*NBA : Denver Nuggets All-Star Carmelo Anthony will miss at least three weeks with a broken bone in his shooting hand, but he won’t need surgery. Anthony was fitted with a removable splint Tuesday after breaking a bone in his right hand in a victory over the Indiana Pacers the night before. … Nuggets guard J.R. Smith is due to appear in a New Jersey municipal court next week to face traffic summonses stemming from a car crash that killed a friend in 2007. … Phoenix Suns guard Jason Richardson apologized for creating a “distraction” after being accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. A citation filed in court says the ex-Michigan State star was stopped by a Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community police officer in the early morning of Dec. 21. The Suns also released guard Dee Brown less than two weeks after signing him to fill the team’s need for a backup point guard. … Boston Celtics guard Tony Allen missed Tuesday night’s game against Charlotte with a right ankle injury. … Houston Rockets forward Ron Artest missed his second straight game with a sore right ankle, sitting out Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers.
*NHL : Mats Sundin believes there’s a “good chance” he’ll debut for the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night in Edmonton. The 37-year-old center is nine months removed from his last game in a 17-season NHL career. He signed as a free agent Dec. 18 and joined his new team in Vancouver on Dec. 30. Sundin didn’t have his first full practice with the Canucks until Monday. … The Colorado Avalanche has placed defenseman Adam Foote on injured reserve with a triceps injury. The move is retroactive to Sunday, when Foote left in the second period of a 2-0 loss to Minnesota. Avalanche coach Tony Granato said Foote apparently had been hurt in a collision or when he finished off a check. … Marian Gaborik has begun rehabilitation from surgery on his left hip. The Minnesota Wild reported late Monday the operation to repair a torn labrum and damaged cartilage went “as expected.” The star right wing started rehab immediately after the procedure in Colorado, done by the same specialist who performed a similar operation on his right hip last summer. Groin pain persisted for Gaborik this season, and he played in only six games before being diagnosed with a deficiency in his hip. … Blues left wing Paul Kariya had left hip surgery and could miss the rest of the season.
*COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The economic downturn is forcing the University of Illinois to delay plans to build a new basketball arena or refurbish 46-year-old Assembly Hall. Illinois had planned to decide whether to rebuild or replace the on-campus arena by the end of 2008, but athletic director Ron Guenther put those plans on hold indefinitely after meeting with university Chancellor Richard Herman. The university had planned to use privately raised money for the project but expects fundraising to be hurt by the economy. … A plane carrying Louisville’s basketball team to a game in Florida returned to the airport after the pilots received a fire warning that turned out to be false. There were no injuries. … Kay Yow once again has to leave her North Carolina State program to focus on her fight against cancer. The Hall of Fame coach said she will not return to the team this season due to health issues related to her battle against the disease she was first diganosed with two decades ago.
*COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Utah’s attorney general is investigating the Bowl Championship Series for a possible violation of federal antitrust laws after an undefeated Utes team was left out of the national title game for the second time in five years. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff contends the BCS unfairly puts schools like Utah, which is a member of a conference without an automatic bid to the lucrative bowl games, at a competitive and financial disadvantage.
*SOCCER: David Beckham had a quiet debut for AC Milan, exiting at halftime before the club beat Hamburg 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw. The former England captain, on a three-month loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, was greeted by a huge ovation before the exhibition match.
*OLYMPICS: Steve Roush, who had been under fire for his handling of the anti-pollution mask incident involving U.S. cyclists at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, has left his job at the U.S. Olympic Committee. The official version is that Roush, 50, resigned as the USOC’s chief of sports performance, but his position had been tenuous since USOC chief executive Jim Scherr had to issue a public apology to four track cyclists in mid-September.
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EDITED BY BOB FOLTMAN FROM TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES
