Tokyo Olympics 2020: Indian Olympic athletes innovate amid lockdown

For someone who lost a season to a nagging elbow injury that needed surgery, Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra understandably welcomed the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games last year. The mop-haired former world junior champion, potentially independent India’s first track-and-field Olympic medalist, had hoped to use the extra time to get back to full fitness and try to find his best form. Instead, the 23-year-old was soon sent scurrying back indoors as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world’s second-most populous nation, then surged again this year. Chopra is one of about 90 Tokyo-bound Indian athletes who have spent much of the past 12 months agonizing over the loss of precious practice time in an Olympic year. “There’s been an extended period of over two years since I competed in an international competition,” he told reporters. “As an athlete, there’s only so much one can train and the lack of competition is definitely a factor that’s been playing on my mind.” Chopra was hoping to train and compete in Turkey this month, but the Athletics Federation of India suspended their camp after being told the athletes would have to complete two weeks of hard quarantine on arrival. The frustration for aspirant Olympians has been palpable and athletes such as table tennis player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran have been forced to innovate to stay sharp during the lengthy lockdowns. Left with no practice partner last year, the tech-savvy paddler used a robot he had imported from Germany and finally booked his Tokyo spot in March. “It can fire around 120 balls per minute. It’s basically like a feeder one, but you can add a lot of randomness into it,” the 28-year-old told reporters by telephone. “You can set up the ball trajectory and frequency, you can set up the spin and speed, you can set up like one ball close to

Musgrove escapes jams against Cards

‘GRIND’: The starter said there are games that ‘you’re going to have throughout the year’ in which the pitcher has to ‘not give up ... and find a way to limit the damage’

Joe Musgrove on Friday found himself in unfavorable counts and more jams than he would have liked, but still got his first win since throwing a no-hitter on April 9, making it through five innings, while Manny Machado drove in two runs for the San Diego Padres, who beat the St Louis Cardinals 5-4 in the first meeting between the teams since the Padres eliminated the Cardinals from the playoffs last year. Musgrove (3-4) had lost four decisions in five starts since pitching the first no-hitter in Padres history against the Texas Rangers. He held the Cards to one run and five hits while striking out five and walking four. “It wasn’t the prettiest tonight, but I feel like I did a good job of keeping us in the game,” Musgrove said. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his major-league-leading 13th save in as many chances. He allowed Nolan Arenado’s solo home run with two outs, his seventh. San Diego had only four hits, but drew 12 walks against five Cardinals pitchers. The Padres beat the Cardinals 2-1 in the wild-card round last season before being swept in the National League Division Series by the eventual World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Musgrove got into and out of trouble in three straight innings. In the third, he loaded the bases with one out on a single and consecutive walks before getting Arenado to ground into a slick double play started by rookie second baseman Tucupita Marcano. The big right-hander allowed Yadier Molina’s leadoff double in the fourth before striking out the side sandwiched around an intentional walk to Harrison Bader. Musgrove loaded the bases again in the sixth, but all the Cardinals got out of it was a sacrifice fly by Molina. “There’s outings like that, that you’re going to have throughout the year, and you’ve got to be

Mavericks book a playoffs berth

Luka Doncic’s 11th triple-double of the season on Friday propelled the Dallas Mavericks to a 114-110 victory over the Toronto Raptors and into the NBA playoffs. Doncic scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out 11 assists as the Mavs held off a late challenge from the short-handed Raptors, whose seven absentees included stars Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet. Kristaps Porzingis scored 21 points and Dorian Finney-Smith drained two late three-pointers for the Mavs, who saw a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter dwindle to two points with 4.9 seconds remaining. A pair of free-throws from Josh Richardson pushed the Mavericks’ lead back to four with 3.9 seconds left and Dallas notched a sixth win in their past seven games to assure themselves of a playoff spot. They avoided the NBA’s play-in tournament, in which the seventh-through-10th-placed teams in each conference battle for the final two post-season berths. “Avoiding the play-in is significant,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s important. There’s too many advantages to not being in the play-in situation.” However, the Washington Wizards were delighted to clinch a play-in spot. Fueled by Russell Westbrook’s latest triple-double, the Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-105 to secure a berth and eliminate the Chicago Bulls from contention. Westbrook scored 21 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and handed out 17 assists for the 183rd triple-double of his career — extending the all-time record he claimed when he surpassed Oscar Robertson with his 182nd on Monday. Davis Bertans scored 17 points, while Japanese forward Rui Hachimura and Robin Lopez 14 apiece as seven Washington players scored in double figures. “We’re thankful to have the opportunity to make the playoffs,” Westbrook said. “Our job now is to take care of business for one more game and move up in the standings.” Elsewhere, the pieces of the playoff puzzle continued to fall

