BASKETBALL
Maine Red Claws players Abdel Nader, Jalen Jones and Marcus Georges-Hunt were named to the NBA Development League All-Star Game in New Orleans on Feb 18.
Nader, a forward drafted 58th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft, is sixth in the D-League in scoring. Nader is averaging 22.5 points per game, as well as 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
Jones, also a forward, has started 31 games for Maine this season and has 14 double-doubles. He is averaging 21.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Georges-Hunt is a guard with Maine’s only triple-double of the season (22 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists on Nov. 18). Georges-Hunt is averaging 16.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
The NBA D-League All-Star Game will be broadcast live at 2:30 p.m. on NBATV.
TENNIS
OPEN SUD DE FRANCE: Jeremy Chardy of France beat seventh-seeded Marcel Granollers 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the second round at Montpellier, France.
DAVIS CUP: Defending champion Argentina was knocked out in the first round by Italy at Buenos Aires.
Italy’s Fabio Fognini defeated Guido Pella from two sets down in the deciding singles 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in more than four hours.
Argentina was without top player Juan Martin del Potro, who preferred to focus on tournament play.
• Canadian tennis player Denis Shapovalov was fined $7,000 on Monday, a day after unintentionally striking umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye and immediately ending the Davis Cup tie against Britain.
ECUADOR OPEN: Gerald Melzer of Austria upset No. 6-seeded Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the second round at Quito, Ecuador.
The clay-court tournament is the first of five across Latin America, The other stops are in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Acapulco, Mexico.
Ivo Karlovic of Croatia is the tournament’s top seed.
BASEBALL
MLB: The Royals and right-hander Jason Hammel have agreed to a $16 million, two-year contract, a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.
The 34-year-old Hammel went 15-10 with a 3.83 ERA for the World Series champion Chicago Cubs last season and likely will slot into the Kansas City rotation behind Danny Duffy and Ian Kennedy.
• Cleveland is giving Wily Mo Pena a chance to revive his major league career.
Pena, 35, who hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2011, agreed to a minor league contract with the AL champions.
• Pitcher Chase Anderson has gone to salary arbitration with the Milwaukee Brewers, asking a panel to choose his $2.85 million request over the team’s $2.45 million offer.
• Masahiro Tanaka arrived at the Yankees’ minor league complex for pre-spring training workouts in Florida. He is scheduled to throw off a mound Wednesday.
The right-hander was a concern at the start of spring training last year after arthroscopic surgery in October 2015 to remove a bone spur from his throwing elbow. He went 14-4 with a 3.07 ERA in 31 starts.
CARIBBEAN SERIES: David Vidal hit his third homer in five games as Puerto Rico opened an eight-run lead in the sixth inning, then held off Venezuela 9-6 at Culiacan, Mexico, to reach the tournament’s championship game on Tuesday.
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