LAS VEGAS -- Heavyweight world titleholder Deontay Wilder said over and over that his rematch with Luis "King Kong" Ortiz would end in a knockout. He promised one and advised all who would be watching not to go to the bathroom or to get a snack or to check their cell phone because it could come at any moment.

And it sure did.

Ortiz was soundly outboxing Wilder and was ahead on all three scorecards until Wilder crushed Ortiz with one devastating right hand to the forehead to knock him out in the seventh round and retain his title for the 10th time -- surpassing the number made by legends such as Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier -- before a crowd of about 10,000 on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"With Ortiz, you can see why no other heavyweight wants to fight him," Wilder said. "He's very crafty. He moves strategically, and his intellect is very high. I had to measure him in certain places. I had to go in and out, and finally, I found my measurement."

The smashing victory was the final hurdle to a rematch between Wilder and lineal champion Tyson Fury, who are penciled in for the main event of a joint pay-per-view between ESPN and Fox on Feb. 22 at the MGM Grand.

Wilder, who was boxing at the MGM Grand for the first time since he won his world title by one-sided decision against Bermane Stiverne in January 2015, took the fight with Ortiz even though he already had the rematch with Fury signed.

Given their tremendous power, Wilder and Ortiz began at a very cautious pace reminiscent of their first fight, but Ortiz did land a solid straight left hand. He also suffered a small cut on his scalp from an accidental head-butt.

Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs), 34, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, barely threw or landed anything in the early going as he looked for a spot to launch his powerful right hand.

The slower pace favored the older Ortiz, but Wilder landed a solid right hand in the third round that knocked Ortiz briefly off balance in a round he otherwise got the better of.

Ortiz launched two hard left hands early in the fourth round that backed up Wilder, and when he landed another shot, Wilder responded by beating his chest.

Wilder seemed reluctant to throw his right hand much and took several one-two combinations from Ortiz during the middle rounds, including in the seventh round.

"I saw the shot, and I took it," Wilder said. "My intellect is very high in the ring, and no one gives me credit for me. I think I buzzed him with a left hook earlier in the round, and I took it from there."

Later in the seventh round, Wilder flicked out a jab and came behind with the heavy-duty right hand that hammered Ortiz flush and dropped him hard. He struggled to gather himself but could not as referee Kenny Bayless counted him out at 2 minutes, 51 seconds.

"This is boxing. I said that one of us was going to get knocked out and it wasn't going to go 12 rounds," Ortiz said through an interpreter. "I was clear headed when I hit the canvas. When I heard the referee say seven I was trying to get up, but I guess the count went a little quicker than I thought. I'm ready for any battle. I want to thank my team and everybody that came to see this fight."

Ortiz was leading 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 at the time of the knockout.

The fight was a rematch of their memorable see-saw battle on March 3, 2018, in Brooklyn, New York, where they fought a contender for fight of the year in which Wilder dropped Ortiz in the fifth round, barely survived a massive onslaught of blows over the final 45 seconds of the seventh round and rallied to score a highlight-reel knockout in the 10th round of a fight Wilder led 85-84 on all three scorecards at the time of the knockout.

According to CompuBox statistics, Wilder, who was guaranteed $20 million, landed 34 of 184 punches (19%) but only one mattered. Ortiz landed 35 of 179 (20%), but could never get Wilder in the kind of trouble he had him in during the seventh round of the first fight.

Ortiz (31-2, 26 KOs), 40, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, was bidding to become the first Cuban to win a heavyweight title. He earned at least $7 million for the fight with Wilder.

"Ortiz is one of the best in the world," Wilder said. "You have to give him that. I want to thank his family for allowing Ortiz to come into the ring and share his energy with me. I hope one of the other top heavyweights gives this man another opportunity."

Ortiz had come in top condition and was lighter and trimmer than he was the first time, but still succumbed to Wilder's destructive power, which propelled him into the sequel with Fury.

When Wilder and Fury met last December in Los Angeles they turned in a memorable fight in which Fury outboxed Wilder for long stretches, but Wilder scored two knockdowns, one in the ninth round and a huge one in the 12th round that Fury somehow survived. The fight was ruled a split draw with Wilder winning 115-111, Fury winning 114-112 and the third judge scoring it 113-113.

When they finally agreed to terms for a rematch -- there is also a third fight that is part of the deal -- each man was to have two interim fights. Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs), 31, of England, got through his, a second-round wipeout of Tom Schwarz on June 15 and a decision in an unexpectedly grueling fight with Otto Wallin in which Fury suffered a horrendous cut over his eye, on Sept. 14. Wilder smoked mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale in the first round on May 18 and then struggled with Ortiz before turning out the lights.

