6 September 29, 2020 Heat Beat Celtics 125-113 to Persepolis Drawn With Advance to NBA Finals Pakhtakor After Stunning Xavi DOHA, Qatar (Disaptches) - Iran’s Persepolis were drawn against Uzbek team Pakhtakor in the AFC Champions League quarterfinals on Monday after their shock win over Al Sadd, who are coached by Barcelona legend Xavi. Issa Alekasir’s brilliant late header ousted Al Sadd on Sunday, leaving Xavi furious as the Qatari team were denied a second-half penalty. “In my humble opinion, it’s a big shame that this competition, the best in Asia, does not have VAR. It’s a big shame,” Xavi said. Persepolis’s reward was a quarterfinal on Wednesday against Pakhta- kor, who beat Iran’s Esteghlal in the last 16. The other West Zone quarterfinal will be a Saudi derby between Al Nassr and Al Ahli. The West Zone games are being held in a bio-secure hub in Qatar. East Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum (0) and Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler (22) compete for a jump ball during the 2020 NBA Playoffs on Sept 27, 2020. Zone fixtures are yet to resume since the Champions League was inter- rupted by the coronavirus pandemic in March. MIAMI (AP) – The Miami Heat first two titles were with Miami in beat the Boston Celtics 125-113 on 2012 and 2013, the highlights of a Sunday night to win the Eastern four-year stint with the Heat that Alaphilippe 1st French Road Race World Champion Since 1997 Conference Finals in 6 games and ended in 2014. advance to the NBA Finals. That, not coincidentally, was the IMOLA, Italy (AP) -- Julian end of the tough course. just a dream day for me.’’ maining. The Heat will now move to face last time the Heat had reached Alaphilippe soloed to victory at the It was an emotional win for Ala- Laurent Brochard was the last He swiftly established a slim ad- the Los Angeles Lakers in the fi- this stage. James left to return to road cycling world championships philippe, whose father died in June, French rider to win the world road vantage over a world-class chase nals. Cleveland earlier than the Heat on Sunday, becoming France’s first and the 28-year-old was in tears race title. group and held them off to secure A title series like none other, to figured he would, Chris Bosh be- holder of the rainbow jersey since after he crossed the line and on the The final race of the champion- victory. end a season like none other. gan his fight with blood clots — a 1997. podium. ships featured a total of 5,000 me- The race took place exactly a The matchup is set, with the condition that ended his career — Alaphilippe had time to punch the ‘’At this moment it’s really hard to ters climbing in 258.2 kilometers week after the Tour de France end- Miami Heat and the Los Angeles not too long afterward and Miami air before raising his arms above say something,’’ he said. ‘’I want to (160 miles). Nine laps of a circuit ed with Tadej Pogacar becoming Lakers emerging as the last two descended from magnificent to his head as he crossed the finish say thank you to all my teammates started and finished on the city’s the youngest winner in the event’s teams standing in the chase to be mediocre in a hurry. line on Imola’s auto racing circuit who really believe in me today. Ev- auto racing track. 116-year history. crowned champions of the most The Lakers have that same goal, to finish first in the men’s road race. erybody did a great job. There were two brutal climbs on The 22-year-old Slovenian led tumultuous season in NBA history. of course. Belgian rider Wout van Aert won ‘’It was a dream of my career. each lap - the Mazzolano and the Sunday’s race into the final lap, The Heat won the Eastern Confer- Their motto in these playoffs has a sprint for second, 24 seconds be- Sometimes, I was so close, and I Cima Gallisterna - and Alaphilippe with an advantage of about 20 sec- ence title Sunday night, finishing been “Leave A Legacy,” a nod to hind Alaphilippe, with Marc Hirs- was never on the podium. I came attacked on the final ascent of the onds, after attacking with just over off Boston a day after the Lak- the great Kobe Bryant — the Lak- chi of Switzerland third at the here with a lot of ambition and it’s Gallisterna, with 12 kilometers re- 40 kilometers remaining. ers won the Western Conference ers legend who died, along with crown. his daughter Gianna and seven So, for the first time — well, ex- others, in a helicopter crash on Jan. 10-Man Juve Share Spoils With Roma in Serie A cluding the league’s inaugural sea- 26. The last Lakers’ championship son — two franchises that missed was in 2010, when Bryant got his and Cristiano Ronaldo bagging a brace find solutions, after all we were play- the playoffs the previous season fifth and last title. James has been each. ing against a solid team and we knew will meet in the NBA Finals. Game in the finals every year but once With Paulo Dybala not fully fit, Pirlo we would have difficulties,” said Pir- 1 of Heat-Lakers is Wednesday since. There never was a LeBron started new signing Alvaro Morata to lo. night at Walt Disney World. vs. Kobe finals, to the dismay of partner Ronaldo up front. “We are a team under construction LeBron James is bidding for many, but in its place comes a fi- Ronaldo’s penalty in the 44th minute and we didn’t have time to try more a fourth NBA championship, as nals trip where James and the Lak- wiped out Veretout’s spot-kick, just solutions in the pre-season, so let’s try well as a title with a third differ- ers will