By the Associated Press

LONDON — Fallon Sherrock became the first female darts player to beat a man at the PDC World Championship on Tuesday.

Sherrock, a former runner-up at the women’s world championship, recovered from losing the opening set to beat Ted Evetts 3-2 in front of a raucous crowd at Alexandra Palace in London.

The Englishwoman made six 180s — a perfect score over three darts — and had a match average of 91.12 in their first-round match. She clinched the victory with a second attempt at double 18.

Women’s world champion Mikuru Suzuki took James Richardson to a sudden-death leg in the fifth set before losing on Monday.

Three other women – Gayl King, Anastasia Dobromyslova and Lisa Ashton – have previously played matches at a PDC World Championship, darts’ flagship event.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C.  — Malik Monk noticed teammates Devonte Graham and Terry Rozier were struggling from the field, so he figured it was time to do something about it.

“I seen that a little bit when I looked at the (stat) sheet,” Monk sad. “We were just off, and there wasn’t anybody else scoring. So somebody had to step up and I was able to do that.”

Monk scored 14 of his season-high 23 points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-5 shooting, and the Charlotte Hornets spoiled De’Aaron Fox’s return from injury with a 110-102 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.

Cody Zeller had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Bismack Biyombo added 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Hornets (13-17) won for the fourth time in five games.

On a night when Graham and Rozier shot a combined 5 of 21 through the first three quarters, the Hornets needed a spark in the fourth and Monk provided it.

He scored eight straight points early in the quarter, including a pair of 3s from the same spot just a few feet left of the top of the key. That seemed to ignite Graham, Charlotte’s leading scorer this season, who knocked down two more 3s for a 10-point lead with six minutes left as part of a 23-11 run to begin the fourth.

Monk had five his career-high 10 rebounds in the fourth quarter, including a putback dunk off a missed 3-pointer by Rozier to seal the game with 42 seconds left.

“I was attacking the rim, wasn’t being too passive and just looking to score first,” Monk said.

Hornets coach James Borrego said it was Monk’s best game of the season.

“He was fantastic on both ends of the floor,” Borrego said. “To have 10 rebounds is just a credit to his engagement on that end of the floor. Rebounding, defending, attacking the rim. I thought he was fantastic tonight. Really proud of his effort tonight. Our bench tonight was great.”

Fox returned after missing 17 games with left ankle sprain and led the Kings (12-15) with 19 points. He played 30 minutes despite supposedly being on a minutes restriction.

“It was nice to get De’Aaron Fox back out there,” Kings coach Luke Walton said. “I thought he looked good and was moving well, created some good looks and opportunities for us and we will continue to get better and learn from this game.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Malcolm Brogdon saw an opening and took it Tuesday night.

And just like that, the Los Angeles Lakers’ long winning streak away from home was over.

Brogdon drove past Dwight Howard with 36.4 seconds left, scoring the tiebreaking basket on a nifty reverse layup to help the Indiana Pacers protect their home court with a 105-102 victory over the NBA’s best road team.

“We knew when we threw a punch, they would punch back,” Domantas Sabonis said. “We just stuck together.”

Eventually, the Pacers threw enough scoring jabs to earn their fourth straight victory — perhaps their most impressive all season.

The Lakers (24-4) came into the game with the league’s best record and 14 straight wins on the road, the second-longest streak in franchise history and two wins short of their record-setting mark from 1971-72.

But even LeBron James couldn’t bail them out with All-Star forward Anthony Davis missing the game because of a sprained right ankle.

Yes, James scored 20 points and had nine rebounds and nine assists, but he missed a step-back 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds left that would have given the Lakers the lead. A replay review overturned a call and gave the Pacers the ball.

Sabonis then made one of two free throws to finish with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each missed a shot before time expired as the Lakers desperately tried to force overtime.

“Throughout the winning streak, we were able to keep our composure, whether we were up or down, still being able to make a game of it, which we did tonight,” James said. “But sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way.”

That was certainly true Tuesday.

After leading most of the first half, the Lakers trailed most of the second half until a 9-0 spurt midway through the fourth quarter turned a five-point deficit into a 95-91 lead.

It didn’t last long.

Brogdon’s mid-range jumper with 2:20 left tied the score at 100. Myles Turner broke the tie by making two free throws with 1:59 left.

Nineteen seconds later, James’ free throws tied it up again and that’s how it stayed until Brogdon took matters into his own hands and charged right past Howard and deftly used the rim to protect the ball for the basket.

“We trust him with the ball in his hands and he’s been making tough shots for us,” Sabonis said. “He’s been big for us all year.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Washington Wizards rookie forward Rui Hachimura will miss at least the team’s next five games after hurting his groin.

The Wizards said Tuesday that Hachimura will be re-evaluated when Washington returns from a four-game road trip that runs from Friday through Dec. 26.

He was hurt in the first half of Washington’s 133-119 victory at the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

Hachimura, the first player from Japan to be a first-round pick in the NBA draft, is averaging 13.9 points and 5.8 rebounds while starting in all 25 games for the Wizards (8-17).

Washington’s first game without Hachimura will be Wednesday at home against the Chicago Bulls.

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

NEW YORK — Former NBA Commissioner David Stern remains in serious condition following emergency brain surgery last week.

The league said Tuesday that Stern is surrounded by his loved ones and receiving great care. The NBA says both the league and Stern’s family appreciate the outpouring of support.

The 77-year-old Stern suffered a brain hemorrhage Thursday while having lunch in New York.

Stern spent 30 years as NBA commissioner and has remained affiliated with the league, holding the title of commissioner emeritus.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

Game Wednesday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. — Ginebra vs NorthPort
(Series tied 1-1)

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel got the cup of coffee it needed to shake off the hangover of the Southeast Asian Games after responding from a humiliating Game 1 by turning the tables on NorthPort.

Monday’s 113-88 win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum restored Ginebra’s status as heavy favorites after NorthPort came out and capitalized on its woes two nights earlier with a 124-90 rout.

Coach Tim Cone was glad team was able to prepare well after most of Ginebra’s players and staff were on cloud nine for steering Gilas Pilipinas to a comfortable victory in the SEA Games.

“Everything came out so quickly after the Southeast Asian Games,” Cone said. “LA (Tenorio) actually had one day of practice with the team. Some of the other guys like Stanley (Pringle), Greg (Slaughter) and Japeth (Aguilar) had two days so we couldn’t figure out exactly what we want to do in terms of scheming and what we want to do defensively.

“I thought we came out and did a better job of understanding what we want to do and executing what we want to do. First game, we didn’t know what we want to do and if you don’t know what you gonna do, you certainly can’t execute what you don’t know. So (Game 2) was a lot better than that,” added Cone.

Slaughter, who bounced back from a disappearing act in Game 1 by posting 16 points, said the setback was a punch Ginebra needed to get their acts together.

“It was hard to really jump right back into the semifinals where the stakes are really high,” Slaughter said. “But I think getting blown out on that first game served as a really good wake-up call for us. Coach Tim really was able to make some adjustments from the first game to this game.”

The adjustments enabled Ginebra to limit NorthPort import Michael Qualls to his lowest-point output of the conference.

Qualls scored just 20 points on 8-of-26 shooting and it took before late in the second quarter for him to score his first basket.

It was only the second time that Qualls was held below 30 points. He had 27 when the Batang Pier lost 103-89 to the Meralco Bolts last Nov. 10.

“Everybody on their team (Ginebra) played well,” Qualls said. “They outhustled us, they got the loose balls, all that type of stuff. NorthPort, we’re the underdogs, we’re supposed to be the ones who hustles the other team.

“When they had that on the other side, it’s hard to beat them. We got to be the enforcers. If anything, we want to dictate the tempo. It’s just a learning experience and get ready for the next one,” added Qualls.

The next one is at 7 tonight with the winner closing in on a trip to the finals. If the two blowout games are an indication, Cone feels a down-the-wire is in the offing.

“They had all the answers in Game 1, we had all the answers in Game 2 and usually Game 3 means a huge battle,” Cone said. “It’s gonna be a tight game and a huge battle.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

Game Wednesday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. — Ginebra vs NorthPort
(Series tied 1-1)

Game Thursday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. — Meralco vs TNT KaTropa
(Series tied 1-1)

Meralco got back at TNT KaTropa behind a fiery start to come away with a 114-94 win and even their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series Tuesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

A 16-0 run in the first period led by starters Allen Durham, Baser Amer, Chris Newsome and Bong Quinto set the tone for a lopsided victory that enabled the Bolts to level the best-of-five series at 1-1.

Durham wound up with 44 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists, but the got the help that was lacking during Sunday’s 103-94 loss.

