ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2021 16

Portugal’s Cristiano Ron- aldo vies for the ball against Luxembourg’s Lars Gerson during the World Cup 2022 group A qualifying soccer match between Luxembourg and Portugal at the Josy Bar- thel Stadium in Luxembourg, March 30. (AP) Sports Latest sports scores at — http://sports.arabtimesonline.com Saudi Arabia dominate Palestine to go top of Group D Belgium and Japan rout Mongolia 14-0 to stay perfect TOKYO, March 31, (AP): Japan stayed will secure fi rst place in the group and an own-goal from Mongolia defender Yasser Al-Shahrani and Fahad Al-Mu- perfect in World Cup qualifying by a spot in the third round of Asian quali- Khash-Erdene Tuyaa. wallad scored late in the fi rst half to give routing Mongolia 14-0, their fi fth win fying. Osako ended up with a hat-trick, the hosts the lead in Riyadh. Two goals of the second stage coming 16 months The eight group winners and four while Sho Inagaki, Junya Ito and Ky- Dutch cruise after the fourth. best second-place teams will advance ogo Furuhashi scored two goals each. SOCCER The Japanese scored fi ve goals in to the next stage, which is scheduled to also scored. the fi rst half, added nine more in the start in September. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia beat Pal- second and now lead Group F with 15 Takumi Minamino, , estine 5-0 in the only other qualifying from Saleh Al-Shehri early in the second Portugal beat Luxembourg points. and Hidemasa Morita match from the Asian region and moved and a late penalty from Salem Al-Dawsa- A victory over Myanmar on June 3 all scored in the fi rst half, along with to the top of Group D above Uzbekistan. ri completed the rout. MADRID, March 31, (AP): Belgium and the Netherlands scored 15 goals combined in big routs in World Cup qual- ifying , while Portugal got one from Cristiano Ron- aldo in their 3-1 victory against a Luxembourg team that tinkered with another shock result. Belgium crushed Belarus 8-0 to stay at the top in Group E, while the Dutch trashed Gi- braltar 7-0 to go second behind Turkey in Group G. Minnows Luxembourg, which opened with a surprising win against Ireland, looked on their way to pulling off another upset af- ter they took the lead against Por- tugal, but the visitors came from

SOCCER behind to stay at the top of Group A along with Serbia, which earlier defeated Azerbaijan with another double by Fulham forward Alek- sandar Mitrovic. “It was a diffi cult fi rst half,” Portugal midfi elder Renato Sanches said. “Luxembourg started well, but I think we con- trolled the game. They had a set Mexico’s players celebrate with the trophy and their medals after beating Honduras 5-4 in a penalty kick shoot-out during the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Top: Phoenix Suns forward Jae piece and scored, but I think that qualifying championship fi nal soccer match in Guadalajara, Mexico, March 30. (AP) Crowder (99) celebrates after scor- from that point on we controlled ing against the Atlanta Hawks dur- the game.” After being held ing the second half of an NBA bas- scoreless in the fi rst two qualifi - ketball game, Tuesday, March 30, Depay said “We remained posi- Suns hold off Hawks in Phoenix. Above: Los Angeles ers this year, Ronaldo scored his tive, and things came good in the Clippers’ Ivica Zubac, (left), blocks 31st goal in World Cup qualify- end. The team spirit is great, and a shot by Orlando Magic’s Wendell ing early in the second half in we have belief in ourselves.” Tur- Carter Jr. (34) during the second Portugal’s victory at Luxem- key missed a chance to earn their Magic snap Clippers six-game win streak half of an NBA basketball game in bourg. third straight win after squander- Los Angeles. (AP) He has now scored for Portugal ing a 2-0 lead in a 3-3 draw with LOS ANGELES, March 31, (AP): half (21 of 40), but struggled in the Atlanta trailed for nearly the entire Chuma Okeke scored 18 points and third quarter, going 2 of 13 from be- game until Trae Young made two free in every calendar year since his Latvia. the Orlando Magic rallied in the fourth yond the arc as Orlando got within 73- throws to tie it at 103-all with 3:31 re- fi rst international goal in 2004, and Mitrovic continued his hot quarter to snap Los Angeles’ six-game 70 at the end of the quarter. maining, but the Hawks could never NBA Results/Standings moved six away from tying the streak by scoring a double in Ser- winning streak Tuesday night, defeat- The Clippers scored the game’s fi rst get the lead. Deandre Ayton’s putback all-time scoring record for a men’s bia’s win at Azerbaijan. ing the Clippers 103-96. 