USA cruise to place in basketball final

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The United States will face Spain for gold on Sunday in a rematch of the 2008 Olympic final after ruthlessly dispatching Argentina 109 - 83 on Friday.

In similar fashion to the group stage meeting, the United States wore down the Argentinians in the second half before pulling away for a big win.
Argentina, featuring five members of the 2004 squad who won gold in Athens, kept pace until midway through the third quarter when LeBron James and Kevin Durant powered an American spurt that effectively killed off the game, and they piled on the points down the stretch.
Kobe Bryant picked up where he had left off in his 20-point second-half explosion against Australia, scoring 11 points over four and a half first-quarter minutes to power the United States into an 18-6 lead.
Argentina replied with nine straight, bringing it back to 18-15 on a three-pointer from Andres Nocioni.
The United States led 24-19 at the end of the first quarter but Luis Scola quickly cut the gap and Carlos Delfino began raining in threes to keep it close.
That was James' cue to go off for a stunning seven points in 79 seconds to hand the Americans a double-digit lead, 37-27.
Another Delfino three and one from Leonardo Gutierrez made it 43-35 and when Ginobili had another shot from range on the buzzer, Argentina went in trailing 47-40.
Ginobili started it with a three-pointer to give Argentina further hope, but then Nocioni was charged with a controversial simulation call, and the Americans capitalised on the free throws and extra possession to go 51-43 clear on Tyson Chandler's tip-in.
Ginobili was still battling, and he made a tough lay-up while drawing a foul on Bryant, making it 51-46 from the line.
Argentina responded to a pair of three-pointers from Kevin Durant with a Nocioni three and a Ginobili lay-up that made it 59-51.
But then the Americans exploded with a 13-2 run that saw Durant score six and James seven, putting them 72-53 up and effectively out of sight.
The game was over, and the Americans then started making it look easy with Carmelo Anthony pouring in three quick threes to put them 93-64 up.
They broke the 100-point barrier for the fifth time in their seven Olympic contests so far when James Harden hit a three with 2:52 left in the game and there were more big shots to come from Chris Paul and Deron Williams as the United States finished 18-of-42 (43%) from three-point range in the game.
Durant led the Americans with 19 points while James and Anthony had 18 each, James also collecting seven rebounds and seven assists.
Bryant added only two to his early haul to finish with 13 points, while Paul finished with 10.
The outstanding Ginobili had 18 points for Argentina, while Scola and Delfino added 15 apiece.

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Spain roar back to progress to final

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Spain came storming back in the second half to book their place in the final of the Olympic basketball tournament with a 67-59 victory over Russia.

The world number two and European champions have rarely looked at their best in this tournament, and struggled mightily against Russia's imposing defence in the first half.
But in a reverse of their meeting in the group stages, when Russia came from 18 points down to win 77-74, Spain came alive after the break to make what was once a 13-point deficit into victory.
Playing in front of a disappointing crowd of 13,215, a Spanish team dominated by members of 'Los Chicos de Oro', the golden generation that emerged when they won the 1999 world junior championship, came through when it mattered to give themselves another shot at a first ever Olympic gold on Sunday.
They will at least match the silver medal they won in Beijing.
Russia had edged a largely ugly first quarter, and Vitaliy Fridzon's three gave them a 12-9 edge with Pau Gasol unable to get a contested lay-up to fall on the buzzer.
The second quarter belonged to Russia, with Sasha Kaun making a point with a big dunk before back-to-back threes from Sergey Monya gave them a 27-14 edge.
Spain could not break down Russia's defence, forced to make contested shots and finishing the first half 31-20 down and shooting just 22% from the field.
Kaun's dunk gave Russia a 40-31 lead but Spain began to claw their way back, cutting it to a four-point deficit on Rudy Fernandez's three-pointer with 4:25 left in the third period.
Another three from Pau Gasol cut it to 44-41 with with 2:48 to go in the third.
Pau Gasol then followed up on Felipe Reyes' miss with a rebound and dunk to make it a one-point game, and although Anton Ponkrashov replied for Russia, it was all tied 46-46 on Jose Calderon's three to end the third quarter.
Ponkrashov's three-point play had Russia back in front, but Spain then reeled off nine straight points to turn the game.
Fernando San Emeterio missed after Pau Gasol's steal, but Sergio Llull was on hand to score with the rebound.
Calderon's three put them on top, and it kept coming with Calderon snatching the ball away and teeing up Llull for a lay-up.
Marc Gasol made a tough shot inside to make it 55-49 before Andrei Kirilenko split a pair of free throws to end Russia's drought.
Calderon nailed yet another three and Reyes hit a jump-shot as Spain stretched their lead to 60-50.
Kirilenko's three cut the gap but Marc Gasol responded by making a contested lay-up, drawing a foul and making it 64-54 from the line.
Kirilenko missed a pair of free throws, passing up the chance to make it a six-point game and Spain eased to victory.
Pau Gasol led Spain with 16 points while Calderon added 14 and Marc Gasol and Fernandez had 11 each.
Kaun had 14 points and Ponkrashov and Kirilenko 10 each for Russia.