"Next, we have Tyson Fury in the rematch. It's scheduled for February, so we'll see," Wilder said. "Then, I want unification. I want one champion, one face and one heavyweight champion - Deontay Wilder. The heavyweight division is too small. There should be one champion and it's Deontay Wilder."

During Saturday's 28-17 victory against Penn State, Ohio State coach Ryan Day turned to one of his assistant coaches and said, "Maybe it's been a little too easy at times."

Ohio State, which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring margin at 41.7 points per game, won by 11 points on Saturday -- its smallest margin of victory this season. It was a season-defining win that clinched the Big Ten's East division and guaranteed the Buckeyes a spot in the conference championship game, but it might not have been enough to leap LSU for the No. 1 spot this coming week in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Why does that matter now?

Because it could mean the difference later between facing undefeated defending national champion Clemson in a semifinal -- or the No. 4 team, which could now be Utah. Or Oklahoma. Or a Tua-less Alabama.

What we do know is that it won't be Oregon.

With one-loss Power 5 contenders Georgia, Alabama, Utah, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Baylor all winning Saturday, the debate over No. 1 should be the biggest question facing the 13-member College Football Playoff selection committee this week, but Oregon's loss at Arizona State opens the door wider for all of them on Selection Day.

The impact of the Ducks' second loss will go beyond eliminating them from the playoff conversation. The Pac-12's hopes now hinge on Utah, which should move up to the No. 6 spot this week. But there are two main reasons the Utes were behind Oregon in the first three CFP rankings: their loss to USC, and a nonconference schedule that included BYU (7-4), Northern Illinois (4-7) and Idaho State (3-9). And now the Utes will need to beat the Ducks in the Pac-12 title game and hope those two factors don't prevent them from getting into the playoff ahead of Alabama or another one-loss conference champion such as Oklahoma.

With Penn State also losing, it's important to see who the committee's highest-ranked two-loss team is this week, because if Oregon falls out of the top 10, it would somewhat devalue a victory for Utah in the Pac-12 conference championship game. Would a Utah win over Oregon be better than a Baylor win over Oklahoma? Probably not after Saturday, but it might still carry more weight than an OU victory over Baylor.

Nobody will have a better opportunity to punctuate its playoff résumé in a conference title game than LSU. After a slow start, LSU hammered 2-9 Arkansas as expected and clinched the SEC West title, cementing its spot in the SEC championship game against No. 4 Georgia. If the Tigers beat the Bulldogs, that opens the No. 4 spot, and it could be a significant gap this season between No. 3 Clemson and the No. 4 team.

Which is why the No. 1 spot is important starting now.

Ohio State will end the regular season against a ranked rival in No. 13 Michigan, then face a potential top-10 team (Minnesota or Wisconsin) in the Big Ten title game. But Saturday against PSU might have been the Buckeyes' best chance to leap to No. 1. If the Buckeyes can't jump the Tigers this week, after beating the No. 8 Nittany Lions, can they really expect to do so if LSU adds a Georgia win to its already-stellar portfolio? Probably not, unless Ohio State puts up another 2014-style, 59-0 title-game win.

Which is along the lines of what Alabama will need Saturday against Auburn in the Iron Bowl. While Alabama has held steady at the No. 5 position, the committee has yet to evaluate the Crimson Tide against ranked competition with quarterback Mac Jones in the lineup. It will be the first and only time the committee can determine if Alabama is "unequivocally" one of the four best teams in the country.

Alabama's opportunity is against a three-loss Auburn team. Other playoff contenders from the Pac-12, Big Ten and Big 12 will have the opportunity to earn wins against similarly ranked teams -- and take home all-important conference titles -- while the Crimson Tide are watching from home.

So between the race for No. 1 and the scramble for No. 4, things just got a whole lot more interesting for the final two weeks.

This was supposed to be the easy Saturday, the warm-up for rivalry week, the appetizer before college football's main course. For Oregon, however, the check came early with a 31-28 loss to Arizona State.

Whether Oregon ever truly deserved playoff-contender status is up for debate. The Pac-12 was written off early, but the Ducks and Utah both worked their way back into the conversation. The résumé, however, was far from deep, and Saturday's showdown against the Sun Devils figured to be less a challenge to the Ducks' status than simply a test to see if Justin Herbert's team could sell the committee on some style points.

Arizona State had other ideas.

The Sun Devils' defense held Herbert in check, QB Jayden Daniels had a career game, and while the rest of the playoff contenders feasted on appetizers or cupcakes, Oregon made the committee's job a little easier in stunning fashion.

As appetizers go, Georgia's 19-13 win over Texas A&M was like a plate of nachos -- perfect for picking at until there's nothing left. What to make of the performance? Georgia's defense looked dominant, as has been the case most of the season. But like Notre Dame, South Carolina, Florida and Auburn, the Bulldogs couldn't quite put an overmatched opponent away because the offense just didn't have a second gear. Yes, Jake Fromm made some incredible throws, but there were too many missed opportunities along the way, too.

The Bulldogs have played nine Power 5 teams this season, and Tennessee is the only one that failed to hold Fromm & Co. to 30 points or fewer. That hardly seems like a recipe to beat LSU in the SEC championship game, even if it has largely been enough to ensure Georgia stays at the head of the line waiting for the final playoff bid.

Ohio State-Penn State might have been a prelude to the Buckeyes' bigger concern with that Team Up North next week, but Chase Young showed up ready to eat. The nation's most fearsome defender was back from a two-game suspension, and he utterly devoured Penn State's O-line. Young might genuinely be the most impactful player in college football, and he's as big a reason to like the Buckeyes as the playoff favorite as anything.

Still, there might be some room to nitpick. We haven't seen Ohio State play a truly good offense this season, and while the Buckeyes largely dominated Penn State, there were enough self-inflicted wounds to keep things close. Is the power ground game really there for Ohio State? Can Justin Fields hold up against an elite defense like Georgia or Clemson? There were just enough hiccups throughout Ohio State's appetizer to offer some room for doubt.

LSU's Week 13 appetizer involved Heisman front-runner Joe Burrow demolishing Arkansas. The Tigers were favored by 41 and, despite pulling Burrow early in the second half, almost covered. Perhaps Texas A&M offers a challenge next week, but that would be a shocker. More likely, the unstoppable forces on LSU's offense will keep chomping away until getting a taste of the Georgia defense in Atlanta.

For Auburn and Alabama, the Iron Bowl appetizers were the typical fare of Jell-O molds and stale pretzels. The SEC might be the best conference in college football, but the scheduling for the penultimate game of the regular season is routinely awful. So Auburn walloped Samford 52-0, and Alabama was able to let Mac Jones paddle around the kiddie pool with swimmies in a 66-3 win over Western Carolina, before Nick Saban throws his new QB into the deep end. Did we learn anything from the two blowouts? Only that Tua Tagovailoa isn't the key to beating a 3-9 FCS team.

Hometown favorite Skyline Chili doesn't really do appetizers (chili fries?), but Cincinnati nearly spoiled its main course against Temple. Only a pair of special-teams debacles by the Owls kept Cincy's New Year's Six hopes alive. Now the Bearcats will head to Memphis in Week 14 for what amounts to an elimination contest in the American Athletic Conference.

Clemson got its toughest test in weeks, but the Tigers still had little chance of losing during their off week. Utah, Oklahoma, Baylor, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin all saved room for a hefty entree next week, too. That is how Week 13 is supposed to go.

For Oregon, though, the party's over. The Ducks' playoff hopes got packed up and put in a doggy bag, courtesy of Herm Edwards' crew. Funny thing is, it turned out to be the perfect way for college football fans to whet their appetites for what's next -- a hint of the drama to come without spoiling the whole meal.

Heisman Five

Last year at this time, it looked as if Tagovailoa would run away with the trophy -- but instead Kyler Murray snuck up over the final few games to stake his claim. Could a similar process play out between Burrow and Fields this year? As good as Burrow has been, Fields continues to post some spectacular numbers, and he'll wrap the season with three straight games vs. ranked foes, including Saturday's win over Penn State. The vote might just end up a bit tougher than we all assumed.

1. Joe Burrow, LSU

Burrow turned in his seventh game of 300 passing yards and three passing touchdowns against Arkansas. Robert Griffin III is the last Heisman winner to do that.

2. Justin Fields, Ohio State

Through 11 games last year, Murray was completing 70.3% of his throws and had 44 total touchdowns, seven turnovers and a 95.0 Total QBR. How does Fields stack up? He has a 69.4% completion rate, 43 touchdowns, five turnovers (just one interception) and a 93.2 Total QBR. Pretty close.

3. Chase Young, Ohio State

Entering Saturday's return from a two-game suspension, Young was getting pressure on 23.8% of his pass rushes -- more than three percentage points better than the next-best mark. He added to those freaky numbers Saturday, finishing with nine tackles, including four for a loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles. For the year, he now has 16.5 sacks -- fourth most in Big Ten history, and he didn't even get to play Maryland and Rutgers.

4. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

There are three players in FBS history with 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards through 11 games, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Hurts is one. The other two are Lamar Jackson and Johnny Manziel, and they both won the Heisman.

5. Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State

Another ho-hum 106 yards on the ground, the ninth straight 100-yard game for Hubbard, in a win over West Virginia. For good measure, he led the Cowboys in receiving, too, with seven catches for 88 yards.

Rebounding nicely

The playoff hopes for Baylor and Minnesota took a nosedive in a disappointing Week 12, so it wouldn't have been a surprise if both teams came out flat in their respective follow-ups Saturday.

Turns out, those playoff hopes are still flickering.

Minnesota dominated Northwestern, with Tanner Morgan delivering another four-TD performance and receivers Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman going over 1,000 yards for the season. According to ESPN Stats & Info research, that's the first time teammates have each had 1,000 yards receiving in the same season in Big Ten history.

Baylor's second-half collapse against Oklahoma after going up 28-3 was the stuff of nightmares (specifically, the Atlanta Falcons' nightmares) but the agony didn't linger into Saturday. Charlie Brewer, famously not recruited by the Longhorns despite a family pedigree there, accounted for 296 yards and two touchdowns, and the Bears' D looked back to normal in a 24-10 win over Texas.

While neither team looks to be a likely Playoff candidate today, they both likely control their own destiny, with Minnesota needing a win next week vs. Wisconsin to clinch a date with Ohio State in the Big Ten title game and Baylor officially locking up a rematch with the Sooners thanks to Saturday's win.

Clean air, full recycling bins, can't lose

Students held a sit-in protest at halftime of the Yale-Harvard game, hoping to bring attention to environmental concerns. The police were called, arrests were made and the second-half kickoff was delayed.

Then things really got crazy.

Yale (9-1) kept its hopes for a share of the Ivy League title alive when Kurt Rawlings tossed two touchdown passes in the final 1:28 of play -- with a recovered on-side kick in between -- to force overtime. Yale trailed 22-3 early in the second half and 36-19 with 13:03 to play, but the Bulldogs stuffed Harvard on its second possession in OT to win it, 50-43, in the highest-scoring affair in the rivalry's history.

Then, of course, the fans sprinted back onto the field again, this time in celebration of a historic come-from-behind win. Ivy League degrees are a dime a dozen, after all. Wins like this are once-in-a-lifetime.

Obviously you're not a bowler

We're down to the wire for a bunch of teams hoping to play in the postseason.

For Nebraska, hope remains alive after a drubbing of Maryland. The Huskers are now 5-6, with Iowa on deck to wrap the year. An upset of the Hawkeyes might be a long shot, however. Iowa hasn't lost to Nebraska since 2014. A loss for Nebraska would mean missing a bowl for the third year in a row for a program that played in a bowl game in all but two seasons from 1962 to 2016.

On the flip side of the bowl spectrum is Charlotte, which pulled the upset at home over Marshall (and former coach Brad Lambert, now the Thundering Herd's defensive coordinator). The win gets the 49ers to 6-5 and bowl eligible for the first time in program history.

Celebrations were in store in Knoxville, too, as Tennessee clinched a bowl bid with a 24-20 win over Missouri. Given where the Vols started -- losses to Georgia State and BYU -- this turnaround is a minor miracle. And with Vandy on deck, this is shaping up as a solid season for Jeremy Pruitt.

Perhaps the most intriguing bowl possibility, however, is Kent State. With a come-from-behind win over Ball State on Saturday, the Golden Flashes are now 5-6 and simply need to beat Eastern Michigan next week to get eligible. That's a long way from where the program had been. From 2013-2018, Kent State had the second-worst record in FBS and never won more than four games.

Among the other teams hoping to secure a bowl bid next week: Boston College (at Pitt), North Carolina (at NC State), Michigan State (vs. Maryland), Mississippi State (vs. Ole Miss), Ohio (at Akron) and TCU (vs. West Virginia).

You hate to see it

To truly appreciate Saturday's greatness, it helps to also wallow in the worst the day provided -- a bit of a palate cleanser.

Remember way back in Week 2, when Maryland was fresh off back-to-back games scoring more than 60? Seriously, the Terps even cracked the AP top 25. We weren't very smart in September. Flash forward to Saturday's horrific 54-7 loss to Nebraska, and the Terps are now 3-8 and have been outscored in their last four games by a combined total of 217-38.

While Mike Locksley's team continued to speed toward oblivion, his son, Kai, at least got a win Saturday. Fittingly, it came in what could arguably be the worst game of the season. New Mexico State (2-9) beat UTEP (1-10) 44-35 in what was just the second game since 2013 to feature two teams with records that bad. Fittingly, the last two games to feature teams 1-9 or worse also included New Mexico State or UTEP, too.

