NEW YORK — Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he profited from rigged poker games and provided sports bettors with non-public information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Jones, a onetime teammate of James, said little during back-to-back arraignments in federal court in Brooklyn, letting his court-appointed lawyer enter not guilty pleas in a pair of cases stemming from last month’s federal takedown of sprawling gambling operations.
Jones, 49, acknowledged he read both indictments and that he understood the charges and his bail conditions, which include his mother and stepfather putting up their Texas home as collateral for a $200,000 bond that will allow him to remain free pending trial.
Jones’ lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, told a judge that they “may be engaging in plea negotiations.” He is due back in court for a preliminary conference with other defendants on Nov. 24.
Jones was among more than 30 people arrested in the gambling sweep. The others included reputed mobsters and prominent basketball figures, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
Sports bettor Marves Fairley also pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges alleging he cashed in on information about injuries to NBA players, including some that prosecutors say Jones provided to him.
Jones, an NBA journeyman, earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008 and he served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.
According to prosecutors, Jones sold or attempted to sell non-public information to bettors that James was injured and wouldn’t be playing in a Feb. 9, 2023, game against the Milwaukee Bucks, texting an unnamed co-conspirator: “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out.”
James wasn’t listed on the Lakers’ injury report at the time of the text message, but the NBA’s all-time scoring leader was later ruled out of the game because of a lower body jury, according to prosecutors, and the Lakers lost the game 115-106.
On Jan. 15, 2024, prosecutors said, Fairley paid Jones approximately $2,500 for a tip that Davis, the Lakers’ forward and center at the time, would see limited playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of an injury.
Fairley then placed a $100,000 bet on the Thunder to win, prosecutors said, but the tip was wrong. Davis played his usual minutes, scored 27 points and collected 15 rebounds in a 112-105 Lakers win, prompting Fairley to demand a refund of his $2,500 fee, prosecutors said.
Jones, a native of Galveston, Texas, who played college basketball at the University of Houston, is charged in both cases with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. As part of his bail agreement, his travel is restricted to parts of Texas and New York City. He was allowed to keep his passport to use as identification for flying until he obtains a REAL ID, which his lawyer said should happen soon.
A hot hand from outside the three-point arc, Jones once proclaimed himself in an interview with Insidehoops.com as “the best shooter in the world.” He played in every regular season game for three consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2006.
After his playing days, he worked as a “shooting consultant” for the Cavaliers and was an assistant coach when the team, led by James, won the NBA championship in 2016.
In the poker scheme, according to prosecutors, Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.
According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. His instructor likened those people to James and NBA All-Star Stephen Curry, prosecutors said. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.
In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”
The poker scheme often made use of illegal poker games run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime families, according to prosecutors.
Members of those families, in turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, officials said in court documents.
PHOENIX — Jalen Green scored 29 points in his Phoenix debut, Devin Booker added 24 points and the host Suns beat the short-handed Clippers 115-102 on Thursday night.
Green, who missed the Suns’ first eight games with a right hamstring strain, played 23 minutes and was 10 of 20 from the field, including six of 13 from behind the three-point line.
The guard was acquired from Houston in the offseason in the seven-team trade that sent Kevin Durant from Phoenix to the Rockets.
Grayson Allen, playing through an illness, scored 18, Mark Williams had 13 points and nine rebounds and Royce O’Neale scored 17, 11 in the third quarter when Phoenix outscored the Clippers 40-23 to take a 91-74 lead.
The Clippers lost their third straight. They played without James Harden, who missed the game for personal reasons, and Kawhi Leonard, sidelined with a right ankle sprain.
Ivica Zubac led the Clippers with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Cam Christie scored 17 off the bench, John Collins had 13 and Bogdan Bogdanovic 12.
Bradley Beal, in his return to Phoenix, had a miserable night for the Clippers. The veteran guard was two for 14 from the field and finished with five points. Beal played two seasons in Phoenix but was frequently sidelined by injuries. He was booed during introductions and every time he touched the ball during the game.
The Suns took their biggest lead at 104-79 on Allen’s three-pointer with 7:53 to go.
The now two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers made their first move of the offseason on Thursday.
It will ensure a familiar face is back for their pursuit of a three-peat next year.
The team picked up its $10-million club option for third baseman Max Muncy, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, bringing the now longest-tenured member of the roster back for what will be his ninth season in Los Angeles.
The decision was not surprising. This year, Muncy had perhaps his best all-around season at the plate since a 2021 campaign in which he received MVP votes. He hit .243, his highest mark since that 2021 season, with 19 home runs, 67 RBIs and an .846 OPS in 100 games. He atoned for a relatively quiet postseason by hitting a crucial home run in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the World Series, setting the stage for the team’s ninth-inning comeback and eventual extra-innings, title-clinching victory.
Muncy was in the final season of a two-year, $24-million extension he signed in the 2023 offseason. And injuries have been a problem for the 35-year-old in recent years (he was limited this past season by a knee contusion in July and an oblique strain in August).
However, the $10-million option was a relative bargain for a player who, prior to second-half injuries, had shaken off a slow start to the year by being one of the hottest hitters in the majors in May and June.
His return will also help keep a key part of the club’s veteran core intact, bringing back a player who — in the wake of Clayton Kershaw’s retirement — has been with the Dodgers longer than anybody else.
Muncy’s 2025 season did not start well. After an offseason in which trade rumors involving Nolan Arenado swirled, and a spring training spent working through the lingering after-effects of an oblique and rib injury that limited him in 2024, Muncy hit .176 through his first 34 games, and had only one home run.
In early May, however, he started wearing glasses to address an astigmatism in his right eye. Around that same time, he also found a breakthrough with his swing, one that helped him begin punishing fastballs up the zone. From May 7 to the end of June, he hit .315 with 12 home runs and a 1.039 OPS, one of the best stretches of his 10-year, two-time All-Star career.
That streak was derailed on July 2, when Muncy suffered his knee injury after being slid into at third base. His return a month later was cut short, too, when his oblique began bothering him during a batting practice session in August.
Those IL stints preceded a September slump that carried into the postseason, when Muncy hit just .173 entering Game 7 of the World Series.
But that night, he collected three hits, had the pivotal eighth-inning home run off Trey Yesavage that got the Dodgers back within a run, and became one of six players to contribute to all three of the Dodgers’ recent World Series titles.
“It’s starting to get a little bit comfortable up here,” he joked from atop the stage at the Dodgers’ World Series celebration on Monday. “Let’s keep it going.”
On Thursday, the team ensured his run with the Dodgers will, for at least one more season.
Alex Vesia’s option also picked up
The Dodgers on Thursday also picked up their $3.55-million club option for reliever Alex Vesia in 2026, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly. That was also not a surprise, though Vesia still would’ve been under team control and eligible for arbitration if they hadn’t.
Vesia was one of the few consistent performers in the Dodgers’ bullpen this year, posting a 3.02 ERA in a career-high 68 appearances. He was also one of their most trusted relief arms in the playoffs, bouncing back from a two-run outing in the wild-card series opener with 4 ⅓ scoreless innings the rest of the way.
Vesia was not available for the World Series as he and his wife dealt with what the team described as a “deeply personal family matter.” But he figures to be a key cog in their bullpen again next season, in what will be his last before reaching free agency.
Marcus Smart couldn’t believe the stat line. Five steals and two blocks for who?
“Lukaaaaa,” Smart said, elongating Luka Doncic’s name while smiling toward his star teammate who was sitting with his feet in an ice bucket with ice bags wrapped around his knees.
Doncic matched his career high for steals in a regular-season game Wednesday. The guard averaging 40 points per game claimed his defense was the only thing he did well on a night when he finished one rebound short of a triple-double. While collecting 35 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, he was an inefficient nine-for-27 from the field and four-for-11 from three. He missed four free throws, turned the ball over four times and, after picking up his fifth foul with 7:58 remaining in the fourth, nearly fouled out.
The last fact took Rui Hachimura by surprise.
“I’ve never seen him like that,” Hachimura said. “But you know, he’s trying to be more aggressive [on defense] and that’s what we need from him, too.”
Redick said Doncic had a few games when he started slow defensively in terms of physicality and engagement, but has been overall “really good” this season. Even when he was switched on to Spurs star Victor Wembanyama or point guard Stephon Castle, Doncic still competed well.
“There wasn’t matador defense,” Redick said. “He still guarded. And that was huge. The reason we won the game is because we guarded in the fourth quarter. Our fourth-quarter defense was the No. 1 reason we won the game.”
The Lakers limited the Spurs to 36.8% shooting from the field during the fourth quarter while forcing six turnovers. Wembanyama was held to 19 points on labored five-for-14 shooting with eight rebounds. He was nine-for-11 on free throws and fouled out with 1:40 remaining when he bowled over Hachimura.
Well, it was fun while it lasted … wait, it’s not over?
There’s somehow at least four games left in a UCLA football season that feels like it’s already exhausted its story arc and run out of acts.
Act I: The fall of a proud Bruin.
Act II: The rise of a proud (Fresno State) Bulldog-turned-Bruin.
Act III: A 50-point implosion that sucked the air out of the season and didn’t please any Bruin.
What’s left after an 0-4 start that included the firing of a coach followed by a three-game winning streak and a 56-6 loss to one of the nation’s top teams? Somehow, there’s still at least a third of a season to go.
A victory over Nebraska on Saturday evening at the Rose Bowl could essentially put the Bruins right back where they were a few weeks ago, giving interim coach Tim Skipper another chance to reclaim the hearts of the college football world with an upset of top-ranked Ohio State the following weekend.
But first they have to get past a Cornhusker team missing its biggest kernel. Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola is out for the season with a broken leg, forcing the team to turn to a true freshman who was throwing passes for Orange Lutheran High this time last year.
Don’t expect TJ Lateef or any of his teammates to walk into the Rose Bowl waving a white flag.
“It would just be so average to go out there and be like, well, we’ve got a freshman quarterback and it is what it is,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule told reporters this week. “Like, no, we’re not doing that. We’ve got TJ Lateef and we’re going to rally around him.”
Here are five things to watch when the Bruins (3-5 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) face the Cornhuskers (6-3, 3-3) in a game that starts at 6 p.m. PST and will be televised by Fox:
Quarterback quandary
Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef hands off the ball to running back Emmett Johnson during the second half against USC.
(Bonnie Ryan / Associated Press)
Lateef is about to become just the fourth true freshman quarterback to start a game for Nebraska since 1950.
Will it be a performance for the ages?
Lateef didn’t wow in relief of Raiola last weekend against USC. He completed five of seven passes as the Trojans rallied for a 21-17 victory, those completions going for a grand total of seven yards — 1.4 yards per completion. Lateef might be more dangerous as a runner than a passer, having averaged 4.5 yards and scored two touchdowns in his 11 carries.
Skipper said the Bruins would watch Lateef’s high school game footage to get a fuller understanding of his potential.
“We know we’re going to get some unscouted looks, unscouted plays,” Skipper said. “I’m sure there’s things that he does well that they’re gonna want to do that they haven’t really shown. He kind of had to do the game plan and scheming that they had up for Dylan and his reps [against USC], so we’ll have to adjust as the game goes.”
On the other hand . . .
Nebraska’s uncertainty at quarterback likely means more opportunity for its running game.
And the Cornhuskers have a good one.
Emmett Johnson has already topped 100 yards rushing in five games this season, totaling 1,002 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. Against USC, he ran for 165 yards and a touchdown while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
“We’re going to need to know where he is at all times,” Skipper said. “He does a great job of just making people miss, I’m really impressed by how he plays. You know, I come from a family of running back coaches, and I’ve watched a lot of backs, and he’s one of the top guys I’ve ever seen.”
Another mantra
Skipper could keep a custom T-shirt shop busy with all his slogans.
He’s told his players to strain. He’s asked them whether they were one-hit wonders. He’s implored them to uphold the standard they had established.
Over the two weeks that followed his team’s 56-6 loss to Indiana, he’s delivered a new message.
“We’re just getting back to the basics,” Skipper said. “It’s about fundamentals and little details. That’s kind of been what we’ve been really preaching.”
Linebacker Jalen Woods said plenty of time has been spent on tackling after the team experienced significant slippage in that area against the Hoosiers. Offensive tackle Garrett DiGiorgio said players ran between drills to quicken the tempo of everything they were doing.
With an extra week to prepare for the Cornhuskers after a bye, the Bruins have tried not to let the disappointment they experienced in their last game linger.
“Don’t let it carry over into the next game,” Woods said of the team’s collective mindset.
A line redrawn
Eugene Brooks celebrates a UCLA touchdown against Penn State.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
UCLA guard Eugene Brooks was back at practice this week, a significant development for an offensive line that had struggled in his absence.
The Bruins ran for just 88 yards — 60 by running backs — and allowed three sacks with Brooks sidelined against Indiana.
It appears they’ll be back at full strength against a Nebraska defense that’s allowing only 289.9 yards per game, ranking No. 13 nationally.
Skipper said the Cornhuskers create confusion using multiple defensive fronts with hybrid players who either rush the quarterback or drop into coverage.
“They’re going to create a lot of havoc that way with the people that they use,” Skipper said. “They create a lot of turnovers. They’re very good on third down. They don’t give up big plays in the passing game. They’re really good at keeping people in front of them.”
Another boost
Running back Anthony Woods also returned to practice after missing the Indiana game.
His ability to run the ball and catch passes out of the backfield could help an offense that did not score a touchdown for the first time this season when it faced the Hoosiers.
Running back Jalen Berger said the success UCLA had on the ground during its three-game winning streak, when it averaged 236.7 yards rushing per game, was largely a result of an increased emphasis on its ballcarriers.
“I’d say it’s more of a commitment,” Berger said of an approach the Bruins had to abandon after falling behind big against Indiana. “Just being run-first, you know?”
The Rams are no longer kicking the can down the road when it comes to their kicking problems.
On Wednesday, the Rams signed kicker Harrison Mevis to the practice squad to compete with second-year pro Joshua Karty. The move came a day after the team signed veteran long-snapper Jake McQuaide to compete with Alex Ward.
“It’s all geared toward trying to be able to just get some solutions and some kick consistency really with our field-goal operation,” coach Sean McVay said Wednesday. “I think it’s important to have good competition at some spots that we feel we can have improved play.”
The Rams are preparing for their game on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
The Rams are 6-2 — and their losses against the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles and the 49ers both resulted from problems in the kicking game that resurfaced without dire consequences in last Sunday’s rout of the New Orleans Saints.
Against the Saints, Karty missed a 39-yard field goal attempt and an extra-point attempt. Karty has made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and 23 of 26 extra-point attempts.
McVay said after the game that the Rams would evaluate “all parts of where we go with this operation.”
On Tuesday, they turned to McQuaide, 37, who played for the Rams from 2011-2020 and was part of a special teams unit that also included kicker Greg Zuerlein and punter/holder Johnny Hekker.
“If all things go well with Jake, we expect him to be our long-snapper,” McVay said.
On Wednesday, they brought in Mevis, who made 89 of 106 field-goal attempts at Missouri, including one from 61 yards. In the United Football League this past season, he made 20 of 21 field-goal attempts.
So Karty and Mevis will duel during expanded special teams drills this week.
“We’ll implement more than we normally would on a Wednesday and a Thursday and truly be able to kind of use it as a competition,” McVay said.
The in-game island will also feature a replica of the 70th anniversary sculpture inspired by Sleeping Beauty Castle as well as glimpses of the theme park’s familiar landmarks including the Incredicoaster and Pixar Pal-a-Round across the virtual skyline. Players who complete the island’s mini-games will collect keys that can be used to unlock Disneyland 70th-themed island-exclusive cosmetics so players will be able to show their Disney spirit.
“Fortnite” players can access the island by searching for Disneyland Game Rush or using island code 4617-4819-8826.
“Disneyland Game Rush” marks the latest Disney-affiliated “Fortnite” crossover since Walt Disney Co. acquired a stake in Epic Games in 2024. Earlier this year “Fortnite” launched “Galactic Battle,” which was billed as its biggest Star Wars-themed tie-in, as well as a “Simpsons”-themed battle royale mini-season that kicked off earlier this month.
Still to come is Disney and Epic Games’ interconnected “games and entertainment universe,” which will include brands such as Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and Avatar. This “new persistent universe” was announced last year.
The Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Tucker runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of Game 4 of their NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers.
(Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
The most obvious area of need for next year’s Dodgers will be in the outfield.
Andy Pages will be back, trying to build upon his 27-homer campaign in 2025. Teoscar Hernández will enter the second of his three-year contract, trying to rebound from his injury-plagued struggles this past summer.
But the third spot remains wide open, with Michael Conforto hitting free agency after his dismal performance on a one-year, $17 million deal this past year, and Alex Call having been used in more of a depth role after his arrival of this year’s trade deadline.
Internally, the Dodgers don’t have an immediate plug-and-play option, as top prospects Josue De Paula, Zyhir Hope, Eduardo Quintero and Mike Sirota remain a ways away from the majors.
Thus, don’t be surprised to see the Dodgers linked with big names on either the free-agent or trade market this winter, starting with top free-agent prize Kyle Tucker.
Since the summer, industry speculation has swirled about the Dodgers’ expected pursuit of Tucker this offseason. The four-time All-Star did not finish 2025 well while nursing a couple injuries, but remains one of the premier left-handed bats in the sport, and could command upward of $400-$500 million on a long-term deal — a hefty price tag, but certainly not one beyond the Dodgers’ capabilities.
Free agency will include other notable outfield options. Cody Bellinger is hitting the open market, though a reunion with the Dodgers has always seemed like a long shot. Harrison Bader and Trent Grisham could provide more glove-first alternatives, and have been linked with the Dodgers in the past.
Then there are potential trade candidates, from left fielder Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians to utilityman Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals, also players the Dodgers have inquired about in the past.
The Dodgers could construct their 2026 roster in other ways, thanks to the versatility Tommy Edman provides in center field. But another outfield addition remains their most logical priority this winter. And there will be no shortage of possibilities.
Adrian Kempe scored his 200th NHL career goal and Drew Doughty broke the Kings record for goals by a defenseman as they beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves and Kevin Fiala added a late power-play goal to help the Kings get their first home win of the season in six games.
Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for the Jets, who dropped their first road game in five tries.
Kempe scored late in the first period to put the Kings in front, getting his sixth goal of the season by attacking the crease to put in Joel Armia’s centering pass from the trapezoid. Kempe is the ninth member of the 2014 draft class to reach 200 goals, getting there in 644 games.
Doughty passed franchise stalwart Rob Blake with his 162nd goal in 1,221 games with an empty-netter with 54 seconds remaining.
The Kings made changes by moving Armia to the top line and reuniting Mikey Anderson with longtime partner Doughty on the first defensive pair, and there were immediate returns as Armia and Anderson had the assists on Kempe’s goal.
Kings forward Corey Perry played in his 1,400th career game, becoming the 44th player in NHL history to do so and joining Brent Burns (1,511), Alex Ovechkin (1,503) and Anze Kopitar (1,464) among active players who have appeared in that many games.
Jets captain Adam Lowry made his season debut after undergoing hip surgery in late May, centering the third line. Lowry had a career-high 18 goals last season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points and 12 assists and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder extended their season-opening winning streak to eight games with a 126-107 victory over the Clippers at Intuit Dome on Tuesday night.
Isaiah Joe added 22 points and Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins each had 12 to help the Thunder overcome an early surge by the Clippers to set a franchise record for consecutive victories to start a season.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who played for the Clippers in his rookie season before he was traded to the Thunder, was nine of 14 from the floor and four of five from three-point range.
James Harden scored 25 points and John Collins added 17 for the Clippers. They were without Kawhi Leonard (ankle) and Bradley Beal (knee) on the second night of a home back-to-back.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 16 points as the Clippers lost consecutive home games after winning the first three in their own building.
After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Thunder took the lead for good at 81-78 on a three-pointer from Aaron Wiggins with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter. Oklahoma City closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 94-86 lead.
The Thunder put the game away with a 11-0 run to open the fourth quarter for a 105-86 advantage. It was an extended 17-0 run going back to consecutive three-pointers from Isaiah Joe and Gilgeous-Alexander to end the third.
Alan Carr will tomorrow night battle to win The Celebrity Traitors, which ends on BBC One after a pulsating few weeks which has seen the likes of Sir Stephen Fry and Celia Imrie tease viewers
The comedian has been described as “the hottest man on TV right now” amid his stint on the popular reality TV show, the final of which airs on Thursday. It is understood Alan, 49, worked abroad for BBC Studios at the end of last month for the new primetime, celebrity-led format.
“Unquestionably, Alan is the hottest man on TV right now. Everyone wants a piece of him. But the BBC have acted quickly and last week he was jetted out to a swanky European city for a day of filming a pilot,” a source said.
But first, if the pilot is successful, it is understood Alan will get a bumper deal to front the new game show. It will be one of the first regular shows Alan has presented solo since Chatty Man on Channel 4, which ended on Christmas Day 2017 after an eight-year stint. He did, though, host Picture Slam, which returns next week.
And the pilot is indeed believed to have been well-received by bosses at the Beeb. Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “It went well and now it’s just a matter of when, not if, this gets green-lit.” However, details of the exact nature of the show are top secret for now, the insider stressed.
Some 15 million viewers are expected to tune in to see who wins tomorrow’s Celebrity Traitors final, featuring Alan’s fellow Traitor, singer Cat Burns, with Faithfuls ex-rugby star Joe Marler, comedian Nick Mohammed and historian David Olusoga. Joe has also impressed in the smash-hit series, so much so there is speculation he, too, could have his own programme. The 35-year-old former rugby player has even been rumoured to become the next James Bond.
Jonathan Ross, who was banished last week, has been given a one-year contract extension with ITV amid the success of The Celebrity Traitors. However, if Alan gets a new chat show, the funnyman could well go head to head with his fellow former Traitor.
The source, again talking to The Sun, continued: “There is also talk of bringing back a version of Chatty Man, as Alan has incredible contacts and would get some brilliant guests.”
Victor Conte, the architect of a scheme to provide undetectable performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes including baseball stars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Olympic track champion Marion Jones decades ago, has died. He was 75.
Conte died Monday, SNAC System, a sports nutrition company he founded, said in a social media post. It did not disclose his cause of death.
The federal government’s investigation into another company Conte founded, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, yielded convictions of Jones, elite sprint cyclist Tammy Thomas, and former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield along with coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.
Conte, who served four months in federal prison for dealing steroids, talked openly about his famous former clients. He went on television to say he had seen three-time Olympic medalist Jones inject herself with human growth hormone, but always stopped short of implicating Bonds, the San Francisco Giants slugger.
The investigation led to the book “Game of Shadows.” A week after the book was published in 2006, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig hired former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to investigate steroids.
The Steroids Era
Conte said he sold steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear” and advised on their use to dozens of elite athletes, including Giambi, a five-time major league All-Star, the Mitchell report said.
“The illegal use of performance-enhancing substances poses a serious threat to the integrity of the game,” the Mitchell report said. “Widespread use by players of such substances unfairly disadvantages the honest athletes who refuse to use them and raises questions about the validity of baseball records.”
Mitchell said the problems didn’t develop overnight. Mitchell said everyone involved in baseball in the previous two decades — including commissioners, club officials, the players’ association and players — shared some responsibility for what he called “the Steroids Era.”
The federal investigation into BALCO began with a tax agent digging through the company’s trash.
Conte wound up pleading guilty to two of the 42 charges against him in 2005 before trial. Six of the 11 convicted people were ensnared for lying to grand jurors, federal investigators or the court.
Bonds’ personal trainer, Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges stemming from his BALCO connections. Anderson was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement.