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Aussie hopes dashed by Bryant

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Kobe Bryant exploded into life in the second half as the United States eased into the semi-finals of the London Olympics 119-86.

Australia fought hard to keep the Americans in check, but had no answer once Bryant found his stroke.
The Los Angeles Lakers man had done little to live up to his superstar status in London prior to this game and reached half-time 0-for-four from the field and with as many fouls committed - 14 - as field goals made in the entire tournament.
But that changed in a big way in the second half as he made six-of-nine three-point attempts to fire a United States surge that killed off the Boomers.
Lithuania have failed to reach the semi-finals of an Olympic basketball tournament for the first time since gaining independence in 1990 after a second-half rally fell short against Russia.
Lithuania, three-times bronze medallists, scored 18 points in the final five minutes of the third quarter to go from 46-32 down to 54-50 going into the final period.
When Rimantas Kaukenas hit a three-pointer to open the fourth period, the gap was just one.
But Russia dug deep to pull out the 83-74 win.
French tempers flared as Spain emerged from a dogfight 66-59 to book their place in the semi-finals of the Olympic basketball tournament.
The fourth quarter was downright ugly as both defences turned it up and French frustration boiled over when Spain, who beat France in a EuroBasket final that left bad blood last year, began to edge away.
The Spanish outscored the French 15-6 in the period, and Ronny Turiaf and Nicolas Batum both lost their cool.
Turiaf blindsided a speeding Rudy Fernandez to knock him to the floor, and Batum knocked Juan Carlos Navarro to the ground with a violent action when reaching for the ball.
But coach Vincent Collet refused to condemn the actions of his players after the game, and instead turned on a reporter who asked.
"Basketball is a physical game," he said. "We are not going to take any lessons from a Spanish journalist.
"Your guys don't make any gifts to us, and we don't make any gifts to you.
"I would like to ask you, what did you think about Rudy Fernandez's actions against Tony Parker in the European final last year?
"I didn't commit the fouls. I didn't ask them to commit the fouls. I cannot answer for my players."
Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said both Fernandez and Navarro had received treatment after the game and would be doubtful for the semi-finals.
"They are bad right now," he said. "They will go through treatment for the rest of day. Right now it is difficult to say that somehow they will be able to play."
Batum later apologised for his actions on Twitter.
"Do not remember my stupid gesture at the end, but the collective performance during the tournament of a team proud to fight for their country," the Portland Trail Blazers forward wrote.
"I'm sorry I've shown an image like that of basketball and of France. The frustration and rage overtook me. I have no excuse."
Argentina held off a late rally to beat South American rivals Brazil 82-77  and make it to the semi-finals of an Olympic Games for the third straight time.
In a re-match of the FIBA Americas Championship final won by Argentina last year, they looked comfortable when Manu Ginobili's three-pointer gave them an 70-59 lead with seven minutes left to play.
But Brazil had other ideas. The outstanding Marcelinho Huertas added two points from the free-throw line to start a 9-0 charge that got it to 70-68 on Alex Garcia's lay-up.
Pablo Prigioni padded the lead for Argentina and Nene Hilario came up empty with a pull-up jumper before Andres Nocioni gave Argentina a 74-68 edge.
Prigioni missed a three and Carlos Delfino a short jumper for Argentina
Leandro Barbosa took advantage to slice the lead back to 74-71 with less than two minutes to go.
Prigioni missed another three, but Marcelinho came up empty when given the chance to tie with another three.
From there, Argentina closed it out from the free throw line with Ginobili, Luis Scola, Delfino and Prigioni all perfect from the line to make it 82-71.
Leandro had back-to-back three-pointers late on to slice the margin, but time ran out on another rally.
Scola led Argentina with 17 points while Ginobili and Delfino had 16 each, Ginobili also grabbing eight rebounds.
Andres Nocioni scored 12 and Jonas Gutierrez 11 in a balanced offensive showing.
Brazil relied heavily on Marcelinho and Barbosa, who had 22 points each.
The Argentinians, winners of bronze in 2008, feature five veterans of the team that won gold at the 2004 Olympics, led by the outstanding Ginobili.
"This is unbelievable," the San Antonio Spurs star said. "For a team with an average age of 32 years it's very valuable to make it to the Olympic semi-finals.
"Beating Brazil is always special and this time it is even better because now we have two chances to fight for a medal."
Scola was just happy to get one over the old rivals.
"It's been recurrent that we play Brazil in knockout stages in important tournaments," he said. "Today it was our time to win and now we are going to fight for our right to get to the final."
Brazil coach Ruben Magnano was the man who led Argentina to that gold medal in Athens and Delfino admitted he felt a little bad about knocking out his former coach.
"He's a special coach, like nobody else," Delfino said. "He created this team, this is the Magnano team. I feel sorry for him because he is a winner, he is a teacher but he didn't have the chance to win and it's good for us."