play with Bryant in very two minutes before the Frenchman re- to find them in these first few games,” ent franchise — and he’s about to much in mind. stored the lead for the Giallorossi. he added. become the first player to win a James is looking for his fourth Juve went a player down in the 62nd AC Milan continued their good form Finals MVP award with one team title. So are the Heat. minute as Adrien Rabiot was sent off as they won 2-0 away to Crotone, and then face that same team in a They stand four wins away — after collecting his second yellow. Franck Kessie’s penalty put the Ros- future championship series. His and in each other’s way. The Bianconeri got back on level soneri in charge in the first half, while terms again in the 68th minutes as new arrival Brahim Diaz sealed mat- Ronaldo steered his header into the ters after the break. Kvitova Powers Past Dodin Into net on Danilo’s cross. Coppa Italia holder Napoli trashed “We faced a team that attacked with Genoa 6-0, with Chucky Lozano scor- Second Round in Paris Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo, top, heads the ball to score his side’s many players and it was a different ing a brace, but captain Lorenzo In- second goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Roma match compared to the one against signe limped off with injury. and Juventus at Rome’s Olympic stadium, Sept 27, 2020. Sampdoria. We wanted to keep the In Sunday’s other fixtures, Sassuolo line tight, put pressure on the central enjoyed a 4-1 victory over newly- ROME (Dispatches) -- Andrea Pir- Stadium, but leveled each time to draw players and exploit the one-on-one in promoted Spezia, while Hellas Verona lo’s Juventus trailed twice at Olimpico 2-2 with Roma, with Jordan Veretout attack, but we weren’t always able to edged past Udinese 1-0. Hoffenheim Upset Defending Champions Bayern in Bundesliga BERLIN (Dispatches) - Hof- utes gone when Ermin Bicakcic fenheim ended Bayern Munich’s headed home Dennis Geiger’s run of 32 unbeaten games after corner kick to stun Hansi Flick’s Andrej Kramaric was on target men. twice in a 4-1 win to ensure a per- Bayern responded well but still fect start to the season in the final lacked in penetration to over- match of the Bundesliga second come Hoffenheim’s defense. To round. make things worse, Hoffenheim Bayern started highly moti- doubled their advantage eight Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic vated in the encounter and took minutes later as Munas Dabbur command while Hoffenheim capitalized on a misplaced clear- PARIS (Reuters) - Czech seventh said in her on-court interview. kept 11 men behind the ball in ance from Benjamin Pavard to seed Petra Kvitova put in a power- “So it was really tough from the the opening stages. beat goalkeeper Manuel Neuer packed show to beat Oceane Dodin beginning, but I found actually she Bayern looked more active into the far post corner. 6-3 7-5 on Monday and breeze into plays very aggressive, her shots are but wasn’t able to create clear- The “TSG” should have added the second round of the French similar as mine, so I was just trying cut chances against a well-posi- another goal to their lead but Open. to wait for the chance to break her tioned Hoffenheim defense. Hoffenheim’s goal scorer Ermin Bicakcic (2nd from right) celebrates with team- neither Christoph Baumgartner The 30-year-old last played in the serve.” Hoffenheim then grabbed the mates after scoring during the German Bundesliga soccer match between TSG nor Kramaric were able to beat U.S. Open on hardcourts and ar- Kvitova, who reached the semi- lead out of the blue with 16 min- 1899 Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich in Sinsheim, Germany, Sept 27, 2020. Neuer at the half hour mark. rived in Paris without participating finals at Roland Garros in 2012, in any lead-up events on clay. lost only two points in her service The twice Wimbledon champion games in the opening set and broke Tokyo Olympic Torch Relay Sets Date to Resume showed no signs of rust in her first Dodin in the eighth game to take TOKYO (Dispatches) - The Tokyo Olympic torch relay will resume on March 25 and With the motto “Hope Lights Our Way,” it will visit the three prefectures most clash with the French player, how- the lead. follow its originally planned route and schedule, starting in the Fukushima Prefecture. affected by the tsunami and earthquake (Fukushima (March 25-27), Iwate (June ever, serving strong and generating The 23-year-old Dodin, ranked Organizers are discussing torch relay modifications given the coronavirus pan- 16-18) and Miyagi (June 19-21)) for three days each. enough power in her strokes under 118th in the world, had not got past demic. Possible changes include the number of officials and staff involved and The relay leads up to the Opening Ceremony on July 23. the closed roof of Court Philippe the first round of a Grand Slam reducing the size of vehicle convoys. The torch relay originally began last March 12 in Olympia. The Greek portion of Chatrier. event since 2017 and it looked like As it stands, the relay will visit all 47 prefectures of Japan with emphasis on the the relay, originally scheduled for eight days, was called off on March 13 due to the “We never played each other be- being a quick defeat at her home area affected by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. pandemic after actor Gerard Butler was among the torch bearers in Sparta. fore, not even in practice,” Kvitova Grand Slam.