Established 1961 25 Sports Wednesday, December 19, 2018 Harden scores a game-high 47 points to lift Rockets over Utah Jazz 102-97

Lillard, Blazers dump slumping Clippers

HOUSTON: carried the load down the Emmanuel Mudiay led the Knicks with 32 points. stretch once again as the extended their winning streak to four games with a 102-97 victory over TIMBERWOLVES 132, KINGS 105 the visiting Utah Jazz on Monday. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14 points and grabbed 14 Harden scored a game-high 47 points and contributed rebounds, and eight other Minnesota players produced six rebounds, five assists and five steals as Houston (15- double-figure point totals as the Timberwolves soundly 14) climbed above .500 for the first time since Nov. 23. defeated Sacramento in Minneapolis. After Utah pulled even at 94-94 on a Rudy Gobert tip- Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves with 17 points, in with 1:59 remaining, Harden sank a 3-pointer when and Derrick Rose, starting for the injured , had and Royce O’Neale dropped under a screen 13 points and 11 assists. set by Chris Paul. After Harden added two free throws, Minnesota led by as much as 36 in the first half and Utah cut the deficit to 99-97 on three Donovan Mitchell then had to weather a Sacramento comeback attempt free throws with 35 seconds to go. in the third period. paced the Kings with With 13.3 seconds left, Harden then buried another 3- 21 points. pointer with Rubio defending, producing the final margin. Mitchell led the Jazz with 23 points. THUNDER 121, BULLS 96 Paul George scored 24 points to lead Oklahoma City BUCKS 107, PISTONS 104 to a win over visiting Chicago. Giannis Antetokounmpo powered for 32 points, 12 George scored 16 points in the final 4:47 of the second rebounds and five assists, and Milwaukee overcame a quarter as the Thunder closed the quarter on a 23-7 run triple-double from to win at Detroit. to seize control of the game. It looked as if Oklahoma Khris Middleton had 22 points and six assists, and Eric City had done that earlier, when a 21-3 run in the first Bledsoe contributed 17 points and nine assists for the quarter brought the Thunder from down five to up 13 Bucks, who won for the fourth time in five games. before Chicago fought its way back in. HOUSTON: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz shoots the ball against the Houston Rockets on Monday at the Griffin had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists but Russell Westbrook had 13 points, 16 rebounds and 11 Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. — AFP also committed 10 turnovers. Detroit’s Reggie Bullock assists for his 111th career triple-double as the Thunder supplied 24 points and Stanley Johnson contributed 20 won for the second consecutive game. Steven Adams points and six rebounds off the bench. Andre added 19 and Dennis Schroder 18. Lauri Markkanen had JJ Redick and Ben Simmons led Philadelphia with 16 that star point guard Mike Conley would be unavailable Drummond chipped in 10 points with 14 rebounds for 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulls, and Bobby Portis points each, and Joel Embiid added 13 points and 11 due to a sore hamstring. the Pistons, who had won their previous contest to snap also scored 16 points. rebounds. a six-game skid. TRAIL BLAZERS 131, CLIPPERS 127 SPURS 123, 76ERS 96 WARRIORS 110, GRIZZLIES 93 Damian Lillard scored 22 of his 39 points in the third SUNS 128, KNICKS 110 scored 21 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge Andre Iguodala returned from a three-game absence quarter, and backcourt mate CJ McCollum added 27 T.J. Warren scored 17 of his 26 points in a dominating added 20 points and 10 rebounds as host San Antonio to hit two second-quarter 3-pointers, helping Golden points as Portland held on to win at Los Angeles. third quarter, and Phoenix opened a season-high, five- routed Philadelphia to win for the fifth time in six games. State pull away from Memphis in Oakland, Calif. Jusuf Nurkic contributed 20 points and seven assists game road trip by routing New York. The Spurs led by 11 at halftime but broke open the had 23 points, 20 and for the Trail Blazers, who followed a victory over the Devin Booker led the Suns with 38 points in his second game in the middle of the third quarter via a 15-0 run Klay Thompson and 16 apiece for the NBA’s top team, the Toronto Raptors, on Friday with the game back from a hamstring injury, but it was Warren that expanded their advantage to 79-53. Gay had 11 Warriors, who won for the sixth time in their past sev- win over the high-scoring Clippers. who helped the Suns turn things around after halftime. points in a period that allowed San Antonio to build as en games. Tobias Harris scored a career-high 39 points including DeAndre Ayton had a double-double of 21 points and much as a 29-point lead and take a 93-71 cushion into Omri Casspi, a member of Golden State’s champi- 11 free throws for the Clippers, who lost for just the fourth 13 rebounds, while Josh Jackson (14 points) and Richaun the final 12 minutes. onship team last season, had a team-high 20 points for time in 13 home games this season. However, Los Angeles Holmes (13) also finished in double figures for Phoenix. DeMar DeRozan also scored 20 points for the Spurs. the Grizzlies, who found out shortly