Update on the latest sports

NBA-PACERS-76ers

Korkmaz, Milton come off bench, spark 76ers rout of Indiana

UNDATED (AP) — Joel Embiid had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz came off the bench to help the Philadelphia 76ers to a 130-114 rout of the Indiana Pacers. Ben Simmons had 18 points and six rebounds. Milton led the Sixers with 26 points and Korkmaz hit six 3-pointers and scored 19 points. Malcolm Brogdon led the Pacers with 20 points.

In other NBA Monday action:

— Luka Doncic had 33 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Kristaps Porzingis played a nearly flawless second half and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Orlando Magic 130-124. Jalen Brunson scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half as the Mavericks broke open a close game. Dallas has won four of its last five and nine of 12. Nikola Vucevic had 29 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Magic, who dropped their fourth straight.

NBA-HAWKS-PIERCE FIRED

Hawks fire Pierce as coach following disappointing start

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce has been fired following a slow start to a season of heightened expectations. Hawks president Travis Schlenk announced the move Monday in a short statement released by the team.

The Hawks are 14-20 and 11th in the Eastern Conference, following a 109-99 loss at Miami on Sunday night. The teams play again in Miami on Tuesday. Schlenk says the move, which comes less than a week before Atlanta hosts the All-Star Game, is timed to help the team enjoy a second-half resurgence. Pierce, hired in 2018, was 63-120 (.344) with the Hawks. He missed the playoffs in each of his two completed seasons.

— Toronto’s game against Detroit that was scheduled for Tuesday is being postponed until Wednesday, a move that the NBA hopes gives the Raptors time to get back onto the floor. The Raptors were scheduled to play Chicago on Sunday and that game was postponed indefinitely because of positive tests and contact tracing issues. The league cautioned that Wednesday is a tentative rescheduling date for the game against the Pistons, and is “pending additional test results.”

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-NIT-MOVING TO TEXAS

NIT moves 2021 event to Texas, interrupting 83-year NY run

DALLAS (AP) — The NIT is moving the entire 2021 event to Texas, taking the semifinals and championship game out of New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time in the 83-year history of college basketball’s oldest postseason tournament.

The pandemic is also reducing the field to 16 teams from the usual 32. All games are set for two venues in the Dallas area. First-round games will be played March 17-20, with the quarterfinals March 25. The semifinals are set for March 27, followed by the championship game the next day. Last year’s event was canceled because of COVID-19.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-POLL

Michigan takes number-2 spot

UNDATED (AP) — Michigan has finally broken the stranglehold of Gonzaga and Baylor atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, taking advantage of the Bears’ loss at Kansas to leap into the No. 2 spot behind the Bulldogs.

Illinois climbed one spot to fourth and Iowa gave the Big Ten three teams in the top five. West Virginia continued its steady climb, up four spots to No. 6 after its third straight win. Ohio State fell three spots to seventh after losing to the Hawkeyes. Alabama, Houston and Villanova rounded out the top 10.

Oklahoma State, Purdue and Colorado joined the poll while Southern California, Tennessee and Missouri dropped out.

TOP 25-COLLEGE BASKETBALL

UNDATED (AP) — Sam Hauser scored 18 points and No. 21 Virginia ended a three-game skid by handing Miami its sixth loss in a row, 62-51. Trey Murphy III added 12 points for the 16-6 Cavaliers, who took command with a 14-2 run to end the first half. Miami closed within six points several times after halftime, but each time Virginia kept the Hurricanes from getting closer.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Washington State-Arizona State game canceled

UNDATED (AP) — The men’s basketball game between Washington State and Arizona State scheduled for Monday has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues in the Cougars’ program.

Arizona State won 77-74 in overtime when the teams played on Saturday, but a Washington State player tested positive for COVID-19 Monday morning.

The game had been rescheduled from earlier in the season due to coronavirus issues at Arizona State.

The Sun Devils close out the regular season against Colorado and Utah this week.