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Basketball: USA seal top spot in Group A

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The United States wore down battling Argentina 126-97 to lock up top spot in Group A with a 5-0 record.

Argentina matched the Americans blow-for-blow in a pulsating first half, trailing 60-59 at half-time.
But the Americans outscored them 42-17 in an incredible third quarter in which the red-hot Kevin Durant hit five three-pointers from increasing distance.
Tensions flared down the stretch with both sides collecting technical fouls, but that was simply a measure of Argentina's frustration at their inability to stop the Americans, and the Americans' eagerness to let them know it.
United States coach Mike Krzyzewski believes a hard-fought victory over Argentina has put his team in ideal shape to go into the quarter-finals.
"We beat an outstanding team tonight [Monday]," Krzyzewski said. "Their point guard (Pablo Prigioni) was out and they were undermanned, we realised that, but you have some of the great players on this planet on their team - people like (Manu) Ginobili and (Luis) Scola.
"They're a championship level team and for us to have a game like this going into the medal round is good for us."
LeBron James scored seven quick points including a huge three to power them into a 67-62 lead before Kevin Durant hit the first of five quickfire three-pointers that carried the United States out of sight.
"We both of us took it upon ourselves to take over in the third quarter," James said. "I did it early, he finished it off, and we were able to build on that lead."
But it was not just about making shots as the American defence tightened up significantly.
"We gave up a lot of three-pointers in the first half," Chris Paul said. "At half-time coach came in and said, 'We know we can score. What are we going to do defensively?' We took that as a challenge, and came out being a lot more solid."
With the Americans tearing away, Carmelo Anthony hit a three to make it 102-76 at the end of the period, but then crumpled over in front of the bench, with the United States saying he had been hit in the groin.
Tensions began to flare, with several players clashing at mid-court leading to technical fouls against both teams.
"It's not a play that's called for in basketball," James said. "As his team-mates, we're going to protect him."
Patty Mills hit a three-pointer on the buzzer as Australia snatched a 82 - 80 victory to end Russia's unbeaten run at the London Olympics.
Andersen had 13 points and Matt Dellavedova 10 with six rebounds and seven assists.
Sasha Kaun had 18 points for Russia, with new Minnesota Timberwolves pairing Kirilenko and Alexey Shved adding 13 each.
Russia, 4-1, had already sealed top spot in the group while Australia knew they could not improve on fourth place, with both teams advancing to the quarter-finals.
Lithuania booked their quarter-final place in the London Olympics after a 76 - 63 victory over Tunisia in their final Group A game. 
The Eastern Europeans, who have reached the semi-finals of every Olympic Games since they gained independence in 1990, winning three bronze medals, risked elimination as Tunisia led most of the game and were up by double digits late in the third quarter.
A defeat would have left Lithuania waiting on Nigeria's result on France to discover their fate, but instead they took control with an outstanding fourth quarter display.
Jasikevicius and Darius Songaila led Lithuania with 13 points each while Seibutis, Jasaitis and Rimantas Kaukenas added 10 apiece.
Rzig had 17 points for Tunisia with Salah Mejri adding 16 and Ben Romdhane 12.
France quelled the threat of a second-half fightback from Nigeria to secure a 79 - 73 victory in Group A.
Boris Diaw made it into double figures with 10 points, but Parker was held to just three points and played a little over 21 minutes.
Obasohan finished with 18 points for Nigeria
Great Britain recorded their first Olympic victory in basketball since 1948 as they routed China 90-58 in their final Group B game in London.
In what coach Chris Finch said would be his last game in charge, he got one over his old BBL rival and current China coach Bob Donewald with a comfortable win.
Kieron Achara had an outstanding game for Britain with 16 points, making the most of extended playing time as Luol Deng slipped into early foul trouble and Pops Mensah-Bonsu sat with an injury.
Spain's medal hopes at the London Olympics suffered another blow as they surrendered a late lead to lose 88-82 to Brazil.
World number two and European champions Spain had led virtually the entire game, often by double digits, and were still up 73-67 with 5:43 left to go after Pau Gasol split a pair of free throws.
But then the game very quickly became the Leandro Barbosa show.
The NBA star hit a pair of free throws and then stunned Spain with back-to-back three-pointers that gave Brazil a 75-73 advantage.
Pau Gasol's lay-up levelled but Brazil kept coming with Barbosa hitting two more free throws and Larry Taylor sinking a jump-shot.
Pau Gasol went to the line again but could only split his throws.
When Barbosa hit another jump-shot the lead was 82-76 with two minutes to go.
Spain could not stop the bleeding, and Tiago Splitter gave them an 88-79 lead with five seconds left to cap it.
Sergio Llull hit a three-pointer on the buzzer for Spain, but it will be of little consolation to a team with high expectations but struggling to meet up to their demanding standards so far.
The result means Brazil take the second seed in Group B, with Spain having to settle for third after also suffering defeat against Russia.
It is Spain's second loss in a row, and the second game where a fourth-quarter collapse has brought about their downfall after they went from nine points up with four and a half minutes to go to lose 77-74 against Russia.
But while the Russia defeat ended Spain's hopes of topping the group, this loss could have a useful side effect as it would keep Spain away from the top seed in Group A - expected to be the Americans - until the final.
The suggestion the team might want to lose had already been raised by Spanish media before the contest tipped off.
But Toronto Raptors guard Jose Calderon dismissed the idea after the game.
"This is not our team," he said.
"This is not how we play. This is not the way we've been together for I don't know how many years. We always play to win. Always.
"There have been some situations before when some teams have tried to avoid us and we don't like that. We're in the Olympics and you have to try to win every game; no matter who you play against. If you want a medal, you have to beat anybody."
Felipe Reyes said the media speculation had angered the players.
"Of course it bothered us," he said.
"We're professional players and we always want to win. The press were talking about that and it affected us. Now we have to forget this and focus on what comes next."
Sergio Llull hit a late three for Spain, but it was of little consolation and Pau Gasol admitted the Spanish were not playing well enough to deserve a medal.
"I am worried because we have not found our best game yet," he said.
"I am concerned because this is not the first or second game and we have already played a lot of matches and we have not played to the best of our ability."
The Los Angeles Lakers centre blamed mental mistakes for Spain's problems.
"It's been the same thing in all our games," he said. "We've got stretches where we dominate and stretches where we go nowhere because of a lack of concentration and effort. We need to play the 40 minutes with the same intensity and activity. We can't win on talent alone."

