NBA * Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, the league's reigning MVP, won't return this season. General manager Sam Presti said Durant still has pain in his right foot, well after he was expected to be ready to return. When asked if the best thing would be best to shut him down for the season, Presti said: "Essentially, that's the direction that we're taking right now, in terms of removing him from all basketball-related activities." The Thunder faces the prospect of trying to make the playoffs without the four-time scoring champion. Durant is averaging 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists, but he has played in just 27 of the team's 68 games this season. * The Houston Rockets received a blow to their frontcourt, yet again, when it was revealed starting forward Terrence Jones is out for an extended period with a collapsed lung. Jones suffered the injury in the first quarter of the Rockets' victory over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. Jones is averaging 12.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season. * The Indiana Pacers are targeting Paul George's return within the next week, multiple sources told ESPN. George, who suffered a broken right leg in a Team USA scrimmage in August, has been participating in contact practices for weeks. The Pacers said they will update George's status before Monday's shootaround.
NFL * Rape charges filed in Las Vegas against former NFL saftey and TV analyst Darren Sharper yesterday showed police and prosecutors are focusing on a pattern of drug-and-attack cases in incidents that occurred in Los Angeles, New Orleans and the Phoenix area. Sharper has been accused of having sex with two Las Vegas tourists in January 2014 while the women were incapable of resisting. According to police, Sharper allegedly went club-hopping with the women and took them to his room at a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, where he drugged and sexually assaulted them while they were unconscious. The account is similar to allegations made against Sharper in California, Louisiana and Arizona. Sharper, 39, has been jailed since Feb. 27 in Los Angeles, where he was due for a preliminary hearing after pleading not guilty to drugging and raping two women in 2013. The New Orleans charges allege he sexually assaulted three women in 2013. The Arizona charges allege he drugged three women and sexually assaulted two of them in November 2013 in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. Sharper had a 14-year All-Pro career as a safety with the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints. * Indianapolis Colts linebacker Erik Walden was slashed in the arm with a knife and his female companion suffered a broken arm after allegedly being attacked by the player's ex-girlfriend in Braselton, Ga., according to a report. WXIA-TV in Atlanta reported that Walden called 911 last Saturday night after he had to wrestle his gun away from Erica Palmer, who was also armed with a baseball bat that she used to strike his companion in the arm and then ran away. The Braselton Police report said Palmer reappeared as Walden was attempting to take the injured woman to the hospital and then allegedly slashed Walden's arm with a knife and ran again. Police tracked Palmer's cellphone to a hotel, where she was arrested. She is being held without bail on two counts of aggravated assault, family violence aggravated assault, theft by taking and first-degree burglary. A source told ESPN.com that Walden, who was treated at a hospital and released, is OK and that the slash was not severe enough to cause any major damage. * The New York Giants signed George Selvie, a college teammate of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul at South Florida, to help strengthen their defensive line. Contract terms were not immediately available.
NHL * Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban was fined $3,000 for diving in a game against Ottawa last week, his third fine for the same infraction in 3 months. If he gets another warning this season, he will be fined an additional $4,000, and Montreal coach Michel Therrien must pay a $2,000 penalty.
Auto Racing * Brian Vickers has had a recurrence of blood clots and will step out of his Michael Waltrip Racing ride this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. Brett Moffitt will return to the No. 55 Toyota as Vickers' replacement. Vickers missed the first two races of this year following offseason heart surgery. This latest recurrence has again required Vickers to be placed on blood thinners.
Boxing * A top anti-doping official says Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao face far more severe penalties for a prefight positive test for a banned substance than a $5 million fine unsuccessfully pushed by a Pacquiao adviser. Travis Tygart, the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, said a positive test would kill the May 2 fight, where the total purse likely will be more than $200 million. It also would subject the fighter who tested positive to a potentially career-ending ban of 4 years from competition. Both fighters signed agreements for the USADA to oversee drug testing for the May 2 fight that will be boxing's richest ever.
Soccer * The Union's home game against FC Dallas, originally set for 7 last night, was rescheduled to 4 p.m. today because of the snowstorm. The game will now air only on Univision Deportes. All tickets from yesterday will be valid today. Refunds or exchanges are not available, but fans with questions can call 1-877-21-Union, then press 1 for tickets, and 4 for fan services. - Daily News wire services