AP Thursday Sports Roundup

James defends self, then leaves Suns defenseless

UNDATED (AP) — LeBron James spent part of Wednesday denying that he was a coach-killer. By the end of the night, he was killing the Phoenix Suns.

James had 21 points and nine assists in just 31 minutes before sitting out the fourth quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers' 115-93 rout of the Suns. He shot 7-for-8 from the field and 7-for-7 from the line as the Cavs improved to 2-1 under new coach Tyronn Lue.

The strong shooting performance came after he swatted away speculation that he was responsible for former coach David Blatt's dismissal last week. James feels the criticism that he undercuts coaches is unfair, saying he has never disrespected a coach and that he "always respected what they wanted to do."

Kevin Love added 21 points and 11 rebounds to the lopsided victory, while J.R. Smith added 18 to help the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers improve to 32-12.

In other NBA action:

— The Golden State Warriors are an NBA-best 42-4 and riding a five-game winning streak after Klay Thompson led them to a 127-107 win against Dallas. Thompson shot 14-for-20 from the field and 7-for-12 from 3-point range in scoring a season-high 45 points.

— San Antonio has followed its 30-point loss to Golden State with a 130-99 rout of Houston. LaMarcus Aldridge contributed 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, While Daniel Green had 18 points and six boards. The Spurs shot 55 percent from the field, including a 12-for-22 mark from beyond the arc in their 14th victory in 15 games.

— Russell Westbrook had 24 points, 15 assists and eight boards in Oklahoma City's 126-123 triumph over Minnesota. Kevin Durant delivered 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Enes Kanter came off the bench to add 23 points and 10 rebounds.

— The Los Angeles Clippers pulled out an 85-83 victory in Atlanta as Jamal Crawford shot 9-for-16 while scoring 21 points. DeAndre Jordan had 13 points and 19 rebounds for the Clippers, who won despite missing 22 of their 27 3-point attempts.

— Avery Bradley matched his season-high with 27 points and Boston tied a season best with its fourth straight win, 111-103 against Denver. Kelly Olynyk finished with 17 points and seven boards, while Isaiah Thomas chipped in 16 points and five assists as the Celtics handed the Nuggets their fourth loss in five games.

— Rodney Hood scored 24 points and Gordon Hayward added 22 while the pair combined to shoot 17-for-30 in Utah's 102-73 laugher against Charlotte. The Jazz broke it open with a 20-2 run in the second quarter and held Kemba Walker to 15 points after he torched Utah for 52 last week.

— Detroit beat Philadelphia 110-97 behind Andre Drummond's 25 points and 18 rebounds. Reggie Jackson added 27 points and rookie Stanley Johnson had 18 off the bench for the Pistons.

NBA-ALL STAR GAME

Popovich to coach West

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has announced that San Antonio's Gregg Popovich will coach the Western Conference All-Star team in next month's game in Toronto.

The Spurs sit second in the West, three games behind the Golden State Warriors. However, Warriors coach Steve Kerr is ineligible for the coaching assignment because he ran the West team last year.

Kerr actually spent most of the first half on leave due to back surgery, putting the Warriors in the hands of assistant Luke Walton. The league said last week that it would review its policy to determine if Walton would still be eligible for the All-Star spot. But instead of Walton, Popovich will coach the West for the fourth time.

The Eastern Conference coach will be Tyronn Lue, who has run the Cavaliers for just three games since taking over for David Blatt. The Cavs fired Blatt last week despite a 30-11 start.

NBA-BULLS-MIROTIC

Bulls forward has appendectomy

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls expect forward Nikola Mirotic to be sidelined until after the All-Star break following surgery today to remove his appendix. He figures to miss at least eight games, with the All-Star break scheduled for Feb. 12-14. The 6-foot-10 Mirotic has been inconsistent this season, averaging 10.6 points while shooting 38.6 percent.

TOP 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Arkansas tops A&M

UNDATED (AP) — The Texas A&M Aggies may be fifth-ranked team in The Associated Press men's basketball poll, but they still can't win in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Razorbacks were just 9-10 and riding a three-game losing streak before beating Texas A&M 74-71. Moses Kingsley had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Arkansas, which has beaten the Aggies eight straight times at Bud Walton Arena. Dusty Hannahs and Anthlon Bell scored 17 apiece as the Razorbacks ended the Aggies' 10-game winning streak and dropped them to 17-3.

Danuel House scored 24 points for Texas A&M, which shot under 40 percent from the field.

Checking out the rest of the top-25 finals:

— Damion Lee drained his first six 3-point tries and scored 29 points to lead 16th-ranked Louisville's 91-83 win at Virginia Tech. Trey Lewis added four 3s while scoring 20 of his 22 points in the second half.

— Rico Gathers scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and finished with nine rebounds to push No. 17 Baylor past Oklahoma State 69-65. Taurean Prince scored 17 points and Lester Medford added 12 for the 16-4 Bears.

— Tyler Ulis scored 20 points and 20th-rated Kentucky scored 20 straight points in the first half of an 88-54 laugher against Missouri. Derek Willis added a career-best 18 points for the Wildcats, who shot 52 percent and led by 40 in the second half before completing their third straight win.

— Vince Edwards scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help No. 21 Purdue hold off Minnesota 68-64, the Gophers' 10th consecutive loss. The Boilermakers finished the game without Big Ten leading rebounder Caleb Swanigan, who left with a right ankle injury.

