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Kevin Durant Ruined The NBA Regular Season: Stephen A. Smith

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MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – ESPN’s NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith is not one of the many people yearning to watch the Golden State Warriors beat teams down this new NBA season.

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The already talented Warriors side, which set an NBA record for the most wins in the regular season last year, acquired the service of the sharp-shooting and free-scoring Kevin Durant during the offseason and Smith thinks such a move makes the former champions very difficult to beat.

He added that Golden State is boring to watch because its lineup is simply too good to make games interesting during the regular season.

On Tuesday night in a preseason game, the Warriors scored over 30 points in the first three-quarters before taking their foot off the gas in the final quarter en route to a 120-75 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Smith believes Durant’s decision to weaken a competitive club like the Oklahoma City Thunder to strengthened a Warriors outfit that was already good enough to take down any team in the league, wasn’t good for the NBA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUwkhXDMsEo

“Kevin Durant has ruined the regular season,” Smith said on ESPN First Take.

“I understand that the championship is not a foregone conclusion.

“I understand that the playoffs could be labelled somewhat interesting with San Antonio, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who is still not a bad team by the way, and with Cleveland in the East.

“But the regular season in itself….you go up against Kevin Durant and everything is just ruin.”

Smith also holds the view that the comfortable blowout victory over the Clippers Tuesday night is just a sign of what is to come from Steve Kerr’s team until they contend for the title in the postseason.

“This is Kevin Durant, one the top three players in the world, who goes to the team with the best regular-season record with the reigning two-time regular season MVP and the best shooting backcourt that we’ve ever seen in the NBA.

This is what we get. No answers whatsoever for the Golden State Warriors. They can put a 120 a night if they wanted to.

“I’m not that interested to see Golden State in the regular season.”

He added: “Kevin Durant has ruined the regular season. He is too great of a player to end up there (Warriors) of all the places.”

Almaz Ayana BREAKS Women’s 10,000m WR At Rio 2016

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, Sporting Alert – Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia smashed the world record to win the women’s 10,000m gold medal in the first session on day one of track and field action at Rio 2016 on Friday.

Running just her second ever race over this distance, Ayana, who took more than 14 seconds off the previous world record, set by Wang Junxia in 1993, easily moved away from her rivals, despite the contenders running faster than they’ve ever gone before.

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The Ethiopian, who checked the clocked constantly throughout the race, covered the 25 lap event in a NEW WORLD RECORD time of 29:17.45 to take the gold medal, well inside the old mark of 29:31.78.

Kenya’s world champion Vivian Cheruiyot improved on her bronze medal from 2012 in London with a silver this time – crossing the finishing line in a new personal best and national record of 29:32.53.

Defending champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia ran a personal best of 29:42.56 for the bronze.

Alice Aprot Nawowuna of Kenya was fourth in 29:53.51.

For the first time in history, four women went under 30-minutes in the event.

Molly Huddle of USA set a new Area Record of 30:13.17 for sixth place, while Betsy Saina of Kenya ran a personal bet time of 30:07.78 for fifth place.

In what turned out to be a very fast race in the end, some 18 personal bests were set, while seven other national records were accomplished alongside the world record of Ayana.

U.S. Olympic Trials 2016 Live Streaming, Live Updates

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EUGENE, Sporting Alert – Live blogging, TV streaming and live updates from the 2016 U.S. Olympic Games Trials from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The Championships runs from Friday, July 1 through Sunday, July 10.

For Live Streaming Day-to-Day Coverage Please Click Here | For Live Results Updates Click Here | Keep Up With The Jamaica Olympic Trials As Well.| Watch Live Streaming

The American trials are one of the toughest in the world and fans can brace for some high class performances over the next week and a half.

NBC and it’s family of networks, which include NBCSN and NBC Sports Extra, will provide live online streaming and television coverage throughout the championships.

There are several highlighted events list on the schedule, but the women’s 100m hurdles will probably draw most of the attention, as we could see something special on this very fast Hayward Field track.