10 points - including a pair of 3-point- after a Booker miss pushed the Suns national team. The record of 109 He has scored fi ve goals in the The Magic didn’t have the lead until ers by Kennard - and extended their ahead 111-108. lead to 16 points with under four min- Crowder splashed home a 3-pointer WASHINGTON, March 31, (AP): NBA results goals is held by former Iran striker fi rst three qualifi ers. He also had late in the fourth quarter and went on and standings on Tuesday. Ali Daei, the only other male soc- a double in the opening 3-2 win a 17-3 run to close the game. Kawhi utes remaining in the second quarter. - while getting fouled - and fi nished off Charlotte 114 Washington 104 cer player to surpass the 100-goal against Ireland, and found the net Leonard made a pair of free throws to Suns 117, Hawks 110 the four-point play with a free throw to Denver 104 Philadelphia 95 give Phoenix an insurmountable 115- Orlando 103 LA Clippers 96 milestone. once in the 2-2 draw against Por- give the Clippers a 93-86 lead with 2:36 In Phoenix, Devin Booker scored Phoenix 117 Atlanta 110 remaining before the Magic scored 11 108 advantage with 23 seconds left. Eastern Conference Gerson Rodrigues had put the tugal. 21 points, Dario Saric added 20 and Ayton fi nished with 13 points and hosts ahead in the 30th minute Mitrovic opened the scoring straight points to take the lead. Atlantic Division Terrence Ross tied it at 93 with 1:46 14 rebounds, while Paul had 12 points W L Pct GB but Diogo Jota equalized for in the 16th and netted the winner and eight assists. Crowder had his stel- Philadelphia 32 15 .681 - remaining on two free throws, and BASKETBALL Brooklyn 32 15 .681 - Portugal in the second minute in the 81st after Azerbaijan had Wendell Carter Jr. put the Magic in lar shooting night after making just 2 New York 24 23 .511 8 of stoppage time before Ronaldo scored in the 59th. of 18 3-pointers over his previous two Boston 23 24 .489 9 front with 1:10 remaining with a tip-in Toronto 18 29 .383 14 and João Palhinha added second- Like Turkey, Russia also missed after James Ennis III missed a layup, games. Bogdan Bogdanovic led At- the Phoenix Suns held on in the fi nal lanta with 22 points and Young had 19 Southeast Division half goals. a chance to win three straight to making it 95-94. minutes to beat the Atlanta Hawks 117- W L Pct GB Portugal were coming off a 2-2 start their qualifying campaign, Ross scored 15 points and Otto Por- points and 13 assists. Charlotte 24 22 .522 - 110 . Atlanta 23 24 .489 1-1/2 draw against Serbia. Both teams losing 2-1 to Slovakia. ter Jr. added 13 for the Magic, who The Suns have won six of their past Nuggets 104, 76ers 95 Miami 23 24 .489 1-1/2 are tied with seven points each The result left the Russians tied snapped a seven-game road losing seven games, while the Hawks have In Denver, Jamal Murray scored 30 Washington 17 29 .370 7 streak.Leonard scored 28 points for Orlando 16 31 .340 8-1/2 from three matches. at the top of Group H with Croatia, dropped four of fi ve. Phoenix’s Jae points, Michael Porter Jr. added 27 Central Division Ireland, the other Group A team, which got their second victory by the Clippers. Luke Kennard added 17 Crowder added 19 points and made 5 and the Denver Nuggets raced out to W L Pct GB played a friendly against World beating Malta 3-0. points and Ivica Zubac tallied his 10th of 8 of his 3-point attempts, including a 25-point lead on their way to a 104- Milwaukee 29 17 .630 - double-double of the season with 14 a huge one with 23 seconds left that 95 win over the slow-starting Philadel- Indiana 21 24 .467 7-1/2 Cup hosts Qatar and were held to Cyprus earlier defeated