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Miami Heat sew up NBA title

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LeBron James led the way with a triple-double as the Miami Heat completed a 4-1 series win over the Oklahoma City Thunder to secure the NBA title.

The forward racked up 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds as he collected the first title of his illustrious career.
The Heat won 121-106 on the night to wrap up the best-of-seven series with two games to spare.
Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Mike Miller also scored 20 points or more, with Miller hitting seven of eight three-point attempts on his way to a 23-point tally.
Kevin Durant led the beaten Thunder with 32 points, James Harden and Russell Westbrook adding 19 apiece, but the home side were always in control in Florida.
They led 31-26 after the first quarter and pulled out to 59-49 by half-time.
They were more dominant still after half-time, a 16-0 run in the third quarter taking them 25 points ahead at 88-63. It was 95-71 by the end of the quarter and the fourth was almost a lap of honour for Miami, with James leading the celebrations on the sidelines as the Heat second string played out the closing seconds.
James was a unanimous choice as series MVP, completing a journey of redemption after he was widely criticised following the Heat's loss to the Dallas Mavericks last year.
"It means everything," he told ESPN.
"This is a dream come true for me, I've been through a lot the last two years but this is definitely the way that it pays off.
"Losing in the finals last year put me back in place. It humbled me a lot and I was able to go back to the basics.
"I just looked at myself in the mirror and said 'you need to be better'. Both on and off the floor, and I'm happy I was able to put myself and our team in a position to win it."
Speaking in the post-game presentation, he added: "The only thing that bothered me is that a lot of people said I was a selfish person and a selfish basketball player.
"I strive on being a team player, doing whatever it takes to help this team win - but at the same time, I used it as motivation.
"I never had to prove anything to anybody, and last year I tried to prove something to everybody. I played with a lot of hate and that's not the way I play the game. I play it with a lot of love and passion, and that's what I got back to this year."
It was a second title for both Wade, series MVP in the 2006 win as a 20-year-old, and coach Erik Spoelstra, who was an assistant coach on that occasion and stepped up on Thursday to win his first as head coach.
"There's a lot more pressure, more grey hairs, but this one was so gratifying," he said.
"We remember last year, we wanted to make up for it.
"We had confidence in what we could do but (we knew) it would be a tough road to get back here and finally get those four wins."
Wade added: "Winning the championship in 2006 was amazing but I hadn't been through anything yet. Now, six years after that, I've been through a lot in my personal life and my professional life and this means so much more.
"We made a decision two years ago to become a team. LeBron, Chris (Bosh) and myself, and the other guys, decided to come together.
"I had a role to play, it might have changed a little bit, but at the end of the day we all had one common goal, and that was to become the champions."
Franchise president Pat Riley said: "We believe we've built a team that's going to be around for a while, and our goal is to hopefully come back every year.
"You become a team, become a contender, and then one day you might become something special, and that's what we're shooting for."
He added: "I want to congratulate OKC (Oklahoma), we hope to see them again and I'm sure that we will."
Thunder coach Scott Brooks was proud of his team's efforts and is confident of further improvement over the off-season.
"When you play against the best, you learn," he said.
"You get here because you're good but we definitely have room to improve. That's what the summers are for."