Amer scored 20 points, Quinto had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals and Newsome 11 points, four rebounds and four assists as Meralco led by as many as 35 during the second quarter (60-25).

“We displayed a much-better effort tonight right from the start of the game,” said Black, who rued Meralco’s lack of teamwork the last time.

“We had more focus, more energy. We played a lot more physical than we did in Game 1 and we executed well on offense, particularly in the first game. Those are the things that we have to do to beat TNT.”

TNT never got its bearings after Meralco’s run made it 18-3 with more than four minutes gone by in the contest.

KaTropa import KJ McDaniels tied his conference-high with 51 points, which he also did against Meralco last Oct. 12.

The difference was that TNT ended up losing the game as the likes of Jayson Castro and Roger Pogoy were forgotten figures.

Castro scored just seven points, all coming from the foul line as he missed all 10 attempts from the field.

Pogoy, meanwhile, went scoreless in 32 minutes.

Rookie Ray Parks Jr. was the only other TNT player in double figures with 12.

The scores:

MERALCO 114 — Durham 44, Amer 20, Quinto 12, Newsome 11, Almazan 9, Maliksi 8, Caram 4, Faundo 3, Hugnatan 3, Jackson 0, Hodge 0, Salva 0, Pinto 0.

TNT KATROPA 94 — McDaniels 51, Parks 12, Rosario 9, Castro 7, Digregorio 6, Vosotros 5, Semerad 2, Williams 2, Pogoy 0, De Leon 0, Reyes 0, Taha 0.

Quarters: 35-16; 63-29; 89-66; 114-94.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

Game Sunday
(Changhua, Taiwan)
3 p.m. — Formosa vs Alab Pilipinas

Sam Deguara inflicted trouble on his former team in the fourth quarter as San Miguel Alab Pilipinas ended Mono Vampire’s unbeaten start with a 96-73 win Tuesday in the ASEAN Basketball League at The Arena in San Juan.

The 7-foot-5 giant from Malta scored eight of his 20 points in the final period as Alab turned the contest into a blowout to notch its third straight win and avenge its 111-76 loss to the Thai club in the season-opener last Nov. 17 in Nonthaburi.

“Sam has been really a shot in the arm for us since he arrived two weeks ago,” said Alab coach Jimmy Alapag. “It just seemed like the team mesh with him right away. He’s such a huge presence both offensively and defensively, and he’s a great guy.

“All jokes aside, he was really big for us,” added Alapag.

Alab also held Mono Vampire scoreless in the first five minutes of the fourth, a stretch that saw a 68-58 lead increased to 84-58 on a driving layup by import Nick King.

King topscored for Alab with 24 points while Khalif Wyatt and Brandon Rosser added 13 and 11 points. Jason Brickman had eight points and 10 assists.

“The last time we played these guys, I was outcoached and we were just outplayed so it was really important for us to get back and show how much progress we made in the last 4-5 weeks,” Alapag said.

Thai-American Tyler Lamb scored 22 and import Mike Singletary made 17 but Mono Vampire absorbed its first loss after starting the season with three consecutive victories.

Alab opened the game with a 14-5 lead but Mono cut the margin to 44-42 on a layup by Lamb with 6:38 to go in the third.

But Deguara, who played for Mono during its ABL Finals run in 2018, scored six the rest of the period while King, Brickman and Rosser made their shots to put Alab in front by double digits entering the fourth.

The scores:

ALAB PILIPINAS 96 — King 24, Deguara 20, Wyatt 13, Ganuelas-Rosser 11, Brickman 8, Gray 6, Heading 5, Domingo 5, Vigil 4, Rangel 0, Caracut 0

MONO VAMPIRE 73 — Lamb 22, Singletary 17, Morgan 9, Knowles 9, Ananti 6, Watkins 4, Lish 2, Chanthachon 2, Phuangla 2, Saengtong 0, Boonserm 0, Towaroj 0.

Quarters: 20-18; 38-35; 68-58; 96-73.

Source: Manila Bulletin

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Seth Curry and Kristaps Porzingis each scored 26 points and the Dallas Mavericks snapped Milwaukee’s 18-game NBA win streak Monday 120-116 despite 48 points and 14 rebounds by Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Mavericks, lacking Slovenian star big man Luka Doncic due to an ankle sprain, held off the host Bucks, who made a furious rally with a late 17-6 run that fell just short.

