The Bulls have been interviewing candidates for less than a week, but in that time, they appear to have found their new top-decision-maker. They are currently finalizing a deal to hire current Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas as their new executive vice president of basketball operations, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. 

Karnisovas has been with the Nuggets since 2013 and has been the team’s general manager since 2017, working under president of basketball operations Tim Connelly in building one of the Western Conference’s top contenders. He was present for the drafting of virtually every core player on the Nuggets, including Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Michael Porter Jr. and previously worked for both the Houston Rockets and the league office. He was a highly coveted candidate for a top role like this having previously interviewed with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks for such a position. 

Karnisovas will be hiring his own general manager and has seemingly been given total control over the franchise’s basketball operations. Former vice president of basketball operations John Paxson will remain only in an advisory role, whereas current general manager Gar Forman’s future with the team is up in the air. Nothing is known yet of the status of coach Jim Boylen, though ownership reportedly preferred a new front office to at least keep an open mind about retaining him. 

The Bulls have struggled mightily in recent years, first under Fred Hoiberg and now under Boylen. They have made the playoffs only once in the past five seasons, and have been unable to find a true cornerstone with the high draft picks that losing has granted them. Former franchise player Jimmy Butler, meanwhile, has thrived since the Bulls decided to trade him, putting further pressure on the unpopular front office tandem of Paxson and Forman. The two have run the Bulls in tandem for over a decade, with Paxson being the only top decision-maker with the Bulls since 2003, when he succeeded the architect of their 1990s dynasty, Jerry Krause. 

That resistance to change has been a staple in with the Bulls, but Karnisovas has worked for one of the NBA‘s more innovative teams of the past few seasons. Denver’s creativity in building around a pass-first center in Jokic will be welcome as the Bulls attempts to meaningfully contend for a championship for the first time since Tom Thibodeau’s departure. They have quite a ways to go, but in hiring one of the NBA’s most respected general managers, they’ve taken the first step back in that direction. 

The rapid spread of the coronavirus is causing cancellations and postponements of sporting events around the globe. As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been at least 116,000 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, according to CBS News. While 64,000 people have recovered, more than 4,000 have died. In America, multiple states are under a state of emergency and some politicians and public health officials are recommending large gatherings of people — including sporting events — in coronavirus hotspots be canceled or closed to the public.

NBA

• The NBA suspended the regular season indefinitely on Wednesday. League owners want commissioner Adam SIlver to reevaluate the situation after 30 days.

College basketball

• The NCAA has canceled the 2020 Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, along with all other winter season championship events.

Summer Olympics

• Organizers of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the biggest global sporting event of the year, are already concerned that the disease will problematic, and the status of the games could be up in the air as late as May.

MLB

• Major League Baseball has canceled the remainder of spring training and is pushing back the start of the regular season at least two weeks. The regular season was originally scheduled to start March 26. 

NHL

• The NHL announced Thursday it is pausing the 2019-20 season, effective immediately. Commissioner Gary Bettman hopes games will resume “as soon as it is appropriate and prudent.”

Golf

• The PGA Tour canceled the Players Championship after the first round, and also all tournaments until the Masters.

College Football

• Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State have all canceled their spring football games.

XFL

• The XFL has suspended play as of Thursday, effective immediately.
  

Soccer

• MLS announced it is suspending play for 30 days.

Horse Racing

• The 146th running of the Kentucky Derby is still scheduled to run as normal on May 2, but organizers say they are monitoring the situation and will have more clarity on the race, and if anything will change, as the date approaches.

Charlie McAvoy scored 1:19 into overtime, and the Boston Bruins beat the Blackhawks 2-1 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight victory.McAvoy finished a pretty passing sequence for the defenseman’s first goal of the season. David Krejci threw the puck outside to a streaking Jake DeBrusk, who made a perfect pass to McAvoy for the tap-in on the right side of the net.The Blackhawks thought they had taken a 2-1 lead with 1:05 left in regulation when it looked as if Drake Caggiula beat Jaroslav Halak for a short-handed goal. But it was waved off by the referee Peter McDougal after Bruins defenseman Torey Krug tripped Olli Maatta for a penalty.The crowd of 21,472 booed vociferously when the ruling was announced.After the game, the Officials admitted that they blew that call, There was no hand pass,although McDougal blew hit whistle.