World-leader and event favourite Harrison enters these championships in rich form and the 23-year-old has her eyes on booking a place on the team to Rio, as well as keeping close tabs on the 100m hurdles world record.

Asked if she thinks she can break the world record in the event, Harrison said: “Of course, I’ve thought about breaking the world record.

“Each race I just like to execute and just come across the line first.

“I think the times will come. I don’t want to think about getting on the line and saying, ‘Break a world record.’ That just adds a lot of stress.”

The men’s and women’s sprints should also provide some excitement, with English Gardner, Tori Bowie, Tianna Bartoletta and Jenna Prandini scheduled for a showdown in the women’s 100m.

NCAA champion Courtney Okolo, Allyson Felix, Francena McCorory, Phyllis Francis and Quanera Hayes are the leading contestants in the women’s 400m.

On the men’s side, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Ameer Webb, Mike Rodgers, Walter Dix, Marvin Bracy and Wallace Spearmon will be battling for the 100m and 200m crowns.

LaShawn Merritt, who owns the fastest 200m time, 19.78secs this season, will concentrate on just the men’s 400m at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Games Team Trials.

NCAA champion Arman Hall, Vernon Norwood and Gil Roberts are just a few of the talents hoping to secure Olympic slots as well in the men’s one lap.

Cavaliers Set NBA Record For 3-Pointers Made

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CLEVELAND, Sporting Alert – The Cleveland Cavaliers buried 25 3-pointers to set an NBA Playoffs and season record for most 3s made in a single game, during their 123-98 win over the Atlanta Hawks and take a 2-0 series lead. Complete Box Scores

J.R. Smith led the way for the Cavs with seven made 3s, while LeBron James and Kyrie Irving connected on four each, as the Hawks struggled to recover from the home side’s early success from behind the arc, which left them trailing 74-38 at halftime.

“Tonight was a special night for all of us who played,” James, who led Cleveland with 27 points told reporters.

“This league has seen so many great teams, so many great players and great shooters and for us to set an all-time record is truly special.”

Smith scored 23 points, while Irving added 19 and six assists and Love finished with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the victory.

As a team, the Cavaliers shot 56-percent from long-range on 25-for-45 shooting and those connections helped the Eastern Conference No. 1 seed build a 41 point lead en route to the comfortable victory.

On their thrilling night of shooting the basketball, Cleveland set an NBA record for most made 3-pointers in a quarter (10) and in a half (18). The Cavs also set a team playoff record for points in a half, after putting up 74 at the end of the opening 24 minutes.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Irving late in the third quarter guided Cleveland past Golden State’s previous playoffs record of 21 3-pointers made, set earlier in this year’s postseason.

“When they put those shots down, I don’t know if anyone can beat them, to be honest,” said Hawks’ Kyle Korver. “We were hoping that they’d start missing at some point.”

The Cavaliers also went on to extend the overall record for 3-pointers made in a season which was previously held by the Orlando Magic (2009) and the Houston Rockets (2013), with 23 – when reserves Dahntay Jones and Mo Williams made long-range shots in the closing minutes.

The defending Eastern Conference champions were even able to rest all their starters for the entire fourth quarter, but stayed quiet on the sidelines during the record chase.

Paul Millsap scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the way for the Hawks, with Jeff Teague added 14 and Kris Humphries finishing with 12 off the bench.

Al Horford, Thabo Sefolosha and Mike Muscla each ended with 10 points for Atlanta, which is trying to avoid getting swept by the Cavs in the second successive postseason.

Jordan Congratulates Record-Breaking Warriors

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OAKLAND, Calif., Sporting Alert — While Kobe Bryant was bidding farewell to the NBA, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors were busy making history Wednesday night.

Download Warriors v Grizzlies Box Scores

Entering the final night of the regular season fixtures sitting one win away from eclipsing the NBA record for wins before the playoffs, Curry scored 46 points to lead the hosts to a record 73rd victory, and the Warriors moved past Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the record book.

