6 February 13, 2020 Harden, Westbrook Help Sepahan Beat UAE’s Al Ain 4-0 Rockets Beat Celtics 116-105 in AFC Champions League home the opener from close range their 2020 campaign with a 2-nil off Saeid Aghaei’s cross. away-defeat against al-Duhail. Sepahan, meeting Al Ain for the With just five minutes into the first time in the competition, tight- match, Almoez Ali’s persistence ened their grip a minute after the coupled with a lack of discipline restart thanks to Kiros’ quick feet from Persepolis defenders allowed inside the box when he pounced on Mario Mandzukic to get his first an errant back pass to slot the ball goal in Asia’s premier club compe-

past a full stretch Khalid Eisa. tition. Houston Rockets’ James Harden (13) drives toward the basket as Boston Celtics’ Kemba Walker Al Ain, the 2003 AFC Champi- Persepolis could have scored the defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, in Houston. ons League winners, looked out of equalizer just four minutes later, HOUSTON (AP) — After Celtics. Harden made 17 of 18 sorts as they began to give the ball only to be denied twice by al-Du- James Harden and Russell West- foul shots. brook combined for 78 points Gordon Hayward had 20 points away and fell further behind in the hail keeper, Amine Lecomte. Tuesday night, Harden was asked in Boston’s first loss since Jan. 52nd minute as Aghaei found an un- The hosts went up again in the just how dangerous this combina- 26. Jaylen Brown scored 19, and DUBAI (Dispatches) - Sepahan 18th minute when Kodjo Laba’s marked Rafiei, who blasted the ball 13th minute, as they capitalized tion can be when it gets rolling. Jayson Tatum had 15 on 5-for-15 FC of Iran have begun thier 2020 right footed shot from outside the into the bottom right corner to put on another defensive mistake. This Harden scored 42 points, shooting. AFC Champions League campaign box was saved by Sepahan goalie Westbrook had 36 and Houston Westbrook, who is in his first Sepahan three goals up. time it was their Brazilian winger, snapped Boston’s seven-game season in Houston after a trade on high note after easing past UAE’s Payam Niazmand. Sepahan inflicted more damage in Edmilson, who fired home from a win streak with a 116-105 victo- from Oklahoma City, is excited AL Ain 4-0 in Group D at the Hazza Laba caused problems for Sepa- the 78th minute through Tayebi’s tight angle to give his team a 2-goal ry over the Celtics in a game that for the possibilities for this line- Bin Zayed Stadium han again shortly after when the header into the top left corner fol- cushion. showcased the Rockets’ dynamic up once they have more experi- Sepahan took a half-time lead Togolese international came within small-ball lineup. ence with it. lowing Omid Noorafkan’s cross. With the second half wearing off, Harden had eight rebounds Harden, who scored 19 points courtesy of Mohammad Mohebbi’s striking distance from the counter- Sepahan will face Qatar’s Al Sadd Persepolis’ chances became more and seven assists and Westbrook in the third quarter to help Hous- header, while goals from Brazilian attack but Shayan Mosleh blocked SC, while Al Ain will be hoping to serious, as Anthony Stokes was finished with 10 rebounds and ton take control, picked up his Kiros, Soroush Rafiei and Moham- his goal-bound effort. bounce back against Al Nassr of close to scoring on his continental five assists as the Rockets used fifth foul with about eight min- mad Tayebi sealed an emphatic vic- Sepahan’s hard work paid off a starting lineup without a true utes left. But he was able to stay Saudi Arabia. debut, bit his effort forced a fine center after trading Clint Capela in the game and avoid fouling tory. handsomely on 38 minutes when In AFC Champions League Group save by Lecomte, as al-Duhail held last week. out. Al Ain’s first chance came in the Mohebbi rose the highest to nod C, Persepolis have kick-started on for the 2-nil victory. Houston broke it open with a Robert Covington had 12 points 15-2 run that made it 116-98 with and seven rebounds in his fourth about two minutes left. Harden game since he was acquired as scored six points during the de- part of the four-team trade that Tsitsipas Progresses in Rotterdam, Fognini Out cisive stretch, and Danuel House sent Capela to the Hawks. ROTTERDAM (Reuters) - Sec- Fognini lost his focus follow- had five. The Rockets were up by seven Boston had two turnovers and with about eight minutes left ond seed Stefanos Tsitsipas clawed ing an argument with the um- missed numerous shots to al- when Harden picked up three his way back from a set and a pire over a call in the second set low the Rockets to turn the close fouls in about 30 seconds. The break down to beat Poland’s Hu- and the Italian also asked for the game into one where D’Antoni Celtics then closed to 96-94 on bert Hurkacz 6-7(2) 6-3 6-1 and trainer’s help in strapping up his cleared the bench for the last Brown’s 3-pointer and a dunk by minute with the game well in Tatum with 5:40 to go. reach the last-16 of the Rotterdam leg below the knee. hand. But Houston made five straight Open on Tuesday. Khachanov sailed through the The Rockets enjoyed a big ad- free throws to push the lead to Canadian teenager Felix Au- second set with two breaks of vantage at the line, going 37 for 101-94 before making the big ger-Aliassime outlasted Ger- serve and Fognini’s unforced er- 42 compared to 20 for 25 for the run to put the game away. many’s Jan-Lennard Struff to ror count of 36 only made things win 6-3 1-6 6-3 and advance, easier for the Russian. Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic Set for while Italy’s Fabio Fognini was Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev upset 6-3 6-3 by Russia’s Karen knocked out Nikoloz Basilashvi- Italian Cup Clash Khachanov. li 6-2 6-3 in what was the short- Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas Tsitsipas reacted well to go- est match of the first round, with ing 2-0 down in the second set, pair. set in 46 minutes, before domi- the 22-year-old wrapping up the fighting back strongly to beat Tsitsipas needed a medical nating in the decisive third. encounter in only 55 minutes Hurkacz, who was celebrating timeout to deal with a shoulder Auger-Aliassime, 19, who had after winning 91% of his first his 23rd birthday. problem after making unforced his breakthrough season last serve points. The Greek big-hitter, who was errors in a poor tiebreak, and year when he climbed up to 17th Rublev’s record is 12-1 this knocked out in the third round Hurkacz quickly stole a march in the rankings, nearly threw it year, having won titles in Doha of the Australian Open, has now in the second set before Tsitsipas away in the second set against and Adelaide and losing only at beaten Hurkacz five times out of launched his comeback. Struff when he lost five games the Australian Open in the last- six, although this was another The world number six broke to in a row before he regained his 16 to semi-finalist Alexander close encounter between the go 3-2 up and went on to take the composure in the final set. Zverev. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 23 goals in all competitions this season MILAN (AFP) - Cristiano Ron- Ibrahimovic, 38, has scored three Vettel Remains Ferrari’s First Choice aldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are set goals since returning to Milan last switch, according to team boss Mat- discussing with him and we will to go head-to-head in Thursday’s month. tia Binotto. continue discussing, but he is cer- Italian Cup semi-final, first leg be- The Swede headed in the second Vettel – who is out of contract at tainly our first option, our prefer- tween Juventus and AC Milan at the goal on Sunday after setting up the the end of 2020 – was outperformed ence.” San Siro. first, but Inter hit back with four Both Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic second-half strikes. by Ferrari team-mate Charles Vettel – a four-time world cham- scored at the weekend in defeats “I showed that I can still make a Leclerc as Hamilton claimed a sixth pion – could only manage fifth as Juventus fell 2-1 at Hellas Ve- difference, even at 38,” he said. F1 world championship last year. position in last season’s champion- rona, while AC Milan threw away But Inter striker Romelu Lukaku Hamilton is also entering the fi- ship, behind winner Hamilton and a two-goal lead in a 4-2 defeat by will be looking to upstage the two city rivals Inter. other former Manchester United nal year of his deal with Mercedes adrift of fourth-placed team-mate “It wasn’t the result we wanted,” players against Napoli in the other amid ongoing speculation but Bi- Leclerc. said the 35-year-old Ronaldo de- last-four first leg on Wednesday. notto talked up Vettel. Asked if Hamilton could be a spite becoming the first Juventus Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli, de- “Seb is our first choice at the mo- fall-back option if Vettel moves on, player to score in 10 successive spite their current slump, ousted league games, just one game short holders Lazio in the quarter-finals. ment,” said Binotto on Tuesday as Binotto added: “We are focused on Lewis Hamilton continues to be linked with Ferrari, who attempted to play down the of the Serie A record. “There’s a new king in town,” a speculation on Tuesday. Ferrari unveiled their car for the our drivers - and we are consider- The five-time Ballon d’Or win- jubilant Lukaku wrote on Twitter BERLIN (Dispatches) - Sebastian spite rumors linking Mercedes star 2020 season. ing Seb as our option at the mo- ner has scored 23 goals in all com- after scoring the fourth goal for In- Vettel is still Ferrari’s first choice de- Lewis Hamilton with a Formula One “Obviously it is something we are ment.” petitions this season. ter in Sunday’s derby.