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Final: Raptors 97, Celtics 89; defeat for Brad Stevens in preseason debut

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Boston, MA (Sporting Alert) — Rudy Gay and Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 points apiece and the Toronto Raptors fended off the Boston Celtics to take a 97-89 victory in their preseason game at TD Garden Monday night.

Hansbrough, who shot 5 of 8 from the field, also added nine rebounds, while Gay finished with five boards in the victory for the Raptors, who handed new Boston head coach Brad Stevens a defeat in his preseason debut.

DeMar DeRozan contributed 13 points, Terrence Ross finished with 12 points four rebounds and four steals in the win.

Jonas Valanciunas, who played for 27-minutes, the most by a Raptors player, had a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards.

Gerald Wallace led Boston with 16 points and four assists from off the bench, with fellow reserve Jared Sullinger adding 14 points, six rebounds and four helpers.

Avery Bradley ended with 12 points and Kris Humphries chipped in with 11 in the defeat.

Top Performers
Toronto: T. Hansbrough 17 Pts, 9 Reb, 1 Blk
Boston: G. Wallace 16 Pts, 2 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl

 Flagrant Fouls: None
 Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: 2 TORONTO ( Hansbrough 1, Gray 1 ), 1 BOSTON ( Sullinger 1 ) – TEAMS: None – COACHES: None
 Officials: Bennett Salvatore, Curtis Blair, Kane Fitzgerald
 Attendance: 16,424
 Time of Game: 2:14

Saturday 21 September – EPL Results and Recap

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LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Chelsea moved to the top of English Premier League standings, while Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday.

Liverpool, leaders coming into this weekend’s fixtures, were beaten 1-0 at Anfield by Southampton, which see them remaining on 10points, but dropped to second following Chelsea’s victory over Fulham in the late kick-off.

Dejan Lovren scored the lone goal for the Saints, who jumped into the top ten in the standings with the win.

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea end a two-game run of defeat with a 2-0 win over Fulham, with Brazilian playmaker Oscar repaying his manager’s trust in him with one of the goals and John Obi Mikel ending a seven year run without a league goal with a close range finish in the 84th minute.

“Against Everton we went home very, very sad and today we go home very, very happy,” Mourinho said. “The result was better than the result against Everton. I still think that we played much better against Everton than we did today but points are also important.

“After a bad start, a start that everybody kept telling me is the worst start for about a decade [for Chelsea] … today I looked at the table, nobody is in front of us.”

He added: “As a No 10 [Oscar] gives us creativity and he gives us ability to press up and defend. Juan [Mata] has to learn to play the way I want to play.

“He has to be more consistent, he has to be more participative when the team lose possession. It is not his fault, just the way he has played in recent years.”

In the meantime, a double from Leighton Baines and a late winner from substitute Romelu Lukaku earned Everton come from behind twice to beat ten-man West Ham United, who had Mark Noble sent off in the 81st minute for a second yellow.

West Ham were leading 2-1 at that stage, but Baines and Lukaku scored in the 83rd and 85th minutes to ensure that Roberto Martinez’s side remained the only undefeated side left in the EPL.

In other results on Saturday, Stephane Sessegnon netted against his former club, as West Bromwich hammered Sunderland 3-0, while Hull City pulled off a 3-2 stunner over Newcastle United on the road, despite Loic Remy, twice giving the hosts the lead in the first half.

In the early kick-off Libor Kozak scored the only goal in Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Norwich City.

Saturday 21 September 2013 – EPL Results
17:30 Chelsea 2 – 0 Fulham Stamford Bridge
15:00 Liverpool 0 – 1 Southampton Anfield
15:00 Newcastle 2 – 3 Hull St. James’ Park
15:00 West Brom 3 – 0 Sunderland The Hawthorns
15:00 West Ham 2 – 3 Everton Boleyn Ground
12:45 Norwich 0 – 1 Aston Villa Carrow Road

Video Highlights: Chelsea 1-2 Basel – Champions League

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LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Highlights from Chelsea’s stunning Group E Champions League opening game defeat to Basel FC at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

Video Highlights: Chelsea 1-2 Basel

Jose Mourinho took responsibility for his team’s defeat, but said they will now have to find a road victory at some point during the group stage.

“We lost three points that we must get somewhere else – at Basel, Schalke or Bucahrest, or all of them or some of them,” said Mourinho on www.chelseafc.com.

“The objective of finishing top two in the group stage and to go to the next phase is an objective that is not lost, far from it, and it is an objective that we are going to fight for.