Jordan took the time congratulate the new record holders, adding that the defending champions “have been a lot of fun to watch.”

“I want to congratulate the Warriors on their amazing season,” Jordan said. “The game of basketball is always evolving and records are made to be broken.

“The Warriors have been a lot of fun to watch and I look forward to seeing what they do in the playoffs.”

The history making 125-104 win came against the Memphis Grizzlies, as Golden State became the first 73-win team, as they finished the regular season campaign with single digit losses.

“It’s a great way to finish off what was an amazing regular season,” said Golden State coach Steve Kerr, a member of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that set the previous mark 20 years ago.

Kerr also admitted that he never thought any other team would have gotten close to breaking the record.

“I just told our guys I never in a million years would have guessed that that record would ever be broken,” he revealed.

“I thought it was like DiMaggio’s hit streak, really. I was wrong, but I will say the same thing now that I said 20 years ago, `I don’t think this one will ever be broken.’ Somebody’s got to go 74-8. I don’t see it, and I hope our fans aren’t expecting that next year.”

Meanwhile, reigning league MVP Curry also added to his fruitful individual career shooting milestone, as the star guard became the first player in NBA history to knock down 400 three-pointers in a single season.

Curry, who started the contest hot after scoring 20 points in the first quarter – shot 15 of 24 overall from the floor and made 10 of 19 from 3-point range on his way to making 402 total 3s in front of a sellout Oracle Arena.

“At a certain point, about eight minutes in the first quarter, I was able to toe the line a couple times, knock it down and things started to flow,” Curry said.

“I was searching for it at that point because I made a couple. Kind of let it come to me and then have some fun with it.”

Klay Thompson added 16 points, Harrison Barnes scored 15 points and six rebounds and Draymond Green finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the win for Golden State, which will be looking to build off this remarkable run as they enter the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Zach Randolph scored 24 points and has six rebounds to lead the way for Memphis.

Lance Stephenson had 22 points and JaMychal Green added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Grizzlies.

The Golden State Warriors will now open their 2016 playoffs campaign against the Houston Rockets on Saturday in the first round opener.

Memphis Grizzlies will visit the San Antonio Spurs to start the playoffs on Sunday.

NBA Scores and Box Scores From Dec. 5: Warriors Are 21-0

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MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – Here are the NBA scores and listed box scores from the games on December 5. Defending champions Warriors extended it NBA-record start to 21-0, the best in the business.

HEAT 99, CAVALIERS 84

MIAMI — LeBron James backed out of facing Miami on the road and the Heat punished the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-84 in NBA action on Saturday night.

After playing 45 minutes in the defeat to the Pelicans and arriving in Miami early Saturday morning, James was held out by the Cavs, who did not want to risk the star forward picking up an injury.

Fatigue showed early in the contest as the Heat jumped all over the Cavaliers, who shot just 36.5 percent from the field. The travelers also went 6-for-28 from 3-pointers in the defeat.

The Miami Heat (12-6) were led in scoring by Dwyane Wade and Tyler Johnson who both scored 19 points, while Goran Dragic added 17 points and eight assists in the win.

Chris Bosh finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks and Gerald Green had 12 for the Heat, who shot 54.4 percent and improved to 10-3 at home.

Miami, which faces the Washington Wizards on Monday, was winning two straight and three in the last four games.

Meanwhile, Richard Jefferson, who started in place of James, led the Cavs with 16 points, with J.R. Smith finishing with 12.

Matthew Dellavedova and Jared Cunningham scored 11 points apiece in the defeat for Cleveland, which was suffering its third straight loss.

James, who was granted the night off, was sitting out a game for the first time this season, and he received chants of “LeBron is tired” from the Miami Heat fans as he watched from the bench in the fourth quarter.

After the game, the four-time MVP who won two titles with Miami, was greeted by his good friends Bosh and Wade at courtside.

