US sports compact: Wagners and Theis win with their NBA teams – bankruptcy for Schröder

Franz Wagner was once again a mainstay in the Magic's success. The younger Wagner brother scored 19 points and contributed five assists, while Moritz Wagner came off the bench with eight points and four rebounds. Orlando made the victory in the game open until the end perfect with a strong defensive performance in the final quarter; in the last part of the game, the Wagners and Co. only allowed 18 points.

Daniel Theis also had reason to celebrate. The center won a 136:125 mandatory win with the Los Angeles Clippers against the Detroit Pistons. Theis, who came off the bench as usual, contributed five points and three rebounds. The match winner was superstar Kawhi Leonard with a strong 33 points.

Dennis Schröder, however, had to cope with the next setback: the Toronto Raptors, the captain of the German national team, clearly lost to the Houston Rockets 106:135. Point guard Schröder, who lost his place in the starting lineup over the course of the season, collected eight points. Toronto is already four wins behind tenth place in the East, which is enough to qualify for the play-in tournament.

Shooting star Victor Wembanyama also suffered a bitter defeat. The young Frenchman and his San Antonio Spurs received the decisive basket from Zion Williamson (33 points) four seconds before the end in the 113:114 win against the New Orleans Pelicans. Wembanyama showed another good performance with 16 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.

Ice hockey superstar Connor McDavid from the Edmonton Oilers has won the NHL All-Star Skills 2024. The 27-year-old secured one million dollars in prize money. “I think it was entertaining. The guys worked hard to put on a good show,” McDavid said. In the competition on the evening before the All-Star Game, the skills competition was determined in a new format. Twelve players from the North American professional ice hockey league NHL competed on Friday (local time) to determine the winner in eight disciplines. The disciplines included, among others, the hardest and most precise shot, speed and stick handling.

McDavid, a congenial partner of Germany's star player Leon Draisaitl, secured the title as the fastest player for the fourth time and also showed his exceptional talent in shot precision and stick handling. The top eight point collectors then competed in a penalty shootout against a goalkeeper they had previously chosen. The sextet with the most points overall was admitted to the final: the obstacle course. As the last starter, McDavid set the best time and relegated his Canadian compatriot Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche) and the American Austin Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) to the other places in the overall standings.

In addition to McDavid, Alexander Georgiev also had something to celebrate. The Russian from the Toronto Maple Leafs won $100,000 in prize money as the event's best goalkeeper. He made nine saves in the penalty shootout against McDavid.

Can pop icon Taylor Swift make it from her concert in Tokyo to the football spectacle with her boyfriend Travis Kelce at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas in time? The Japanese embassy in the USA has now intervened in the question, which has been much discussed among nervous Swift fans.

“Despite the 12-hour flight and the 17-hour time difference, the embassy can say with confidence that if she leaves Tokyo the evening after her concert, she should arrive comfortably in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins,” the in assured Washington-based embassy on the social network X.

The singer is scheduled to give a concert in Japan's capital on February 11, around 24 hours before the grand finale of the National Football League (NFL). In Super Bowl LVIII, already dubbed the “Swift Bowl” due to the immense excitement surrounding the US superstar in the stands, Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs will meet San Francisco on the night of February 12th (12:30 a.m. CET/RTL and Dazn). 49ers.

Their presence would add even more excitement to the Super Bowl. Swift's relationship with Kelce has already brought millions of new fans to American football.

NBA superstar LeBron James' agent has denied speculation about the 39-year-old's possible departure from the Los Angeles Lakers. “LeBron will not be traded and we are not asking for it,” Rich Paul made clear in an interview with US broadcaster ESPN on Friday.

The four-time league MVP and best points scorer in NBA history signed a two-year contract with the Lakers in August 2022 that would tie him to the club until the 2024/2025 season if he takes up an option for the final year of the contract .

The Lakers, who have repeatedly been plagued by injuries and won the first edition of the “NBA Cup” in December, are only in ninth place in the Western Conference in the play-off race with a record of 25 wins from 50 games. “King” James is averaging 24.9 points, 7.7 assists and 7.5 rebounds this season.