Latvia’s Porzingis, who scored 11 in the first quarter, shot 9-of-19 from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range as well as grabbing 12 rebounds while Curry, brother of injured Golden State star Stephen Curry, came off the bench to spark the Mavs.

Bucks reserve Kyle Korver had 17 points, hitting 5-of-7 3-point shots.

Porzingis said the Mavericks are playing better as they adjust to playing without Doncic for a while.

”Without Luka, we got used to him. It threw us off a little bit not having him out there,” Porzingis said. ”Tonight we looked a little better. We want to keep getting better and we want him to get better and come back as soon as possible.”

Milwaukee settled for the second-longest win streak in team history, two shy of the club’s record run from the 1970-71 NBA championship campaign.

Greek playmaker Antetokounmpo sank his final points with 5.2 seconds remaining to pull Milwaukee within 119-116, then missed a free throw hoping the Bucks could get a rebound.

Milwaukee did get the ball but Porzingis blocked Sterling Brown, and the Mavericks added a free throw for the final margin.

The Bucks, who fell to 24-4, lead the NBA in points, rebounds and shooting accuracy but fell behind by as many as 16 points in the first half and could not overcome Dallas (18-8).

Antetokounmpo averaged 32.1 points, 12.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists a game during the streak, in which only two teams came within eight points of Milwaukee.

The Bucks will play host to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers (24-3) on Thursday in a matchup of conference leaders that could be a preview of the NBA Finals.

Houston’s Russell Westbrook scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, the last on the final play to secure a win, as the Rockets made the greatest rally in club history to beat San Antonio 109-107.

The Spurs, ahead 72-53 at half-time, led by as many as 25 points before the Rockets made that the largest point total they had ever trailed by in a victory. Houston outscored the Spurs 56-35 in the second half, aided by 18 San Antonio turnovers.

”Just heart,” Westbrook said. ”Sometimes you have to just take basketball out of it and just play. We put our heart into it and came out with the win.”

James Harden had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Rockets, who also got 15 points and 15 rebounds from Clint Capela.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead San Antonio.

Raptors, Thunder win

Cameroonian forward Pascal Siakam scored 33 points, Norman Powell added 26 and Kyle Lowry had 20 points and 11 assists to spark defending NBA Champion Toronto over visiting Cleveland 133-113.

Chris Paul scored 30 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and added eight assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder a 109-106 home victory over Chicago.

Zach LaVine scored 39 points in a losing cause for the Bulls.

Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds while Ja Morant added 20 points and 10 assists to power host Memphis over Miami 118-111. Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 25 points.

C.J. McCollum scored 30 points and Damian Lillard added 27 for Portland as the Trail Blazers edged host Phoenix 111-110.

Kelly Oubre Jr. led Phoenix with 24 points while Spanish guard Ricky Rubio had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists for the Suns.

Lillard’s free throw on a 3-point play with 26 seconds remaining produced the margin of victory. Rubio missed a last-second 3-point try for Phoenix.

Bradley Beal scored 35 points and passed off 10 assists while Isaiah Thomas added 23 points to power Washington over host Detroit 133-119.

Source: Manila Bulletin

 

By NICK GIONGCO

Newly-crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero wants to become the undisputed world champion.

“I want to win all the four major belts,” said Casimero during yesterday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Amelie Hotel in Ermita, Manila.

By four, Casimero is raring to add Naoya Inouye’s World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation 118-lb crowns as well as French Nordine Oubaali’s World Boxing Council jewels.

Casimero is fresh from mauling Zolani Tete of South Africa to nail the WBO strap last Nov. 30 in Birmingham, England.

Sean Gibbons, MP Promotions president, told scribes during the last Q&A for the year that initial talks have commenced and advanced negotiations are going to get underway in Tokyo before Christmas.

” I will be meeting with Top Rank head Bob Arum and (Teiken Promotions chief) Akihiko Honda in Japan next week and we’ll discuss it (Inoue vs Casimero),” said Gibbons.

Since the undefeated Inoue is now aligned with Top Rank, Gibbons says that if the matchup does take place, it will be staged in the US where Arum wants Inoue to be showcased in style.

Gibbons feels Casimero has what it takes to take out Inoue, something Nonito Donaire failed to do last Nov. 7 in Saitama, Japan.

“Casimero reminds of what Donaire was seven years ago,” said Gibbons. “A Casimero-Inoue fight is a match made in heaven…their styles complement each other.”

Source: Manila Bulletin