New England takes division lead
FOXBORO, Mass., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Neither the Miami Dolphins nor Philadelphia Eagles were able to clinch a playoff berth Saturday. Instead, the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers gained a little more confidence for what would be an unexpected Super Bowl challenge.
New England, playing its final regular-season game at Foxboro Stadium, used the running of Antowain Smith to down Miami, 20-13, and move ahead of the Dolphins into first place in the AFC East.
The Patriots will clinch a playoff berth today if either Baltimore, Seattle or the New York Jets lose.
San Francisco, already the owner of a spot in the playoffs, put together an impressive goal-line stand in the fourth quarter that led to a 13-3 decision over Philadelphia. It was the Eagles' first road loss of the season.
Both Miami and Philadelphia would have earned a playoff position with a victory Saturday, with the Eagles having had a chance to capture the NFC East for the first time in 13 years. Philadelphia will still win the division today if the New York Giants should lose to Seattle.
In the third of Saturday's NFL attractions, Joe Nedney kicked a 21-yard field goal with 1:51 to play to give Tennessee a 13-10 win over Oakland. The Raiders have already clinched the AFC West title.
The Raiders' Sebastian Janikowski missed a 33-yard field goal try with 5:58 remaining as well as a 42-yarder with 11 seconds left.
Smith rushed for 156 yards and scored a touchdown in New England's victory, which ended with members of the Patriots doing a victory lap around the stadium and exchanging handshakes with fans in the process.
In San Francisco, the 49ers turned Philadelphia away seven straight times from inside the 10-yard line, five of those rejections coming with the Eagles owning the ball at the one. The goal-line stand came with San Francisco owning a mere three-point lead and was completed when Derek Smith intercepted a Donovan McNabb pass in the end zone.
The 49ers then drove 80 yards to the game's only touchdown, coming on a 32-yard pass from Jeff Garcia to Terrell Owens.
In today's games, the Green Bay Packers can book their first playoff appearance in three years while the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers battle for the inside track to a wild card berth.
A franchise rich in tradition, the Packers (9-4) have missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons. But a return to the postseason is a virtual certainty for quarterback Brett Favre this time and the Packers can clinch a spot with a win Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.
The Saints (7-6) and Buccaneers (7-6) will battle in a game that could eventually determine the third and final wild card team in the NFC.
Tampa Bay has the advantage of playing its final three games at home, but must contend with the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles in the final two weeks.
This will be the final road game for the Saints, who close the season with home games against Washington and San Francisco.
The Saints and Bucs are tied for the third wild card spot, one game ahead of the New York Giants, Washington and Atlanta.
Jordan hits game-winner
NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Michael Jordan scored 26 points and made a pull-up jumper over Latrell Sprewell with three seconds left Saturday night to give the Washington Wizards their record-tying ninth straight win, 87-86 over the struggling New York Knicks.
In his first two stints in the NBA, Jordan made a habit of torching the Knicks, especially at Madison Square Garden. But he scored just 19 points in the Wizards' season-opening loss here and did not play in the rematch on Dec. 14.
Jordan was inconsistent throughout this game and missed two shots in the final 96 seconds before making the clincher. He was off with a jumper with 1:06 left and, after Mark Jackson made one of two free throws to tie it, misfired on another with 37 seconds to go.
But Sprewell took an ill-advised jumper nine seconds later and Washington gave the ball to Jordan on its final possession. He took the inbounds pass at the top of the circle and drove to the free-throw line, from where he pulled up and made the jumper over Sprewell and Allan Houston.
Sprewell stepped out of bounds on the ensuing possession, capping a terrible game by the Knicks' leading scorer. He was held to six points and committed six of New York's 23 turnovers.
In Houston, the Rockets ended a 15-game losing streak with a 115-110 decision over Milwaukee behind a team record-tying 17 three-pointers. Houston halted its skid two shy of tying the worst losing streak in franchise history.
Other NBA results: Atlanta 101, Charlotte 88; Indiana 109, Cleveland 103; Utah 104, New Jersey 90; Minnesota 95, Chicago 74; Dallas 102, Orlando 80; Golden State 105, Denver 101; Phoenix 102, Portland 90; Seattle 117, Detroit 89; Los Angeles Clippers 101, Sacramento 85.
