EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Move over Odell Beckham Jr., Garrett Wilson might have snatched your spot among the NFL’s greatest catches. With one hand, of course. Wilson made a dazzling 26-yard go-ahead touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter and the New York Jets snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Houston Texans 21-13 on Thursday night. “I just kind of lobbed one up there and he made an unbelievable catch,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “That was a huge play... That’s a game-changing play.” Rodgers had three touchdown passes, including another earlier one-handed score by Wilson and a 37-yard throw to recently acquired Davante Adams, and the Jets (3-6) won for the first time in four games under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nine games into the Washington Capitals’ season, Alex Ovechkin is scoring at a rate that would put him past Wayne Gretzky as soon as this spring. Ovechkin scored his 858th career goal Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, putting him 37 away from breaking Gretzky’s NHL record before the end of this season. He entered this season 42 away from breaking a mark that long seemed unapproachable. “He’s been awesome,” said linemate Aliaksei Protas, who scored a goal assisted on by Ovechkin in a 6-3 victory. “The way he celebrates, you feel like it’s his first NHL goal — when you know he’s chasing one of the unreal records.” The 39-year-old Ovechkin has already scored five this season and continues piling up goals unlike anyone at this age in hockey history.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Dodgers’ 7-6 victory over the Yankees in Game 5 for their eighth World Series title and second in five years averaged 18.6 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming, according to Nielsen. That is the most-watched game in the Fall Classic since Game 7 in 2019 when the Washington Nationals’ victory over the Houston Astros averaged 23.22 million. The series averaged 15.81 million, its best performance since 2017 when Houston’s victory over the Dodgers in seven games averaged 18.93 million. Its also quite a turnaround from last year, when the Texas Rangers;' title over the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games averaged a record-low 9.11 million. The audience Wednesday peaked at 21.27 million from 11:15-11:30 p.m. EDT. The game had a 21.1 rating and 55 share in Los Angeles and 14.8 rating and 39 share in New York. The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in. The share refers to a percentage of the audience viewing it at the time.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The points continue to come for James Harden, who became the 20th player in NBA history to reach 26,000 points in his career in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 125-119 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night. Harden was more worried about the points the Clippers have been giving up, having squandered double-digit leads in both games of a back-to-back. Los Angeles led by as many as 21 on Thursday, following a wasted 10-point advantage in a 106-105 defeat to Portland the night before. “It’s definitely frustrating, just ’cause we was up double digits in both games,” Harden said. “Last night, we didn’t (play well) and we still had a double-digit lead. Tonight, we played well, especially in that first half and up 20-something. Like, it’s there. We just got to find ways to not lose it and continue to play our brand of basketball.”
THURSDAY SCORES
National Football League
NY Jets 21, Houston 13