Published November 17, 2022 at 8:48 AM EST

In the NBA, The New York Knicks beat Denver 106-103.

Jaylen Brown scored 22 points to lead a balanced Boston attack and the East-leading Celtics stretched their winning streak to eight with a 126-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. The Celtics were missing injured guards Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon. It hardly mattered. There were plenty of players to fill the void against the Hawks, who were coming off a big win at Milwaukee and eager to show they could challenge the best in the conference. Not on this night. Boston took control in the irst quarter against the cold-shooting Hawks, whose occasional spurts were quickly snuffed out by the Celtics’ stifling defense. Trae Young led the Hawks with 27 points

Toronto defeated Miami 112-104

Cameron Payne scored a career-high 29 points, Devin Booker added 27 and the Phoenix Suns easily overcame Stephen Curry’s 50-point night to beat the Golden State Warriors 130-119 on Wednesday. The Suns controlled most of the game despite Curry’s scoring. The eight-time All-Star made 17 of 28 shots, going 7 of 11 from 3-point range. The problem for the Warriors was nobody else was helping. Klay Thompson finished with 19 points but shot just 6 of 17. The Warriors — defending NBA champs — fell to 6-9. Payne, starting in place of the injured Chris Paul, made 9 of 17 shots, including 6 of 10 from beyond the arc.

NHL

Ottawa beat Buffalo 4-1,

St Louis downed Chicago 5-2,

and Los Angeles defeated Edmonton 3-1.

NFL

Tonight at 8:15 Tennessee takes on Green Bay in Green Bay for Thursday night football.

Deshaun Watson is practicing with the Cleveland Browns for the first time since his 11-game NFL suspension started in August. Watson was accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women in Texas and reached a settlement with the league this summer. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback returned to the field with his teammates on Wednesday. Despite temperatures hovering around freezing, Watson had on short sleeves during the portion of practice open to reporters. He fired passes to Cleveland’s wide receivers while periodically tucking his hands into a warmer around his waist. As long as he meets the league’s requirements, Watson can play on Dec. 4 when the Browns visit Houston, which drafted him in 2017.

MLB

Houston’s Justin Verlander in the American League and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara in the National League are both unanimous selections for the Cy Young Award. It’s the second time the winners in both leagues were unanimous since the award began in 1956. The 39-year-old Verlander won the award for the first time, having previously won in 2011 with Detroit and 2019 with Houston. He’s the 11th player to win it three times. Verlander missed almost all of the previous two seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He led the AL in ERA. Alcantara led the majors in complete games with six.

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper will have surgery next week to repair the small tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow. The injury forced the right fielder to spend most of the season as designated hitter. It now puts his opening day status in doubt. Phillies President Dave Dombrowski says there’s no timetable on Harper’s recovery until after Wednesday’s surgery. Whether he needs Tommy John surgery to replace the ligament or could face an easier repair won’t be known until Harper goes under the knife. While pitchers can miss up to 18 months or worse with Tommy John surgery, hitters can make a more rapid return because they don’t have to throw.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

A former University at Albany men’s basketball player is suing the school, Head Coach Dwayne Killings and Athletic Director Mark Benson in connection with a pre-game incident in 2021. The Daily Gazette reports the federal lawsuit alleges that the university succumbed to pressure from local business and civil rights leaders and reversed a decision to terminate Killings. The former player, Luke Fizulich, alleges Killings threw him against a locker before a November 2021 game and hit him in the face. Killings just finished serving a five-game suspension following an internal investigation into the incident. The coach was also fined $25,000. In response to questions about the lawsuit, UAlbany detailed its past actions surrounding the incident, saying it could not comment further on pending litigation. Killings is in his second season. It is his first head coaching job.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

A prosecutor says a witness told police the University of Virginia student suspected of opening fire on fellow students as they returned by bus from a field trip targeted specific victims. The prosecutor gave a brief accounting of what police say happened Sunday night during the suspect’s first court appearance Wednesday. Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. was ordered held without bond. His attorney did not address the substance of the charges against him. The school also announced Wednesday it was canceling its final home game of the season scheduled for the weekend against Coastal Carolina. The violence Sunday night left three football players dead and one player and another student wounded.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

The Australian government confirmed that Novak Djokovic has been granted a visa to compete in the Australian Open in January a year after he was deported over his stance against COVID-19 vaccination. The 21-time Grand Slam champion had his visa cancelled on public interest grounds on Jan. 14 and lost an appeal against deportation in the Full Federal Court. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says he had approved Djokovic’s application to revoke the cancellation decision because the ground for canceling the visa no longer existed. The visa ban could have lasted for three years. The 35-year-old from Serbia is clear to compete at the Australian Open, which runs from Jan. 16-29.

FTX LAWSUIT

A host of Hollywood and sports celebrities including Larry David and Tom Brady were named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arguing that their celebrity status made them culpable for promoting the firm’s failed business model. FTX has been in the public eye for more than a week, after the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange ended up with billions of dollars worth of losses and had to seek bankruptcy protection. The lawsuit names “Seinfeld” creator David, as well as star quarterback Brady, basketball players Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry, and tennis star Naomi Osaka, among several others.