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Heat clap Thunder for series lead

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The Heat have taken a 2-1 lead in their NBA Finals series with the Oklahoma City Thunder following a 91-85 win in Miami.

By Marcus Chhan
It is the second straight win for the Heat in the best-of-seven series with Game Four set for Miami on Tuesday.
LeBron James was immense for the home side, pouring in 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
James hit two clutch free-throws previously in Miami's narrow win at Oklahoma in Game Two, and he repeated the feat in Miami on Sunday. His free throw with 16.2 seconds left in Game Three made it a two-possession game; the Thunder wilted under this pressure and immediately turned the ball over on the next play.
Dwyane Wade, who had 25 points in the game, added two more from the charity stripe to seal the six point margin of victory.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook impressed for the Thunder with 25 points and 19 points respectively but the visitors will rue a poor shooting performance from the foul line where they were just 15-for-24 during Sunday's loss.
Durant also suffered from foul trouble in the contest, picking up his fourth foul in the third quarter meaning he could only watch from the sidelines as the Heat rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat the Thunder.
"It's all about chemistry," James said on NBA.com.
"We understand where we like to get the ball, what we like to do in close situations, and it's good to see us execute down the stretch. But more importantly it was great to see we were able to get stops. That's where the game is won and we did that."
Chris Bosh chipped in with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who are now just two games away from winning the NBA Championship.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma fans will be hoping the Heat suffer a relapse of last season's NBA Finals which saw Miami blow a 2-1 lead in the series to hand the title to the Dallas Mavericks.

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King James sends Heat to Game 7

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LeBron James netted a whopping 45 points as the Miami Heat forced Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals with a 98-79 win over Boston Celtics.

With the series tied at 3-3, the win represents a huge boost for the Heat, who barely scraped past Game 2 and subsequently lost the next three games against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Heat burst into a 26-16 lead in the first quarter and the Celtics never got close, with James' 30 points by halftime carrying them through to a dominant win and forcing Game 7.
Rajon Rondo topped the scoring charts for Celtics with 21 point and 12 assists and was followed by Brandon Bass and Kevin Garnett with 12 points each, but their combined point tally would still not be able to match James' massive 45 points.
Celtic ultimately lost the game outside, netting only one of their 14 attempts from 3-point range.
The former Cleveland Cavalier also grabbed 15 rebounds and was 12 of 14 in the first half, 19 of 26 from the field overall, but he still fell short of his career-high record of 49 points, which was set against Orlando Magic in 2009.
Dwyane Wade also contributed 17 points for the Heat, while Chris Bosh made his return from a abdominal injury with an appearance from the bench scoring seven points.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra praised James' magnificent performance, telling NBA's official website after the game: "He was absolutely fearless tonight [Thursday], and it was contagious.
"The way he approached the last 48 hours, and not only LeBron, but everybody else. Nobody likes getting dirt thrown on your face before you're even dead. He showed great resolve."
Celtic coach Doc Rivers was visibly desolate in the final quarter, spending part of a timeout standing alone while leaving it to his players to figure out a way to comeback from 81-63 down with 10:19 to play.
However, Rivers was gracious after the match, conceding that James won the tie for the Heat.
"I hope now you guys can stop talking about LeBron and he doesn't play in big games," Rivers said, "He was pretty good tonight. So we can put that to bed and go play Game 7."
Game 7 will now go to Miami, with the winner going on to play Western Conference champions Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night (CET).

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Britain defeated by France

Basketball opened the Olympic Park on Tuesday but Great Britain could not rise to the occasion as they lost 82-60 to France in a test event in London.

