LOCAL SPORTS
Rural League tonight at Antigonish Arena: 7:00 Heatherton vs Pleasantdale 8:30 Outlaws vs St Croix
NATIONAL SPORTS
Canada has named its 25-man roster for the upcoming world junior hockey championship that opens Christmas Day in Edmonton. The Canadians are defending champions and going for a 19th gold medal overall. Six players from last year’s winning squad will be returning, as well as Chicago Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach.
John Wall was back on the floor for the first time in nearly two years to lead his new team, the Houston Rockets, to a 125-104 win over the Chicago Bulls to open N-B-A pre-season action. Wall had 13 points and nine assists in 19 minutes and the Rockets led wire-to-wire.
Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones will miss his fourth game of the season because of a lingering hamstring injury. The team ruled out Jones for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles against the Chargers after he failed to practice all week. And New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is listed as questionable for the game against the Arizona Cardinals because of a hamstring issue.
Atlanta was awarded a berth in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League by the U-S Soccer Federation’s board of directors. The M-L-S club received the berth that remained open because the 2020 U-S Open Cup was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The final U-S berth goes to the winner of the M-L-S post-season final today between Seattle and Columbus.
Domestic sponsors have already contributed a record of $3-point-3 billion dollars U-S to help pay for the Tokyo Olympics. That’s at least twice as much as any previous Games. But it’s still not enough. Now sponsors are being asked to pay millions more to cover some of the soaring costs of the one-year postponement. This comes as Japanese businesses are battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Friday’s Games
NBA Pre-Season
New York 90 Detroit 84
Orlando 116 Atlanta 112
Houston 125 Chicago 104
L.A. Lakers 87 L.A. Clippers 81
Portland 127 Sacramento 102
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
Major League Soccer – MLS Cup Final
Seattle at Columbus, 8:30 p.m.
NBA Pre-Season
Indiana at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
Memphis at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Denver at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.
Phoenix at Utah, 9 p.m.