Sean Kuraly also scored for Boston, which was coming off a 4-0 victory over Vancouver on Tuesday night. Halak made 21 saves.The Home team wasted a terrific performance by Robin Lehner, who made 38 stops in his first start since Jan. 21. The Blackhawks also lost defenseman Adam Boqvist to a right shoulder injury in the second period.Alex DeBrincat had the Blackhawks only goal. Next up for the Blackhawks, who are fighting to stay in the mix for the Western Conference’s second wild card, is a five-game trip to Canada.Boqvist got hurt when he was pushed into the boards by Krejci 6:13 into the second period. The 19-year-old Boqvist then skated off with his right arm hanging on his side, while Krejci was sent off for boarding.Krejci’s penalty turned into DeBrincat’s third power-play goal of the season. Kirby Dach was denied by Halak in front, but DeBrincat skated in from the side and knocked it home for a 1-0 lead at 6:50.Boston controlled the play early on, but Lehner stepped up for the Hawks. He made 16 saves in the first, including a terrific stop on Krejci with 1:51 left in the period.After the Blackhawks jumped in front in the second, Kuraly skated behind the net and into the right circle before beating Lehner through the goaltender’s legs at 12:49. It was Kuraly’s fifth of the year.Boston had a prime scoring opportunity near the end of the second, but Charlie Coyle, Krug and Kuraly were denied in rapid succession by Lehner.

Tha Hawks and Boston closed out their season series. The Blackhawks beat the Bruins 4-3 on Dec. 5 on Jonathan Toews’ overtime goal.

Patrick Mahomes outplayed Mitchell Trubisky, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another score, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Chicago Bears 26-3 Sunday night to stay in contention for a first-round playoff bye. Kansas City (11-4) earned its fifth straight win and remained a game behind New England for the AFC’s second seed. The Patriots clinched their 11th consecutive AFC East championship by beating Buffalo on Saturday. The Chiefs hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over New England thanks to a victory two weeks ago that helped secure their fourth AFC West title in a row. Mahomes’ big game in his first appearance at Soldier Field is just another blow for Chicago in a rough season that began with Super Bowl hopes. The Bears passed on Mahomes when they traded up a spot to grab Trubisky with the No. 2 overall pick in 2017. Mahomes went to Kansas City at No. 10 and won the MVP award last season. Trubisky has not performed the way the Bears envisioned. And with their playoff hopes already dashed coming off an NFC North championship, they got outclassed by Kansas City. Mahomes, playing his 30th game, became the fastest player to reach the 9,000-yard passing mark. He was 23 of 33 for 251 yards, giving him 9,238 in three seasons. Hall of Famer Kurt Warner did it in 32 games. Mahomes also has 75 touchdown passes, making him the fastest player to hit that mark. Travis Kelce, already the first tight end with four straight 1,000-yard seasons, became the first to reach 1,200 yards in back-to-back years. He caught eight passes for 74 yards, giving him 1,205 this year. That included a 6-yard touchdown near the end of the first half. Harrison Butker kicked a career-best 56-yard field goal that was the fourth-longest in franchise history. He also hit both the left and right uprights on a missed extra point. And coach Andy Reid beat protege Matt Nagy in his first meeting with his longtime former assistant. ”Proud of Matt,” Reid said. ”It is a process. He is going about it the right way.” The Bears (7-8) dropped their second straight after winning four of five. Trubisky completed 18 of 34 passes for 157 yards. Khalil Mack had a sack, and fans let the Bears have it before heading toward the exits in the closing minutes. ”I think it just comes to down all of us with the details and just understanding that on each and every play, we all need to be extremely detailed,” Nagy said. ”We all need to understand where we’re at and how important it is.” DOMINATING EARLY The Chiefs have outscored Denver and Chicago a combined 49-6 the past two weeks. And they took control early in this one. Kansas City led 17-0 at halftime after scoring on all three possessions and racking up more than twice as many yards as the Bears (203-93). Mahomes rolled to his left and went 12 yards untouched to the end zone, capping a 15-play drive that ate up 7 minutes, 58 seconds. Butker nailed a 56-yard field goal early in the second quarter. And Mahomes hit Kelce for the TD in the closing minute of the half, after Chicago’s Kevin Pierre-Louis got flagged for running into punter Dustin Colquitt. The Bears drove to the 4 in the third, but Trubisky’s fourth-down pass to Allen Robinson in the left side of the end zone got broken up by Charvarius Ward. Chicago finally scored when Eddy Pineiro kicked a 46-yard field goal as the quarter ended. Mahomes answered with a 14-yard touchdown to Damien Williams on the opening drive of the fourth to make it 23-3. Butker then missed the extra point when the ball somehow ricocheted off the left and right uprights.