Slovenia Chicago 19 26 .422 9-1/2 a 1-1 draw, staying winless in 11 1-0 for their fi rst win in the group. points and 13 rebounds for the Clip- sealed the win. phia 76ers . Cleveland 17 30 .362 12-1/2 pers. The late-game heroics were needed Nikola Jokic added 21 points for Detroit 13 33 .283 16 games under coach Stephen Ken- It was the fi fth consecutive away LA led 51-37 at halftime on the after the Suns let an early 16-point lead the Nuggets, who played in front of a Western Conference ny. loss for Slovenia in World Cup Southwest Division strength of shooting 52.5% in the fi rst slowly slip away. home crowd for the fi rst time since the W L Pct GB Hans Vanaken and Leandro qualifying. pandemic shut down the 2019-20 sea- Dallas 24 21 .533 - Trossard both scored a pair of son in mid-March of last year. San Antonio 23 21 .523 -1/2 Memphis 22 22 .500 1-1/2 goals as Belgium trounced Belarus Especially after the 76ers’ backups New Orleans 21 25 .457 3-1/2 with four goals in each half. made a late run to turn the blowout into Houston 13 33 .283 11-1/2 “I’m delighted with what I’ve a contest. Northwest Division Reserve Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers W L Pct GB seen from every player,” Belgium Utah 35 11 .761 - coach Roberto Martinez said. “I’ve with 13 points, all in the fourth quarter. Denver 29 18 .617 6-1/2 The much-anticipated matchup between Portland 28 18 .609 7 seen players taking decisive roles, the East-leading Sixers and the rejuve- Oklahoma City 19 27 .413 16 I was very pleased with the perfor- Minnesota 11 36 .234 24-1/2 nated Nuggets, who made the biggest Pacifi c Division mance of the young guys and how headlines at the trade deadline with the W L Pct GB this group works together.” The additions of Aaron Gordon and JaVale Phoenix 32 14 .696 - McGee, quickly fi zzled with Denver’s LA Clippers 32 17 .653 1-1/2 home victory left Belgium three LA Lakers 30 17 .638 2-1/2 points ahead of the Czech Repub- fi rst-quarter fl ourish. Golden State 23 24 .489 9-1/2 lic, which lost 1-0 at Wales thanks Sacramento 22 25 .468 10-1/2 to a late Daniel James goal after an Hornets 114, Wizards 104 assist by Gareth Bale. In Washington, Terry Rozier scored Wales and Belarus are a point 27 points, Gordon Hayward had 26 Deal on new CL behind the Czech Republic with a points and a season-high 11 rebounds game in hand. and the Charlotte Hornets beat the format ‘delayed’ Gibraltar, ranked 195th in Washington Wizards 114-104 . the world, kept the Netherlands Charlotte has won four of fi ve after LONDON, March 31,(AP): A deci- losing Rookie of the Year favorite La sion on the new Champions League largely at bay before the break Melo Ball to a fractured right wrist. but collapsed in the second half Washington (17-29) played with- format has been delayed until next on the artifi cial turf of Victoria out NBA leading scorer Bradley Beal month after hitting a late stumbling Stadium. for the second straight game due to a block over how the commercial and The visitors added to their 1-0 bruised right hip. Rui Hachimura tied broadcasting rights will be sold to Eu- halftime lead with four goals by his career high with 30 points for the Wizards. Russell Westbrook had his ropean football’s elite competition. the 64th, then got two more closer UEFA hoped to use an executive to the end. 17th triple-double of the season and Memphis Depay had a double his third straight with 22 points, 15 committee meeting on Wednesday assists and 15 rebounds. Robin Lopez to ratify the expansion of the group for the Dutch, which trails Turkey had 16 points and 11 rebounds. by a point after three matches. The Hornets, who improved to 24- stage from 32 to 36 teams, jumping “The goals came later than we Belgium’s Jeremy Doku, (left), kicks the ball to scores his side’s fourth goal during a World Cup 2022 Group E qual- 22, went on a 16-2 run to take a 50-39 from six to 10 rounds of matches had hoped, but at least they came,” ifying soccer match between Belgium and Belarus at the King Power Stadium in Leuven, Belgium, March 30. (AP) lead midway in the second quarter. from 2024.

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