In the first sporting event to be held on the site of next year's Games, Britain lost out in the last of three games played at the temporary venue built for next summer's extravaganza.
While the defeat will not concern coach Chris Finch too much at this point of their preparations for next month's European Championships, the continued absence of Chicago Bulls star Deng remains a problem.
Luol Deng was missing as he hosts a long-scheduled youth training camp in Loughborough.
GB Basketball officials admitted they did not know precisely when he would join up with the team, although they remained adamant it would be in time to take some part in this tournament over the weekend.
Deng is already behind in his preparations for the EuroBasket as GB had to secure insurance for his Bulls contract, which is not covered by the usual international agreement due to the ongoing NBA lockout in North America.
His absence tonight meant Deng missed the chance to face his Chicago team-mate Joakim Noah, himself a late arrival to France's training camp after an ankle injury.
Noah did not start the game, but looked close to full strength as he and the rest of this talent-laden France team proved too strong for Britain.
Britain kept the gap close in the first half, trailing 34-29 at the break, but Les Bleus opened up a 10-point lead, 41-31, early in the third period.
Britain responded as Joel Freeland made a tough lay-up and added the free-throw to make it 45-41.
But France hit straight back with another spectacular dunk from Batum to quell the comeback, and by the end of the period they led 60-48.
Britain tried to rally late on, with a 6-0 run making it 64-56, but they got no closer as France pulled clear once more.
Freeland led Britain with 16 points while Nate Reinking had 11.
Parker had 23 points for France with Batum adding 14 and Noah 10.
The venue had opened with Australia routing China 71-43 before a small crowd that slowly increased through the evening.
There were some teething problems with the new arena, not least as the wrong tune was accidentally played in place of the Chinese national anthem.
However, China's American coach Bob Donewald did not seem to mind as he gave a glowing review of the new arena.
"First-class event, first-class teams and a first-class facility," the former British Basketball League coach said.
Australia star Patrick Mills, who was rested in the game, added: "The arena's really nice, the facilities are great and the atmosphere was good, and that's going to be important next year."
The second game of the day was a clash between Balkan rivals Croatia and Serbia, which Croatia won 83-71.

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Yao Ming to retire from NBA

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has decided to retire after eight seasons in the NBA.

In May, the 7-foot-6 Chinese star, plagued by lower-body injuries in the second half of his career, said his surgically repaired left ankle was healing properly and he wanted to remain with the Rockets.
The Rockets said they were interested in re-signing him if he came back healthy.
But according to Yahoo! Sports, the 30-year-old has now resigned to his injuries and will draw the curtains on his illustrious career.
Yao joined the NBA as the No.1 pick in the 2002 draft and has become the largest symbol - literally and figuratively - of the league's ever growing expansion around the world, particularly in Asia.
He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and in five seasons he was voted onto the league's second or third All-NBA team. He averaged 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots in his career.
His family has also played a part in his decision to retire as he looks to spend more time with his daughter.
Following the birth of his daughter, Yao was quoted as saying in NBA.com: "I can only try so many times. I want to be able to run around and play with my child, not always wear a cast and use these crutches."
Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal posted a video on his Twitter account, paying tribute to Yao.
"You are one of the greatest players ever to come out of China, one of the greatest players period," O'Neal said.
"Let's go on vacation, bro, me and you," he added.

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NBA to enter lockout over players' wages

The 2011/12 NBA season has been thrown into turmoil after a failure to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement gave way to a league lockout.

The NBA was slated to be locked out upon the expiry of the existing CBA at a minute after midnight Eastern Standard Time on Friday, after a three-hour meeting between players and team owners failed to bridge the gulf separating their demands.
The team owners are seeking to reduce the players' current 57% share of basketball revenue, and rejected the players' offer to peg that figure at 54.3%.
"It's obvious the lockout will happen tonight [Thursday]," said players' union chief Billy Hunter in quotes reported on www.nba.com.
"The problem is that there's such a gap in terms of the numbers, where they are and where we are, and we just can't find any way to bridge that gap."
NBA commissioner David Stern said there was a "philosophical divide" between the two parties, with the teams eager to avoid the financial losses that have hit many during the term of the most recent CBA, and the players anxious to preserve their huge salaries, which currently average US$5million a year.
The last time a lockout hit the NBA, in 1998/99, the season was reduced to a 50-game schedule, although Hunter is refusing to contemplate such an outcome at this stage.
"I hope it doesn't come down to that," he said.
"Obviously, the clock is now running with regard to whether or not there will or will be a loss of games, and so I'm hoping that over the next month or so that there will be sort of a softening on their side and maybe we have to soften our position as well."
The first impact of the lockout will be the cancellation of the start of the annual free-agency period, which was due to commence later on Friday.
The NBA's summer league has already has been called off, while some players' involvement in Olympic qualifiers this summer could be thrown into chaos without the input of the NBA over insurance matters.
Teams are also unable to have any contact with their players during the period of the lockout.
The announcement of the expected action means two of America's major leagues will be in a state of lockout. The NFL's team owners and players also failed to agree on a new CBA in March.

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Cavaliers draft Irving as top pick

Duke University point guard Kyrie Irving was the top pick in this season's NBA draft as the Cleveland Cavaliers followed the expected route.

