SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2015 SPORTS Nets snare Raptors

NEW YORK: Deron Williams scored a season- high 31 points, Thaddeus Young made the tiebreaking basket with 22 seconds left, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Toronto Raptors 114-109 on Friday night for their season-high sixth straight victory. Brook Lopez added 30 points and 17 rebounds for the Nets, who have surged into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Young, acquired from Minnesota for Kevin Garnett in February, tied his season high with 29 points. Young broke a 109-all tie when he swooped in for the rebound after Williams missed in the lane and Lopez kept it alive. DeMar DeRozan fin- ished with 27 points, eight rebounds and eight INDIANAPOLIS: Michigan State’s Lourawls Nairn Jr. dribbles during a practice session assists for the Raptors, who came in tied with for the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball. —AP Chicago for third place in the East. MAGIC 97, TIMBERWOLVES 84 Nikola Vucevic scored a career-high 37 points Don’t forget Sparty and grabbed 17 rebounds to power Orlando over Minnesota. Tobias Harris added 25 points and 12 boards to help the Magic snap a three- at this Final Four game skid. Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points for the NEW YORK: Kentucky is going for the first Valentine. Junior Bryn Forbes provides the Timberwolves, who once again had only eight perfect season in nearly four decades. Duke best 3-point threat off the bench. Freshman healthy players. The Wolves (16-60) have lost six and Wisconsin look gaudy enough with Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. adds energy, straight games and have lost at least 60 for the their No. 1 seeds. It would be easy to forget quickness and leadership beyond his years ninth time in franchise history. about Sparty at this Final Four. That also - not to mention the most dazzling name at would be a mistake. the Final Four. GRIZZLIES 100, THUNDER 92 Overlooked and underrated all season, Izzo certainly remembers being done in Jeff Green scored 22 points and Marc Gasol Michigan State is not some cuddly under- a year ago by UConn guard Shabazz Napier added 19 as Memphis defeated Oklahoma City. dog that made its year simply by getting it in the regional final. While the coach Green and Gasol were among six Grizzlies finish- to Indianapolis. No, this coach and this wouldn’t compare either of his starters to ing in double figures as Memphis won its second group of players are more than capable of Napier, he sure has plenty of confidence in straight and moved into a tie with Houston for cutting down the nets come Monday night. what they can do as a tandem. the second seed in the Western Conference and It wouldn’t even be that much of an upset. “They’re two coaches’ sons, and they act top spot in the Southwest Division. “I would be the first to admit that a like them,” Izzo said. “That makes them very Enes Kanter led the Thunder with 24 points month and a half ago I questioned where valuable to this team.” The Spartans are a and 17 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 18, we are,” coach Tom Izzo said Friday. “But bit undersized, which will become an even but only six after the first quarter while connect- we’ve earned our right to be here, too. So bigger headache if they get past Duke and ing on only five of his 20 shots. we’re not going to apologize anymore.” face Kentucky (38-0) in the championship Granted, the Spartans (27-11) have lost game (assuming the Wildcats beat SPURS 123, NUGGETS 93 more games than the other three teams Wisconsin in the other semi). Danny Green scored 21 points, including 6- combined. But they’ve won 12 of their last Michigan State’s playing rotation for-6 shooting on 3-pointers, and San Antonio 15, and two of the defeats went to over- includes only two players taller than 6-foot- Spurs cruised past Denver after losing Tiago time. The only game the Spartans weren’t 6; Kentucky’s nine-deep behemoth has Splitter to a right calf injury during a strong start. really competitive in during that span was a only one player shorter than that. Everyone Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and Aron 68-61 loss at Wisconsin, when they trailed struggles to match up with the Wildcats’ Baynes added 18 points in 19 minutes for San by 22 in the second half before rallying front line, but the 6-0 Trice and 5-10 Nairn Antonio, which has won six straight. The Spurs down the stretch to make it more would also have their hands full against (50-26) extended their league record of consecu- respectable. Aaron and Andrew Harrison. Don’t expect tive 50-win seasons to 16 straight. Danilo In fact, five of Michigan State’s losses the Spartans to be intimidated by anyone, Gallinari scored 20 points to lead Denver, which were in OT. “They’re six possessions away however. After being seeded seventh by trailed by as many as 37 points despite shooting from having 30-something wins or being a the NCAA selection committee, they 47 percent from the field. NEW YORK: Toronto Raptors’ Terrence Ross (31) defends Brooklyn Nets’ Thaddeus Young (30) number one or number two seed,” said opened the tournament with an impressive during the first half of an NBA basketball game. —AP Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose team victory over a Georgia team that gave WIZARDS 101, KNICKS 87 will face the Spartans in Saturday’s semifi- Kentucky all it could handle late in the reg- Marcin Gortat scored 19 points, Bradley Beal Miami