— No. 22 Wichita State is 9-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference following an 80-54 stifling of Loyola of Chicago. The Shockers had seven players score at least eight points, with Shaquille Morris providing 12 and Rashard Kelly adding 11.

NHL-SCHEDULE

Lightning stay hot by blanking Leafs

UNDATED (AP) — The Washington Capitals were able to pad their leads in the NHL's Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division races on Wednesday, but they were unable to get a victory against Philadelphia.

Jakub Voracek scored his second goal of the night 38 seconds into overtime to give the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 victory at Washington. The Flyers squandered leads of 2-0 and 3-2 before Voracek ended their three-game losing streak.

Andre Burakovsky tallied twice for the Capitals, who had won 12 straight at home since a loss to Dallas on Nov. 19. The Caps lead the East by 11 points over Florida and top their division by 15 points over the Rangers.

Elsewhere on NHL ice:

— Los Angeles still leads the Pacific Division by seven points over San Jose after the Kings blew a 3-2 lead in the third period of a 4-3 loss to Colorado. Gabriel Landeskog  tied it with his second goal of the night before Nathan MacKinnon supplied the game-winner with 9:25 remaining.

— Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots and Steven Stamkos scored his 21st goal to lead the Lightning to their eighth win in their last nine games, 1-0 against Toronto. Vasilevskiy's first shutout of the season and second of his career helped Tampa Bay climb within five points of the Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers.

— Carter Hutton stopped 26 shots and Shea Weber's power-play goal was the eventual game-winner as Nashville earned its fourth consecutive victory, 2-1 at Calgary. Mike Ribeiro put the Predators ahead 6:21 into the game.

NHL-CAPITALS-OVECHKIN

Ovi to miss All-Star game

WASHINGTON (AP) — Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin will miss the NHL All-Star Game Sunday in Nashville because of a lingering lower-body injury.

Coach Barry Trotz said Ovechkin has been dealing with the injury since mid-November.

By rule, Ovechkin must miss the Caps' first game after the All-Star break, Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.

NHL-KINGS-MILLER

Kings announcer to have heart surgery

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Kings television broadcaster Bob Miller is taking a medical leave of absence to undergo heart bypass surgery. The 77-year-old Miller has been the Kings' play-by-play voice since 1973 and received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. The hockey press box at Staples Center is named in his honor.

TENNIS-AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Serena breezes into final

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Top seed Serena Williams has never lost an Australian Open final, and she's one match victory away from capturing her 22nd Grand Slam title and seventh at Melbourne.

Williams cruised into the final with a 6-0, 6-4 rout of Agnieszka Radwanska. Williams broke Radwanska's service to open the match and was rarely troubled in the 21-minute first set. The No. 4-ranked Radwanska broke Williams' serve to square the second set at 3-3, but Williams broke back in the ninth game and closed out the 64-minute match with three aces and a forehand winner in the last game.

Next up for Williams is seventh seed Angelique Kerber, who has reached a Grand Slam singles final for the first time. Kerber needed just 82 minutes to complete a 7-5, 6-2 win over Johanna Konta, who was trying to become the first British woman to advance to a Grand Slam singles semifinal since Jo Durie at the 1983 U.S. Open.

NFL-PRO BOWL-MCCARTHY

McCarthy to miss Pro Bowl

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Packers coach Mike McCarthy has pulled out of his Pro Bowl coaching assignment, saying doctors have advised him not to travel as he battles a stomach illness.

The Packers said associate head coach Winston Moss will handle head-coaching responsibilities in Honolulu this week, including Sunday's game.

The Packers staff will coach one team and the staff of the Kansas City Chiefs will be on the other sideline.

NFL-SUPER BOWL-REFEREE

Blakeman gets Super Bowl nod

NEW YORK (AP) — Eighth-year referee Clete Blakeman will work his first Super Bowl and sixth postseason game on Feb. 7 when the Carolina Panthers play the Denver Broncos at Santa Clara, California. He refereed Green Bay-Arizona in the divisional round, when he needed to redo the coin toss for overtime after the coin didn't flip. The Super Bowl 50 officiating crew has 97 years of NFL experience and 62 combined playoff assignments.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL-CLEMSON-WATSON

Watson eyeing early departure from Clemson

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson says he could leave the Tigers one year early for the NFL draft if circumstances are right. The 6-foot-2 sophomore All-American said the NFL has always been a dream and is part of the reason he came to Clemson. Watson said one of his goals is to have his college degree before he leaves, and he is on track to graduate in December.

MLB-RANGERS-TEPESCH

Rangers give Tepesch minor league pact

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers have signed free agent right-hander Nick Tepesch to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Tepesch is expected to be ready for spring training after missing all of last season because of right elbow inflammation.

The 27-year-old Tepesch was 9-17 with a 4.56 ERA in 42 major league games, all with the Texas in 2013 and 2014.

MLB-ANGELS

Agreement in Anaheim

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Angels and Gold Glove right fielder Kole Calhoun have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $3.4 million, one-year contract. Calhoun won his first Gold Glove last season and hit .256 with 26 homers and 83 RBIs while earning $537,500 last year.

COLLEGE ATHLETICS

AP Sources: New AD for Michigan

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut athletic director Warde Manuel has been offered the same job at Michigan, according to two high ranking officials at UConn.

UConn President Susan Herbst has confirmed that Manuel is a finalist for the job in Ann Arbor. She says she expects an announcement from that school in the next couple days.

Manuel is a former football player at Michigan under Bo Schembechler.