By the Associated Press

LONDON  — After being thoroughly outplayed by defending champion Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals, Rafael Nadal refused to make any excuses.

The top-ranked Spaniard wouldn’t blame the abdominal problem that forced him to pull out of the Paris Masters semifinals just nine days earlier, or a hand injury that kept him sidelined before that.

And he bristled at the notion that his recent marriage could be a factor in a sub-par performance.

Something was clearly off for Nadal, though, who lost 6-2, 6-4 to a player he had a perfect 5-0 record against before Monday’s match at the O2 Arena.

Nadal dropped his serve three straight times, didn’t force a single break point, and his normally powerful forehand was responsible for more than four times as many unforced errors (13) as winners (3).

Still, Nadal insisted there was nothing wrong with him physically.

“I did not feel pain in the abdominal at all,” he said. “So the physical issue was not an excuse at all. The only excuse is I was not good enough tonight.”

Nadal hasn’t finished a tournament since winning the U.S. Open in August, also pulling out of Shanghai because of a hand injury. That lack of playing time certainly isn’t helpful coming into an event featuring only the top eight players in the world, rather than lower-ranked early opponents.

He still has to face Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev in round-robin play, and probably has to beat both in order to reach the semifinals.

“Knowing that I would not be at my 100% in terms of feelings, in terms of movement, in terms of confidence or hitting the ball, I needed my best competitive spirit this afternoon, and I was not there in that way,” Nadal said. “I need to play much better in two days.”

The Spaniard then got a bit testy when a journalist asked whether his October marriage to longtime girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello has changed his outlook on the game at all.

“Honestly, are you asking me this? Is that a serious question or a joke?” Nadal bristled. “It is a big surprise for me (that) you ask me this after I have been with the same girl for 15 years and having a very stable and normal life. Doesn’t matter if you put a ring on your finger or not.”

For Zverev, this latest win means he has beaten each of tennis’ Big Three in his last three matches at the O2.

The German defeated six-time champion Roger Federer in last year’s semifinals and then five-time winner Novak Djokovic in the final.

“It’s definitely a place and a court that I love, and that brings maybe the best out of me,” the seventh-seeded German said.

Nadal has a history of being far from his best at the ATP Finals, which comes at the end of a gruelling season that often takes its toll on the Spaniard because of his ultra-physical playing style.

He has qualified for the event for 15 years in a row but has pulled out of it on six occasions because of injuries. He has never won the title, reaching the final twice.

But he showed up to London hoping to stave off Djokovic for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Djokovic won his opening match on Sunday and this loss cuts Nadal’s lead over the Serb to just 440 points in the rankings table – each round-robin win is worth 200 points – with a total of 1,300 more points up for grabs for each player.

Earlier, Tsitsipas earned his first career win over Medvedev – a victory that clearly meant a lot to the Greek not only because Tsitsipas was 0-5 against the Russian before winning 7-6 (5), 6-4, or that it came in his ATP Finals debut.

But mainly because two of the biggest rising stars in tennis simply don’t like each other that much.

“It’s a victory that I craved for a long time now, and it’s great that it came at this moment,” Tsitsipas said. “Our chemistry definitely isn’t the best that you can find on the tour. It’s not that I hate him (but) we will not go to dinner together.”

The grudge dates to their first meeting, in Miami last year, when Medvedev berated Tsitsipas for not apologizing after hitting a net cord during a point, a spat that ended with both players trading insults on court.

“After that, I think I didn’t win a single game. He did get into my head, and I was very frustrated that it did go this way,” Tsitsipas said. “”e started telling me that I should apologize, that what I do is unsportsmanlike. I did get (angry) and said what I said, which I do regret, but at the time I was very frustrated.”

On Monday, the sixth-seeded Greek earned the only break of the match to lead 5-4 in the second set and clinched the win with a forehand overhead at the net.

“He was better today, but I felt like I was missing some things,” said Medvedev, the U.S. Open runner-up. “This frustrates me after. I do think it would frustrate me against any other opponent. I hate to lose against anybody.”

On Tuesday, Federer faces Matteo Berrettini and Djokovic takes on Dominic Thiem.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Milwaukee Bucks All-Star forward Khris Middleton will miss the next three to four weeks of the NBA season with a left thigh bruise, news reports said Monday.