WARRIORS 112, RAPTORS 109

TORONTO — Stephen Curry scored 44 points with clinical shooting from 3-point range, and Golden State Warriors extended its NBA winning streak with a 112-109 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

Curry shot 14-for-24 from the field overall and 9-for-15 from 3-pointers as the Warriors held off the Raptors to remain undefeated and stretched its NBA record start to 21-0.

The star point guard also had seven assists in the win.

Klay Thompson added 26 points on 7-for-15 shooting, including 6-for-9 behind the arc, and Draymond Green ended with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Golden State, which now has the best start to a season by a professional sports team, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

In the defeat, Kyle Lowry scored a career-high 41 points, which included six 3-pointers for Toronto. He also has seven assists and four steals.

DeMar DeRozan revived himself from a slow start to finish with 16 points, Lucas Nogueira added 14 and Luis Scola finished with 10 in the defeat for the Raptors (12-9) who were dropping their third game in the last four.

NBA SCORES ON SATURDAY
DECEMBER 5, 2015
Click For All Box Scores

WARRIORS 112, RAPTORS 109
SPURS 108, CELTICS 105
HORNETS 102, BULLS 96
CLIPPERS 103, MAGIC 101
HEAT 99, CAVALIERS 84
JAZZ 122, PACERS 119, OT
NUGGETS 108, 76ERS 105
BUCKS 106, KNICKS 91
TRAIL BLAZERS 109, TIMBERWOLVES 103
ROCKETS 120, KINGS 113

Usain Bolt Runs 19.55 To Beat Justin Gatlin Again

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BEIJING, China, Sporting Alert – Usain Bolt raced away from Justin Gatlin to complete the men’s sprint double at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, on Thursday.

No Contest For Bolt In The 200m

Bolt, who never even broke the 20-seconds barrier coming into these championships, finished with a world-leading time of 19.55 seconds, after running a superb corner and held his form down the straightaway.

The world record holder even had time to ease down in the closing metres and celebrated as he crosses the line.

“I am just happy,” the Jamaican said. “I told you guys I will do it. There was no doubt.”

By completing the sprint double, Bolt won his 10th World Championships gold medal, while claiming his fourth successive 200m world title.

He was delighted to answer his critics.

“It means a lot to me,” the sprint sensation said. “I’m happy to be a 10-time World Championships gold medallist, especially when people have been saying I would lose.

“I had the utmost confidence. As long as my coach is confident, I’m super confident.

“The British people give me a lot of love and I will continue running fast.”

Coming into the final, Gatlin had been the world leader and many were backing the 33-year-old to end the run of Bolt in his favourite event.

The American, like Bolt, also got off to a very fast start, but he was unable to close the gap on his Jamaican rival coming into the home straight.

He also challenged for a brief moment in the final 100m, but Bolt was too strong for him in the end, and the U.S. champion had to settle for yet another silver medal in 19.74 secs.

Third place went to South African Anaso Jobodwana, who posted a national record of 19.87.

Magical Felix Takes 400m Crown

Also on Day 6, American Allyson Felix struck gold in the women’s 400m final.

Felix, who stepped up in distance to run the 400m in Beijing, instead of the 200m, produced a world leading and personal best time of 49.26 secs to win the title, after running a very fast opening 200m to put pressure on the field.

The American finished second in this event in the 2011 world championships.

Bahamian Shaunae Miller took the silver in a personal best time of 49.67, with Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson also breaking 50-seconds – running a personal best of 49.99 for the bronze.

Christine Day (JAM, 50.14 PB), Stephenie Ann McPherson (JAM, 50.42) and Novlene Williams-Mills (JAM, 50.47 SB) were 4th, 5th and 6th, respectfully.

Long Distances In The Field

In action in the field, American Christian Taylor produced a massive effort 18.21 metres to win the men’s Triple Jump and came with eight centimetres of equalling the world record.

Taylor, who took the lead from his season rival Pedro Pichardo of Cuba in the fourth round, stretched out to his winning mark in the sixth and final round of the competition to secure the gold medal with the second longest mark of all-time.