INJURIES Chiefs: The Chiefs said in the fourth quarter RB Spencer Ware suffered a shoulder injury. Bears: NT Eddie Goldman (concussion) exited in the first half. … RG Rashaad Coward suffered a knee injury in the first half

DePaul improved to 12-1 before conference play. Coach Dave Leitao tempered his excitement just a bit.Charlie Moore scored 25 points, Jaylen Butz added a career-high 24 and DePaul held off Northwestern 83-78 on Saturday.Paul Reed and Jalen Coleman-Lands scored all of their combined 24 points after halftime to guide the Blue Demons, who are aiming for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003-04.

“My staff is trying to console me because I’m not jumping for joy after the game,” Leitao said. ”I’m looking at all the things we didn’t do as opposed to what we did do. So there’s a lot of room to grow.”

Boo Buie had 25 points in his first career start, Miller Kopp added 21 and Ryan Young had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Northwestern (5-6), one of the youngest teams in the country.Coleman-Lands added 13 points and Reed had 11 points and 12 rebounds for DePaul for his 10th double-double to lead the Big East. The Blue Demons are receiving poll votes and won 10 games before Jan. 1 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.Northwestern’s four-game winning streak in the teams’ all-time series was snapped.DePaul opened the second half on a 16-4 run for a 50-42 lead, but Northwestern retook the lead on an 11-2 run. Coleman-Lands completed a four-point play for a three-point DePaul lead, Butz made a dunk and layup and DePaul hit free throws to hang on.

”We started flying around a little bit better than we had the first 36 1/2 minutes,” Leitao said. ”That turned the tide.”

DePaul has won three straight since its 74-69 loss to Buffalo. Northwestern has lost four of six.Northwestern started Buie and A.J. Turner, a senior, for the first time this season with Anthony Gaines (shoulder) out. Buie scored a career-high 26 points against No. 15 Michigan State in his last game. Northwestern coach Chris Collins said he altered the starting lineup so Northwestern wouldn’t have an all-freshman bench.

”He’s made a big jump over the past couple weeks,” Collins said of Buie. ”He’s fearless, which I love. Now he’s just got to continue to study the game and learn and get better.”

Buie had 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting for a four-point Northwestern lead at halftime.NU is the youngest team in the Big Ten and the only team without a conference win.DePaul is on its way to its second straight winning season after 11 consecutive losing seasons. The Blue Demons improved to 3-0 against the Big Ten after also winning at Iowa and Minnesota.
Butz was voted the Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath MVP Award which has been awarded since 1974.

GREEN BAY—Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers‘ wait to see if a long-time foe would help them clinch a playoff spot was a whole lot easier than the lateral-filled final play they had to survive to beat the Bears in the rivals’ 200th game.

