January 2006 in Sports - 22 January 2006 (Sunday)

22 January 2006 (Sunday)

• NBA
  • Kobe Bryant scored 81 points — the most by an NBA player since March 2, 1962, when Wilt Chamberlain recorded his 100-point performance against the New York Knicks — in the Los Angeles Lakers' 122–104 win over the Toronto Raptors. He would score 55 points in the second half, while the rest of his team combined scored 18.
  • Seattle SuperSonics 152, Phoenix Suns 149 (2 OT): Ray Allen's three point basket with time expiring was the difference in this game. The teams combined for the most points (301) since April 1, 1995, and it was the first time a team posted 150 points on the scoresheet since March 15, 1998, when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets, 156–147 which was also in double overtime.
• NFL Playoffs: Conference Championships
  • AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers 34, Denver Broncos 17: The Steelers become the first No. 6 playoff seed to advance to the Super Bowl. Ben Roethlisberger completes 21 of 29 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns and runs for a third score. Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer throws two interceptions and loses two fumbles.
  • NFC: Seattle Seahawks 34, Carolina Panthers 14: The Seahawks advance to their first Super Bowl. Seattle's defense holds Steve Smith to 33 receiving yards and intercepts Jake Delhomme three times. Shaun Alexander rushes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
  • In non-playoff news, Dick Jauron, who served as interim coach of the Detroit Lions after Steve Mariucci's firing, was announced as the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills, and after the AFC Championship Game, the Houston Texans named Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak as their new coach.
• Football: 2006 African Cup of Nations
  • Group C: Tunisia 4–1 Zambia The African champions successfully begin the defence of their title with a hat-trick from Francileudo dos Santos. (BBC)
  • Group C: South Africa 0–2 Guinea (BBC)
• Snooker, Saga Insurance Masters: Scotsman John Higgins comes back to take the last two frames of the Masters final, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan by ten frames to nine. (BBC)
• Speed skating: American Joey Cheek wins the men's World sprint speed skating championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands ahead of Russian Dmitry Dorofeyev and Dutchman Jan Bos. In the women's championship, Svetlana Zhurova becomes the first Russian since 1982 to win a women's sprint title. (Reuters)