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Elijah Strong scores career-high 30 points, leads South Carolina over LSU 78-68

Elijah Strong scored a career-high 30 points, and South Carolina built a big first-half lead that held off LSU for a 78-68 victory on Tuesday night. South Carolina (10-5, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from an 83-71 loss to Vanderbilt, while LSU (12-3, 0-2) has lost consecutive games. The Gamecocks built a 25-point halftime advantage and led by double digits with about nine minutes left when LSU started a 12-3 run to pull to 66-60 with 6:22 remaining.

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Newly unranked Florida pulls away from No. 18 Georgia late and wins 92-77

Thomas Haugh had 21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, and Florida dominated No. 18 Georgia in the second half to win 92-77 on Tuesday night and stretch their home winning streak to 14 games. Alex Condon added 21 points, and Boogie Fland chipped in eight points, eight rebounds and six assists for the defending national champion Gators, who beat the Bulldogs for the 13th time in their past 14 meetings. The Gators dropped out of the AP Top 25 following a loss at Missouri to open Southeastern Conference play.

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Canadiens Have 2 Flames Trade Targets To Consider

The Montreal Canadiens will face the Calgary Flames in their next game on Jan. 7. The Canadiens will be looking to stay hot after defeating the Dallas Stars in their last matchup on Jan. 4.

This contest will also give the Canadiens an opportunity to take a look at some of the Flames' trade candidates.

When looking at Calgary's roster, there are two specific Flames trade candidates who the Canadiens should consider making a push for. Let's discuss each of them now. 

Nazem Kadri

If the Canadiens want to add another top-six center, Kadri stands out as an intriguing option. The 35-year-old forward has been the subject of trade rumors throughout this season and would have the potential to be a great addition to Montreal's roster. He would not only provide them with more offense but also give them another veteran forward who could help mentor their young players. 

In 42 games this season, Kadri has recorded 32 points and 28 hits. However, he also has a $7 million cap hit until the end of the 2028-29 season, so the Canadiens would need to move out salary the other way in a potential move.

Blake Coleman 

Coleman is another notable Flames trade candidate who could make sense for the Canadiens to pursue. The 34-year-old forward could fit nicely in the Canadiens' top nine because he chips in offensively and also plays a very heavy game. With this, he would be a good player for the Canadiens to have around for the post-season. 

In 42 games so far this season with the Flames, Coleman has posted 13 goals, 21 points, 105 hits, and a plus-13 rating. 

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Jets Defenseman Stretchered Off The Ice After Awkward Fall Following Hit

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Hadyn Fleury was forced from Tuesday night’s contest against the Vegas Golden Knights after a frightening collision late in the first period.

With just over six minutes remaining, Fleury took a hit in open ice from Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar, sending him awkwardly into the boards.

Fleury fell backward, head-first, prompting an immediate stoppage in play. Medical personnel arrived on the ice, and a stretcher was required to safely remove him from the arena as the game was paused for several minutes.

Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry dropped gloves with Kolesar on the very next shift as a point of paying back the Vegas forward for his hit.

The Jets announced that Fleury had been transported to a local hospital via ambulance and that he was fully alert and moving his extremities when arriving.

Fleury, 29, has battled injuries throughout the season as he previously missed 17 games due to a concussion and also spent time sidelined with a knee injury. This season, he has appeared in 16 games in a depth role, recording no points and holding a minus-seven rating.

The Saskatchewan native has carved out a role as a defensive defenseman for the Jets while dealing with injury setbacks. A former first-round pick (seventh overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2014 NHL Draft, Fleury has played 323 NHL games over nine seasons for the Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Jets. Across his career, he has recorded 44 points (10 goals, 34 assists). 

Fleury recently signed a two‑year, $1.9 million contract extension with the Jets in June 2025, keeping him under contract through the 2026‑27 season.

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Mets among teams that are 'most aggressive' suitors for Kyle Tucker: report

Kyle Tucker is the biggest bat available in free agency this offseason and the Mets are reportedly aggressively pursuing the All-Star outfielder.

Former Mets GM and MLB Network analyst Jim Duquette reports that the Mets, Dodgers and Blue Jays are the most aggressive suitors for Tucker. However, Duquette adds that nothing appears imminent and there is some distance between the other team reportedly interested and the main three. 

The Athletic's Mitch Bannon reported Tuesday that Toronto has increased their efforts to recruit Tucker as he fits their roster construction better than former infielder Bo Bichette. After signing Japanese star Kazuma Okamoto, the Blue Jays' infield is likely set, while an outfield addition is easier. Adding Tucker would mean Anthony Santander would move to left field, allowing George Springer to play most of the time as the team's DH. 

Toronto launched the first salvo this offseason for Tucker's services when they flew him out to the team's player development complex in Florida in early December. Since then, the reigning AL Champs have added Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers and the aforementioned Okamoto in free agency -- in addition to other roster moves.

