Del Potro, Safina Out; Nadal, Murray To Meet

SALT LAKE CITY — The Nuggets might finally be breaking a decades-old curse in Utah. Denver’s NBA team had never won two road games against the Jazz in a season in franchise history — until now, with a 132-121 triumph on Monday night at Delta Center. The Nuggets (18-13) held Utah to 23 points in the third quarter while Nikola Jokic scored 17 of his 36 points, part of his 13th triple-double of the season (23 rebounds, 10 assists).

Fast break Why the Buffs lost: CU committed 19 turnovers and surrendered 20 offensive rebounds, digging a hole that couldn’t be erased by a solid shooting night. Three stars 1. CU’s Julian Hammond III. The senior guard led the way the entire night, recording 21 points, four rebounds and four assists without committing a turnover. 2.

When the Colorado Avalanche shifted to special teams during practice Monday, the 10 guys who Jared Bednar would most like to use on the power play were on the ice. Those 10 guys will comprise the first and second power-play units Tuesday night against the league-leading Winnipeg Jets. On Dec. 31, in game No.

By CHARLES ODUM ATLANTA — Quinn Ewers showed off his diplomatic skills on Monday when the Texas quarterback was asked about a verbal challenge from Arizona State counterpart Sam Leavitt leading up to their College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup. Ewers, after all, has good experience in letting his play on the field settle quarterback debates.

Certainly, the final game with his sons didn’t turn out how Colorado head football Deion Sanders envisioned. A 36-14 loss to BYU in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday put a disappointing cap on the many years he has coached Shedeur and Shilo, from the youth leagues to now. The Alamo Bowl won’t take away from the journey, though. Before every game, Coach Prime has walked the sidelines with Shedeur, the Buffaloes’ star quarterback – one way as coach and one way as a dad.

Two days of hindsight and film review later, Broncos coach Sean Payton on Monday acknowledged he’s revisited his own critical decision at the end of regulation in Saturday’s overtime loss to Cincinnati. He did not say, though, that he’d have gone for two and the win rather than kicking an extra point to force overtime after Denver scored to get within 24-23 of the Bengals with eight seconds left in regulation. “Oh certainly,” Payton said when asked if he’d reconsidered since the game ended in a 30-24 Bengals victory.