Pichardo finished with the silver with 17.73m, with the veteran Nelson Evora of Portugal grabbing the bronze with 17.52m.

In the women’s hammer throw, Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk dominated after breaking the championship record twice on her way to the fourth round winning effort of 80.85m.

The world record holder had first increased the previous mark to 80.27m in the third round of the competition.

Watch Bolt, Farah At London Diamond League 2015

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LONDON, Sporting Alert – All eyes will be on Usain Bolt when he lines up in the men’s 100m at the London IAAF Diamond League meeting on Friday.

Follow Live and Updated Results | Live Streaming Will Be on beinSport Connect

Bolt hasn’t raced since his 20.29 seconds performance over the 200m in New York on June 13, and the world record holder is keen to test his fitness after he pulled out of two Diamond League meetings in July because of a pelvic injury.

The Jamaican is yet to dip below 10 seconds for the 100m this year, despite stating that he is in very good shape.

The triple Olympic Games gold medallist from London 2012 believes that he is ready to go much faster than his 10.12 seconds season’s best, but added that he won’t know how sharp he is until after Friday’s race.

“I won’t really know how ready I am till tomorrow (today), but I’ve been training really hard and working on what I need to work on,” said Bolt at a press conference for the meet on Thursday.

“Now we’ll see what happens.

“Tomorrow (Friday) will give me momentum and focus going into the championships. It’s all about executing my race. I’m trying to get that right, and if I do I will be in good shape.

“I’ve been doing a lot of work on my start. The first 40 metres of the 100m is most important because that is the weakest part for me.

“But if I get that right, I know there will be no issues because the last 60 metres is when I’m always really strong.”

The 28-year-old admits that his outings so far this season has been shockingly poor, which makes him a little “excited and a little nervous” about his return to the Olympic Stadium.

“Most of my races this season have been really poor. But I am looking forward to competition now,” said Bolt, who will be racing over the 100m for the first time since 19 April when he ran his seasonal best in Rio de Janeiro.

The reigning IAAF World Championships sprint double champion also revealed that although he is well behind arch-rival Justin Gatlin at the moment, his main focus is just to get the timing of his peak “right for Beijing.”

“I’ve been training really hard and pushing myself,” he noted. “It’s all about taking one step at a time and getting the timing right for Beijing.”

Bolt will lineup in heat two of the men’s 100m at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games on Friday where he will face American Mike Rodgers, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Kim Collins and British sprinters Chijindu Ujah and James Dasaolu.

Heat one will feature the likes of Jamaicans Kemar Bailey-Cole and Nesta Carter, as well as Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut, who ran 9.86 in Paris earlier this season.

The final of the event is scheduled for later in the evening.

Also down to compete at the Diamond League meet is Great Britain’s Mo Farah, who will race in the men’s 3000m against a modest lineup that will also include Yenew Alamirew, the second quickest in the world this year with 7:36.39.

Farah enters the competition with a season’s best of 7:38.22, which he did to finish second in Doha, to start the IAAF Diamond League 2015 schedule.

Diamond League 2015 Schedule

Doha, QAT – 15 May
Shanghai, CHN – 17 May
Eugene, USA – 30 May
Rome, ITA – 4 June
Birmingham, GBR – 7 June
Oslo, NOR – 11 June
New York, USA – 13 June
Paris, FRA – 4 July
Lausanne, SUI – 9 July
Monaco, MON – 17 July
London, GBR – 24-25 July
Stockholm, SWE – 30 July
Zurich, SUI – 3 September
Brussels, BEL – 11 September

Justin Gatlin Believes He Can Run 9.60 This Summer

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ROMA (Sporting Alert) — American sprinter Justin Gatlin is confident of running in the 9.60 seconds for the 100m this summer.

Gatlin blasted his way to a meeting record en route to winning the men’s 100m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome on Thursday and 2004 Olympic champion believes things are certainly coming together.

The 33-year-old, who leads the world with a swift 9.74 seconds, wasn’t too far from his world-leading mark after posting 9.75secs to improve Usain Bolt’s previous meeting mark of 9.76secs, set in 2012.