The 28-year-old US playmaker suffered the injury in Sunday’s 121-119 Milwaukee victory over Oklahoma City but there is no severe damage involved his leg injury, according to reports from ESPN, The Athletic website and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel newspaper.

Middleton is averaging 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists over 10 games for the Bucks, who are off to a 7-3 start to the 2019-20 campaign.

Middleton scored 10 points against Oklahoma City before being kneed in the leg by the Thunder’s Terrance Ferguson in the third quarter and removed from the game.

He would miss 10 to 13 games under the expected recovery timetable, returning in time for a December 9 home game against Orlando.

Middleton played his 2012-13 rookie season with Detroit before joining the Bucks. He has career NBA averages of 15.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. His 6.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game last season were career highs.

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward will miss the next six weeks of the NBA season with a broken left hand following surgery on Monday, the team announced.

Hayward underwent the operation in New York to repair his ring finger, which was fractured Saturday in Boston’s 135-115 victory over San Antonio.

If Hayward sits out a full six weeks, he will miss 19 Celtics games but be healthy to return for a December 25 clash at defending NBA champion Toronto.

Hayward has been enjoying a stellar season with averages of 20.3 points, a team-high 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists a game before going out early against the Spurs.

The 29-year-old American departed after suffering the injury with 94 seconds remaining in the second quarter in a collision with San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge, who was setting a pick on the play and was whistled for a foul.

Hayward spent his first seven NBA seasons with Utah before joining the Celtics, only to suffer severe leg and ankle injuries in the opening minutes of Boston’s 2017-18 season opener and miss the entire remainder of the campaign.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the Boston lineup without Hayward might change depending upon the opponent during his absence.

“We’re going to figure out in the next six weeks what’s best for our team. Hopefully Gordon will be back by then,” Stevens said.

“It might be ‘flavor of the week’ — who fits best in that game that day.”

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — James Harden scored 39 points, including 13 straight during a stretch of the fourth quarter, and the Houston Rockets beat the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans 122-116 Monday night.

Russell Westbrook had 26 points and Clint Capela added 11 points and 20 rebounds to help the Rockets to their fourth straight win.

JJ Redick had 24 points, Josh Hart scored 19, and Jrue Holiday added 18 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for New Orleans, which played without leading-scorer Brandon Ingram due to a sore right knee.

The Rockets led 95-82 early in the fourth quarter on Westbrook’s dunk, but the Pelicans pulled to 97-93 on a four-point play by Redick.

Harden then took control with his scoring burst in a 2:10 span. He started the run by splitting defenders for driving layups on consecutive possessions and then made back-to-back 3-pointers, including one for a four-point play.

By the time Harden made two free throws to end the run, Houston led 110-93 with 5:20 left.

Harden and Westbrook missing 14 of their first 16 attempts on 3-pointers, and finished a combined 4 for 19 from long range. But they did enough with mid-range jumpers and layups.

The Rockets built a 42-31 lead midway through the second quarter, but the Pelicans used an 18-9 run, with eight points coming from Hart, to trim the deficit to 51-49.

Despite shooting just 4 for 19 from 3-point range, Houston led 58-52 at the half.

Harden struggled early from long range, missing his first four shots. The Pelicans stayed within striking distance on the strength of Redick’s 3-point shooting (4 of 6) for 12 first-half points.

Holiday committed all six of his game-high turnovers in the first half.

Harden’s first 3 of the game put Houston up 68-57, but New Orleans went on a 17-7 spurt, with seven points by E’Twaun Moore, to cut it to 75-74.

The Rockets closed the quarter by outscoring the Pelicans 15-8 to lead 90-82 after three.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

BOSTON  — Kemba Walker made a trio of key three-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 29 points, Jaylen Brown added 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Boston beat the Dallas Mavericks 116-106 Monday night in the Celtics’ first game since Gordon Hayward had surgery on his broken left hand.

Daniel Theis chipped in with 11 points and Brad Wanamaker had 10 for Boston, which won its eighth straight game since a season-opening loss at Philadelphia.

Jayson Tatum shot 1 for 18 from the field and scored only five points for the Celtics.

Luka Doncic led the Mavericks (6-4) with 34 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Maxi Kleber had 15 points with eight boards.

Kristaps Porzingis scored just four points on 1-of-11 shooting for Dallas.

The Celtics released a statement during the opening quarter that said Hayward had surgery Monday to repair a fracture in his non-shooting hand.