“It is an objective that I believe very much that we are going to achieve.”

The Portuguese coach also revealed that his team his still young and games such as these will only help in the development.

“The team is not one with maturity and personality to face the difficult moments in the game. Everton scored in the last minute of the first half and after that we were struggling a little bit despite dominating the game,” he said.

“Today when the first negative moment which was the equaliser arrived, the team shakes a little. But the only thing you can do is work.”

Mpurinho added: “We go home sad, the supports go home sad, but tomorrow morning we wake up and go training and we have two days to prepare the next match.

“This is the only way I know in football, to work hard, believe in what you do and each other, be critical inside our group to resolve things but stick together and try against Fulham to get the result that wakes up the team for a smile, and in the next Champions League match we have to try to recover the three points.”

Watch Video Highlights: Brazil 6-0 Australia

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(Sporting Alert) — Brazil hammered Australia 6-0 in a friendly international football game at Estádio Nacional on Saturday, handing the Socceroos their heaviest defeat in an international game in over 15 years.

Watch Video Highlights: Brazil 6-0 Australia

A first half brace from Jo and a goal each from Neymar, Ramires, Alexandre Pato and Luiz Gustavo piloted the 2014 World Cup hosts to the commanding victory.

Jo netted in the 8th and 34th minutes of action, while Neymar added a third in the 35th minute for a 3-0 half-time lead.

Following the break, Ramires, substitute Pato and Gustavo added goals.

The defeat was Australia’s biggest since the 7-0 lost to Croatia in a friendly international game in June 1998.

Brazil v Australia Teams

Brazil team: 12 Júlio César, 3 Thiago Silva, 4 David Luiz, 6 Marcelo, 15 Maicon, 16 Ramires, 17 Luis Gustavo, 18 Paulinho, 20 Bernard, F 21 Jô, 10 Neymar.
Subs: Jefferson, Marcos Rocha, Dante, Maxwell, Henrique, Lucas Moura, Hulk, Pato, Hernanes Fernando.

Australia team: 1 Mark Schwarzer, 2 Lucas Neill, 6 Sasa Ognenovski, 17 Matt McKay, 22 Ryan McGowan, 10 Robbie Kruse, 11 Thomas Oar, 14 Brett Holman, 15 Mile Jedinak, 23 Mark Bresciano, 9 Joshua Kennedy.
Subs: 12 Mitchell Langerak, 18 Matthew Ryan, 5 Mark Milligan, 13 Rhys Williams, 19 Robert Cornthwaite, 16 James Holland, 20 Tomas Rogic, 7 Archie Thompson.

Referee: Enrique Cáceres

Miami Heat defeat Minnesota Timberwolves, 97-81; go 15th straight

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Minneapolis, Minnesota (Sporting Alert) – The Miami Heat defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 97-81 on the way to set a new franchise record, following their 15th successive win on Tuesday night.

Star guard Dwyane Wade paced the defending champions with 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while LeBron James, who played 35 minutes despite being troubled by a knee problem, added 20 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the victory for Miami (44-14).

Forward Derrick Williams led the way for the Timberwolves (20-37) with 25 points and 10 boards in the defeat.

Ricky Rubio supported with 14 points, eight assists and six steals, with Alexey Shved adding 13 points for Minnesota, which dropped its 15th game at home this season.

Ray Allen had 13 points and Chris Bosh contributed 11 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, which led 50-43 at half-time.

The Miami Heat face the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday and Thursday night.

LA Lakers beaten 106-93 by Memphis; Howard injured again

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Memphis, Tennessee (Sporting Alert) – The Los Angeles Lakers fell to another defeat on Wednesday night, while star center Dwight Howard re-injured his shoulder in the process.

Darrell Arthur scored 20 points and nine rebounds off the bench and the Memphis Grizzlies picked up a 106-93 victory over the LA Lakers, which suffered its fourth successive defeat and its 10th in the last 12 games.

Kobe Bryant paced the Los Angeles (17-25) with 29 points and nine boards in the defeat.

The game saw Howard hurting his right shoulder again as the Lakers dropped its seventh straight game on the road.

Howard was 0-of-4 from the floor and left the game with 2:21 remaining in the first half with the shoulder problem.

Mike Conley scored 19 points and six assists, Rudy Gay, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph all finished with 12 points.

Randolph, the top double/double player this season also had 10 rebounds, while Gay had 11.

Metta World Peace contributed 15 in the defeat for the Lakers, with Pau Gasol adding 12 and Earl Clark, 11.