Speaking of teams going off the rails -- Texas is back! Back to being awful. Way back on Oct. 5, the Longhorns were 5-1 with their only loss coming in a close game vs. LSU. Since then, they're 2-5, including Saturday's blowout loss to Baylor. The only two wins came against Kansas and K-State -- both on last-second field goals. It's enough to make a coach do some crazy things, apparently.

Tom Herman is AMPED. pic.twitter.com/S7EVkIwy57

— Longhorn Network (@LonghornNetwork) November 23, 2019

It's been a rough year for Vanderbilt, and to say the crowd wasn't exactly excited for its lackluster matchup against FCS foe East Tennessee would be an understatement. In fact, even the band didn't seem like all the members showed up.

Haven't posted a crowd pic in a while because it seems like piling on. But today it seems newsworthy.

ETSU vs Vandy at national anthem pic.twitter.com/QyWskUBPqK

— Adam Sparks (@AdamSparks) November 23, 2019

Big bets and bad beats

• UCF backers had to be feeling good about covering a 7-point spread when the Knights pushed their lead to 34-17 with fewer than 11 minutes to play. Unfortunately, Tulane wasn't giving up so easily. The Green Wave scored on a 10-play, 75-yard drive with seven minutes to go, then managed another 75-yard drive in the final 1:49 that ended with a TD on fourth down with just 26 seconds remaining on the clock. Of course, the book would suggest Willie Fritz should have kicked the field goal to ensure a chance to win, then get the points if they recovered an on-side kick, but that wouldn't have guaranteed a cover for the Green Wave and a long afternoon for folks who had UCF.

• Nobody gives UMass 40 points and gets away with it ... twice. Sure, last week's line vs. Northwestern eventually slimmed to a mere 38.5 just minutes before kickoff, and that is what helped the Minutemen cover that one. This week, however, UMass easily covered as a 41.5-point dog against BYU (it lost 56-24), and all it took were two fourth-quarter TD drives after and a perfect final frame from the defense after falling behind 56-10. Hey, when you're UMass, it's the little things.

• Chase Garbers' 16-yard TD run with 1:19 left had some huge implications. For one, it put Cal up by four, and the Golden Bears would go on to win 24-20 to secure bowl eligibility. The score also gave Cal a cover (the Bears were 1-point dogs) and pushed the game over the total of 41.

• OK, so Akron played on Wednesday, which feels like a lifetime ago, but we have to mention the 0-11 Zips here. Sure, they still haven't won a game, but thanks to a rather competitive 20-17 loss to Miami (Ohio), they have finally covered a spread. Akron was 0-10 against the number entering Week 13, but the Zips avoid the ignominy of failing to even meet some incredibly low expectations by managing at least one cover on the season.

• Butch Davis presided over the creation of the last truly great Miami teams, though he departed before Larry Coker won a national title there. And while there have been plenty of low points in the post-dynasty era, Saturday's dismal performance in a 30-24 loss to Davis and FIU ranks right up near the top. Miami was a 21-point favorite, but never led in the game and saw the Panthers jump out to a 23-3 lead in the fourth quarter. FIU backers had it easy, but if bettors were wise enough to play the money line (+1000) they got a far bigger treat. Either way, it was an outcome FIU fans won't let the Miami faithful forget any time soon. It's been a season of unforgettable losses for Miami backers, too. As ESPN Stats & Info notes, Miami has now lost three times as a favorite of 14 points or more.

Under-the-radar play of the week

Youngstown State was up 21-3 with 10 seconds to play, so in the big picture, the final snap didn't mean much. For senior Nathan Mays, however, it was something special. The QB's season ended on Nov. 2 against North Dakota State when he suffered a severe leg injury. But his teammates didn't want it to end that way, so they carried him onto the field to take one last snap Saturday in the win. Sports are pretty great, right?

Under-the-radar game of the week

Next week is when the big-time rivalries are played, but let's not forget the country's oldest rivalry, which featured Lafayette topping Lehigh 17-16 on Saturday in the 155th meeting between the two teams. You may recall Lee Corso famously putting on the Leopard head when he picked Lafayette in their first meeting back in 1884, but Saturday's festivities proved equally fun, with Lafayette tailback Selwyn Simpson running for both Leopards touchdowns before being ejected following his second unsportsmanlike penalty. Lafayette kicked the winning field goal from 28 yards out with 47 seconds to play to secure the win.

Dads and dogs

Twitter provided us with some priceless Saturday images, including the world's best dad and the best canine meet-cute of the year.