Bonds was charged with lying to a grand jury about receiving performance-enhancing drugs and went on trial in 2011. Prosecutors dropped the case four years later when the government decided not to appeal an overturned obstruction of justice conviction to the Supreme Court.
A seven-time National League MVP and 14-time All-Star outfielder, Bonds ended his career after the 2007 season with 762 homers, surpassing the record of 755 that Hank Aaron set from 1954-76. Bonds denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs but has never been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bonds didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Conte told the Associated Press in a 2010 interview that “yes, athletes cheat to win, but the government agents and prosecutors cheat to win, too.” He also questioned whether the results in such legal cases justified the effort.
Conte’s attorney, Robert Holley, didn’t respond to an email and phone call seeking comment. SNAC System didn’t respond to a message sent through the company’s website.
Defiant about his role
After serving his sentence in a minimum security prison he described as “like a men’s retreat,” Conte got back in business in 2007 by resuscitating a nutritional supplements business he had launched two decades earlier called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC System. He located it in the same building that once housed BALCO in Burlingame, Calif.
Conte remained defiant about his central role in doling out designer steroids to elite athletes. He maintained he simply helped “level the playing field” in a world already rife with cheaters.
To Dr. Gary Wadler, a then-member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Conte might as well have been pushing cocaine or heroin.
“You are talking about totally illegal drug trafficking. You are talking about using drugs in violation of federal law,” Wadler said in 2007. “This is not philanthropy and this is not some do-gooding. This is drug dealing.”
The hallway at SNAC System was lined with game jerseys of pro athletes, and signed photographs, including athletics stars Tim Montgomery, Kelli White and CJ Hunter, all punished for doping.
Conte wore a Rolex and parked a Bentley and a Mercedes in front of his building. He told the AP in 2007 he wouldn’t drive over the speed limit.
“I’m a person who doesn’t break laws anymore,” he said. “But I still do like to look fast.”
Years later, he met with the then-chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Dick Pound.
“As someone who was able to evade their system for so long, it was easy for me to point out the many loopholes that exist and recommend specific steps to improve the overall effectiveness of their program,” Conte said in a statement after the meeting.
He said that some of the poor decisions he made in the past made him uniquely qualified to contribute to the anti-doping effort.
SNAC System’s social media post announcing Conte’s death called him an “Anti-Doping Advocate.”
Conte was also a musician, serving as a bass player for the funk band Tower of Power for a short time in the late 1970s. He is pictured on the back of the band’s 1978 “We Came To Play” album.
“He was an excellent musician and a powerful force for clean sports and he will be missed,” band founder Emilio Castillo posted on X.
Associated Press sports writers Janie McCauley and Chris Lehourites contributed to this report.
Remember when soccer was being touted as the next big sport in the U.S.? Well, it looks like that moment has finally arrived.
Or not. It all depends on who you ask and how you interpret what they tell you.
On one hand, there’s the recent Harris Poll that found 72% of Americans profess an interest in soccer, a 17% increase from 2020. A quarter of those are “dedicated” fans and 1 in 5 say they are “obsessed” with the sport.
On the other hand, there’s the stark decline in attendance and TV viewership for the country’s top two domestic leagues, MLS and the NWSL, and the underwhelming crowds that showed up last summer for the FIFA Club World Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
LAFC fans lift up a banner honoring Carlos Vela during a ceremony to honor him before a match against Real Salt Lake at BMO Stadium on Sept. 21.
(Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
These contrary findings — a growing fanbase at the same time attendance and viewership numbers are falling off a cliff — come at an important inflection point for soccer in the U.S., with the largest, most ambitious World Cup kicking off at SoFi Stadium in fewer than 200 days.
“The short answer is yes, the World Cup will be a watershed moment for soccer in America. However, it’s unlikely to immediately lead to a significant increase in ticket sales for MLS and NWSL. Soccer fandom in America develops differently from that of other sports,” said Darin W. White, executive director of the Sports Industry Program and the Center for Sports Analytics at Samford University, which next year will launch a major five-year study to explore how soccer can become mainstream in the U.S.
“The World Cup will bring millions of new Americans into the pipeline. Over the next few years we expect these new fans to progress through the pipeline, giving soccer a substantial enough fan base to tip the scales and help make soccer part of the ongoing mainstream sports conversation. I am confident that the World Cup will enable soccer to reach that critical mass.”
Steven A. Bank, a professor of business law at UCLA who has written and lectured extensively on the economics of soccer, isn’t as optimistic.
“The risk isn’t that U.S. soccer will be in the same place in 10 years, but that it will have regressed,” he said.
“For the World Cup to benefit domestic leagues’ attendance, ratings, and revenue, as well as youth and adult participation rates in playing soccer, it will have to be the catalyst for more domestic investment in the game. The question isn’t whether the World Cup will convince enough people to become fans or to move from casual to dedicated or obsessive fans. It’s whether it will convince enough wealthy people and companies to risk the kind of money necessary to compete with the top leagues for the top talent.”
U.S. captain Christian Pulisic drives the ball during an international friendly against Ecuador at Q2 Stadium on Oct. 10 in Austin, Texas.
(Omar Vega / Getty Images)
That investment could be a boost to both first-tier domestic leagues, which saw their attendance and TV rating fall dramatically this year. After setting records in both 2023 and ‘24, MLS watched its average attendance fall 5.4% — to 21,988 fans per match — this season. According to Soccer America, 19 of the 29 teams that played in 2024 saw their attendance drop; more than half saw declines of 10% or more.
The TV audience also appears to be relatively small, although the fact Apple TV, the league’s main broadcast partner, rarely releases viewer data has hampered efforts to draw any firm conclusions. MLS said last month that its games attracted 3.7 million global aggregate viewers a week on all its streaming and linear platforms, an average of about 246,000 a game on a full weekend. While that’s up nearly 29% from last year, the average viewership figure is about 100,000 smaller than what the league drew for single games on ESPN alone in 2022, the last season before Apple’s 10-year $2.5-billion took effect.