The Australian-born 19-year-old was seen by most observers as the safest pick in a draft weakened by uncertainty over a potential lock-out which could affect the start of the new campaign.
And he was indeed snapped up and was quickly followed by Texas forward Tristan Thompson as the Cavs made the post of their privileged position of having the first and fourth picks.
Irving told NBA.com: "It's all surreal for me, I'm just glad my family were here to experience it with me. I've been working countless hours in the gym leading up to this moment, so I'm glad I'm here now.
"They picked Tristan and they got two great young guys coming into the organisation. I'm really looking forward to getting to Cleveland."
In between times, the Minnesota Timberwolves took Arizona forward Derrick Williams with the number two pick and the Utah Jazz signed Kentucky's Turkish forward Enes Kanter at three.
Kanter was the first of a host of overseas names high up the draft, with Europeans Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania) and Jan Vesely (Czech Republic) drafted fifth and sixth by the Toronto Raptors and the Washington Wizards respectively and Congo's Bismack Biyombo chosen seventh by the Sacramento Kings - though he is set to end up with the Charlotte Bobcats after a trade deal.
Kentucky's Brandon Knight (Detroit Pistons), Connecticut's Kemba Walker (Charlotte) and college scoring champion Jimmer Fredette of Brigham Young University - set to be traded by the Milwaukee Bucks to Sacramento as part of the three-team trade involving Biyombo - completed the top 10.
Twin brothers Markieff and Marcus Morris were drafted 13th and 14th by the Phoenix Suns and the Houston Rockets respectively.

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Mavericks come from behind to stun Heat

The Dallas Mavericks levelled the NBA finals series at 1-1 with a spirited 95-93 win over the Miami Heat in Florida.

Dallas Mavericks 95-93 Miami Heat (Series tied at 1-1)
The Mavs, who lost the first game earlier this week, had been 15 points behind at one stage in the final quarter but fired back to edge their rivals in the second game of the decider.
Dirk Nowitzki was unsurprisingly central to the win and his lay-up with the clock registering 3.6 seconds remaining paved the way to victory. Indeed, Nowitzki poured in the Mavs' final nine points en route to his total of 24 points and 11 rebounds.
The Heat, who looked sharp for the most part but also suffered momentary lapses, had Dwyane Wade score 36.
The Heat led 88-73 with 7.15 left on the clock but let it slip when it mattered, with Nowitzki - nursing an injured figure - over-turning the advantage, before Wade missed a speculative three-pointer on the buzzer to save it for the Heat.
The teams meet again on Sunday in Dallas

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Mavericks celebrate NBA Championship

The Dallas Mavericks sealed their first NBA championship after defeating the Miami Heat 105-95 to take the series 4-2.

Having been a dominant presence throughout much of that run, Dirk Nowitzki was overshadowed on this occasion by top-scorer Jason Terry, who scored 27 points to lead the way.
Nowitzki was still in the thick of things with 21 points but there were big performances all across the court from the Mavs, with DeShawn Stevenson picking up three three-pointers in the first half, Ian Mahinmi in fine form and JJ Barea improving his starting record to 3-0.
After losing the series opener, victory here meant Dallas won four from five matches against their title rivals.
On the losing side, LeBron James' lengthy wait for a winners' ring continues.
He burned brightly in the opening exchanges but, despite scoring 21 points, did not make enough impact on proceedings as the game wore on.
James has had mixed fortunes in the Mavs series and will be disappointed to finish on the losing side again.
Chris Bosh added 19 points and Mario Chalmers 18 for Heat.
The NBA, meanwhile, have confirmed they are to investigate a second-quarter altercation between the sides after some bench players were involved on the court.

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S'pore hope not to be injury-hit

PREPARATIONS for the upcoming Mission Foods World Netball Championship are progressing as planned for the Singapore national squad.

There is only one bugbear: injuries.

"It seems that every time we are approaching a major tournament, we suffer some major injury problems. We're hopeful that, this time, it wouldn't happen again," said veteran player Jean Ng yesterday.

Indeed, one of the biggest concerns of coach Kate Carpenter is that, while pushing her players in the coming weeks before the July 3-11 tournament at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, she does not over-exert them and cause undue wear and tear among her charges.

This being so, she has only one injury headache before she submits her final squad of 12 by June 6, and that is of experienced goal-shooter Tan Hui Yan.

Tan is nursing a knee injury and, while she is back in training, Carpenter wants to gauge her ability to compete in the high-intensity atmosphere that is the World Championship before she decides on her participation.

While Tan races against time to prove her fitness, her team mates continued their preparations yesterday with a 43-39 win over Malaysia to conclude a two-match training series unbeaten, after thrashing the same opponents 51-29 last Saturday.

The series came after a training stint in Africa last month, when they sparred with World Championship group opponents South Africa and Botswana.

Said Ng: "We still need to be more clinical in our play execution, which means cutting down on our errors and trying to score on every possession.

"Still, the players are excited and eager to do their best, so we are looking forward to honing these areas."

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Netball: An English surprise for Singapore's national team

SINGAPORE: The national team received a pleasant surprise on Monday when Englishwoman Asha Tett, a former shooter for Singapore and England, was selected to represent the Republic at the Mission Foods Netball World Championship.

The tournament will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from July 3 to 10, and the hosts have been drawn in Pool C, with Botswana, South Africa and Jamaica.