Colorado program steers racers onto track

Frustrated by an increase in dangerous street racing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Denver police have deployed the department’s helicopter to track races, closed lanes in areas often used by racers and sent officers to places where the groups meet. However, law enforcement have also shifted gears to tackle the problem by using a racetrack in the foothills west of the city to provide a safe venue for those who feel the need for speed. The Colorado State Patrol has teamed with Bandimere Speedway to lure racers from public areas to a more controlled environment, even allowing participants to race a trooper driving a patrol car. On a recent day, dozens of drivers lined up to race at the speedway, revving their engines and squealing their tires before hurtling down the quarter-mile (400m) track. Most drove highly tuned vehicles, but there was the occasional stock SUV or pickup. “This is a great alternative to street racing. You can bring out whatever you have, be it a supercar or mom’s minivan, grandpa’s Buick. We want to see them all out here,” said State Trooper Josh Lewis, who beat a Toyota SUV in his first race last week by topping out at nearly 143kph. “And you can race a cop, and do so legally.” The Colorado State Patrol has been involved in the “Take it to the Track” event for more than a decade, but its goals have gained new importance and urgency after two recent high-profile street racing incidents in the area. On April 3, police say a mother of two who was delivering food was killed when a street racer broadsided her car with his SUV in the heart of downtown Denver. About a month earlier, hundreds of street racers clogged a stretch of interstate in suburban Aurora, some allegedly blocking the shoulders to keep officers away. Police warned

Jets win their last regular-season game

Kyle Connor scored twice on Friday as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 in the regular-season finale for both teams. Mason Appleton and Jansen Harkins, with an empty-netter, also scored, while Connor Hellebuyck made 34 saves to help the Jets finish 30-23-3. Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev scored, while Jack Campbell stopped 20 shots for North Division champions Toronto. The Maple Leafs finished 35-14-7. Toronto gave forward Mitch Marner the night off, with Adam Brooks taking his spot on a line with Auston Matthews and Alex Galchenyuk. The game meant little as both teams already have their first-round playoff matches set. The Jets start their first-round series with the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday in Edmonton, while the Maple Leafs welcome Montreal Canadiens for game 1 on Thursday — the first post-season meeting between the Original Six rivals since 1979. Meanwhile, by the time the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks end their seasons, the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins will be well into the first round of their playoff series. In another bizarre anomaly in an NHL season with a COVID-19 backdrop, Calgary and Vancouver are to play each other three times next week, while every other team in the league is either squaring off in the post-season or already done for the year. Neither the Flames nor the Canucks made the playoffs and the results of their three games will only count toward where the clubs rank in the entry draft lottery. The Flames-Canucks games were put off earlier this season when a COVID-19 outbreak hit Vancucer and paused the team’s schedule for three weeks. So an NHL season that was originally going to end on Saturday last week is to finish with back-to-back meetings of the Canucks and Flames on Tuesday and Wednesday. Playing out the string while other teams have already embarked on their Stanley Cup

Dortmund win DFB-Pokal final

MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Jadon Sancho could have claimed a hat-trick late on after rounding Leipzig ‘keeper Peter Gulacsi, but failed to get his shot away

Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland both netted twice on Thursday as Borussia Dortmund won the DFB-Pokal with an emphatic 4-1 win over RB Leipzig to spoil Julian Nagelsmann’s hopes of leaving with a title. Dortmund turned on the style at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, converting all of their three first-half shots on target to sweep Leipzig aside, as Sancho netted twice either side of a superb Haaland goal. “I am very happy that I could score two goals and set up one for Haaland,” Sancho told ARD. The England winger could have claimed a hat-trick late on after rounding Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, but failed to get his shot away. “I don’t know what happened, I am sure I am going to look back on this game and regret not getting my hat-trick,” Sancho said. “Next time I will shoot first — sorry Dortmund fans.” Spain midfielder Dani Olmo pulled a goal back for Leipzig, before Haaland grabbed his second in the dying stages, despite slipping as he connected. Dortmund lifted the DFB-Pokal for the fifth time in the club’s history. “It’s unbelievable, I am proud of the morale the team has shown in the past few weeks,” said captain Marco Reus after Dortmund also got back into the Bundesliga’s UEFA Champions League places. Defeat in Berlin dashed Nagelsmann’s hopes of winning the first senior title of his career before leaving after two years coaching RB Leipzig to take the helm at Bayern Munich next season. RB Leipzig, who were only founded in 2009, are also waiting for a first major title having also lost the 2018-2019 final to Bayern. “I’m proud of the team, but it’s not good to lose a final,” Nagelsmann said. “We were a bit too passive in our own box and we had to much to do at 3-0 down.” Haaland returned to the Dortmund lineup after a