Leading by eight points with just 1 second remaining, Tramon Williams fell on Jesper Horstead’s fumble at the 2-yard line to end Green Bay’s 21-13 victory over the Bears Sunday. A few hours later, the Packers were playoff bound, when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams.

”I think I blacked out there for a second,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. ”There was so many laterals. I couldn’t tell. I was just hoping that someone was going to make the tackle.”

With the win, Green Bay (11-3) swept the Bears for the 15th time in the last 26 seasons and the seventh time in 11 seasons. The Packers defeated the Bears 10-3 in the season opener. Green Bay now leads the series 99-95-6.

”I think we have a bunch of guys that are going to fight for every inch out there and that are resilient and that care about each other,” LaFleur said. ”This is what I told the team last night, `What I love about this team is these guys have embraced their roles.”’

The Packers improved to 19-5 against the Bears with Rodgers as the starting quarterback. Rodgers completed just 16 of 33 passes for a pedestrian 203 yards. The two-time MVP entered the day with a 103.2 career passer rating against the Bears, the highest in league history of quarterbacks with at least 250 passes against the Bears. He had a 78.2 rating on Sunday.

”I love being 11-3,” Rodgers said. ”I think the performance was a little up and down but I thought we did some really good things. We just gotta be a little more opportunistic when we have opportunities.”

Mitchell Trubisky completed his first five pass attempts for the Bears (7-7) but for only 18 yards. The Bears offense opened the game with three straight punts and a turnover on downs. Trubisky finished 28 of 53 for 321 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, and the Bears had their three-game win streak end.

”Obviously, not the outcome that we wanted,” coach Matt Nagy said. ”We wanted to come here and play four quarters. I thought the way that our guys fought back there at the end to give us a chance to win is good, but obviously the outcome’s not good. Got to pick up the pieces and get better.”

The Packers got on the board first on a 29-yard strike from Rodgers to Davante Adams in the first quarter. Adams beat Buster Skrine off the line for his fourth touchdown in the last four weeks. Adams finished with 103 yards on seven catches.

”I think what Matt did today was great, moving Davante around,” Rodgers said. ”We had a number of snaps with him in the slot. And he was playing both Z and X. We’re going to have to do that.”

Eddy Pineiro knocked in a 30-yard field goal late in the first half for the Bears.The Packers opened the second half with an impressive five-play, 73-yard drive that featured a 34-yard reception to Adams, a season-long 17-yard scamper by Rodgers, and a 21-yard touchdown run by Aaron Jones, his 13th rushing TD of the season.

”I just think it’s so imperative in this league, especially when you’re playing against a good defense, you gotta get those chunk plays,” LaFleur said. ”You gotta find ways to come up with and find ways to create some explosives. If you’re able to do that, you’re able to score points. … Third down has not been very good to us, so we’ve gotta find ways to create those chunk plays and stay out of third-down situations.”

After another stalled possession by the Bears, Rodgers and Jake Kumerow linked up for a 49-yard gain, Kumerow’s longest reception of the season. The play helped set up another score for Jones from 2 yards and the Packers took a commanding 21-3 lead in the third quarter.Pineiro added a 27-yard field goal at the start of the fourth and Trubisky found Anthony Miller for a 2-yard score to cut it to 21-13 with 8:09 to go. Miller had nine catches for 118 yards and the score.

”All in all, big picture, we don’t get the win,” Nagy said. ”We could have played better in all three phases, and I could point to a lot of different things. But I’m going to stay positive with our guys, because I appreciate their fight.”

Former Northwestern Defensive lineman Dean Lowry picked off Trubisky with 6:33 left, Lowry’s first career interception.