As for the Mets, the fit is clear. After the team traded Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers, it opened up left field for an outfield addition. Currently, Tyrone Taylor is the center fielder with Juan Soto manning right field. Prospect Carson Benge could play a role in the outfield in 2026, but adding Tucker would give the Mets two lethal corner outfielders.

Of course, Tucker's decision will likely come down to money. Recent reports stated that Tucker may take a higher AAV on a short-term contract this offseason before testing free agency in a couple of years, so it may be more palatable for the Jays, Mets or Dodgers to sign Tucker if that's the way he's willing to go.

Although the Mets have been connected to Tucker, they could also pivot to Cody Bellinger, who gives them the defensive flexibility of playing first base. Bellinger has been heavily pursued by the Yankees this offseason, and while the team in the Bronx has formally offered the outfielder contracts twice already, a gap between both sides still exists.

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NHL Rumors: Sabres' Tuch Could Be An 'Ideal Boost' For The Kings, Per NHL Insider

NHL insiders Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston have been running a series at The Athletic where they play matchmaker. LeBrun and Johnston pair prime trade candidates with teams they think would be a good fit.

In the third edition of this series, LeBrun matched Buffalo Sabres right winger Alex Tuch with the Los Angeles Kings.

Tuch is in the final year of his seven-year, $33.25-million contract. Furthermore, the 29-year-old earns $4.75 million against the salary cap and holds a five-team no-trade clause in his contract for this season.

With that, he's a pending UFA and will require a new contract by the end of the campaign.

The Kings' latest pair of victories over the Minnesota Wild puts them back into a playoff spot. They hold the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, tied on points with the Anaheim Ducks and the Seattle Kraken.

Wins are critical as the standings are ever so tight, and now Los Angeles will be without captain Anze Kopitar and right winger Joel Armia at least for a short while.

"Los Angeles is hanging on in the playoff race in the West despite struggling offensively," LeBrun wrote. "Tuch would be an ideal boost on the right side behind first-liner Adrian Kempe. And the Kings have ample cap room."

NHL Rumors: Insider Calls Kings A 'Sensible Destination' For Flames' Rasmus AnderssonNHL Rumors: Insider Calls Kings A 'Sensible Destination' For Flames' Rasmus AnderssonNHL Insider Chris Johnston linked the Los Angeles Kings to Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson. Will Kings GM Ken Holland go after Calgary's No. 1 defenseman?

Adding Tuch to the lineup would be a big boost for Jim Hiller's team, especially when the Kings' lack of scoring is taken into consideration.

Los Angeles is bottom three in the NHL when it comes to scoring goals. In 41 games, they've scored 109 goals. Only the St. Louis Blues and the Kraken have fewer, with 107 each.

Alex Tuch (Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images)

Tuch has 12 goals and 32 points this season for Buffalo. With those numbers plugged into the Kings' roster, he'd instantly have the third-most goals on the team, and second on the team in points.

However, Tuch's availability to be dealt all lies on the shoulders of Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen. Since Tuch is a pending UFA, Kekalainen may feel like he should trade him away for assets ahead of the trade deadline.

Sabres Hire Kings Senior Advisor Marc Bergevin For Associate GM RoleSabres Hire Kings Senior Advisor Marc Bergevin For Associate GM RoleAfter the Buffalo Sabres let go of associate GM Jason Karmanos, new GM Jarmo Kekalainen has hired Los Angeles Kings' senior advisor to fill the role.

But there is the alternate situation in which the Sabres elect to keep Tuch on the roster. After all, Buffalo ended 2025 with a 10-game winning streak and has climbed the Eastern Conference standings. 

With that run, they're just three points outside a playoff spot. Buffalo's brass won't see much sense in dealing Tuch if the team is in a playoff race, especially since they've been searching for a post-season appearance since 2011.

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Georgia big man Somto Cyril ejected for throwing a forearm at fellow Nigerian

Georgia center Somto Cyril was ejected for throwing a forearm into Florida's Rueben Chinyelu on Tuesday night. Officials ejected Cyril midway through the first half after watching replays and seeing Cyril swing his arm and fist at Chinyelu following a made basket. The 6-foot-11 Cyril entered the game averaging 10 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks a game.

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Red Wings Reach Milestone Unseen In Nearly 15 Years With Latest Win

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Now that the Detroit Red Wings are officially in the second half of their centennial campaign, the biggest question remains whether this will finally be the season Stanley Cup Playoff hockey returns to the Motor City.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Detroit is in about as ideal a position as it could hope for, leading both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference standings.

In fact, with their 5–3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night, the Red Wings reached a milestone they had not achieved since the final season of Hall of Fame defenseman Nicklas Lidström’s career.

Monday’s win was Detroit’s 25th in its first 44 games, marking the team’s fastest pace to that total since the 2011–12 season.

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.  

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Their hot performance in December helped fuel their strong place in the standings, as their 11 victories during the month were the most since December 2010 and also just one shy of the franchise record of 12. 

In fact, the last time the Red Wings were in first place in their division at this point in a season was 11 years ago, in January 2015. The 2014–15 campaign also marked the second-most recent time they advanced beyond the 82-game regular season.