He was injured during their previous game in San Antonio when he collided with LaMarcus Aldridge as the Spurs big man set a screen.

Boston trailed by two before going on an 11-2 spurt over a 1:32 stretch to move ahead 101-94 with 4:11 to play on Walker’s 3 from the right wing. Marcus Smart then converted a three-point play for the Celtics.

Walker nailed his three big shots from beyond the arc in a span of 1:09 during the run.

Dallas took its first lead of the game, 88-86, on Tim Hardaway Jr.’s one-handed runner in the lane. The Mavericks held a 92-90 edge before Walker took over.

The teams were tied at halftime before Boston opened the second half with a 15-3 surge. Smart started the run with a 3 from the right corner. Walker and Brown added 3s on consecutive possessions.

Doncic then started to take over, scoring nine of the Mavericks’ 11 points as they closed to 84-79 at the end of the third quarter.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — Jaren Jackson Jr. had 24 points and the Memphis Grizzlies put a damper on Tony Parker’s jersey retirement by beating the San Antonio Spurs 113-109 Monday night.

Parker’s uniform was lifted to the rafters alongside fellow Big Three members Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili following the game. They led San Antonio to four of its five championships and have the most wins (541) of any trio in league history.

Jackson was involved in two pivotal plays with the Grizzlies up 111-109 in the final minute. His 3-pointer with 25.5 seconds was overturned when replays determined the Grizzlies forward was out of bounds. Jackson then blocked DeMar DeRozan’s ensuing drive to maintain Memphis’ two-point advantage.

Memphis won a coach’s challenge that overturned a foul that would have put DeRozan on the line with San Antonio trailing 113-109.

The Spurs had another sluggish performance on the heels of a 135-115 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday.

Dillon Brooks had 21 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 12 rebounds for Memphis, which had lost two straight and five of six.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 19 points, Rudy Gay added 18 and DeRozan had 12 as San Antonio suffered its second straight home loss.

The sold-out crowd came in buzzing but the Spurs didn’t give them much to cheer for. San Antonio shot 33 percent in falling behind 35-22 in the first quarter.

Memphis took advantage, attacking the basket continually in building a 16-point lead in the first half behind 22 points in the paint and 51% shooting.

San Antonio tied it at 94 with 8:35 remaining, but Memphis responded with a 3-pointer from Solomon Hill and a 23-footer by Jae Crowder.

Bryn Forbes and Gay had 3-pointers in a 12-2 run that put the Spurs up 106-101 with 5 minutes remaining.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

DETROIT — Andrew Wiggins scored 33 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled Blake Griffin’s return Monday night, beating the Detroit Pistons 120-114.

Griffin played for the first time this season, coming back from hamstring and knee issues. Derrick Rose also returned to the Detroit lineup from a strained hamstring, but both he and Griffin played limited minutes.

Griffin scored 19 points but Rose added just six.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 25 points for Minnesota, which snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Pistons.

Minnesota shot 8 of 10 from 3-point range in the first quarter and led 41-26, and the Pistons never cut too far into the deficit until the fourth. A 3-pointer by Detroit’s Tony Snell made it 109-104, but Towns drew a double team at the other end and passed to an open Wiggins, whose 3-pointer restored the lead to eight.

Minnesota led by 19 in the third before the Pistons ran off eight points in a row. Towns ended that quarter with a driving dunk that put the Timberwolves ahead 92-81.

Minnesota was without point guard Jeff Teague (illness).

Luke Kennard led Detroit with 25 points, and Snell scored 16. Andre Drummond had 11 points and 12 rebounds, but he went just 4 of 12 from the field.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Waylon Galvez

Games Tuesday

(Mall of Asia Arena)

1 p.m. – San Beda vs Lyceum (Jrs)

4 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (Srs)

Against a team that went 18-0 in the eliminations, beating them twice, Letran forward Jerrick Balanza knows the Knights have to bring their A-game against the San Beda Red Lions in Game 1 of the NCAA Season 95 Finals Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

No. 3 seed Letran advanced to the best-of-three title series after surviving the stepladder playoffs with wins against  No. 4 San Sebastian College-Recoletos (85-80) and No. 2 Lyceum of the Philippines University (92-88) last week.

But next are the Red Lions.

“Alam naman natin na 18-0 sila, they’re the defending champions. Sila paborito, underdog  na naman kami. Galing sila sa mahabang pahinga, so they’re coming in fresh sa series,” said Balanza, who is in his final year with Letran.

