MANILA, Philippines — Smart Gilas Pilipinas booked the first semifinals slot after fending off a furious fightback by Ginebra, 111-104, Wednesday in the 2011 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Marcus Douthit, who missed the Nationals’ last game with a sprained ankle, came back in his usual form with 30 points and 17 rebounds. [...]
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 2) Needing a win to qualify for the AFC Challenge Cup and earn a place in local sports history, the Azkals did both by defeating Bangladesh, 3-0, in the group stages. Filipino-Spanish Angel Guirado peppered Bengal’s keeper in the 54th and 80th minute after Iloilo striker Ian Araneta broke an 11-game [...]
BOSTON – Memphis, scrambling for an NBA postseason berth, edged the playoff-bound Boston Celtics 90-87 on Wednesday. Spain’s Marc Gasol scored 11 points with 11 rebounds and Zach Randolph had 13 points and eight boards to deny the Celtics in their bid to regain a share of the Eastern Conference lead alongside Chicago. With little [...]
DETROIT – The Miami Heat turned up the temperature in the fourth quarter on Wednesday and rallied for a 100-94 NBA victory over the Detroit Pistons. Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and Chris Bosh added 23 to lift the Heat, who trailed by 11 points late in the third quarter. Miami’s Mike Miller made a [...]
KEY BISCAYNE, Florida—Kim Clijsters is planning to avoid Japan over radiation fears since an earthquake and tsunami crippled a nuclear plant there. Clijsters told Belgian media on Tuesday that she wouldn’t go to the WTA tournament in Tokyo in September nor to one in Beijing the following month. The WTA released a statement from Clijsters [...]
MIAMI—World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and second-ranked Novak Djokovic will lead a set of tennis stars in a charity football match on Wednesday to raise money for earthquake and tsunami relief missions in Japan. Britain’s Andy Murray and Japan’s Kei Nishikori will also be among those who drop their rackets and compete with their feet [...]
INDIANAPOLIS— Derrick Rose matched a career high with 42 points, but the Chicago Bulls had an eight-game NBA win streak snapped Friday by Indiana, which outlasted the Bulls 115-108 in over-time. Tyler Hansbrough scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Danny Granger added 19 points and Darren Collison contributed 17 for the Pacers, who [...]
HOUSTON— Kevin Martin scored 26 points and rookie Patrick Patterson added 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets past the slumping Boston Celtics 93-77 on Friday. Chuck Hayes added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, whose third victory in a row pulled Houston, 36-34, within 1 1/2 games of Memphis [...]
ULAN BATOR – Buoyed by its first leg victory and an early goal, the Philippines advanced to the group qualifying stage of the AFC Challenge Cup despite a 1-2 defeat to Mongolia Tuesday. The Azkals advanced after winning 3-2 on aggregate, but not before surviving intense pressure from the Mongolians in a match played at [...]
LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant shrugged of a sprained left ankle and the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers rolled to a 97-84 victory over Orlando on Monday. Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 23 points and Bryant added 16 despite the injury he suffered in a victory over Dallas on Saturday. The Lakers, [...]
LONDON – Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam will announce on Friday whether he intends to challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency. Bin Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has dropped repeated hints in the past two months that he may stand and has been gauging possible support. He will hold [...]
MANILA, Philippines—Manila’s father figure welcomed one of the city’s adopted sons, newly crowned World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr., at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Centennial Terminal early Wednesday morning. Mayor Alfredo Lim praised the boxer for making the whole country proud with the “very spectacular” knockout of bantamweight [...]
ORLANDO—Former world number one Tiger Woods is moving into a new home in Jupiter, Florida, that features a custom-built practice facility, the 14-time major champion said Monday on his website. In the first blog posting on his website since just before the one-year anniversary of a sex scandal that led to divorce and the loss [...]