The 2011-12 campaign was the last in the legendary career of Lidstrom, who decided to retire following Detroit's disappointing first-round postseason exit at the hands of the Nashville Predators. 

Without Lidstrom, the Red Wings had to scratch and claw their way into the postseason during the lockout-shortened 2012–13 campaign. They not only upset the Anaheim Ducks in seven games but also came one goal away from defeating the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in a seven-game Western Conference Semifinal.

What followed were consecutive first-round exits against the Tampa Bay Lightning, first in seven games in 2015, then a quicker five-game loss in 2016, which marked the final NHL season of Pavel Datsyuk’s career.

The Red Wings, who played one final season at historic Joe Louis Arena, would move to the brand new Little Caesars Arena in the fall of 2017, but have yet to host a Stanley Cup Playoff game. 

Thanks to their current trajectory, there is renewed hope in Hockeytown that playoff hockey could be returning soon. 

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For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic remain on top in second round of fan voting for NBA All-Star Game

The fans know who they want — the 10 All-Star starters from the first round of fan voting a week ago remain the 10 who would start after another week of voting has been added to the totals.

Luka Dončić remains the overall leading vote-getter, while Giannis Antetokounmpo leads in the East in the second round of fan voting released by the NBA. Two international players garnering the most votes feels fitting in the year the All-Star Game becomes a three-team USA vs. World three-team format — and returns to NBC while debuting on Peacock. Five of the 10 would-be starters are international players.

Here is who the fans have voted as the starters for each conference up to this point (voting runs through Jan. 14):

Western Conference

Luka Dončić, Lakers (2,229,811 votes)
Nikola Jokić, Nuggets (1,998, 560)
Stephen Curry, Warriors (1,844,903)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder (1,554,468)
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs (1,321,985)

Eastern Conference

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (2,092,284 votes)
Jalen Brunson, Knicks (1,916,497)
Tyrese Maxey, 76ers (1,908,978)
Cade Cunningham, Pistons (1,752,801)
Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers (1,530,237)

Some thoughts on the voting so far:

• Consider this a reminder that the fan vote counts for 50% of who gets to be an All-Star Game starter. The fan vote is combined with a vote of the players (25%) and select media (25%) to determine the ultimate 10 starters. After that, a vote of the coaches picks the seven reserves for each conference. Those players will be divided into three teams for this year's game (more on the format below).

• The only change in the top five in either conference is that Jalen Brunson leapt over Tyrese Maxey to be the second leading vote getter in the East, but none of the players changed.

• If I were going to make one bet on something that changes once the player and media vote are added in, it will be that Boston's Jaylen Brown will leap past Donovan Mitchell into the starting five in the East.

• Nikola Jokic remains out injured after hyperextending his knee. However, the latest reports suggest he should be back in late January, which means he could play in the All-Star Game. Even if that timeline is optimistic and he is out longer, Jokic will get voted in as an All-Star starter, and if he cannot play, then NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will replace him.

• LeBron James leaped over Kevin Durant in the latest vote tally, and the legends of the game are Nos. 8 and 9 in the West voting. It's hard to imagine an All-Star Game without these two future Hall of Famers, but after LeBron missed considerable time at the start of the season, it is possible it will take a special invitation and designation from Commissioner Silver. That said, there is no way the All-Star Game is coming to Los Angeles — Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., the home of the LA Clippers — and LeBron is not playing.

• A year ago, LaMelo Ball was the runaway fan vote leader in the East (but didn't make the All-Star Game because he didn't have the player or media votes to start, then the coaches did not select him as a reserve. This season he is 11th in the East, behind Pascal Siakam and Michael Porter Jr.

All-Star Game format

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game returns to NBC and debuts on Peacock — right in the middle of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. That was a perfect setup for the first-of-its-kind All-Star Game pitting the best of the USA vs. the best of the World.

The 24 All-Star players (10 starters voted in, 14 reserves selected by the coaches) will be divided into three teams — two USA teams and one world team — that will compete in a round-robin tournament of four 12-minute games. Each of the three teams will have a minimum of eight players (if the USA or World teams are short on players, the league office will select one or more players to reach the required number).

At the end of the round-robin, the two top teams will play a championship game (the fourth 12-minute game of the day) for the title.

All-Star weekend tips off on Feb. 13 with the Rising Stars at the Intuit Dome at 6 p.m. PT, featuring the league's top first- and second-year players. Also on the 13th is the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which features stars from media, sports and entertainment playing at the Kia Forum. The Forum also hosts the fifth annual NBA HBCU Classic at 8 p.m. that night.

On Saturday, Feb. 14, All-Star Saturday night — featuring the Skills Challenge, 3-point Contest and the Dunk Contest — will take place at the Intuit Dome.

The 75th NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 5 p.m. Eastern, earlier than in previous years, leading into more coverage of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

How to Watch the NBA on NBC and Peacock

Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presents doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones. Check local listings each week. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. For a full schedule of the NBA on NBC and Peacock, click here.