Thunder Roll Past Raptors
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SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014 SPORTS Benzema fit for ‘Clasico’ No-fly zone over WCup Wright out of World T20 MIRPUR: England all-rounder Luke Wright was ruled out of the World Twenty20 with a side Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has recovered from a bruised thigh and is available BRASILIA: The Brazilian Air Force will declare no-fly zones over World MADRID: strain yesterday. The 29-year-old Wright joined Joe Root and Ben Stokes in being forced for today’s La Liga ‘Clasico’ at home to Barcelona, coach Carlo Ancelotti said yesterday. Cup stadiums to prevent terrorist attacks during this year’s soccer tourna- out of the former winners’ squad with injury. Benzema took a knock in a collision with team mate Cristiano Ronaldo in last weekend’s 1-0 La ment, but there’s a catch: it can’t shoot down intruders, for now. “The Event Technical Committee ... has approved Craig Kieswetter as a replacement Liga win at Malaga and the France international missed Tuesday’s Champions League game By law, Brazil’s military can only shoot at unresponsive civilian planes player for Luke Wright in the England men’s squad,” the International Cricket Council said in against Schalke 04. “Benzema has recovered well and he trained with the rest of the team today on drug trafficking routes near its borders, but not over densely populat- a statement. without any problems,” Ancelotti told a news conference. ed urban areas where games will be played in 12 cities. The Air Force is Like Wright, South Africa-born Kieswetter was part of England’s “We had a small problem with Isco who arrived with a mild cold and had asking the Brazilian government to change the shoot-down law to allow 2010 World Twenty20 winning side. Faulkner’s wait on the side- some treatment before training and then trained normally,” added the effective defense of the air space during the 64 games of the June 12-July lines also got prolonged as the 23-year-old continues to Italian. “So all the squad is in good condition.” With 10 games left, 13 global soccer tournament, said Air Force Brigadier Antonio Carlos recover from a knee surgery which forced him out of Real have a three-point lead over second-placed city rivals Egito at a news conference on Friday. In the meantime, the anti-aircraft Australia’s test tour of South Africa. “He will miss tomor- Atletico Madrid, who play at bottom side Real Betis earlier today guns to be deployed near the stadiums cannot be fired at a plane flying row’s game,” Australia captain George Bailey told (1600). into a no-fly zone, said Egito, the military chief of air traffic over Brazil. reporters, still optimistic that the bowling all-rounder Champions Barca are a point further back in third and The Air Force and civilian aviation regulator ANAC announced that for would play a pivotal role in the tournament and beyond. defeat on Sunday would severely damage their chances of security reasons commercial flights will not be allowed to land at eight “I think his record is pretty handy in Twenty20. He’s winning a fifth La Liga title in six years. airports that are within the 7.2 kilometer (4 nautical mile) no-fly radius certainly played a huge role in Twenty20 and one-day Ancelotti said he would be sticking with his preferred midfield around the stadiums. The suspension will begin one hour before games teams since his debut. “He’s a really important player of Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric and Angel Di Maria at the Bernabeu, kick off and last for 4 to 5 hours, though take-offs will not be restricted. for us, he’s really versatile, adds another dimension to when Real will seek to extend their 31-match unbeaten run in all They do not affect the country’s main international airports. our team. We are just monitoring him. I think the way competitions stretching back to a 2-1 La Liga defeat at Barca in The suspensions will mostly disrupt flights at Rio de Janeiro’s domes- he plays, he’d become more and more October. Benzema will return at centre forward with Portugal cap- tic airport Santos Dumont and complicate the logistics of Brazilian carriers important to us as the tournament tain and La Liga top scorer Ronaldo on the left and Wales that have already sold 3,000 seats on flights that will have to be can- progresses.” —Reuters winger Gareth Bale on the right. —Reuters celed.