in the competition for the final playoff Cousins’ second consecutive triple-double. The nals. “That’s how crazy our game is, ular season. After that, Michigan State added 18, and Washington defeated New York. spot in the Eastern Conference with six games All-Star center had 24 points, 20 rebounds and a because they’ve been in so many close knocked off a second seed (Virginia), a third Otto Porter, starting his second straight game left. OJ Mayo led Milwaukee with 24 points. career-high 13 assists. He also blocked four games.” seed (Oklahoma) and a fourth seed for the Wizards, scored 17. John Wall was held to Boston was led by Isaiah Thomas with 23 and shots. What makes us believe Michigan State (Louisville) - the toughest road conquered six points on 3-of-13 shooting, but had a career- Avery Bradley with 17. has a chance to finish the job in Indy? Start by any of the Final Four teams. high 18 assists for Washington, which has won TRAIL BLAZERS 107, LAKERS 77 with the guy on the sideline. Amazingly, “They’ve had an underdog mentality all three of four. PELICANS 101, KINGS 95 CJ McCollum scored a career-high 27 points, given the coaching royalty that reached the March, people counting them out because Reserve Ricky Ledo scored a career-high 21 Eric Gordon scored 21 points, Tyreke Evans Damian Lillard added 20 and Portland celebrat- Final Four - Krzyzewski, Kentucky’s John they had a couple of losses,” Duke’s Quinn points for the Knicks, who have dropped nine nearly had a triple-double and New Orleans ed its Northwest Division title with a victory over Calipari and Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan are cer- Cook said. “It’s going to be a tough, tough straight. With a game at Memphis on Saturday, gained ground in the playoff race by outlasting Los Angeles. tainly no slouches - Izzo might be the best game. They’re here for a reason.” the Wizards rested Paul Pierce (for the second short-handed Sacramento. Arron Afflalo scored 17 points for the Blazers, of them all at getting the most out of his If the Spartans need another shot of straight game) and Nene. Drew Gooden started Evans finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds who clinched their first division title since 2009 team in March and April. confidence, they’ve certainly taken note of in place of Nene and grabbed 13 rebounds. and nine assists against his former team to pow- earlier in the night with Oklahoma City’s loss at His record in the NCAA tournament is the team that won the title a year ago. er the Pelicans to their fourth straight win. The Memphis. 46-16, a winning percentage of .741 that is UConn, which denied Michigan State a trip BULLS 88, PISTONS 82 Pelicans (41-34) pulled within a half-game of Rookie Jordan Clarkson had 27 points, seven only slightly behind Coach Cal (.770) and to the Final Four, went on to take the cham- Pau Gasol had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City (42-34) for the final playoff spot rebounds and five assists for the Lakers, who Coach K (.767), even though those two pionship as a No. 7 seed. his 50th double-double of the season, helping in the Western Conference. Sacramento dropped matched the franchise record with their 55th clearly had more talented teams over the “It tells you that no seed matters,” Izzo Chicago beat Detroit. Jimmy Butler scored 18 its fourth game in a row despite Demarcus loss. —AP years. Beyond Izzo, the Spartans have plen- said. “It’s how your guys play. The energy points and Joakim Noah added nine rebounds ty of experience and depth in the back- that our guys have played with, the enthu- and 10 assists as the Bulls won for the fourth court. For all the talk about Kentucky’s siasm, I’m amazed. We had two practices at time in five games. Chicago pulled ahead of NBA results/standings imposing size, it’s tough to win a champi- home (before traveling to Indy). We got Toronto for third place in the Eastern Conference onship without stellar guard play. better in those practices. That shouldn’t after the Raptors’ loss to Brooklyn. Indiana 93, Charlotte 74; Washington 101, NY Knicks 87; Milwaukee 110, Boston 101; Brooklyn 114, Toronto 109; Michigan State fits the bill. The top scor- happen at this time of year.” Better keep an Reggie Jackson had 22 points and nine assists Chicago 88, Detroit 82; Memphis 100, Oklahoma City 92; Orlando 97, Minnesota 84; San Antonio 123, Denver 93; ers are senior Travis Trice and junior Denzel eye on Sparty at this Final Four.—AP for Detroit, while Andre Drummond had 14 New Orleans 101, Sacramento 95; Portland 107, LA Lakers 77. points, 22 rebounds and six blocks. The Pistons Eastern Conference Western Conference had won five of seven. Atlantic Division Northwest Division W L PCT GB Portland 49 26 .653 - PACERS 93, HORNETS 74 Toronto 45 31 .592 - Oklahoma City 42 34 .553 7.5 Rodney Stuckey scored 15 points off the Brooklyn 35 40 .467 9.5 Utah 34 41 .453 15 bench to lead Indiana past Charlotte. CJ Watson Boston 34 42 .447 11 Denver 28 48 .368 21.5 had 13 points and four steals, and C.J. Miles Philadelphia 18 58 .237 27 Minnesota 16 60 .211 33.5 added 12 points and six rebounds for the Pacers, NY Knicks 14 62 .184 31 Pacific Division who had lost two in a row. Gerald Henderson Central Division Golden State 62 13 .827 - had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Marvin Cleveland 49 27 .645 - LA Clippers 50 26 .658 12.5 Chicago 46 30 .605 3 Phoenix 38 38 .500 24.5 Williams, Bismack Biyombo, and Lance Milwaukee 38 38 .500 11 Sacramento 26 49 .347 36 Stephenson each finished with 10 points for the Indiana 33 43 .434 16 LA Lakers 20 55 .267 42 Hornets, who have lost five of their last seven. Detroit 29 47 .382 20 Southwest Division Southeast Division BUCKS 110, CELTICS 101 Atlanta 56 19 .747 - Houston 52 24 .684 - Ersan Ilyasova led Milwaukee’s third-quarter Washington 43 33 .566 13.5 Memphis 52 24 .684 - surge from a halftime deficit with 11 points and Miami 34 41 .453 22 San Antonio 50 26 .658 2 Charlotte 32 43 .427 24 Dallas 46 30 .605 6 the Bucks hurt the Boston Celtics’ playoff New Orleans 41 34 .547 10.5 chances with a 110-101 win Friday night. Orlando 23 53 .303 33.5 Boston dropped a half-game behind idle Ugandan athlete fears for life

