Friday’s Sports In Brief

NBA

NEW YORK (AP) — Nike has suspended its relationship with Kyrie Irving and canceled its plans to release his next signature shoe, the latest chapter in the ongoing fallout since the Brooklyn Nets guard tweeted a link to a film containing antisemitic material.

The shoe giant announced it will halt its relationship with Irving, who has been suspended by the Nets for what the team called a repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.”

The Nets made that move Thursday, banning Irving without pay for at least five games, and a day later, Nike made its decision. Those actions followed widespread criticism — from, among many others, the Anti-Defamation League and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Irving signed with Nike in 2011, shortly after becoming the No. 1 pick in that year’s NBA draft. Irving’s first signature shoe was released three years later, and the popularity of the Kyrie line led to him making a reported $11 million annually just from the Nike endorsement.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, Jrue Holiday scored 29 points and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-102 to improve to 8-0 for the best start to a season in franchise history.

Bobby Portis Jr. added 18 points off the bench for the Bucks, the NBA’s only undefeated team. Milwaukee started 7-0 in both 2018-19 and 1971-72.

Antetokounmpo got his first triple-double this season and 30th of the two-time MVP’s career.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The defending champion Golden State Warriors fell to 0-6 on the road, losing 114-105 to Brandon Ingram and the New Orleans Pelicans with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins sidelined.

Ingram scored 26 points in his return from a four-game absence because of a concussion and reserve Larry Nance Jr. scored 20 points for the Pelicans, including several fourth-quarter dunks that kept Golden State at bay.

Jordan Poole had 20 points and nine assists for the Warriors. Kevon Looney was the only regular starter in uniform for Golden State’s second game in two nights at the end of a winless five-game trip.

The Warriors are 3-7 overall. Among Western Conference teams, only Houston (1-8) has more losses.

Curry, Thompson, Green and Wiggins all were scratched after playing the previous night in a loss at Orlando.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

SEATTLE — Peyton Henry made a 22-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to cap a 92-yard scoring driving, and Washington held off No. 24 Oregon State 24-21 to preserve its hopes in the Pac-12 championship game race.

The Huskies took over at their own 3 with 4:33 left. Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. led a march downfield against the Beavers’ stingy defense. Penix was 9 of 13 for 66 yards on the drive. His push pass to Giles Jackson for 12 yards got the Huskies to the Oregon State 2. After a pair of incompletions, The Huskies set up for the short field goal and Henry delivered the winning kick.

Washington (7-2, 4-2 Pac-12) won its third straight and kept alive its slim hopes of finding a spot in Las Vegas in the conference title game. Oregon State (6-3, 3-3) was playing its first game ranked in The AP Top 25 since the 2013 season opener.

Blustery winds affected the passing and kicking game all night and the game was stopped for 25 minutes early in the fourth quarter after partial power outage took down some of the stadium lights illuminating the field.

TENNIS

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Jessica Pegula finished winless in singles and doubles in the American’s WTA Finals debut, losing to Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-5 in a round-robin finale.

The third-ranked Pegula ended up losing all three matches in singles and doubles. She and Coco Gauff were the first Americans to make their WTA Finals debuts in singles and doubles since Lindsay Davenport in 1994.

Sabalenka advanced to the semifinals when fifth-ranked Maria Sakkari won the first set of the late match against No. 2 Ons Jabeur. Sakkari, who went on to a 6-2, 6-3 victory, had already qualified for the semis.

Pegula and Gauff, already eliminated, were blown out in their doubles finale 6-2, 6-1 by Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova. The Czech duo was already in the semifinals and finished 3-0 in group play. American Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands advanced to the semifinals with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over China’s Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan.

HORSE RACING

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Forte served notice as an early Kentucky Derby favorite, rallying from mid-pack to overtake Cave Rock and win the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 1 1/2 lengths at Keeneland.

It was his fourth victory in five starts, coming just over a month after he won the Breeders’ Futurity at the track by a neck.

Trainer Todd Pletcher’s colt went off as a 4-1 choice in the 1 1/16-mile race but had work to do running in the middle on the backstretch. Forte quickly made his charge through the 10-horse field and got off the rail to close in on Bob Baffert-trained Cave Rock, the 4-5 favorite, and the leaders by the final turn.

Forte turned it on entering the stretch, racing past Cave Rock at the eighth pole to claim his third consecutive victory as a 2-year-old, perhaps solidifying his credentials for Horse of the Year honors.

Wonder Wheel preceded Forte’s rally with one of her own in the $2 million Juvenile Fillies. The dark bay filly surged past Leave No Trace in the final furlong for a three-length victory. It was her fourth win in five starts, including last month’s Darley Alcibiades at Keeneland, with a second and likely sealed her claim as the top 2-year-old female.

AUTO RACING

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR retirement and IndyCar experiment lasted all of two seasons.

The seven-time NASCAR champion is returning in 2023 to the series that made him a global motorsports star as the part-owner of Petty GMS. He’ll also enter about five Cup races.

Johnson told The Associated Press that his first race will be the season-opening Daytona 500, where he’s a two-time winner. His car number and sponsors — and maybe even the current Petty GMS name — are all a work in progress for Johnson, who turned 47 in September.

On his bucket list are the Coca-Cola 600, a race he’s won four times, and he’d love if NASCAR made him eligible for the 2023 All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.

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