Memphis 106, LA Lakers 93
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Where: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
Officials: #7 Kevin Fehr, #30 John Goble, #55 Bill Kennedy
Attendance: 17984

Oklahoma City handed 110-93 defeat by streak shooting Brooklyn

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Watch Oklahoma City 110, Brooklyn Nets, 93

OKLAHOMA CITY (Sporting Alert) – The Brooklyn Nets jumped all over the Oklahoma City Thunder from the opening tip-off en route to a 110-93 victory at Chesapeake Energy Arena here in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.

The visiting Nets rushed off to a 33-19 first quarter lead and never looked back from then, despite getting checked 27-15 by the Thunder in the third.

“They took it to us on both ends of the floor,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

“We had one good quarter but it wasn’t enough to win the game. They were much better than us tonight.”

Star guard Joe Johnson poured in a game high 33 points and center Brook Lopez added 25 in the win for Brooklyn (17-15).

“Our defense tonight was where it was earlier in the season,” Johnson said on NBA.com.

“We had a tough practice yesterday in San Antonio and P.J. jumped on us about a lot of things especially on offense with our ball movement and defensively helping one another and to be honest it helped.

“It translated to the game. We were in a spot defensively that we hadn’t been in in a while.”

Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 27 points before he was ejected for the first time in his NBA career for a pair of technical fouls for arguing with an official with 1:57 left in the game.

“They picked us apart, they were hittin’ threes, making jumpers, they were hot. We just didn’t have any defense,” said Durant.

Commenting on his ejection, Durant said: “I said, `It’s a bad call.”‘

“They’ve got a quick trigger now.”

“I think I’m allowed to be frustrated, especially in this league. With the ups and downs, the players are allowed to be frustrated.

“It is what it is, move on from it.”

Star guard Deron Williams added 19 points and 13 assists, while Kris Humphries chipped in with 11 off the bench for the Nets, which dominated the fourth quarter 34-21.

“Deron ran the team unbelievably and scored points and created opportunities for other people. Joe was a monster and I thought Brook was great,” Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said.

Russell Westbrook scored 26 and 10 assists, Serge Ibaka had 14 points and eight rebounds and Kevin Martin, who went 1-for-5 shooting from 3-pointers in the first half, finished with 11 points for the Thunder.

Kobe Bryant retirement hint? Probably not, but guard fed-up with defeats

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Philadelphia 103, L.A. Lakers 99
When: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #50 Olandis Poole, #40 Leon Wood
Attendance: 18997


LOS ANGELES (Sporting Alert) – Was this a Kobe Bryant retirement hint?

Probably not, at least not for him, but you can tell that there is something eating away at the NBA great.

A very frustrated Bryant ripped into his Los Angeles Lakers teammates after the New Year’s Day 103-99 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night.

The super star guard commented that the age of the current Lakers (15-16) team is the main problem why it is struggling to compete with the high energy sides in the league.

“Cause we’re old as s—,” said Bryant on ESPN.com when asked about the Lakers’ a lack of energy.

“What do you want? We just got to figure out how to play when we don’t have that energy. We got to change things up a little bit defensively.

“We got to figure out what we want to do offensively, figure out what we want to do on nights when we don’t have those legs or have that energy.”

The Lakers played well in patches, but were not consistent enough at both ends of the floor and paid the price with the defeat.

There were many difference kinds of excuses for the defeat, but Bryant presented his own observation.

He said: “You just saw an old damn team. I don’t know how else to put it to you. We’re just slow.

“You saw a team over there that was just younger and just had fresher legs and just played with more energy, and we were just stuck in the mud.

“I think individually we all have to figure out how to get ourselves ready each and every game to have a high level of energy. That’s all that is.”

A Bryant retirement date is the last thing on the player’s mind at the moment as he continues to lead the league in scoring and poured in 36 points in the defeat to the Sixers.

Meanwhile, in that defeat, Metta World Peace had 13 points and nine rebounds, Steve Nash added 12 points and 10 assists, but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol combined for just 18 points.

Howard did pulled down 14 rebounds, but his lack of contribution at the scoring end didn’t help a Lakers side desperately trying to go on a solid winning streak.

Bryant, despite the slow start is still backing his team to win a playoffs slot.

“I don’t think there’s a doubt about that,” he said. “The problem is we’ve dug ourselves such a deep hole we got to do a lot of fighting just to catch up and get in that conversation.

“We firmly believe it’s going to happen but we have to do a lot of fighting just to get there.”

