sundayterritorian.com.au SPORT Thunder, Spurs in fight Paine a contender Matt Wade having an excep- severely broken finger, has keeper as well,’’ Clarke said. selectors who promoted him By ROBERT CRADDOCK tional recent tour of the West made a complicated issue ‘‘If he (Paine) is picked for at every opportunity before for West Indies after even more so. Australia A, he is obviously his injury, and privately con- MICHAEL CLARKE added a withdrew to a family illness. Paine seems behind the ot- in contention. Before Painey sidered him a future leader- BASKETBALL layer of intrigue to Austra- The sensitive nature of her two in the pecking order got injured he played Test ship candidate. lia’s wicket-keeping debate Haddin’s withdrawl has left and may well lose his Cricket and one-day cricket for Aust- When announcing that THE San Antonio Spurs and yesterday when he declared Australia keen to give him Australia contract but Clarke ralia, and it is great to see Paine would return for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tim Paine remains in conten- another chance but Wade’s added his name without him back playing. We are go- Australia A tour of England having stormed through the tion for national honours. form was exceptional. prompting yesterday. ing to have a tough decision.’’ in June-July, national selec- first two rounds of the NBA Australia faces an agonis- The return of Paine, con- ‘‘It is a great problem to Paine has played four Tests tion chairman John In- playoffs, begin their duel for ing call over its Test glove- sidered ahead of Wade before have and Tim Paine is going and 26 one-day matches for verarity noted they were the Western Conference man for the home series being sidelined for most of to England with the Australia Australia and his profession- keen to ‘‘accelerate his return crown tomorrow (NT time). against with the past two seasons with a A team, and he is a wonderful alism impressed the national to form’’. The Thunder, the domi- nant force in the West for much of the season, saw the Spurs assume that mantle with a late-season winning streak that has now reached 18 games. The Spurs, home of Boomers point guard Patty Mills, finished off the regular season with 10 suc- cessive victories before sweeping past the Utah Jazz and then the Los Angeles Clippers to reach the confer- ence finals for the first time since 2008. The young Thunder squad led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook dis- patched defending NBA champions Dallas in the first round, and the 2010 champions Los Angeles La- kers in the second as they seek a first title since the club moved to Oklahoma from Seattle. San Antonio host game one of the best-of-seven series, a week after the Spurs finished off the Clippers in a game four. The Spurs’ last defeat was an April 11 set- back against the Lakers. But San Antonio, who won four titles from 1999 through 2007, know the streak counts for nothing if they don’t advance. They were the top seeds in the West last year when they were stunned in the first round by Memphis. ‘‘As far as the winning streak is concerned, it doesn’t exist for us,’’ Spurs Waratahs batsman Navdavdeep Aujla has his eye on the ball against PINT in their district cricket match at Marrara yesterday Picture: MICHAEL FRANCHI coach Gregg Popovich said. ‘‘Each game is its own and we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t come up and it’s not PINT finds way to fight back and hold sway over Tahs even on the radar for us.’’ What the Spurs will draw By IAN BUTTERWORTH pair taking five wickets in hour after lunch, and both SCORES destroyers for Tracy, and the on is their wealth of post- quick succession. bowled beautifully on a very Villagers are looking the season experience. AFTER a sluggish start, PINT Waratahs recovered and good wicket. Stumps, Day 1 goods, reaching 1-107 in reply Tim Duncan, Tony Parker has the upper hand against reached 228 all out, with ‘‘Sam was aggressive with Waratahs 228 v PINT 0-38 with Simon Keen and and Manu Ginobili have 130 Waratahs at stumps on day Sam Mitchell (4-63) knocking the ball, and while they Southern Districts 262 v Tracy Michael Pollard each on playoff games as teammates, one of the Darwin Premier over the tail. played and missed and we Village 1-107 44 not out. while Popovich’s 116 Grade Cricket game played at PINT coach Nick Berry dropped catches, he persisted Nightcliff 263 v Palmerston 2-46 Joel Abhram (111) was the post-season wins are the Marrara yesterday. was looking for a lift from his and is now much better bow- mainstay in Nightcliff’s 263 third most for a coach be- Tahs elected to bat and team after a disastrous out- ler than in the past because against Palmerston. hind Phil Jackson (229) and looked comfortable (1-116) at ing in their last game. he maintains his line and wicket partnership between Jason Wilson and Matt Pat Riley (171). lunch, but an inspired spell of ‘‘I’m pretty happy because length for longer periods.’’ Bob Wilson (105) and opener Hanna with three wickets ‘‘They know that if they bowling after the break by we recovered extremely well PINT will commence day Mitchell Mullen (62), the each were the best with the just stick with each other PINT quick Luke Robins after being in trouble at two on 0-38. home team was bowled out ball for the Maroons, but at and the system that often ti- (3-37) and rising leg-spinner lunch,’’ Berry said. Southern Districts hosted for a competitive 262. 2-46, the Tigers will believe mes things are going to turn Joel Logan, put the Red ‘‘Both Luke and Joel Tracy Village, and on the Ili Tugaga (4-38) and Solo- they are on the verge of an your way,’’ Popovich said. Caps on their heels — the turned it around for us in the back of a 112-run second- mon Mire (3-58) were the upset win over the premiers.

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