And the award for "Dad of the year" goes to ... ? pic.twitter.com/1mXBHVjKDO

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 23, 2019

pic.twitter.com/8idbDtio88

— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr) November 23, 2019

MEMPHIS -- The Los Angeles Lakers' 109-108 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday resulted in a historically triumphant moment in LeBron James' 17-career as well as a historically perplexing one.

On the one hand, the Lakers' 14-2 start to the season is the best that any one of James' teams has ever achieved through 16 games, edging the 2016-17 Cleveland Cavaliers' 13-3 mark. On the other hand, James' 27 field goal attempts without attempting a single free throw was the most shots he's ever taken without earning a trip to the line, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

"It's frustrating," said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. "LeBron's going to the basket all night long. He took nine 3s, but he's in the paint all night long. ... When your guy's attacking the basket the way he is and getting zero free throw attempts, it's something that can be frustrating."

Sixteen of James' 27 attempts were in the paint and after several animated debates with referees Aaron Smith and Jenna Schroeder throughout the game, he continued to plead his case with reporters.

"I'm living in the paint and if you look at my arm right here, these are four or five (scratches) that happened the last two games and they weren't called at all," said James, who ended with a game-high 30 points on 14-for-27 shooting.

He averages 8.1 free throws per game for his career but his 5.6 free throws per game average this season are the fewest he's ever taken. Saturday was just the 14th time in 1,214 career games that he didn't take a free throw, according to ESPN Stats & Information data.

"We'll deal with the proper channels and talk to the league about that," Vogel said, planning to appeal to the NBA about how James is being officiated.

James said it's more of the same for him. Former Cavs coach Tyronn Lue used to compare James to Shaquille O'Neal when it came to refs swallowing their whistles because his sheer power makes the fouls he absorbs seem less significant.

"It's been a theme for me, personally," James said. "Pretty much in my career and over the last few years."

James came into the night ranked 15th in the league in free throws attempted per game.

"But that can't stop me," James said of the no-calls. "It didn't stop me tonight. No matter what I got to continue to go, but being able to get to the free throw line is something that allows our defense to get in good position. It sets our defense. It slows the game down at times. It gives us a good rhythm. It relaxes me as well. So, I know I'm getting hit but at the end of the day I just got to keep going."

James' teammates said that the fact that the Lakers' star forward doesn't try to sell contact by exaggerating how it affects him could be the reason why he doesn't get more calls.

"Someone of his caliber that attacks the basket, he doesn't really try to fool you and try to grab your arm a la (James) Harden or everyone," said Jared Dudley, referencing the Houston Rockets' superstar who leads the NBA with 14.4 free throw attempts per game. "He just tries to overpower you and it's tough sometimes to get that (call)."

Anthony Davis was wary of commenting on the officials on the same day Rajon Rondo was fined $35,000 for how he conducted himself after being ejected for receiving a flagrant foul 2 the night before.

"I've never seen him flop before," Davis said. "I don't want to get fined or nothing but that's probably part of the reason why (he doesn't get as many calls)."

Dudley offered a creative solution. "Maybe I'll guard LeBron in practice and have him work on his new flopping routine," he said.

Lakers guard Danny Green said James' free throw attempts should nearly double.

"He should at least get eight to 10 free throws a game," Green said. "No doubt about it, how he attacks the rim, attacks the basket. It's a physical game, and obviously he doesn't flop. So it's hard for refs to see and hard to referee him. But it's stuff that most guys get that he doesn't get because of how big and strong he is compared to everybody else."

Still, the lack of free throws didn't stop James or the Lakers on this night -- L.A. shot 29 free throws to Memphis' 13 free throws as a team - from extending their winning streak to seven games, making it the best start to a season for the franchise since 2008-09.

"We're just playing some really good basketball," James said. "Not only at home, but on the road as well. We feel real good about where we are today, but we don't feel great about where we want to be and that's OK because it's a long season and we want to get better. We want to continue to improve, but it's a good start for us. But we're not satisfied at all, but we're extremely excited about the process."

PHILADELPHIA -- The 76ers entered Saturday night's game against the Miami Heat hoping to prove a point.

Their old friend Jimmy Butler was back in the City of Brotherly Love for the first time since leaving the Sixers and joining the Heat in a sign-and-trade deal this offseason. Philadelphia had followed a 5-0 start to the season by going 5-5 over its previous 10 games, leading to renewed questions about the way its roster fit together.

But then Saturday night's game began. And by the time it was over, the Sixers had secured a 113-86 victory over the Heat, one that sent a loud and clear message to the rest of the NBA: They're going to be just fine.