Devin Booker, Suns keep Trail Blazers waiting

Devin Booker on Thursday drained two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining to lift Phoenix to a 118-117 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers that kept the Suns in the hunt for the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The narrow victory in a tense duel that saw 25 lead changes along with 18 ties prevented the Trail Blazers from officially locking up their playoff spot. Veteran point guard Chris Paul paced the Suns with 26 points, one of seven Phoenix players to score in double figures. Forward Mikal Bridges and reserve Cameron Payne had 21 points apiece, while Booker finished with 18 as the Suns withstood a 41-point performance from Blazers guard Damian Lillard that was supplemented by 27 from C.J. McCollum. Lillard’s driving layup with 34.7 seconds remaining put the Trail Blazers up 117-114, but Bridges narrowed the gap with two free throws. After a Lillard miss from three-point range, Booker handed the Trail Blazers a lifeline as he was whistled for traveling as he tried to spin away from Carmelo Anthony, giving Portland the ball. However, the Blazers could not take advantage, with Robert Covington missing two free throws. The Suns had a last inbounds chance after a timeout when Portland’s Norman Powell was called for a foul and Booker stepped up to make two free throws to settle it. “That’s a good team we played over there,” Paul said. “We knew Dame was going to get going late and we held them off.” Lillard scored 24 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, but his trademark “Dame Time” heroics were not enough for a Portland team that dropped to sixth in the West, half a game behind Dallas with one game remaining against Denver tomorrow. The Suns are one game behind Utah for first place in the West with two games to play. In Miami,

Liverpool down United to boost their top-four hopes

Liverpool on Thursday kept their chances of a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League in their own hands with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Juergen Klopp’s men still need to win their remaining three games to guarantee a place in the Premier League’s top four, but cleared the biggest hurdle in their path with a first victory away to United since 2014. Roberto Firmino scored either side of halftime after Diogo Jota canceled out Bruno Fernandes’ early opener for the hosts. Marcus Rashford’s strike set up a grandstand finish, but Mohamed Salah secured a vital win in the final minute as Liverpool moved up to fifth in the table. “We are still in the game, still in the race. That is all we could do tonight,” Klopp said. “It was necessary. Without this result we don’t have to talk about it.” The clash between English soccer’s two most successful clubs had been postponed 11 days ago as United fans stormed the pitch and clashed with police amid protests against the club’s owners. A peaceful protest took place before kickoff, as supporters again voiced their anger at the Glazer family. Distrust of the Americans has been reignited by United’s part in a failed European Super League project, that collapsed within 48 hours last month due to a backlash from fans, players, governments and governing bodies. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made 10 changes from a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City on Tuesday which sealed the title for Manchester City. The Norwegian restored the majority of his regular starting lineup for United’s fourth game in seven days, but the presence of Harry Maguire was badly missed, with the United captain sidelined by an ankle injury. “Of course you are going to miss him, but he’s out and we’ve got to deal with that,” Solskjaer said. “They deserved the

Reds go from champs to chumps in opening game

Newly crowned Australian champions the Queensland Reds yesterday received a harsh reality check when New Zealand’s Otago Highlanders outclassed them 40-19 in the opening Super Rugby Trans Tasman match in Dunedin. The Highlanders scored six tries to three in the new tournament, which pits Australian and New Zealand clubs against each other for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic ended the old Super Rugby competition. The Reds, fresh from a thrilling win over the ACT Brumbies in the Super AU final, were comprehensively outplayed, underlining the challenge facing Australian teams against their well-drilled New Zealand counterparts. “It’s very frustrating, the Highlanders were very good tonight, they pressured us and made the most of our mistakes. Unfortunately, we kept making them in the wrong areas,” Reds cocaptain Liam Wright said. The Highlanders went into the match as favorites, despite finishing second-last in Super Rugby Aotearoa with five losses in eight games. The result means the Reds, who had an outstanding season in Super Rugby AU with only one loss, have won only one of their past 18 matches against New Zealand opposition. Highlanders skipper Aaron Smith said it was exciting to play overseas opposition again. “You had that feeling of the unknown again — there were tries to each side in the first five minutes and it was a real ding-dong battle in that first half,” Smith said. “That was a massive effort by my boys.” The Highlanders scored the opening try in just 35 seconds when center Scott Gregory dotted down after Reds halfback Kalani Thomas turned over the ball. Thomas redeemed himself when he stretched out to down the ball despite a despairing last-gasp tackle from his opposite number Smith. The Highlanders responded with relentless attack and were rewarded when Ash Dixon barged over for the hosts’ second try. Winger Sio Tomkinson made it 21-7 at halftime, with Queensland

