BASKETBALL
Marcus Foster had 21 points and 12 rebounds as Rio Grande Valley beat the Maine Celtics, 105-98, on Tuesday in the NBA G League Winter Showcase in Las Vegas.
Foster was one of three players for the Vipers with a double-double. Trhae Mitchell added 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Daishen Nix had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Christian Vital also had 15 points and Brian Camerson 11.
Chris Clemons had 31 points and nine rebounds for Maine. Jaysean Paige added 21 points and Jahill Tripp had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Maine, which was playing with just eight players due to injuries and player call-ups, is 0-2 at the Showcase. The Celtics return to action on Dec. 27 at Cleveland.
Also Tuesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Maine Celtics center Luke Kornet to a 10-day contract, under the COVID-related hardship allowance.
Kornet has played 10 games for Maine this season, averaging 11.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.5 blocks per game. He has played in 133 NBA games during his four-year career, seeing time with New York, Chicago and Boston.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Williams driver Nicholas Latifi revealed that he received death threats after his late crash at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix sparked a controversial ending to the Formula One title race.
The Canadian’s crash with five laps remaining brought out the safety car and helped Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton for the title.
The 26-year-old Latifi condemned the torrent of abuse he received on social media.
SKIING
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Mikaela Shiffrin dominated the first of two midweek women’s World Cup giant slaloms with three of the American’s main rivals sitting out after positive COVID-19 tests, in Courchevel, France.
Building on a big lead from the first run, the Olympic champion finished the race on the Emile Allais course .86 seconds ahead of Sara Hector of Sweden, who posted the fastest second-run time.
Michelle Gisin of Switzerland, who was second after the opening run, dropped to third, 1.08 behind.
SOCCER
LEAGUE CUP: Even after scoring a hat trick for Arsenal, Eddie Nketiah was momentarily upstaged by another academy graduate. It’s not often a teenager scores on his debut.
Eleven minutes after coming off the bench, Charlie Patino completed a 5-1 victory over Sunderland to send Arsenal into the semifinals of the League Cup.
SERIE A: Juventus ended the year on a positive note by beating relegation-threatened Cagliari 2-0 to close the gap to the top four in Serie A.
Moise Kean and Federico Bernardeschi scored as Juventus moved to within four points of Atalanta, which was surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw at struggling Genoa.
SPANISH LEAGUE: Sevilla was held 1-1 at home by Barcelona in a match the hosts finished with 10 men after defender Jules Kounde was sent off with a direct red card for throwing the ball into an opponent’s face.
• Real Madrid has added David Alaba and Isco Alarcón to its list of players with COVID-19, taking it to eight members of its first team.
Madrid added the defender and midfielder to the list that already included Luka Modric, Marco Asensio, Rodgyro, Gareth Bale, Marcelo, and backup goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.
None will be available for the Spanish leaders’ match at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.
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