Mitchell Trubisky threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score in the Bears‘ 31-24 victory over Dak Prescott and the slumping Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.In a matchup between disappointing teams that made the playoffs last season, the Bears (7-6) came away with their fourth win in five games. The Cowboys (6-7) have lost seven of 10 since a 3-0 start.Trubisky shook off an early interception near the goal line to complete 23 of 31 passes for 244 yards. He matched a season high for touchdown passes and scored on a 23-yard run early in the fourth quarter, making it 31-14.Allen Robinson caught two TD passes, and Anthony Miller had one as the Bears tied a season scoring high. Khalil Mack had a sack. Linebacker Roquan Smith left the game with a pectoral injury on the opening drive. But the Bears took out the NFC East leaders after beating the struggling Detroit Lions twice and New York Giants in recent weeks.Facing a top 10 defense for the third week in a row, the Cowboys once again couldn’t get their high-powered offense going.NFL passing leader Prescott was 27 of 49 for 334 yards and a touchdown. Ezekiel Elliott ran for 81 yards – his fifth straight game under 100 – and two scores.Michael Gallup had 109 yards receiving. Amari Cooper caught six passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, but the Cowboys lost their third straight. They lead Philadelphia by a half-game in the division.Kept out of the end zone in a 13-9 loss at New England two weeks ago and then held to two touchdowns in falling 26-15 to Buffalo on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys went 75 yards for a score on the game’s opening possession. Elliott lunged in from the 2 to cap a 17-play drive.Dallas’ Jourdan Lewis then intercepted Trubisky’s pass with a neat play near the left pylon, dragging his left foot. He was initially ruled out, but the call was overturned by a replay review.But it was all Bears after that.

The Bears tied it early in the second quarter when Trubisky hit Robinson with a 5-yard pass and took a 10-7 lead on a 36-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro. Dallas’ Brett Maher then missed a 42-yarder wide right. They added to the lead in the closing seconds of the half with Trubisky’s 8-yard pass to Robinson, and Miller’s 14-yarder on a screen in the third made it 24-7.

Javon Wims (knee) walked off gingerly in the closing seconds of the first half after an awkward landing as he tried to make a leaping catch in the end zone. … CB Prince Amukamara (hamstring) was inactive after being listed as doubtful. … WR Taylor Gabriel (concussion), TE Ben Braunecker (concussion) and RT Bobby Massie (ankle) all missed their second straight game.

DETROIT—Mitchell Trubisky started and closed strong to overcome some shaky decisions and plays in between to keep the Bears in the NFC playoff picture.Trubisky threw a go-ahead, 3-yard touchdown pass to David Montgomery with 2:17 left, lifting the Bears to a 24-20 win over the slumping Detroit Lions on Thursday.The Bears took the lead on the nine-play, 90-yard drive in which Trubisky converted a pair of third downs with 35- and 32-yard passes Anthony Miller.”He made special throws at special times,” coach Matt Nagy said.

The Bears sealed the victory on the ensuing possession with Eddie Jackson’s interception.Rookie quarterback David Blough led Detroit’s last drive to the Bears 26 in the final minute before losing 13 yards on a sack to leave a desperation pass as the only option and Jackson picked off his heave.The Bears (6-6) have won three of four games after losing four in a row, keeping their postseason hopes alive.

”We put ourselves in a good position to have another big game next week,” Trubisky said.

The Lions (3-8-1) have lost five straight for the first time under second-year coach Matt Patricia.

Detroit led for much of the game despite starting a quarterback it acquired from Cleveland for a swap of seventh-round picks after training camp.

”Watch that team fight and rally behind somebody like that, I think you can tell how much all those men in that room care about each other,” Patricia said.

Matthew Stafford was out for a fourth straight game with back and hip injuries and his backup, Jeff Driskel, was limited by a hamstring injury.Blough, an undrafted player from Purdue, threw a 75-yard TD on his first completion to Kenny Golladay to pull the Lions into a 7-all tie. Blough threw an 8-yard TD pass to Marvin Jones late in the first quarter to put Detroit ahead 14-7.Trubisky had an 18-yard TD pass to rookie tight end Jesper Horsted to make it 17-all late in the third quarter.Trubisky finished 29 of 38 with three TDs, matching a season high he also equaled in a win over Detroit earlier this month, for 338 yards and an interception. He got off to a strong start with a 10-yard pass to Allen Robinson and closed the game well enough for Chicago to score more than 20 points for the first time in more than a month.Blough was 22 of 38 for 280 yards with two TDs and an interception.