Chan sisters crash out, Opelka surprises himself

Taiwan’s Chan sisters yesterday crashed out of the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, while big-serving American Reilly Opelka called it “a fluke” after reaching his first Masters semi-final in the men’s singles. Sixth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan claimed the first set against fourth seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara and were leading in the second, before the Japanese duo rallied to force a super tiebreak in which they prevailed. The Taiwanese duo mixed three aces with three double faults in the 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 loss, winning more than 60 percent of their first-serve points, but it was their poor performance on second-serve points (winning just 36.7 percent) that cost them a place in the semi-finals. The loss ended Taiwanese hopes in the Italian capital after top seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday had fallen to a shock 1-6, 6-4, 10-4 loss to unseeded duo Sharon Fichman and Giuliana Olmos in the round-of-16. In the men’s singles, Opelka advanced after a 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) win over Argentine qualifier Federico Delbonis at the Foro Italico. Not previously known for his clay-court tennis, the 2.11m Opelka overwhelmed Delbonis with 18 aces to record his fourth straight-sets win of the week. “I’m surprised. Clay is not really my thing — not much of an American thing,” Opelka said. “It’s probably just a fluke, but I’m on with it.” Opelka also saved all four break points he faced, but it was not just his serve that made the difference. The world No. 47 hit a delicate slice volley drop-shot winner in the final game before the tiebreaker and then produced a difficult backhand cross-court passing shot to set up the only match point he needed. Opelka traveled to Rome on a six-match losing streak that included dealing with a bout of COVID-19. “I wish I could

Hawks, Knicks advance, Lakers hold on

STAYING ALIVE: Still outside the top six in the West, the Lakers might have to try to advance through the play-in tournament of the seventh through 10th ranked teams

The Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday raised their 2020 NBA championship banner, then scraped a 124-122 victory over the hapless Houston Rockets to keep alive their hopes of direct entry to the playoffs. The Atlanta Hawks clinched their first playoff berth since 2016 with a 120-116 come-from-behind victory over the Washington Wizards, and the New York Knicks were assured of their first post-season spot since 2013 when the Boston Celtics fell 102-94 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the regular season speeding toward its close on Sunday, the Lakers remained outside the top six in the Western Conference and likely looking at having to advance through the play-in tournament for the teams ranked seventh through 10th in each conference. Lakers reserve Kyle Kuzma drove for the go-ahead layup with 6.9 seconds remaining, putting Los Angeles up 123-122 after they had surrendered nine straight points to fall one point down. Lakers forward Wesley Matthews then managed to poke the ball away from Houston’s Kelly Olynyk on what would be the Rockets’ final possession, and Talen Horton-Tucker made a free-throw to complete the scoring. Even with superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis sidelined by injuries, the Lakers would not have expected to cut it so fine against a Rockets team that owns the worst record in the league. Before tip-off, a crowd of 4,087 saw the Lakers finally raise the franchise’s 17th championship banner to the rafters. The Lakers had waited until COVID-19 pandemic restrictions eased enough to allow some fans in the stands for the moment and James, still feeling the effects of a high ankle sprain from March, was on hand to address the crowd. “We could not send this banner to the rafters without you guys,” he told fans. “This is absolutely for you guys. On the road to back-to-back [titles], starts in about a week.” The teams occupying

