BASKETBALL

The Maine Celtics erased a 12-point halftime deficit Tuesday night to beat the Long Island Nets 117-111 in a G League game at Uniondale, New York.

The Celtics finished with an 8-1 run over the final 3:30 to improve to 4-0.

JD Davison had 18 points, five rebounds and nine assists for Maine, and Mfiondu Kabengele had 20 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Luka Šamanić finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for the double-double. Marvin Smith Jr. scored 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half, and grabbed seven rebounds.  

Jordan Bowden led Long Island (0-4) with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Long Island led 64-52 at halftime.

WNBA: Mike Thibault is retiring from his position as coach of the Washington Mystics.

The team announced Tuesday that Thibault will continue as general manager, and his son, Eric – who has been an assistant with the Mystics for a decade – will take over as head coach.

Thibault is the winningest coach in WNBA history after going 379-289. He was named coach and general manager of the Mystics in December 2012 and led the team to its first WNBA title in 2019. Washington went 22-14 this season and lost to Seattle in the first round of the playoffs.

Before joining the Mystics, Thibault was the coach of the Connecticut Sun, leading them to two WNBA Finals. He also led Washington to the finals twice. He made 16 playoff appearances with the Sun and Mystics, the most by any coach in league history.

Eric Thibault spent the last four seasons as an associate head coach.

SOCCER

WORLD CUP: Americans will bet $1.8 billion on the World Cup this year, the first to be held while legal sports betting is widespread in the U.S., according to the casino industry’s national trade group.

About 20.5 million American adults plan to bet on the biggest soccer tournament in the world, legally or otherwise, the American Gaming Association estimated. The majority plan to place bets online, with a bookie or at a physical sportsbook.

Thirty-one states plus Washington, D.C., currently offer legal sports betting, with five additional markets due to begin soon.

• Senegal forward Sadio Mane will miss his team’s “first games” at the World Cup because of a leg injury, a Senegal soccer federation board member said.

Abdoulaye Sow said Senegal will have to cope without its best player for the start of the tournament and “not whine too much.”

“We will have to rely on playing the first games without Sadio and win without Sadio because we have 25 players apart from Sadio,” Sow said. “No one would have wanted it, but that’s what’s happened to us.”

Sow didn’t specify how many games Mane is expected to miss, and there has been no official word from Senegal or Bayern Munich.

WOLVERHAMPTON: Striker Raul Jimenez is set to play his first game since August when Mexico takes on Sweden on Wednesday in its final warm-up for the Qatar World Cup.

Jimenez has been sidelined with a groin injury since Wolves played Bournemouth on Aug. 31 in the Premier League but is hoping to regain full match fitness for the World Cup after being included in Mexico´s 26-man roster despite the concerns of his club coach Julian Lopetegui.

MANCHESTER UNITED: Co-owner Joel Glazer will make the final decision about Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at the club after the forward’s incendiary TV interview, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

Ronaldo’s position at United is considered untenable after saying he felt “betrayed” by the club in an interview set to be broadcast in Britain this week, where he also said he does not respect Manager Erik ten Hag.

The interview has been widely viewed as an attempt by Ronaldo to force a move away from United after the World Cup. But Glazer will have the final say on any decision to sell the forward and it will be up to Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes to present potential clubs willing to buy him, the person with knowledge of the situation said.

GOLF

SOLHEIM CUP: The Netherlands will host the Solheim Cup for the first time after being chosen to stage the biggest team event in women’s golf in 2026.

Bernardus Golf will host the event, organizers said. The course in Cromvoirt, a village in southern Netherlands close to the historic cathedral city of Den Bosch, opened in 2018 and has already hosted the Dutch Open on the men’s European tour in 2021 and 2022 and will do so again next year.

Europe will defend the trophy against the United States at Finca Cortesin in Spain in September next year.

TENNIS

ATP FINALS: Top-seeded Rafael Nadal lost 6-3, 6-4 to tournament debutant Felix Auger-Aliassime to leave him with two straight defeats in Turin, Italy.

That result coupled with a victory for third-seeded Casper Ruud over Taylor Fritz in a later match meant a swift exit for Nadal.

The 36-year-old Nadal has now lost four straight matches for only the second time in his career, following defeats at the U.S. Open and Paris.

Nadal was beaten by eighth-seeded Fritz of the United States in their opening match on Sunday.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR:  Ty Gibbs was promoted to NASCAR’s top Cup series in an expected announcement that was void of any celebration as Joe Gibbs Racing continues to mourn the loss of Gibbs’ father.

Coy Gibbs died in his sleep hours after his 20-year-old son won the Xfinity Series championship on Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway. He was 49, the same age as older brother, J.D., when he passed away in 2019.

Joe Gibbs, the NASCAR and NFL Hall of Famer, has lost both his sons a month before their 50th birthdays. Coy Gibbs was vice chairman of his father’s NASCAR team at the time of his death.

OLYMPICS

GYMNASTICS: Sunisa Lee is going to make another run at Olympic glory.

The 2020 women’s all-around gymnastics champion announced she will return to training at the elite level following the end of her sophomore season at Auburn next spring.

Lee, 19, became the fifth straight American woman to earn the Olympic title when she edged Rebeca Andrade of Brazil in a taut final at Ariake Gymnastics Centre, a victory Lee never envisioned until U.S. teammate and 2016 Olympic champion Simone Biles took herself out of the competition to focus on her mental health.

“I have my sights set on Paris in 2024 and I know what I have to do to get there,” Lee said. “I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and putting in the work.”