In the meantime, Jrue Holiday paced the 76ers with 26 points and 10 assists, while Evan Turner added 22 points and 13 boards in the win.

The Los Angeles Lakers will try to rest up ahead of their clash with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, a game many are expecting to be a thriller.

Clippers recently had a 17 game win streak snapped by the Denver Nuggets, but the confidence are still high in the camp and the team is eager to get back on the court and put it right following Tuesday night horrible outing.

Georgia Tech hands USC Hyundai Sun Bowl defeat

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EL PASO, TX (Sporting Alert) Tevin Washington ran for a close touchdown and then threw a pass for another as Georgia Tech picked up a 21-7 victory over USC in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Monday.

Washington rushed for a yard with 13:07 on the clock in the third quarter to give the Yellow Jackets a 14-7 lead after David Sims and Silas Redd scored for their respective teams.

Both teams went into the half-time interval locked at 7-7, this after failing to score in the opening quarter.

Washington rushed 16 times for 42 yards and threw for 49 for Georgia Tech, who snap a streak of seven consecutive defeats in bowl games.

Washington also threw to Orwin Smith, who completed the scoring for Georgia Tech, who were winning a bowl game for the first time since 2004.

Running back Redd carried the ball 17 times for 90 yards and also finished with a touchdown for the USC Trojans

USC freshman Max Wittek completed 14-of-37 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown, but had three interceptions for the Trojans.

Follow all the New Year’s Eve college football bowl games and see the TV schedules.

LA Lakers beat Portland 104-87; Bryant scored 27, Howard has double-double

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LOS ANGELES (Sporting Alert) The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back from the defeat in Denver with a 104-87 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center on Friday night.

Kobe Bryant, who sat out the fourth quarter of the game, scored a game-high 27 points in the win for the Lakers, but saw his consecutive game streak of scoring at least 30 points snapped at 10 games.

Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, who pull in large LA Lakers salaries, combined for 36 points and 23 rebounds.

After being ejected in the last game, Howard returned to collect a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds and Gasol added 15 points, nine boards, five assists and three steal for the Lakers (15-15), which picked up its sixth win in seven outings.

“When he plays hard, it really takes a toll on the other team at both ends of the floor,” Steve Nash, who had 10 assists and eight points said of Howard’s performance.

“We’re obviously still a new team,” Nash added. “It’s new to me. I’m new to the offense.

“We’re trying to figure it out. I think we’re growing more and more cohesive, but I’ve got a long way to go.”

LaMarcus Aldridge paced Portland with 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting, before leaving the game with a “sternal contusion”.

Will Barton and Damian Lillard each had 11 apiece in the defeat for Portland (14-14), which shot just 15.8 percent from the field after hitting just three of its 19 3-point attempts.

Portland was without shooting guard Wesley Matthews, who missed his third consecutive game because of a left hip flexor strain.

Meanwhile, Lakers veteran Antawn Jamison, who was once as a vital part of the Los Angeles team, did not see the floor for the fourth straight game on Friday.

Kyrie Irving, C.J. Miles lead Cavaliers past Lakers, Bryant scores 42 in defeat

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Cleveland, Ohio (Sporting Alert) — Kyrie Irving and C.J. Miles each scored 28 points in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-94 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at Quicken Loans Arena Tuesday night.

Kobe Bryant had a game high 42 points, but his effort was not enough to stop the Lakers (9-13) from dropping its third straight game.

Former Duke Blue Devils point guard Irving was a major contributor for the Cavaliers, as he shot 11-of-21 from the field including 4-of-6 from three-point range, while dishing out 11 assists in the victory.

Anderson Varejao was also impressive for Cleveland (5-17) with 20 points and nine rebounds, with Alonzo Gee adding 17 points and Tristan Thompson pulling down 10 valuable boards.

Besides Bryant’s 42 points and five rebounds, the Lakers got a fine double-double of 19 points and 20 boards from Dwight Howard, but he only went 13-of-22 from the free throw line.

Metta World Peace finished with 13 points and Jordan Hill pulled down 10 rebounds for a Lakers side which has dropped five of its last six games.

It is clear that the team truly needs star point guard Steve Nash back from injury, as the visitors turned the ball over 18 times tonight with Bryant being the main culprit with five giveaways.

Howard turned the ball over four times, while World Peace did it three times.

Nash could return from a leg injury on Thursday against the New York Knicks or Friday against the Wizards.

The Lakers have a win/loss percent of 33.3 after a win and 46.2 after a loss.