San Beda survived Letran’s comeback to score a 70-66 win in the first round last August 10, then came through with a moer convincing 75-63 victory in the second round last October 1.

Regardless, Letran’s do-it-all guard Fran Yu, who averaged 15 points, six rebounds and four assists in the playoffs, is confident the two wins they had in the stepladder have made them stronger as a team.

“Sa tingin naman namin may mga na-gain kami sa unang dalawang laro. Maganda iyung mga panalo namin, which I think toughened us not just individually but more importantly as a team,” said Yu.

“Hopefully madala namin yun sa series, lalo sa Game 1. May momentum galing sa mga panalo pero alam naman natin na well-prepared sila, handang handa sila for the finals series.”

Letran coach Bonnie Tan said  it was all about playing together, similar to the effort they gave in beating Lyceum, which – like San Beda with Donald Tankoua – also had Cameroonian import Mike Nzeusseu.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By WAYLON GALVEZ

Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone isn’t one who makes excuses. But after a 93-89 setback to San Migual Alab Pilipinas, the veteran mentor thinks his players didn’t have the same energy in the first tuneup game Monday night at the Meralco gym.

“I hate losing. As a national team, I really hate losing,” said Cone. “I don’t want to make excuses, but I thought we played a little tired. We didn’t have the energy we had the last game.”

“And they did some things to us that we weren’t prepared like a lot of switching, which we haven’t worked on with three, four practices. They did a good job against our pick and roll.”

Cone didn’t say it out loud but the reality of having players who are battling for survival in the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup must be agonizing for him.

 

 

It was the second game of two friendly matches against the Alab squad which played with three imports in Adrian Forbes, Khalif Wyatt and Nick King.

The national team won last week 98-95.

Gilas will next play a pro team from Taiwan on Monday.

Despite the setback, Cone sees some positive takeaways.

“The good news is we battled, guys are pulling for each other all the time,” said Cone. “We were unselfish. We tried hard on defense although we were disorganized. Those are all the positives that we want to move forward on.”

“It’s a step back, but I think it’s a good step back that we have. So we understand how hard this is going to be, this is not going to come easy. This is a good message for everybody.”

“I hope it’s a step back for a two step forward,” said Cone, who got 14 points from Roger Pogoy, and 12 points apiece from Japeth Aguilar and PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo.

The tuneup games are a part of preparation for the national team, which will be aiming for the gold medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games the country is hosting on Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

Gilas played minus injured players Greg Slaughter (thumb) and Troy Rosario (Achilles), but finally had Kiefer Ravena in action – a late addition in lieu of guard Jayson Castro.

The veteran mentor expressed confidence that Slaughter and Rosario will be able to come back as he looks forward to a one-week window where they can have practice sessions for consecutive days.

“It’s very hard to have one practice and come back a week later and try to build on what you did a week ago because they forget it already, because they’re back to their mother teams,” he said.

“But we still have that one week prior to the SEA Games.”

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas’ Jason Brickman was pleased with his performance against some of the PBA’s best guards during two tune-up games between the ASEAN Basketball League outfit and the Southeast Asian Games-bound Gilas Pilipinas.

Brickman gave himself a good review facing the likes of Chris Ross, LA Tenorio and Kiefer Ravena during the exhibition series at the Meralco Gym that saw Gilas winning the first meeting 98-95 before Alab exacting revenge Monday with a 93-89 triumph.

“I thought I did pretty well going against some of the best guards in the PBA,” Brickman said. “It’s great to play against them, watching them in the PBA. Great to play against those guards and I think I did pretty well.”

The two games against the likes of Chris Ross, LA Tenorio and K also served as a step in the right direction for Brickman and Alab going into the ABL season opener on Sunday against his former team Mono Vampire in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

Alab will be Brickman’s third team after helping the Westports Malaysia Dragons win the 2016 crown and on the losing end for Mono in the 2018 Finals against Alab.

Having all three imports — Adrian Forbes, Khalif Wyatt and new addition Nick King — also gave Alab a chance to get a feel of having a complete roster before the ABL opener, Brickman also mentioned.

“This was the first time that the team played together with a full team and I think we looked pretty good that the first time, especially on defense,” Brickman said. “We really passed and shared the ball. I think we’re ready for the season.”

Source: Manila Bulletin