NWSL also saw overall league attendance fall more than 5%, with eight of the 13 teams that played in 2024 experiencing declines. And TV viewership in the second year of the league’s four-season $240 million broadcast deal was down 8% before the midseason July break, according to the Sports Business Journal.
That follows a summer in which both the expanded Club World Cup and the Gold Cup struggled to find an audience. Although the 63-match Club World Cup drew an average of 39,547 fans per game, 14 matches had crowds of fewer than 20,000. The Gold Cup averaged 25,129 for its 31 games — a drop of more than 7,000 from 2023. And five matches drew less than 7,800 people.
“There’s a danger of taking this year’s decline out of context,” said Stefan Szymanski, a professor of sports management at the University of Michigan and author of several books on soccer including “Money and Soccer” and “Soccernomics” (with Simon Kuper). “Last year was a record year. It’s really about the diminishment of the Messi effect.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a moment of crisis. And the way MLS is looking at this strikes me that they’re entirely focused on a post-World Cup [bump], which they think they’re going to get. I’d be skeptical myself about that. I don’t think it will do that much for them.”
Szymanski said the World Cup could hurt the league by underscoring the huge difference in the quality of play between elite international soccer and MLS.
“Americans are not dumb,” he said. “They know what’s good quality sport [and] not good quality sport. And they know that MLS is low level. The only way, in a global marketplace, you can get the top talent to have a truly competitive league is to pay the salaries.”
Which brings us back to Bank’s conclusion that fixing soccer in the U.S. isn’t about the soccer, it’s about the money being spent on the sport. For next summer’s World Cup to have a lasting impact, the “bump” will have to come not just from an increase in attendance and TV viewership but in investment as well. And, as Szymanski argues, that means additional investment in players as well.
“If all it does is attract eyeballs for this competition,” Bank said “I’m not sure it does more than the Olympics does every four years when it temporarily raises the profile of a few sports for some people who were not casual fans before.”
Players who were once strangers are now extended members of hundreds of thousands of families.
Ordinarily, a team as old as the Dodgers would have to consider a roster makeover. Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas will be 37 by the start of the next World Series. Max Muncy will be 36, Kiké Hernández 35, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández 34 and Shohei Ohtani 32.
But under these circumstances, how could the Dodgers think of breaking up their team?
How could they unload any of their superstars, regardless of how much they could decline in the next year? How could they not retain their key free agents, regardless of how old they are?
They can’t, they can’t and they can’t.
The Dodgers have to run this back — again.
“Obviously, we would love everybody to come back,” Freeman said.
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Muncy has a $10-million team option for next season. The Dodgers have to pick it up.
Rojas and Kiké Hernández are free agents. The Dodgers have to re-sign them.
Freeman won’t be making the calls on his teammates, of course. The decisions will be made by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who was characteristically evasive when asked about the efforts the Dodgers would make to keep their out-of-contract players.
“Obviously, guys who have been here and been a big part of it start with a major upper hand,” Friedman said. “That being said, they’re free agents. They’ve earned the right to go out and talk to the 29 other teams as well.”
Muncy doesn’t have a choice to leave if the Dodgers exercise his option, but Rojas and Kiké Hernández have said they would like to return next season.
Whatever Friedman decides shouldn’t preclude the Dodgers from shopping on the free-agent market, with Kyle Tucker and Steven Kwan being potential additions to their outfield.
But the nucleus of the Dodgers would be even older than it was this year when their collective age presented a variety of problems.
Their 18-inning victory in Game 3 clearly diminished them more than it did the Toronto Blue Jays, who won the next two games. In retrospect, that should have been expected, as the Dodgers struggled to maintain consistency on offense over a grinding six-month regular season.
While Betts transformed into one of the league’s best defensive shortstops, he experienced a sharp offensive decline. Muncy was limited to 100 games because of injuries. Teoscar Hernández wasn’t close to being the same player he was last year.
There were times that even Ohtani started to show the effects of being on the wrong side of 30. Ohtani’s father acknowledged this reality in a congratulatory open letter he wrote to his son, which was published in the Monday edition of Sports Nippon.
“Shohei, you’re 31 years old,” Toru Ohtani wrote in Japanese. “I think that as a baseball player, you’re in your prime, but there will come a time when you have to decide between pitching and hitting. When you can’t pitch anymore, you can be an outfielder. I think that if you practice, you can definitely do it.”
That being said, the team has to be kept together.
A championship can force teams into sentimental decisions, as was the case last winter when the Dodgers re-signed Teoscar Hernández to a three-year, $66-million contract.
This winter, they will have to settle similar disputes between their hearts and minds. They should listen to their hearts.
Bam Adebayo had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Norman Powell added 21 points in his return to Southern California and the Miami Heat held off the Clippers 120-119 on Monday night.
Powell was a key member of the Clippers for three seasons before being traded to the Heat before this season.
Andrew Wiggins scored 17 points and Kel’el Ware added 16 to help the Heat end a two-game losing streak and win on the road for the second time in five games. Miami is 1-2 to open a four-game trip.
James Harden scored 29 points and Kawhi Leonard added 27 as the Clippers lost at home for the first time in four games this season.
Ivica Zubac had nine points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers. Derrick Jones Jr., Bradley Beal and John Collins each scored 12 points.
The Heat shot 54.2% from the field and made 12 of their 25 three-point attempts to 50% for the Clippers, who were 17 of 41 from long range. The Clippers had 21 turnovers that the Heat turned into 37 points.
Miami led 120-116 after two free throws from Adebayo with 56 seconds remaining. Adebayo missed a shot inside with 26 seconds left and Harden made a three-pointer on the other end with 20 seconds left to pull the Clippers within a point.
The Clippers had a chance to win it, but Leonard missed a 26-foot step-back three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Clippers trailed by as many as 13 points in the third quarter before getting even 105-105 with 9:55 remaining on a three-pointer from veteran Chris Paul.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will miss the Lakers’ game in Portland on Monday as the team ruled both out with injuries.
One night after recording a 29-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, Doncic is out to manage a lower leg contusion. Reaves, who scored 26 points and 11 assists in the Lakers’ 130-120 win over the Miami Heat, is out with right groin soreness.