"We all stepped up," Philadelphia point guard Ben Simmons said. "We've had too many games where we waited too late, until the fourth and third quarters, and I think with this game we showed throughout the whole game we can hold that [energy]."

The Heat were the unfortunate recipients of that effort. It isn't often a 27-point margin of victory undersells the performance by the victor. This game, however, was one of them. The Sixers led wire to wire, and led by as many as 41 points. All five starters finished with a plus/minus of at least plus-28, and four of them scored in double figures -- led by a season-high 32 points from shooting guard Josh Richardson, who was playing in his first game against his old team as well. Overall, the five-man lineup of Simmons, Richardson, Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Joel Embiid outscored Miami 33-10 in only 11 minutes on the floor together.

And the one starter who didn't score in double figures -- Simmons -- hounded Butler relentlessly to start the game, getting him out of sorts and allowing Philadelphia to immediately jump out to an early lead it didn't look back from.

It was a game that perfectly encapsulated the vision for this team that general manager Elton Brand had when he put it together this summer. Richardson, Harris and Horford, all of whom have struggled to shoot the ball to start the season, went a combined 25-for-35 from the field, and 9-for-13 from 3-point range. The Sixers controlled the boards, forced turnovers and hit open 3-pointers.

But what particularly stood out was the way Philadelphia smothered Miami defensively. It was reminiscent of the performance the Sixers had in the season opener against the Boston Celtics. Like Boston in that game, Philadelphia's defense forced Miami to play far faster than it wanted to. With so much size and speed across their lineup, the Sixers shrink the court in ways no other NBA team can -- and it takes some getting used to.

"They're definitely unique," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "The way they protect the paint is really unique, and you really have to work your offense with a little more energy, a little more commitment, a little more calories burned.

"The last couple games, we've been getting great looks on the initial trigger," Spoelstra continued. "Against a team like this, with that kind of size, you're going to have to be a little more aggressive, while still being patient. It's a balance that you have to have."

The Heat didn't have it Saturday night -- in large part because the Sixers didn't let them.

Defense → offense@BenSimmons25 | #PhilaUnite pic.twitter.com/cg3o3c8HwM

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 24, 2019

And make no mistake: This is a game Philadelphia was fired up to play. Embiid had declared earlier this week that, despite this being the season during which the Sixers plan to manage his body and minutes throughout the regular season, he was going to play both Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs and Saturday against Miami.

Embiid was not going to miss the first meeting with Butler. And after Embiid threw down an emphatic reverse slam to make the score 11-2 early in the first to force Spoelstra to call the first of two timeouts in the period to try to stem the tide, Embiid walked to center court to raise both arms skyward and did a shimmy with a huge grin on his face.

These are the types of games Embiid lives for. And, as he often does, he delivered in it -- and posted on Instagram after it.

View this post on Instagram

It's bigger than basketball

A post shared by Joel "The Process" Embiid (@joelembiid) on Nov 23, 2019 at 8:16pm PST

But he was far from alone. Richardson had missed the previous two games with a hip flexor issue, but shook it off to easily have his best game as a member of the Sixers. Some of that was because of some unsustainable shooting on some difficult attempts, but he also was flying around and active at both ends of the floor, helping to force Kendrick Nunn to go 3-for-10 and Duncan Robinson to go 0-for-6, as well as the two Heat players combining to go 0-for-7 from 3-point range.

"They have so many guys that can switch and do so many things well," said Butler, who finished with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. "Tonight, they made a lot of shots, and we didn't. They got in the open floor and played the type of basketball we want to play from the very beginning of the game."

There is plenty for the Sixers to still sort out. Even on a night when everything was clicking so well for them, they got only a combined 19 points from their bench players, who were a combined 7-for-27 from the floor and 3-for-13 from 3-point range. One hot shooting night doesn't erase the overall spacing issues that the starting unit must still sort out. Embiid still spends a lot of time floating around the perimeter and taking difficult fadeaway midrange jumpers rather than higher-percentage looks at the rim.

Still, for all of the concern that has once again surrounded this team, Philadelphia's starting lineup has now played together for 81 minutes across seven games -- and has outscored its opponents by a staggering 29.4 points per 100 possessions, the best of the 47 lineups that have played at least 50 minutes together this season. It's a reminder of the immense potential this group possesses if it can actually get all five of these guys on the court together on a regular basis.

Before Saturday night's game, Spoelstra had declared this a chance for the Heat to "find out where we're at." The Sixers, who hadn't had their starting lineup together for over a week, looked at it the same way.

"I am [excited]," coach Brett Brown said. "It hasn't been a lot of minutes [together yet], but to get them all back now and play them all against a team like Miami, I'm excited about it."