“I have had a couple of very good races, couple of 100s and 200s and I feel confident running times around 9.70s,” the American said after his win.

“This meeting is like the end of the first part of the season and now I am heading home and after the trials i’ll have a month to train and to spend time with my son and my family.”

Gatlin stated that his focus right now is just to stay injury free before the American championships, adding that beating world record holder Bolt isn’t on his agenda at the moment.

“I don’t think of beating Usain Bolt now because the championship is not tomorrow, we still have some time to come.

“I am glad I had a good start and managed to execute the first 60m to be confident with the victory. 9.60 should be possible in the summer.”

The American, who now owns the two fastest times in the world this season, finished ahead of Jimmy Vicaut of France and USA’s Mike Rodgers, who both clocked 9.98secs.

Gatlin has been in the form of his life this season and entered the Rome Diamond League meeting on the back of a world-leading 19.68 mark in Eugene, over the weekend.

Earlier, American Johnny Dutch won the men’s 400m hurdles in a seasonal best time of 48.13 — adding to his Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting victory on Saturday.

He held off his countryman Michael Tinsley, who ran home in a season’s best of 48.34 and Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson 48.65.

Dutch says he is ready for the American trials.

“The key to win the races is consistency and hard work,” he said. “I feel very prepared, just need to work on some specifics before the US trials.”

J.R. Smith Hits Record 8 Three-Pointers, Cavs Beat Hawks In Game 1

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ATLANTA (Sporting Alert) — J.R. Smith and LeBron James combined for 59 points and the Cavaliers defeated the Hawks 97-89 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night.

James scored a game-high 31 points and had eight rebounds and six assists for Cleveland, which finished with 49 rebounds as a team in the contest.

However, it was Smith, who ignited the Cavs, after going 8-of-12 from 3-point range, which is a franchised record.

Overall, Smith was 10-of-16 from the floor off the bench, while dishing out eight rebounds in the victory for the visitors at Philips Arena, here in Atlanta.

Tristan Thompson finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards, while Timofey Mozgov also collected a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Leading point guard Jeff Teague paced the Hawks with 27 points and Al Horford supported 16 points and seven rebounds.

Paul Millsap contributed 13 points and seven rebounds in the defeat for the No. 1 seeded Atlanta, which was dropping the opening game in successive series at home.

“We just have to come out fighting,” he said. Come out ready to play with a lot of intensity.”

Both teams shot in the 50-percent range in the first half and went into the interval locked at 51 apiece.

But Smith, who hit back-to-back three-pointers to open the fourth quarter, and the Cavs blew the game wide open in the closing minutes of the third quarter and the start of the final period – outscoring the Hawks 22-4 to build an 18 point lead.

The Hawks were dealt a huge blow in the second half after star forward DeMarre Carroll suffered a left knee injury while driving to the basket with 4:59 remaining in the fourth quarter and could miss Game 2.

He could be out for even longer.

Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer revealed Carroll indeed has a knee sprain and will have an MRI on Thursday to determined the seriousness of the injury.

Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving played 27 minutes and finished with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting to go with his six assists, but fellow guard Matthew Dellavedova was held scoreless in 25 minutes after going 0-of-6 from the floor, while missing all four attempts from long range.

The Cavaliers will now look to take a 2-0 lead in the series at the same venue in Game 2 Friday night.

Tamara Moncrieffe Breaks Girls Triple Jump Champs Record

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Tamara Moncrieffe
Tamara Moncrieffe of Holmwood Technical wins Triple Jump at Champs

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Sporting Alert) — Tamara Moncrieffe of Holmwood Technical produced a quality 13.92m to win the girls open Triple Jump, but she was assisted by a strong +6.8 m/s tailwind.

At the same time, though, the defending champion, who narrowly missed the record of 13.52m, set by Kimberly Williams at the 2007 championships, successfully shattered that old mark this season after she leaped 13.63m in her first jump of the competition final in the morning.