This will be the fourth game Doncic has missed this season as he was also sidelined with a minor finger injury and a left leg contusion.
Playing in their second back-to-back of the season, the Lakers will again be short-handed. They had seven standard contract players when they hosted the Trail Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back last week. Portland won 122-108 as Reaves attempted to carry the team with 41 points.
The Lakers could also be without Deandre Ayton, who is questionable with back spasms. He missed Sunday’s game after experiencing pain last Friday in Memphis.
Forward Maxi Kleber was upgraded to questionable with an abdominal strain that has kept him sidelined all season.
Just when it seemed the Washington Commanders’ night couldn’t get much worse, it actually got much, much worse.
With his team trailing the Seattle Seahawks by 31 points midway through the fourth quarter Sunday night, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered a gruesome injury to his non-throwing arm that will likely keep him off the field for several weeks.
After Washington’s 38-14 loss, coach Dan Quinn had little information on his second-year quarterback, saying only that Daniels had a “left arm injury” and that he hoped to provide an update in the morning.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Daniels dislocated his elbow and will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.
A former star at Cajon High, Daniels won the Heisman Trophy at Louisiana State in 2023 and was selected at No. 2 overall by the Commanders in the 2024 NFL draft. He immediately took the league by storm, earning Pro Bowl and offensive rookie of the year honors while leading Washington to an unlikely appearance in the NFC championship game.
Season 2 has been a disappointment. Going into this weekend, Daniels had already missed three games with knee and hamstring injuries and the Commanders had struggled to a 3-5 record.
Then came Sunday night. Down by four scores in the fourth quarter, Washington drove to the Seattle 2-yard-line and was looking to make a slight dent in the deficit when disaster struck. On second-and-goal with 7:39 remaining in the game, Daniels faked a handoff and scrambled to his right before being spun down by Seattle’s Drake Thomas for a 2-yard loss.
As he was being taken to the ground, Daniels put out his left arm to brace himself. His elbow bent the wrong way. Commanders guard Sam Cosmi called the scene “gut-wrenching.”
“I didn’t see what happened exactly. I just heard a pause and I kind of put my head down and prayed for him,” Cosmi said. “You just don’t want to see that happen.”
A similar scene took place nearly 13 years ago for Washington, when another rising young star at quarterback, Robert Griffin III, re-injured his knee during a home game against the Seahawks. His career was never the same afterward.
Griffin was one of several people who took to social media Sunday night to comment on the matter. He seemed to speak for the majority of them when he wrote on X, “WHY WAS JAYDEN DANIELS EVEN STILL IN THE GAME?!?!?!”
“The Seattle Seahawks had the game won,” a visbly distraught Griffin said in a video also posted to X. “I understand you want to play to the end, but with the injuries that he’s already had this year, and the injuries he had last year, why is he in the game? Doesn’t make sense.”
Griffin, who currently works as a college football analyst on Fox Sports, added: “You can’t say a knee and a hamstring leads to an elbow injury like that. It was a freak accident, freak play. But I can’t help but feel for Jayden Daniels. Man, I can’t help but feel for Washington Commanders fans. Just a demoralizing blow, man.”
Asked by reporters after the game whether any consideration was given to removing Daniels before that series, Quinn seemed to indicate that the plays being called didn’t seem to present a high injury risk.
“Obviously in hindsight, you don’t want to think that way, where injury could take place,” Quinn said. “Obviously, we’re more concerned in that spot to run and hand off and not have reads to go, but just the end result, obviously I’m bummed.”
Later in the news conference, in response to a similar question, Quinn gave a similar answer.
“Yeah, obviously, I’m just gutted by this, bummed,” Quinn said. “The one that he was on injured is usually a runner or throwing the flats, not a scramble. So it wasn’t a designed read or play into that spot. If we run it 50 times, it’s either hand off or throw, say, 50 times. So it’s a bummer, man, in a big way.”
Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota has led the Commanders to a 1-2 record starting in place of Daniels this season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ thrilling 11-inning Saturday win over the Toronto Blue Jays was the most watched World Series game since 2017, according to Nielsen data.
The Fox telecast of the Game 7 contest giving the Dodgers their second consecutive world championship attracted an average of 25. 5 million viewers on Fox.
Viewers watching the Spanish-language telecast on Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming platforms brought the audience figure to just under 26 million.
The Dodgers’ 5-4 win delivered the largest audience for a World Series game since the Houston Astros’ Game 7 win over the the team in 2017, which had an audience of 28.3 million.
The figure was 10% over the last decisive game seven World Series game in 2019, when the Washington Nationals defeated the Astros.
The battle on Saturday will go down as one of the most memorable games in World Series history, with a number of spectacular plays in the field and a dramatic go-ahead home run by Dodgers catcher Will Smith.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto won his third game of the series with his strong relief outing, earning him the Most Valuable Player Award for the series.
The audience level peaked between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. Pacific, with 31.5 million viewers tuned in.
The Dodgers became the first Major League Baseball team to win back-to-back championships in 25 years.
Kyle Schwarber, 33, DH, 4.7, 19.9: Schwarber is a premier slugger with 187 home runs in four seasons with Philadelphia, where he also was an exceptional clubhouse leader. He is pretty much restricted to designated hitter and is approaching an age where offensive production might decline. He still merits a lucrative multi-year deal, although going longer than four years at a $30 million average annual value (AAV) might be inviting buyer’s remorse in 2030.
Kyle Tucker, 29, OF, 4.5, 27.3: Although his 2025 bWAR was lower than that of Bellinger and Schwarber, Tucker might have the highest sticker price in this free-agent class. The average of projections from 20 ESPN experts is 10 years and $391.5 million for a $38.8 million AAV. The Dodgers are considered a prime suitor because of their deep pockets and need for a productive corner outfielder.
Eugenio Suárez, 34, 3B, 3.6, 26.8: A drop of nearly one win above replacement from the top three free agents — Cody Bellinger, Schwarber and Tucker — still puts Suárez in an enviable position. Splitting the season between the Diamondbacks and Mariners, Suarez tied a career high with 49 home runs and drove in 118 runs.