The Sixers then went out and gave Brown plenty more to be excited about.

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor set an FBS record, rushing for at least 200 yards for the 12th time in his career Saturday as the No. 12 Badgers beat Purdue 45-24 in their final home game of the season.

The junior All-American running back had been tied with Wisconsin's Ron Dayne, Texas' Ricky Williams and USC's Marcus Allen for the FBS record of 11 games over 200 yards entering the day.

After gaining 222 yards and scoring a touchdown on his 28 carries, Taylor walked around Camp Randall Stadium and thanked the home fans for their support.

"It was something special, especially because you don't know. You don't know if you're going to be here again," Taylor said. "So I think that's the biggest thing is just being appreciative of that opportunity."

Now with 5,856 career yards, the most by any player in FBS history through his junior season, Taylor has to decide following the season if he'll declare for 2020 NFL draft. But in meantime, Taylor said all he's thinking about is defeating Minnesota next week and winning the Big Ten West.

"Next week, we wouldn't want to have it any other way," he said. "Big Ten West on the line, rivalry game, [playing for the] ax [trophy that's awarded to the winner], I mean, this is why you come to Wisconsin, for these kind of moments. I'm pretty sure we're going to have a great week of preparation in order to bring our A-game.

Wisconsin improved to 9-2 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten West with the victory, its 14th in a row over the Boilermakers.

Taylor's 51-yard touchdown run with 1 minute, 30 seconds left in the first quarter -- his FBS-leading 22nd TD of the season -- gave the Badgers a 14-3 lead.

The lone downside for Taylor was losing a pair of fumbles, bringing his season total to four and his career total to 14 in 38 games.

Information from The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.

NEW YORK -- The San Antonio Spurs can exhale a collective sigh of relief.

After losing their last eight games, the Spurs got back in the win column on Saturday night, defeating the New York Knicks 111-104. The win helped the Spurs avoid matching their longest losing streak since 1989.

"It's been coming," center Jakob Poeltl said after the game. "We've been getting better and now we finally got that win again. (Losing) does wear on you. It takes a toll on the team, the morale."

The game became irreversibly ugly in the first quarter. The Knicks were slow to score their first basket on Saturday. Down seven, New York finally got on the board when RJ Barrett put back his own miss. But before long, San Antonio had built a crushing double-digit lead and fans in Madison Square Garden were booing their home team.

The crowd had seen this before: their team being stomped on by a team well below .500. San Antonio built its largest advantage of the night in the third quarter, leading 73-45.

Heading into the fourth quarter, San Antonio's lead seemed insurmountable. The once-full lower bowl of the arena had started to clear out. Then, the Knicks made their push. Down 96-76, David Fizdale called a timeout. The break was followed by a 22-9 Knicks run that put the New York within single digits. Ultimately, even Marcus Morris' 3-point buzzer beater proved to be too little, too late.

Before the game, Gregg Popovich was typically prickly -- dusting off questions about his team's long losing streak and shooting piercing stares at reporters who dared to question whether or not it was hard to rally a team on an eight-game losing streak.

Popovich's outlook on his team's losing streak differed from Poeltl's.

"It is just another game," he said. "These guys are too hardened. They're all pros. They are grown men. They have families and kids and that kind of stuff doesn't bother them. Nobody likes to lose a bunch of games in a row, but it is not going to debilitate them mentally. They still get their paychecks."

But now that the Spurs have tasted winning again, they are motivated.

"I want to get another one," DeMar DeRozan said. "Let's make that be our rough patch that we went through."

Zach LaVine scored a career-high 49 points on 13 3-pointers and hit the game-winner to beat the Hornets on Saturday, just one night after the Bulls guard was temporarily benched.

Coach Jim Boylen removed LaVine midway through the first quarter of Friday night's loss to the Heat after the Bulls fell behind 13-0, and kept him out of the game for more than five minutes. LaVine, who told Yahoo Sports after the loss that he sensed a lack of trust from his coach, responded in a big way on Saturday.

His 13 3-pointers are tied for the second most in a game in NBA history. Seven of those 3-pointers came in the fourth quarter, which tied the most in a single quarter in Bulls history.

The biggest one came with less than a second remaining.

Down two points with 8 seconds left after a Tomas Satoransky 3-pointer, the Bulls converged on Devonte' Graham and forced the turnover. LaVine came up with the ball, dribbled behind the 3-point line on the right wing and launched a fadeaway 3 to win the game -- completing an improbable comeback from 8 points down with under a minute to go.

LaVine finished the game with 49 points on 13-of-17 shooting from long range.