It took several minutes for the event officials to confirmed the new record.

Moncrieffe’s achievement was the fourth record set at Champs this year, after Edwin Allen’s Class 4 girls’ 46.90 seconds mark in the 4×100 relay and Calabar’s Lamar Reid and Shakiel Chattoo in the Class 3 boys High Jump and the decathlon open for boys, respectively.

Shardia Lawrence of Hydel High took the silver medal with a slightly wind-assisted 13.14m and Shanique Wright of Manchester High got the bronze with a leap of 12.92m (+3.0 m/s).

Ayesha Champagnie of St. Andrew Tech improved one place to the gold this year in the girls Javelin Throw open after she dominated the event on Friday.

Champagnie, who threw 42.64m for second place last year, produced a big throw of 47.73m for the gold medal this term and was just centimetres behind the 47.85m event record, which was set in 2007 by Tanesha Blair.

Finishing a distant second was Edwin Allen’s Paul-Ann Gayle with 41.29m, with the bronze going to Sahjay Stevens of St. Elizabeth, at 39.51m.

So after eight finals, Edwin Allen High continue to lead, but the gap is now significantly smaller.

The defending champions are currently sitting first with 60 points, but Hydel High has closed the gap to six points and are on 54 points in second place.

Holmwood Technical High are third with 34 points, followed by St. Jago High with 27.33 in fourth with Excelsior High sitting fifth with 15.

Costa To Play, Messi Targets Record: Champions League Fixtures

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http://gty.im/453355932

LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will play Diego Costa in Wednesday night’s Champions League Group G clash at Maribor.

Costa played for 77-minutes in his return to action in the English Premier League win against QPR over the weekend, after missing four-games with a nagging hamstring injury.

The Spanish forward was one of the 22 players who travelled with Chelsea to Slovenia and Mourinho intends to play him as part of his preparations for the weekend’s EPL clash with Liverpool.

However, Costa will not play the full 90-minutes as the Portuguese coach, though looking to secure an early qualifying place in the last 16, is expected to rotate his squad.

Chelsea hammered Maribor 6-0 a fortnight ago, but the Blues manager believes things will be a bit tougher away from Stamford Bridge.

“The 6-0 win is a fake situation because it was the only match, along with the game against Everton, where one chance was one goal,” he said.

“I know they are a good team, I watched them against Sporting and Schalke mainly, but I also watched a couple of matches from the Slovenian league.

“They are well-organised and have good players who try to play offensive football.”

Chelsea dominated the game the last time they face Maribor and Mourinho said everything just went well on that day for his team.

“Normally, to score goals, we need a lot of chances and many times we’ve paid the price,” he said.

“Against Maribor everything went in our direction, the first opportunity we had was a goal, the second was a goal and so on.”

Another English Premier League side in action on Wednesday is Manchester City, who play host to CSKA Moscow in Group E at Etihad Stadium.

Manuel Pellegrini side wasted a two-goal lead and were held 2-2 in Russia when these two teams last met.

The defending Premier League champions have just two points from their opening games, but Pellegrini remains grounded

“I think it is a very important game but it is not a ‘death’ game because until mathematics can’t fix (it), you can continue,” he said.

“We must win this game because we have just two points and we have three games to play and it is very important to have more points.

“But we will consider it not a final game but a very, very important game.”

Meanwhile, after Cristiano Ronaldo fired blank against Liverpool on Tuesday night in the race to break the Champions League all-time scoring record, the attention now turns to Lionel Messi when he and Barcelona meet Ajax.

Messi has 69 goals to his name and need two goals to draw level with Raul (71) at the top of the scoring list.

Ronaldo has scored 70 goals in the elite European competition.

Champions League Fixtures

Bayern Munich v Roma
Maribor v Chelsea
Paris v APOEL
Ajax v Barcelona
Athletic v FC Porto
Sporting v Schalke
Manchester City v CSKA Moskva
Shakhtar Donetsk v BATE