Alex Bregman, 32, 3B, 3.5, 43.1: Even though Bregman’s bWAR was slightly lower than that of Suárez, he should command a larger deal because he’s younger and more well-rounded. Bregman missed 44 games because of injury in his single season in Boston but still put up solid numbers. His average bWAR over his 10-year career is 4.3.
Trent Grisham, 29, OF, 3.5, 14.6: Grisham is an enigma, a first-round draft pick who blossomed with the Padres only to crater and bat under .200 three years in a row. But in 2025 he rebounded, swatting a career-high 34 home runs with the Yankees in 2025. Grisham also has two Gold Gloves in center field. Still, he’s a bit of a gamble.
Bo Bichette, 28, SS, 3.4, 20.8: Bichette showed his toughness by playing effectively in the World Series despite a lingering knee injury. Bichette can flat-out hit, accumulating more than 175 hits in four of the last five seasons with above-average power. He also plays a premium position and will turn only 28 in March, meaning he could command a contract exceeded only by that of Tucker.
Toronto Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette hits a three-run home run during Game 7 of the World Series, Nov. 1, 2025, in Toronto.
(Ashley Landis/AP)
Pete Alonso, 31, 1B, 3.4, 23.3: Alonso was disappointed by the tepid interest in him as a free agent last offseason, re-signing with the Mets on a one-year, $30-million deal with a player option. He’s expected to test the market again after once again posting the glittering power numbers that have made him a fan favorite in New York for seven years.
Josh Naylor, 28, 1B, 3.1, 8.4: The 5-foot-10, 235-pound left-handed slugger produced well in 2025 while splitting the season between the Diamondbacks and Mariners, batting a career-high .295 and hitting precisely 20 home runs for the third time in five seasons.
Gleyber Torres, 29, 2B, 2.9, 18.7: Torres needed to restore his value after taking a one-year deal with the Tigers following a ho-hum 2024 season with the Yankees. He did so incrementally and should land a measured multi-year deal this time around.
J.T. Realmuto, 35, C, 2.6, 38.8: Realmuto is recognized as one of the top-hitting catchers in baseball, and he’s clearly the top free-agent backstop, proving in 2025 that he can still catch upward of 130 games while putting up solid offensive numbers. Still, he will be 35 on opening day and his .700 OPS was his lowest in a decade.
Jorge Polanco, 32, 2B, 2.6, 20.7: Polanco hit 26 home runs and posted an .821 OPS, the switch-hitter’s best season since 2021 when he hit 33 homers and drove in 98 runs. Chronic knee problems have put his shortstop days behind him and cut into his range at second or third base, but the bat still plays.
Mike Yastrzemski, 35, OF, 2.6, 16.8: Although the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski posted his best OPS (.839) since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he might be entertaining only contract offers of one year at $10 million or so.
Ryan O’Hearn, 31, 1B/DH, 2.4, 3.1: O’Hearn is an accomplished left-handed hitter coming off a season split between the Orioles and Padres. He can expect a large raise from the $3.5 million he made in 2025, perhaps tripling it.
Marcell Ozuna, 35, OF/DH, 1.6, 29.5: Ozuna is a proven power bat who has exceeded 20 home runs in nine seasons and led the NL with 18 homers and 56 RBIs in pandemic-shortened 2020. After tremendous 2023 and 2024 seasons in which he totaled 79 homers and 204 RBIs, Ozuna slipped in 2025, batting .232 with 21 home runs while battling hip pain.
Luis Arráez, 29, 1B, 1.3, 16.5: Arráez doesn’t get much love from bWAR or fWAR, but he sure can hit, leading all major leaguers with a .317 lifetime average. He led the NL with 181 hits in 2025, but because he doesn’t hit for power or walk much, his OPS was a pedestrian .719. The three-time batting champion should continue to be paid about $14 million a year, with the question becoming for how long.
Paul Goldschmidt, 38, 1B, 1.2, 63.8: Goldschmidt boasts the highest career bWAR of any free-agent hitter and he has made it clear that he is not ready to retire. His productivity, however, is trending downward, especially his power. With only 10 homers and 45 RBIs in 534 plate appearances with the Yankees last season, Goldschmidt is no longer an elite hitter.
Victor Caratini, 32, C, 0.9, 4.3: Catchers are at a premium in this free-agent class and Caratini is one of the few with a potent bat and ability to play more than 100 games in a season. He most recently delivered decently on a two-year, $12-million deal with the Astros and could land a similar contract because of the scarcity of backstops.
Frank Vatrano and Chris Kreider also scored for the Ducks.
Jack Hughes scored New Jersey’s lone goal in the third period, and Devils goalie Jake Allen had 26 saves.
The Ducks have won three straight and five of their last six to move into a first-place tie with Las Vegas and Edmonton in the Pacific Division, an encouraging start for a team trying to snap a seven-season playoff drought. Their 15 points is the most through 11 games since 2014-2015.
The Ducks took advantage of their second straight game against a road-weary Eastern Conference club, outscoring the Detroit Red Wings and Devils by a combined 9-3.
Anaheim scored three goals within the game’s first 22 minutes and dominated the first two periods before New Jersey came to life in the third.
Moments after Allen stuffed Sennecke at the doorstep, Hughes took a pass from Dawson Mercer on a two-on-one break and one-timed a shot past a sprawling Dostal.
But Dostal and the Ducks held off a furious Devils rally in the final minutes, and Kreider scored on an empty netter with 1:54 left to seal the win.
Anaheim scored on its first shot of the game. Sennecke took a pass from Gauthier as he crossed the blue line, shielded New Jersey defenseman Dennis Cholowski with his body as he charged the net and slipped a lunging shot under Allen’s right armpit.
The Ducks made it 3-0 just 1:54 into the second period when Gauthier scored from an almost impossible angle, snapping a left-handed wrist shot from just inside the right goal line under Allen’s left pad for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
Up next for the Ducks: vs. the Florida Panthers at Honda Center on Tuesday night.
