National Sports

Sports briefs

Aces send

Fever home

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A’ja Wilson made sure her basketball spoke for itself Thursday night.

The four-time WNBA MVP, who had a verbal encounter with a Fever fan in Indiana two nights earlier, scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the defending champion Las Vegas Aces to a 94-83 victory in the deciding Game 3 of the first round.

This is the second year in a row Las Vegas has ended the season for the Fever, who were seeded sixth.

Indiana’s Caitlin Clark scored 11 points in the first quarter, but was held to seven the rest of the game. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 23 points but shot 7 for 23.

Tensions ran high again Thursday, both teams bringing the physical play expected when each season is on the line in a game that had the intensity of a WNBA Finals.

Duren rejoins

the Pistons

DETROIT (AP) -- The lengthy negotiations between the Detroit Pistons and star center Jalen Duren didn’t leave any lingering animosity, at least not in the mind of head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

Duren, an All-NBA Third Team selection last season, agreed to a five-year, $200 million contract on Thursday. There were reports during the offseason that the restricted free agent sought sign-and-trade options and even felt disrespected by the front office.

Duren, who was not made available to the media, underwent a physical and other testing on Friday and was expected to start practicing as early as this weekend. Bickerstaff brushed aside any suggestion that Duren might not be fully invested in rejoining the team.

"The most important thing for us was having JD back with us and I know JD wanted to be back," Bickerstaff said. "All that stuff that was floating (around), we know what’s real. It’s a negotiating process and we went through the process and we knew he’d be back."

Browns are

looking better

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Todd Monken’s faith in what the Browns could do in his first season as coach hasn’t wavered, even when Cleveland was blown out at Jacksonville in the season opener.

Not only did the Browns bounce back from that 34-10 defeat, they have gone on a run to the top of the AFC North.

Thursday night’s 27-24 win over Pittsburgh has Cleveland 3-1 for the first time since 2023.

"If you said that was the way we would start the season (in Jacksonville) after the way we worked, I would have said you're nuts. And if you'd have said we'd be 3-1 after that first game, I would've said you're nuts. But that's a credit to our players, because all they do is just work," Monken said.

49ers owner

suspended

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- The NFL has suspended San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York for six games following his arrest earlier this year in a prostitution sting in Ohio. The league announced that York also was fined $500,000 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

York has not attended any games or league meetings so far this season and was credited with three games served. He is eligible to return on Oct. 20, following the team’s game the previous night against Washington.

QB Daniels

ruled out

WATFORD, England (AP) -- Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota will get his second straight start in place of the injured Jayden Daniels on Sunday when Washington faces the Indianapolis Colts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Head coach Dan Quinn announced the decision Friday after practice at the team’s luxury hotel accommodations outside London. Daniels returned to practice this week after dislocating his elbow in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys. He’s been wearing a protective brace and expressed no concerns about further damage.

Kuzmenko

honors father

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) -- Pittsburgh Penguins forward Andrei Kuzmenko is changing his jersey number to 62 to honor his father Alexander, who died in a bear attack in Russia last week at age 62.

Kuzmenko has returned to practice with the Penguins after attending his father’s funeral in Moscow. The 30-year-old signed a one-year, $5 million contract with Pittsburgh over the summer. He explained that his father was attacked by a bear while fishing in Siberia.

Kuzmenko described his father’s death as a “big shock.” Kuzmenko, who used to wear No. 10, also noted that his mother was born in 1962.

Trail Blazers

fire announcer

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers fired new play-by-play television broadcaster Braiden Bell on Thursday when past inappropriate social media posts that he made as a teenager resurfaced just hours after the team announced his hiring.

Bell had been the play-by-play announcer for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and the G League’s Valley Suns before the Trail Blazers announced they had hired him. Hours later, KGW-TV in Portland reported on social media posts that the 29-year-old Bell made in 2012 and 2013.

Bell apologized Friday for his posts, saying he wrote them when he was 15 and they don’t reflect who he his today.