5 80 101 31 be when he signed him in 2010. Taggart was believes in me and he believes in this team.” USF Edmonton 15 18 2 91 106 32 close to a dozen times. Garnett signed a two-year Doughty’s coach for his first game and the lost for just the second time in its last nine games. Anaheim 12 15 5 60 82 29 Columbus 13 20 3 88 112 29 deal with Minnesota over the summer, but this opposing coach for his last, and his Bulls (8-5) The Bulls’ 597 yards of offense was the program’s Eastern Conference Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point could have been his last game in Boston. Andrew Atlantic Division in the standings and are not included in the loss nearly stole the show from Doughty with a pair of most ever against an FBS opponent, topped only Wiggins led the Timberwolves with 26 points. Karl- fourth-quarter touchdowns that got them to 38- by 745 against Florida A&M in 2011.—AP Montreal 20 12 3 104 87 43 column (L). Anthony Towns had 25 points and 16 rebounds.