Boxing nurse’s Olympic dreams crushed by virus

Japanese nurse Arisa Tsubata has trained around her work shifts for more than a year to prepare for a final Olympic boxing qualifier in the hope of making it to the Tokyo Games this summer. That dream was shattered after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) canceled the boxing qualifier to take place next month and said it would allocate spots to athletes based on their world rankings. The change in criteria has effectively shut the door on many Olympic hopefuls such as Tsubata, whose rankings are not good enough to earn them an automatic qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Other qualifying competitions for the Olympics have also been canceled. In order to focus on her boxing, the 27-year-old quit her job at a major hospital in January to take on a less demanding and lower paid position at a smaller psychiatric clinic. Since then, she has trained more than three hours per day during the week and extra hours on Saturdays, only taking Sundays off to rest or to get a massage. “It’s very disappointing,” said Tsubata, who works at the Life Support Clinic in Tokyo. “I had been working so hard for a year after the postponement of the Olympics, and it’s so frustrating that I don’t even have the right to compete.” Japan has said that the Olympic Games, delayed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would go ahead, but questions remain over how it would hold the massive sporting event as the country fights a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections. “‘Why did I aim for the Olympics when the coronavirus happened?’ I asked myself,” she said, adding: “Who knew the coronavirus pandemic would come at this time?” Her feelings of frustration and uncertainty are shared by many athletes whose careers have been thrown into limbo, after the pandemic dashed some people’s life-long dreams

Williams crashes out in Italy, Djokovic advances

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic yesterday swept into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals with a straight sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in front of spectators who were allowed to watch at the Foro Italico for the first time. The five-time Rome champion won through 6-2, 6-1 in 1 hour, 10 minutes against the 48th-ranked Spaniard with the venue filled to 25 percent of capacity. “It was not good, it was great. I missed the crowd,” the 33-year-old Serb said. “It was nice to see them back.” After losing his opening service game, Djokovic powered back with five breaks of serve, outclassing his rival, despite a late fightback, to seal the win on his sixth match point. The 18-time Grand Slam winner next plays either Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or ninth seed Matteo Berrettini for a place in the semi-finals. On Wednesday, Rafael Nadal opened his attempt to win a 10th Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a straight-sets victory over teenager Jannik Sinner to advance to the third round. The 20-time Grand Slam winner won through 7-5, 6-4 in 2 hours, 10 minutes to bring his record to 16-1 in his opening matches at the Foro Italico. Nadal, 34, next plays Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the 13th seed, for a place in the quarter-finals. Serena Williams, playing the 1,000th WTA match of her career, on Wednesday crashed out in the second round, weeks before her bid to make history at Roland Garros. Second seed Naomi Osaka of Japan also fell at the first hurdle in Rome with defending champion Simona Halep of Romania, the third seed, retiring with a calf injury. World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty got off to a winning start, as the Australian advanced to the third round in the warm-up tournament before Roland Garros starts on May 30. Williams, 39, lost 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 on her return after nearly

Tuchel ready for ‘fight,’ as Chelsea suffer top-four blow

Chelsea face a “big fight” to finish in the Premier League’s top four after their damaging 1-0 defeat against Arsenal on Wednesday, Thomas Tuchel said. Tuchel’s side missed a chance to climb above Leicester City into third place as Emile Smith Rowe bagged the first-half winner at Stamford Bridge. Smith Rowe punished a wayward back-pass from Jorginho to leave Tuchel anticipating a tense finish in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Fourth-placed Chelsea are six points ahead of fifth-placed West Ham United, who have a game in hand, and seven in front of sixth-placed Liverpool, who have two games in hand. Chelsea have two league matches remaining against Leicester and Aston Villa. “It was always a big fight, it never felt like a relief,” Tuchel said. “If anybody felt it like this today, maybe, it’s the last lesson to learn,” he added. “It’s still in our hands. It is another chance missed. We have had some good results, so we have to cope now with a loss.” Tuchel said he was to blame for Chelsea’s first defeat in eight games in all competitions after he made seven changes from Saturday’s win at Manchester City. “Maybe I gave some signals to the team with changes that Saturday is on my mind,” Tuchel said in reference to this weekend’s FA Cup final against Leicester. “Even if it’s 1 percent or 5 percent, this is not how we approach things, because you get punished. It’s hard to swallow, hard to accept, but there’s no other way,” he said. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said that the Gunners’ first Stamford Bridge win in a decade was much-needed after a difficult period. Arteta has been under fire during a troubled campaign, but he insisted that his side have not given up hope of qualifying for Europe next term. They could make the new Europa Conference