NHL-HURRICANES-PANTHERS

Necas scores in OT, Hurricanes beat Panthers 3-2

UNDATED (AP) — Martin Necas scored 1:59 into overtime and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Monday night. Brett Pesce and Vincent Trochek also scored for the Hurricanes, who won their second straight at Florida. Alex Nedeljkovic had a career-high 44 saves. Frank Vatrano and Eetu Loustarinen scored in the third period to give Florida the lead, and Chris Driedger finished with 24 saves. The Panthers have lost three of four.

NFL-CARDINALS-JJ WATT

Watt signs with Cardinals

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — J.J. Watt has agreed to a two-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals. The team announced the deal with the free-agent edge rusher on Monday.

Watt was released last month by the Houston Texans, for whom he won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. The 31-year old Watt has been one of the NFL’s best players for a decade, but asked out in Houston, which is undergoing a roster upheaval. Watt joins another former Texans star, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, in Arizona. Hopkins was acquired by the Cardinals in a one-sided trade a year ago.

In other NFL news:

—The Houston Texans released veteran quarterback Josh McCown on Monday, likely ending his 18-year NFL career. The Texans signed the 41-year-old in November, but he did not appear in a game. McCown joined the Texans after spending the early part of the season on the Eagles practice squad.

— The Kansas City Chiefs expect Patrick Mahomes to be ready for offseason workouts following surgery on his toe, and they are optimistic that offensive tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz could be available for the start of training camp. Mahomes had surgery on Feb. 10, shortly after the Chiefs were walloped by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl, to repair a turf toe injury that had hobbled him throughout the playoffs.

—The Chicago Bears have hired former Texas coach Tom Herman in an analyst role on Matt Nagy’s staff, his first NFL job after more than two decades of college coaching. Herman led Texas to a 32-18 record and four bowl victories the past four seasons. But he failed to deliver a Big 12 title or lead the Longhorns into national championship contention and got fired in January, with Steve Sarkisian replacing him.

MLB-IN-GAME VIDEO

In-game video returning to baseball for 2021

UNDATED (AP) — Major League Baseball has cleared the way for the return of in-game video on dugout iPads beginning on opening day, with catcher signals obscured by a computer program.

For decades, baseball players retreated to a clubhouse video room to check out their at-bats or take a closer look at a reliever coming into the game. But that practice was prohibited in 2020, contributing to a down year for offense during the pandemic-shortened season. Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who opted out of last season because of COVID-19 concerns, calls video “a huge part of the game.”

In other MLB news:

— Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto had to sit out the team’s exhibition home opener because he fouled a ball off his right foot a day earlier. Manager Dave Martinez said the 2020 NL batting champion originally was scheduled to play Monday against the Houston Astros. But then the mishap happened during live batting practice Sunday.

— The New York Mets will honor the late Tom Seaver by wearing a “41” patch on their home and away jerseys this season. The Mets say they’ll pay tribute to the Hall of Fame pitcher by putting his number on the right sleeves of their uniforms. Seaver died Aug. 31 at age 75. The right-hander is the Mets career leader in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He earned three Cy Young Awards with the Mets and pitched them to their first World Series championship in 1969. The Mets plan to unveil a Seaver statue at Citi Field this year.

— Vi Ripken, matriarch of the famed Orioles family that includes Hall of Fame son Cal Ripken Jr. and once the victim of a bizarre kidnapping, has died. She was 82. Family spokesman John Maroon said she died Friday, a day before her birthday. Violet and Cal Ripken Sr. married in 1957 and he managed in the late 1980s, when sons Cal Jr. and Billy played for him.

OBIT-ANDY HOFFMAN

Father of boy who stole show at ’13 Huskers spring game dies

ATKINSON, Neb. (AP) — The father of the young cancer patient who captured the hearts of college football fans when he ran for a touchdown in Nebraska’s spring game eight years ago has died after a seven-month battle with brain cancer.

The Team Jack Foundation announced Andy Hoffman died Monday. He was 42. His son Jack was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011. Wearing a miniature Cornhuskers uniform, Jack took a handoff and ran 69 yards into the end zone, with players mobbing him and lifting him on their shoulders. Andy was diagnosed with cancer last summer.