BASKETBALL
The Maine Celtics set a franchise record for victory margin and tied a team record with 26 3-pointers Sunday in a 149-100 NBA G League win over the Delaware Blue Coats at the Portland Expo.
Scottie Lindsey scored 26 of his career-high 32 points in the first half, helping Maine race to a 79-55 lead. JD Davison added 20 points, and six other Celtics finished in double figures as Maine improved to 6-1. Its points total was six shy of the team record set against Greensboro on Nov. 27, 2019.
GOLF
EUROPEAN TOUR: Rory McIlroy finished the year as Europe’s top-ranked golfer for the fourth time – and first since 2015 – despite Jon Rahm winning the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Spaniard’s two-shot victory over England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Sweden’s Alex Noren was his third in six years at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
But McIlroy finished the season atop the DP World rankings after Matt Fitzpatrick, his only rival for the Harry Vardon Trophy, faded out of contention around the turn.
LPGA: Lydia Ko claimed the richest prize in women’s golf at $2 million with a victory in the CME Group Tour Championship at Naples, Florida.
Ko outlasted Leona Maguire of Ireland in the final round, seizing control with a 7-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and closing with 2-under 70 for a two-shot victory.
Ko clinched the points-based award for LPGA player of the year for the second time, and she won the Vare Trophy for the second straight year for having the lowest scoring average.
PGA: Adam Svensson closed with a 6-under 64 to win the RSM Classic at St. Simons Island, Georgia, for his first PGA Tour victory.
Svensson, a 28-year-old Canadian, was locked in a four-way tie for the lead on the closing stretch of the Seaside course when he poured in an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, and then hit a tee shot to 10 feet on the par-3 17th for another birdie.
Brian Harman (65) and Sahith Theegala (66) missed birdie chances from about 25 feet on the closing hole.
HOCKEY
NHL: Boone Jenner had two goals, Sean Kuraly scored short-handed and Daniil Tarasov turned back 46 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets dealt the visiting Florida Panthers their third straight loss.
TENNIS
ATP FINALS: Novak Djokovic claimed a record-equaling sixth ATP Finals title by beating third-seeded Casper Ruud, 7-5, 6-3, in Turin, Italy.
Djokovic became the oldest champion at the prestigious year-end tournament and also earned the largest payday in tennis history as he walked away with $4.7 million.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Max Verstappen won a record-extending 15th race of the year at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates to conclude one of the most dominant seasons in Formula One history.
Verstappen stayed ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez at the start and was never seriously challenged.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held off Perez’s challenge on old tires to finish second and clinch second place in the championship standings.
SKIING
WORLD CUP: Overall World Cup champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States claimed a slalom event in Levi, Finland, for a sweep of the two season-opening races.
Shiffrin posted the fastest time in both runs on the way to her 49th slalom victory.
With 76 World Cup wins across all disciplines, the four-time overall champion is only behind Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark (86) and compatriot Lindsey Vonn (82).
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