SPORTS BRIEFS

OLYMPICS Towns halt hosting plans Dozens of Japanese towns have abandoned plans to host Olympic athletes due to concerns they would overburden already stretched medical resources amid a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, the Nikkei reported yesterday. Forty out of more than 500 towns registered to welcome international competitors had decided not to accept athletes for training camps and cultural exchanges before the global sporting showpiece, the newspaper reported, citing a government source. The reluctance of some towns to host visiting athletes, normally a source of pride for communities outside the host city, is the latest sign of deep unease in Japan over the scheduling of the Games in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai said the prefecture would not guarantee hospital beds for athletes as they should not be given preferential treatment. “Chiba Prefecture is not thinking about securing scarce hospital beds ... for athletes and people involved in the Olympic Games in a way that would prohibit our residents from using them,” Kumagai told reporters. SOCCER Red Star probe dropped A French investigation into suspected match-fixing in a Champions League game between Paris Saint-Germain and Red Star Belgrade in October 2018 has been shelved, the Serbian club’s lawyer said yesterday. The Parquet National Financier (PNF), which is responsible for fighting financial crime, on Friday last week sent out a notice that it had closed its investigation, Antoine Vey, a lawyer for the Serbian club said, confirming a report in French sports daily L’Equipe. UEFA was alerted before the match that a Red Star manager was preparing to bet nearly 5 million euros (US$6.03 million dollars) on a defeat for his team by five goals, the report said. PSG then won 6-1. The PNF then opened a case of “criminal conspiracy” to commit an offense of sporting corruption and

Lakers keep Knicks from playoff berth

A traveling call against the Knicks’ Julius Randle with seconds to go gave possession to the Lakers, letting Talen Horton-Tucker put up his game-winner

Talen Horton-Tucker on Tuesday drained a clutch three-pointer in the closing seconds of overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers snatched a thrilling 101-99 victory over the New York Knicks. Horton-Tucker’s effort with 21.1 seconds remaining sealed the win for the Lakers and prevented the Knicks from clinching their first playoff appearance since 2013. It was the dramatic final act of a pulsating clash at the Staples Center, which saw the Knicks’ Julius Randle, a former Lakers player, dominate for long periods with a 31-point performance. Randle looked to have given the Knicks the edge with a superb three-pointer of his own, which put the visitors up 99-98 with a bit more than one minute remaining, but a crucial traveling call against Randle moments later surrendered possession to the Lakers, allowing Horton-Tucker to put up his game-winning late three-pointer. The victory means that the Lakers’ faint hopes of securing an automatic playoff place are still alive. The Lakers, who were missing the injured LeBron James, are seventh in the Western Conference with 39 wins and 30 defeats. The top six teams advance automatically to the post-season. Horton-Tucker finished with 13 points, while Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers with 23, Anthony Davis added 20 and Andre Drummond had 16 points with 18 rebounds. Randle was backed by Derrick Rose, who had 27 points for the Knicks. In San Francisco, Andrew Wiggins poured in 38 points as the Golden State Warriors upset the second-placed Phoenix Suns 122-116. The Warriors fought back from a 16-point deficit in the first half to grind out a gutsy win. Stephen Curry had 21 points for the Warriors, while Kent Bazemore added 17. Devin Booker led the Suns with 34 points, while veteran Chris Paul added 24. In other games, Caris LeVert scored 24 points as the Indiana Pacers staged a fourth-quarter rally to frustrate the Philadelphia 76ers’ bid for the

Man City’s new cohort give base for golden era

Pep Guardiola’s deft introduction of a new generation at Manchester City inspired their latest English Premier League title triumph, laying the foundations for a burgeoning dynasty at the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola’s side were crowned English champions for the third time in four seasons after Manchester United were beaten 2-1 by Leicester City on Tuesday. City have sealed the silverware with three games to spare, regaining the trophy they were forced to surrender to Liverpool last season. Their return to the summit is a tribute to Guardiola’s clever reshuffle of a squad that lost several important figures in the past few seasons Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and David Silva left the club over the past four years after establishing themselves among the most influential players in City history. Even this season, City’s record goalscorer, Sergio Aguero, has been phased out and is to leave in the summer. However, rather than let the departure of the old guard serve as a death knell for City’s ambitions, Guardiola has transitioned to a new crop of stars capable of keeping his side on top for years to come. Ruben Dias, Phil Foden and Joao Cancelo have emerged to play leading roles this season, supplementing core components Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Ederson. Dias has been the most important addition, as he proved the perfect replacement for Kompany. Signed from SL Benfica in September last year, the 23-year-old adapted seamlessly to the Premier League, adding physicality and leadership that brought the best out of John Stones at a time when the England defender was in danger of squandering his potential. England playmaker Foden is at last living up to the hype after a breakthrough season. Cancelo’s dynamic bursts from right or left back allowed City to outnumber opponents in attacking areas, providing Guardiola with a big payoff for keeping faith