KAMPALA: Ugandan star distance runner and and also the police, but said the coach-who has appreciate what I’ve done, also helping the AUSTRALIA: Dual Olympic champion Grant Hackett swims to finish third in the 400- Commonwealth Gold medalist Moses Kipsiro also been accused of practicing witchcraft-has young girls and being a role model. I have just metres freestyle final in his comeback swim after seven years out of the pool at says he may have to flee the east African country been cleared of any wrongdoing. been thrown aside.” Australia’s world championship trials. —AP after receiving threats stemming from sexual The UAF, however, has been accused by some Kipsiro said Britain’s Mo Farah, a regular train- harassment claims he made against a coach. female Ugandan MPs of dragging its feet or even ing partner, was concerned about him. “He has Uganda, an emerging athletics power that trying to cover up the scandal. been saying ‘Kipsiro this is not good what’s hap- Shocked Hackett has been trying to take on traditional regional pening to you, look here I’m trying to make you rivals Kenya and Ethiopia, was hit by an athletics POLICE INVESTIGATING run but this is demoralising’,” said Kipsiro. —AFP sex abuse scandal nearly a year ago. Kipsiro said he has since been treated like “an clocks third It broke after 28-year-old Kipsiro, who enemy” and “rebel” of the UAF since. On the retained his 10,000-metre title at last year’s morning of March 25, as Kipsiro was preparing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, made public to travel to China for the World Cross Country SYDNEY: Double Olympic champion told reporters after the final. “I can’t complaints from his female teammates against a competitions with the Ugandan team, he said he Grant Hackett shocked himself with an believe I can do that after six months. national coach. received a text message saying ‘I will deal with unlikely third place finish in the 400 metre Maybe I am a bit older and stronger. Who “The threats have been going on since I you trust me’, forcing him to cancel his trip. freestyle at the Australian swimming knows what I can do in another six raised this issue,” Kipsiro told AFP, saying he has “I am very upset because I was supposed to championships on Friday, his first meet months?” Rated one of the greatest dis- received death threats and been forced to move finish China and then go to Eugene in May to since the 2008 Beijing Games. tance swimmers ever, Hackett returned to from his rural training base to the safety of the run the 10,000 metres,” he said. Kipsiro said he The 34-year-old Hackett, who won the pool for his own wellbeing rather capital Kampala. “I’m very worried, I can’t even reported the threats to police on Monday, and 1,500m freestyle gold at the 2000 Sydney than with an eye on the 2016 Rio Games concentrate. I can’t even train because you know the police have promised to investigate and Olympics and defended the title four years after seeing compatriot Ian Thorpe’s when someone says ‘I want to deal with you’... he provide security. later at Athens, clocked a time of three attempted comeback to make the can do anything,” he added. When asked if he was looking at leaving minutes, 46.53 seconds to finish behind London 2012 team end in failure. Hackett The coach at the centre of the allegations, Uganda, the married father-of-three said: “If surprise winner Mack Horton and defend- endured a difficult start to 2014, flying to Peter Wemali, was accused of telling some of the things are not going well then I will look for oth- ing champion David McKeon. the United States to spend time in rehab female runners to have sex with him in order to er solutions”. Hackett, who won 10 world titles and to treat a dependency to insomnia med- perform better. “I want to move freely, but now I have to hide also a silver medal in the 1,500m at the ication Zolpidem. But his impressive “He was saying that you should get pregnant myself all the time,” said Kipsiro, adding he had 2008 Beijing Games, had qualified fourth showing will only add to expectations he and then after that you undergo abortion and considered seeking asylum abroad. fastest for the final in three minutes, 49.97 can make the relay team for the world then... it will enlargen (your private parts) and “I was telling my manger if things continue seconds-his best time since returning to championships in Russia later this year by you can run well and you’ll be like Kenyans and like this when I’ll seek help from him to maybe the pool six month ago. finishing in the top six of the 200m Ethiopians,” Kipsiro said. He said he immediately get me another country where I can run,” he said. “I don’t know what is going on,” Hackett freestyle later in the meet. —Reuters alerted the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) “I love my country, but now they don’t even Moses Kipsiro