Greg Oden made a successful NBA debut with 13 points and five rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers buried the visiting Sacramento Kings 110-81 on Tuesday night in the pre-season opener for both clubs.
The center Oden was the top overall pick in last season’s draft, but his rookie season was delayed by one year due to right knee surgery.
“It felt good to be out there playing against someone who is not on our team,” Oden said after logging just over 19 impressive minutes.
Martell Webster led the Blazers with 15 points, Brandon Roy had 14 and LeMarcus Aldridge added 13. Flashy Spanish guard Rudy Fernandez, who played for DKV Joventut of the Spanish ACB League the last seven seasons, added six points and five assists in 20 minutes off the bench, in his NBA debut as well.
Donte Green had a game-high 18 points for the Kings, who made a woeful 29 per cent of their field goals (22-of-76) without starters Kevin Martin and Brad Miller, both nursing right quadriceps injuries.
ROCKETS 96, GRIZZLIES 93
Ron Artest, acquired in the off-season from Sacramento, scored 15 points in his Houston debut, while Aaron Brooks added 13, including the go-ahead basket with 16 seconds remaining, helping the Rockets slip past the visiting Grizzlies.
Brooks’ driving layup put the Rockets on top 94-93, and veteran Brent Barry, an off-season pickup from San Antonio, sank two free throws with two seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Houston’s Carl Landry led all scorers with 18 points. Chinese superstar center Yao Ming added 10 points with nine boards in 22 minutes, after sitting out the final third of the season with stress fracture in his left foot.
The Rockets were without starters Tracy McGrady and Shane Battier, both recovering from off-season surgeries.
Hakeem Warrick topped the Grizzlies with 15 points. OJ Mayo, the third overall pick in the draft, made his NBA debut with 14 points.
RAPTORS 104, CAVALIERS 84
Italy’s Andrea Bargnani scored 15 points off the bench, and Jermaine O’Neal added 11 in his Toronto debut as the Raptors took advantage of limited playing time by superstar LeBron James to crush the hosting Cavaliers.
James, who helped Team USA win the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, missed all three floor shots and split a pair of free throws in just over eight minutes, before the defending scoring champ watched from the bench as his club was outscored 61-33 in the second half.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the Cavaliers with 16 points while newcomer Mo Williams finished with 12.
MAVERICKS 108, WIZARDS 82
German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki and Brandon Bass scored 17 points apiece, helping Rick Carlisle make a successful Mavericks’ coaching debut as Dallas walloped the visiting Wizards.
The Wizards’ suffered a much bigger loss when two-time all-star forward Antawn Jamison had to leave after just four minutes with a strained right knee while defending Nowitzki’s drive to the basket.
Andray Blatche had 18 points for the Wizards, who played without three-time all-star guard Gilbert Arenas, recovering from his third knee operation.
JAZZ 99, LAKERS 90
Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap scored 13 points apiece, helping the visiting Jazz beat the Lakers in the teams’ first pre-season outing.
Deron Williams collected 11 points with eight assists for Utah, which was without fellow-gold medal Olympian Carlos Boozer, (sore left hamstring), and Matt Harpring (ankle injury).
Reserves Jordan Farmar and Andrew Bynum netted 15 points apiece for the Lakers, who were without head coach Phil Jackson (lower leg swelling). Reigning league Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant finished with eight points, five rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes.
Bynum’s bucket pulled the Lakers within 89-84 with 5:34 to play. However, Kevin Lyde’s basket capped an 8-2 run, as the Jazz opened an 97-86 advantage, with 2:24 remaining.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory. Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older
India’s chess star Gukesh Dommaraju returned to a hero’s welcome in his home city yesterday after becoming the youngest world champion aged only 18. Hundreds of fans crowded the arrivals area of Chennai International Airport, cheering alongside banks of television cameras as Gukesh made his way out of the airport after victory in taking the World Chess Championship title. “It means a lot to bring back the trophy to India,” Gukesh told reporters, with garlands of flowers draped around his neck, brandishing the glittering trophy in his hand. “I can see the support and what it means to India, I
Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest chess world champion on Thursday after beating the defending champion Ding Liren of China in the final match of their series in Singapore. Dommaraju, 18, secured 7.5 points against 6.5 of his Chinese rival in the contest, surpassing the achievement of Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who won the title at the age of 22. The Indian teen prodigy has long been considered a rising star in the chess world after he became a chess grandmaster at 12. He had entered the match as the youngest-ever challenger to the world crown after winning the Candidates tournament earlier
China yesterday jailed former English Premier League star and China men’s national coach Li Tie for 20 years for bribery, snaring one of the country’s greatest soccer figures in a sweeping government crackdown on corruption in sport. Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged an unrelenting campaign against deep-seated official corruption since coming to power more than a decade ago. Anti-graft authorities took aim at the sport industry in 2022 and have announced a string of convictions for former soccer administrators this week. In the highest-profile case to date, a court in Hubei Province yesterday said that Li had been sentenced to “fixed-term imprisonment
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