Kings unbeaten streak ends
MONTREAL, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Yanic Perreault's power-play goal with 3:15 remaining Saturday night gave the Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, who had won five straight and were unbeaten in their previous seven games.
The recent surge had lifted Los Angeles to the break-even mark at 14-14-5-2. But Perreault, who spent parts of five seasons with the Kings, ended both streaks.
Los Angeles defenseman Aaron Miller was penalized for cross-checking with 4:59 left in the third period and defenseman Stephane Robidas fired a shot off the goalpost on the ensuing power play.
Moments later, Robidas unleashed another shot from inside the blue line that Perreault tipped past goaltender Felix Potvin for his 15th goal of the season and first in seven games.
Other NHL results: Ottawa 1, New Jersey 0; Dallas 4, Columbus 2; Boston 4, New York Islanders 2; Philadelphia 4, Carolina 3 in overtime; Toronto 3, Buffalo 2; Pittsburgh 4, Washington 4; St. Louis 2, Florida 0; Minnesota 2, Vancouver 1.
Kentucky downs Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Tayshaun Prince and Cliff Hawkins each scored 17 points Saturday night as the eighth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats rolled to a 66-52 triumph over Indiana.
Kentucky (7-2) dropped an epic 95-92 overtime loss to top-ranked Duke on Tuesday night, but responded in a big way to defeat Indiana (6-4) for the ninth time in the last 11 meetings.
A basket by Hawkins with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half capped an 8-2 spurt and gave the Wildcats a 27-19 lead. They stretched it to 40-25 on a three-pointer by freshman Rashaad Carruth with 1:41 left in the first half.
The Hoosiers scored the final seven points of the half, including a pair from the line by Jarrod Odle, to close within eight at intermission. Odle led Indiana with 12 points.
The Wildcats slowly pulled away in the second half and freshman Adam Chiles' layup gave them a 54-38 advantage with 12:35 left. A layup by Prince gave Kentucky its largest lead at 60-43 with 7:24 remaining.
In other action involving top 10 teams, No. 3 Florida was a 76-60 winner over New Orleans; No. 4 Kansas crushed North Dakota, 109-77; No. 7 Illinois bested No. 9 Missouri, 72-61; and No. 10 Arizona was a surprising 105-75 victim of Oregon.
Rangers sign Chan Ho Park
ARLINGTON, Texas, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Righthander Chan Ho Park, the prized pitcher in the free agent class of 2001, signed with the Texas Rangers Saturday night.
The reportedly is worth $70 million over five years.
Texas had the inside track on Park since his agent is Scott Boras, who landed a record-breaking 10-year, $252 million contract for shortstop Alex Rodriguez from Rangers owner Tom Hicks last year.
Boras also represents Texas players Kenny Rogers, Todd Van Poppel and Carlos Pena, as well as pitcher Mark Teixeria, the Rangers' 2001 first-round draft pick.
Park, 28, provides a much-needed ace for a pitching staff that was the worst in baseball last season.
The Korean righthander was 15-11 with a 3.50 ERA for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2001, leading the team in wins, starts (35), innings pitched (234), strikeouts (218) and opponents' batting average (.216).
American hockey team completed
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Veteran defenseman Phil Housley of the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers forward Mike York were among six players added to United States Olympic hockey team Saturday.
Also added to the final roster were forwards Adam Deadmarsh of the Los Angeles Kings and Brian Rolston of the Boston Bruins, and defensemen Aaron Miller of the Kings and Tom Poti of the Edmonton Oilers.
The announcement was made by U.S. general manager Craig Patrick and coach Herb Brooks. The first 16 members of the team had already been named.
Housley will be competing in the Olympics for the first time. The Minnesota native was one of the best offensive defenseman in the NHL at his peak and has been rejuvenated in Chicago, totaling seven goals and 13 assists in 36 games this season.
York, 23, made his first Olympic team by totaling 15 goals and 22 assists in 38 games this season, playing on a line with Canadian Olympians Eric Lindros and Theo Fleury. The 5-10 York has been on three U.S. National Junior teams.