before game time has lost four consecutive games overall. Kuwait defeats Bahrain in 9th Gulf Wheelchair Championship Mustafa Karam shooting tourney begins tomorrow By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: The shooting tournament of Mustafa Karam will start tomorrow at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex in the clay target skeet and trap events. Official training will start at 9 am for men and women, in three rounds with a total of 75 targets, so that shooters can be ready at their best. Engineer al Ghurba KSSC Assistant Secretary Eng Mohammad Al-Ghurba said the organizing committee made all Al-Ghurba said such tournaments preparations, as technical and refer- give club officials the opportunity to ee committees are ready, and a draw discover new talent that may join was made to determine the groups national teams in the future, adding it as 150 shooters registered for the also provides the atmosphere of offi- tournament. cial tournaments for junior shooters. KUWAIT: Kuwait’s basketball wheel- enhance relations among GCC athletes. chair team defeated the Bahraini team Al-Hajeri told reporters after the open- 56-31 in the opening game of the ninth ing ceremony that the great support Gulf Championship, which kicked off enjoyed by Kuwaiti disabled sports on Monday evening, also featuring from the state has always contributed Saudi Arabia and the UAE and contin- to its excellence. He expressed appre- Bangladesh’s most celebrated ues for six days. The game saw a dis- ciation of the support of honorary tinctive appearance of the Kuwaiti Club’s president Sheikha Shaikha Al- team, which controlled most of the Abdullah Al-Sabah and Director swimmer hangs up trunks match to end it by 25 points margin, General of the Public Authority for After nearly half a century while the Bahraini team was affected Sport. He pointed out that Kuwait DHAKA: navigating Bangladesh’s thousands of by the absence of a number of key players are well prepared for the miles of rivers, the country’s most cele- players. The Head of the Organizing championship and they are determined brated swimmer has hung up his trunks- Committee of the Championship, Shafi to win the title for the ninth time in a but not before one final, arduous paddle Al-Hajeri stressed the keenness of row, expressing the hope that the tour- upstream. Kuwait’s disabled sports club to organ- nament will show a high level of techni- Kshitindra Baisya, 67, plans to spend ize Gulf championships for people with cal reflect the development of the sport his retirement on dry land inspiring disabilities in various games to in GCC. —KUNA younger generations to embrace the water in a country criss-crossed by huge rivers but where few swim. “I didn’t have much idea about the beauty of this Thuraya wins country until I swam dozens of its rivers,” Baisya told AFP. late Mubarak A veteran of Bangladesh’s 1971 inde- pendence war against Pakistan, Baisya taught himself to swim at 18 and before Kshitindra Baisya Abdulaziz long was paddling marathon distances along murky channels. A decade later, Al-Hasawi Cup the father-of-two earned some notoriety Bay of Bengal. when he swam 74 kilometres (46 miles) He has never strayed from a winning of India’s Bhagirathi river. formula of yoga, basic exercise and a By Abdellatif Sharaa He opts for a methodical breaststroke, humble diet complemented with dates head above water, rather than the and bananas for energy. But as he KUWAIT: The horse “Alghoush” from Al- freestyle preferred by purists. “It helps approached 70, the veteran swimmer Daeya stable and owned by Sheikh Abdallah preserve energy,” he told AFP as he knew it was time to call it a day-but not Al-Salman won the cup member of parlia- stretched before a dip in a Dhaka pond before one last triumph. ment Talal Saad Al-Jalal during the sixth run recently. Baisya has not broken any Baisya had always wanted to swim the for 1000 meters within the fourth race of speed records-but his self-taught tech- Bhugai, Kangsha and Maghra rivers in speed competition at the Hunting and nique has allowed him to cover vast dis- Bangladesh’s north-uninterrupted and in Equestrian Club. The winning time was 59.4 tances solo during a career unrivalled in one long slog. He had a crack in 2017 but seconds. Bangladesh. fell short, before returning to try again The horse Thuraya owned by Abu Shaiba “I am addicted to swimming. one last time in September. Tailed by a won the cup of the late Mubarak Abdulaziz Everyday, I swim three to four hours,” he support canoe and fans lining the river- Al-Hasawi foundation during the fifth run for Arab) for the original Arab horses of local stable won first place. said. Always eschewing the pool, Baisya banks shouting his name, Baisya swam 1600 meters in 1 minute 41 seconds and 9 production for 1600 meters. The horse, Hala Abdallah, from Al-Saffar prefers to swim along Bangladesh’s 185 kilometres in an unbroken 61-hour tens of a second. Meanwhile the horse Zayed Meanwhile in the first run for 2400 meters stable won first place in 1200 meters in 1 lengthy river networks-more than 700 marathon-a possible record for someone won the Arab Horse Center cup (Beit Al- the horse, Al-Zain Shamma, from Al-Nashama minute, 11 seconds, and 7 tens of a second. channels draining south into the mighty of his age, organisers said.— AFP