—Reuters Thunder roll past Raptors TORONTO: Kevin Durant had 51 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder past the Toronto Raptors 119-118 in double overtime, despite losing NBA All-Star guard Russell Westbrook to a right knee injury in the third quarter. Durant hit the go-ahead 3 with 1.7 seconds left in the second overtime to win it for the Thunder, who won their fourth straight and finished off a 3-0 road trip. Reggie Jackson added 25 and Serge Ibaka had 13. Durant has scored 25 or more in 34 straight games, the NBA’s longest streak since Michael Jordan did it in 40 consecutive games in 1986-87. DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points and Amir Johnson had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors. KNICKS 93, 76ERS 92 Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Carmelo Anthony scored 21 as the New York Knicks beat Philadelphia for their eighth straight win. It was the 23rd straight loss for the Sixers, matching the Vancouver Grizzlies (1995-96), Denver Nuggets (1997-98) and Charlotte Bobcats (2011-12) for the second-longest single-season losing streak in NBA history. The Cleveland Cavaliers set the record of 26 con- secutive losses in the 2010-11 season. The Sixers (15-54) would have to pull off an upset to avoid DENVER: Boston Bruins center Gregory Campbell (11) reaches for the puck tying the record, with three straight road games up as Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nate Guenin (5) covers him in the third next at playoff-bound Chicago, San Antonio and TORONTO: Raptors forward Tyler Hansbrough (left) battles for the ball against Oklahoma period of an NHL hockey game. —AP Houston. If the Sixers lose all three, the potential record 27th loss could come March 29 vs. Detroit. Thunder guard Reggie Jackson (right) during the second half of an NBA basketball game. —AP SPURS 99, KINGS 79 Raptors. Brooklyn also moved within one game of MAVERICKS 122, NUGGETS 106 Bruins stop Avalanche Marco Belinelli scored 13 of his 17 points in the the Chicago Bulls for the fourth spot in the Eastern Monta Ellis scored 26 points and Dirk Nowitzki Conference playoff race. added 21 as Dallas pulled away from Denver in the DENVER: Patrice Bergeron and Carl BLACKHAWKS 3, HURRICANES 2 fourth quarter and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points Knotted at 45 with 6:49 left in the second quar- fourth quarter. The Mavericks avoided a season sweep Soderberg each had a goal and Chad Jonathan Toews’ short-handed break- and seven rebounds as NBA-leading San Antonio eased past Sacramento for its 12th straight win. ter, Brooklyn went on a 19-9 run to pull away from by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two Johnson stopped 31 shots for his third away goal early in the third period broke Manu Ginobili added 14 points, and Tiago the Celtics, who lost for the sixth time in their last weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at career shutout as the Boston Bruins beat a tie as Chicago edged Carolina. Patrick Splitter had 11 points and 11 rebounds. San seven games. three games. Vince Carter shook off a dislocated pinkie the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 on Friday Sharp scored his team-leading 30th goal Antonio (52-16) remained 11/2 games ahead of on his left hand in the first quarter to finish with 13. JJ night for their 11th win in a row. and Kris Versteeg ended an eight-game Oklahoma City and Indiana for the league’s best HEAT 91, GRIZZLIES 86 Hickson led Denver with 18 points and eight rebounds Boston became the first team to drought to help the Blackhawks win record. Ray Allen scored 18 points to lead Miami to a before leaving with an apparent injury in the fourth clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. without leading scorer Patrick Kane, who The winning streak also is San Antonio’s longest comeback victory over Memphis. Miami rallied from quarter. It’s the longest run for the Bruins since a was placed on long-term injured reserve since rolling off 12 in a row in November 2010. an 84-77 deficit with 4:08 remaining and scored 11 13-game winning streak in the 1970-71 after sustaining a lower-body injury on Isaiah Thomas scored 18 points and DeMarcus unanswered points. Allen’s 3-pointer with 3:27 SUNS 98, PISTONS 92 season. They pushed their point total to Wednesday. Cousins had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the remaining began the comeback and Dwyane Eric Bledsoe scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth 101, the 21st time the team has reached Corey Crawford made 26 saves. Kings, who were held to a season low in points. Wade’s jumper with 1:32 remaining tied it at 84. quarter as Phoenix pulled out a victory over Detroit. the 100-point threshold. Alexander Semin scored his 20th and Wade’s two free throws with 1:04 left gave the Heat Goran Dragic added 20 points, 15 in the first half, and Colorado pulled goalie Semyon 21st goals as the Hurricanes fought back PACERS 91, BULLS 79 their first lead since early in the third quarter.