”This is what you dream about as a kid,” Blough said. ”I’m thankful for it all, all the ups and downs.”

Kyle Fuller may have prevented Detroit from scoring a tiebreaking TD early in the fourth quarter when he stopped J.D. McKissic in the open field on third-and-1.

Khalil Mack gave the Bears the lift they needed with the type of big play he had not been delivering.Mack set up a touchdown with a strip-sack, Allen Robinson had a season-high 131 yards receiving and the Bears beat the struggling New York Giants 19-14 on Sunday.Trying to salvage something from a disappointing season, the Bears (5-6) bounced back from a loss to the Los Angeles Rams to win for the second time in three games. The Giants (2-9) dropped their seventh straight and clinched their third losing season in a row.Mack broke through in the third quarter for just his second sack in seven games. Held without a tackle at Los Angeles, the three-time All-Pro nailed Jones deep in New York territory, and Nick Williams recovered at the 3. That led to a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to make it 19-7.

”Turnovers are huge, especially down the stretch,” Mack said. ”No surprise that that one was a huge play down the stretch. That’s what we needed to win the game.”

New York cut the lead to five with 4:10 left in the game when Golden Tate hauled in a 23-yard pass on fourth-and-18. The Bears then went three-and-out before Pat O’Donnell pinned the Giants at the 6 with a 61-yard punt, and the Bears hung on from there.Trubisky threw for a season-high 278 yards, including a touchdown to Robinson, and two interceptions after missing the final drive the previous week because of a right hip pointer. Robinson had six catches, and the defending NFC North champions gave their frustrated fans something to cheer.

”I’m happy we won, but it’s not good enough, not really good enough,” Trubisky said

EVANSTON—Minnesota was eager to get back on the field – and it showed.Tanner Morgan led No. 11 Minnesota to scores on its first three possessions and finished with four touchdown passes, and the Gophers bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 38-22 win over Northwestern on Saturday.The Gophers (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten, No. 10 CFP) clinched a share of the West Division title along with their first 10-win season since 2003 and sixth in the program’s 138-year history. They’ll play No. 14 Wisconsin at home next Saturday with a spot in the conference championship game at stake.Following the loss to the Hawkeyes, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said his team ”wanted to get that taste out of their mouth so bad.”

The Gophers wasted no time.

”The word of the week was `respond,’ ” Fleck said. ”We needed to, and they responded. That was a clear message from the beginning, that we had to start fast.”That’s what championship football looks like – come out of the gate and put 21 points on the board like that.”

Morgan, the Big Ten’s leading passer, was sharp following a week in the concussion protocol after absorbing back-to-back sacks by the Hawkeyes. The redshirt sophomore, listed as questionable until Saturday morning, has thrown 26 touchdown passes this season to set a school record.

”We knew we had to come out fast, come out firing,” Morgan said. ”We always talk about starting fast, accelerating in the middle and finishing strong.”Fleck said Morgan was almost his old self, despite an abbreviated week of practice.

”Got to give him credit with the limited amount of reps he had to be able to play like he did,” Fleck said. ”There were some things he was just a little off on today.”

Morgan threw three TD passes to Rashod Bateman and one to Tyler Johnson against Northwestern (2-9, 0-8). Bateman finished with 78 receiving yards and Johnson had 125, giving Minnesota its first pair of 1,000-yard receivers in season.Rodney Smith finished with 77 rushing yards to give him 1,063 for the season.Morgan zipped a 19-yard TD pass to Bateman in the corner of the end zone to end a 10-play, 56-yard drive on Minnesota’s first possession.