Singapore-born Tett will join a team that includes New Zealander Charlene Porima, who was born in the Republic, and China-born Chen Lili and Li Ling, who obtained her Singapore citizenship in 2003.
Chen, 21, will only be able to play if she is granted Singapore citizenship by July 3.

Revealing her team on Monday, coach Kate Carpenter admitted the roster will see the biggest number of foreign-born players in the world championship side.

But she stressed: "Foreign-born gives the idea that we are just grabbing foreigners and not investing in Singapore players. It's not that - some of these girls are born here and they have a life here."

Captain Jean Ng, who has earned 86 international caps, was circumspect and said: "Except for Lili, the others either grew up or live here. They understand the Singapore style of play and have been involved in netball the last five to six years."

University of Reading postgraduate Tett last donned Singapore colours at the 2005 Asian Championships, when the Republic clinched the title at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall. She also represented England at the World Youth Cup and Open European Championships.

Carpenter said the versatile Tett, who will arrive here on June 30, can play as wing attack, goal attack or goal shooter.

According to International Federation of Netball Associations (Ifna) rules, Tett will not be able to represent England for four years if she dons Singapore colours at the World Championship.

But the 25-year-old is happy with her decision.

"It was tough as I had to weigh up my future with England and Singapore. It's every netballer's dream to play in the world champs and I've been over here in England and never quite broken into the open squads. For Kate to give me this opportunity was something I couldn't say no to

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Tan: Kidd reaches NBA glory, finally

Prior to June 12, 2011, Jason Kidd had achieved almost everything in his career that any basketball player could hope to achieve.

By Gabriel Tan
Even with his formative steps in the NBA, the 1.93m point guard already showed he was ahead of his peers. Kidd was picked second in the 1994 NBA Draft, only behind Glenn Robinson. In his first season, he picked was the joint winner of the Rookie of the Year award, along with third pick Grant Hill.
In just his second season, Kidd was named NBA All-Star for the first time, and went on to feature a total of ten times in his seventeen seasons. A career which took him to the Phoenix Suns and the New Jersey Nets before he returned to Dallas in 2008 saw Kidd garner plaudits from all across the land largely based plainly on his on-court versatility.
Points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks - you name it, and Kidd could do it. He ranks second in NBA history for career playoffs triple-doubles, and third for career triple-doubles and playoffs assists. He finished second to Tim Duncan in MVP voting in the 2001/02 season.
Granted, Kidd had an illustrious career, yet if you had asked him if he was happy with what he had achieved in the game, he would have simply said ‘no'.
Not anymore, though. For Jason Kidd can now pencil in "NBA Champion" to the accolades listed next to his name. The Mavericks 4-2 victory over the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals has guaranteed that whatever happens from here on, Kidd can bow out of the game having tasted the ultimate glory in basketball.

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"The greatest point guard in the world, a hall of famer" - Dallas Mavericks star Jason Terry speaking after game six about his team-mate Jason Kidd.

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And at 38 years old, you can bet no one had to push themselves harder than Kidd, against the dynamic talents of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
Yet, it was not the on-court actions which led to the Mavericks' triumph that exhibited what a true champion is. Instead, it was what he did immediately after the final buzzer rang, signalling the end of the 2010/11 NBA season.
While his team-mates danced around in delirium, and rightfully so having landed the franchise's first-ever Championship, Kidd instead went in search of Miami's triumvirate of stars. He found James, and then Wade, and lastly Bosh. Before he let himself be overcome by sheer joy and relief, he wanted to offer his opponents words of comfort.
To tell them he knows what defeat feels like, having fell at the final hurdle twice before with the Nets. To let them know their time will come.
And only when he had shaken the hand of his defeated opponents, did Kidd allow himself to embrace the significance of finally landing an NBA Championship.
Dirk Nowitzki was awarded the NBA Finals MVP, and rightfully so. As the Mavericks overcame the Portland Trailblazers, the LA Lakers, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and finally the Heat, the German powerhouse was largely involved in everything good that Dallas produced.
However, while Nowitzki was the brains behind their Championship triumph, Kidd clearly provided the heart. Think back to the Western Conference semi-finals, when he totally negated the influence of Kobe Bryant which went a long way in helping the Mavericks claims a 4-0 series sweep.
Looking back on Game 6 in Miami on Sunday, one still gets the feeling the Heat are extremely close to adding to their 2006 triumph. Wade was part of that victory, and has the experience to guide his charges. James and Bosh are clearly stars of the game, and will only get better.
Yes, the Heat's time will come in the future. For now, though, it is Jason Kidd and the Mavericks who deservingly occupy the spotlight. His team-mate Jason Terry, who scored 27 points in game six against the Heat, called Kidd "the greatest point guard in the world".
It's been a really long wait - seventeen years in total - but he has finally done it. And you must admit, Jason Kidd, NBA Champion does have a nice ring to it.

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