SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013
GUYANATIMESGY.COM
James scores 30, Heat take game five, 90-79
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LeBron James
iami – The game was very much in doubt. A soldout arena was basically silent. The chance of getting back to the NBA Finals for a third straight year could have slipped away. A third quarter for the ages by the four-time MVP turned the game, and perhaps the entire Eastern Conference finals, around. James scored 16 of his 30 points in the quarter, fueling what was a 20-point turnaround at one point, and the Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 90-79 in Game 5 on Thursday night. The Heat lead the series 3-2, with a chance to finish it off in Indiana tonight and move on to a finals matchup with the San Antonio Spurs. ‘’That’s what I came here for, to be able to compete for a championship each and ev-
ery year,’’ James said. ‘’I’m one step away from doing it once again. It’s not promised. It’s not promised at all. I made a tough decision. Obviously, I think we all know the story. I envisioned something that was bigger as far as a team ... and we’ve got an opportunity as a team, once again, for the third year straight to make a trip to the NBA Finals.’’ Indiana was up 46-40 early in the third, surely sensing a chance to grab total control of the series. Over the next 11 minutes, the Heat outscored the Pacers 30-10, with James either scoring or accounting for 25 Miami points. He shot 7 for 10 in the third quarter; the Pacers shot 3 for 14. He had four rebounds in the quarter; the Pacers, as a team, grabbed six. He had four assists in
the quarter; the Pacers had one. “That’s LeBron showing his greatness and making it look easy,’’ Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ‘’What we talked about was doing whatever it takes and competing for each other without leaving anything out there. His engine in that third quarter was incredible. He was tireless, he was making plays on both ends of the court, rebounding, covering so much ground defensively and then making virtually every play for us offensively. It’s really remarkable.’’ James added eight rebounds and six assists, and Udonis Haslem made his last eight shots on the way to a 16-point night. Mario Chalmers scored 12 and Dwyane Wade added 10 for the Heat, who ousted the Pacers in six games in a second-round matchup last season and will look to do the same this time around, albeit one round deeper. Paul George had 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who got 22 points from Roy Hibbert and 17 from David West. The Pacers led by as many as seven at one point, but had no answer for the Heat in the third and now have to win back-to-back games - against a team that has not lost consecutive games since early January. Haslem said Juwan Howard threw a few things in the locker room and had a few choice words for teammates at halftime – ‘’a lot of bleeps and stuff like that,’’ Haslem said – and that James echoed the same remarks just before the start of the third. “We had 24 minutes to play for our livelihoods,’’ Haslem said. “And that’s how we played in the second half.’’ (Yahoo! Sport)
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Nadal, Federer, Sharapova and Serena win
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Roger Federer
afael Nadal and Roger Federer both won at Roland Garros on Friday to keep their French Open hopes alive. Seven-time champion Nadal recovered from losing the first set to beat Slovakia’s Martin Klizan and reach the third round. Federer, winner in 2009, blitzed Julien Benneteau to reach the fourth round. Women’s top seed Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova had easy wins, but Britain’s Jamie Murray is out of the men’s doubles. Court Philippe Chatrier Marion Bartoli (Fra) [13] beat Mariana DuqueMarino (Col) 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 Maria Sharapova (Rus) [2] bt Eugenie Bouchard (Can) 6-2 6-4 Sharapova led 6-2 4-2 when the match was suspended because of rain on Thursday and wrapped up victory in 15 minutes on Friday. But it was a promising first Grand Slam tournament for 19-year-old Bouchard, from Quebec, who won the Wimbledon girls’ singles title last year. The defending champion, who made 28 unforced errors, now plays China’s Jie Zheng
Rafael Nadal
for a place in the last 16. Roger Federer (Swi) [2] bt Julien Benneteau (Fra) [30] 6-3 6-4 7-5 The pair had met six times before with Benneteau winning twice, including earlier this year in Rotterdam. Benneteau also led Federer by two sets to love in the third round of Wimbledon last year only for the eventual champion to fight back and win in five. Benneteau, who was struggling with a groin injury, broke serve in the first game but Federer won six of the next seven games and went on to win in an hour and 31 minutes. The Swiss plays either Gilles Simon or Sam Querrey next. “I thought it was a different match than what we usually play against each other. He was clearly handicapped with the leg, which I was able to take advantage of,” said Federer. Federer, the 2009 French Open champion, added: “I’m happy because I have not used much of my energy so far. I feel totally relaxed. Mentally, I’m OK. I’m quite confident.” Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) [6] bt Jeremy Chardy (Fra) [25] 6-1 6-2 7-5 Ana Ivanovic (Ser) [14]
bt Virginie Razzano (Fra) 6-3 6-2 Court Suzanne Lenglen Rafael Nadal (Spa) [3] bt Martin Klizan (Svk) 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-3 Before this year, Nadal had lost only 14 sets in 53 matches at the French Open but he has lost the opening set in each of the first two rounds in 2013. Nadal lost serve four times against Klizan and needed nearly three hours to prevail. The Spaniard, who has won six titles since returning from injury in February, plays Italy’s Fabio Fognini next. “I started a bit too defensive,” he said. “I improved a little bit during the match.” Serena Williams (US) [1] bt Sorana Cirstea (Rom) [26] 6-0 6-2 Williams extended her winning streak to 27 matches and it was eight games and 33 minutes before Cirstea won a game. Williams, who won her only Roland Garros title in 2002, will play Czech Petra Cetkovska or Italy’s Roberta Vinci in the fourth round. “I play very aggressive,’’ said Williams. “That’s important for me, because I want to keep on winning here.’’ (BBC Sport)
Duminy, du Plessis mark return with 84-run victory
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P Duminy scored an unbeaten 150 and Faf du Plessis’ hit a quickfire fifty on their return to international cricket after injury breaks on Friday, helping South Africa to an 84-run win in the one-off ODI against Netherlands in Amstelveen. JP Duminy had not played any competitive cricket since the Brisbane Test last November due to an Achilles tendon injury, while du Plessis was ruled out midway through the ODI series in March against Pakistan with back trouble. South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. Alviro Petersen was returning to the ODI team for the first time since January 2012, getting a
call-up after Graeme Smith was ruled out of the upcoming Champions Trophy due to injury. Petersen was unable, however, to set his stall as he was dismissed early for just 6, edging to Peter van Borren off the bowling of Mudassar Bukhari. With the score on 38, fellow opener Hashim Amla was caught behind by Wesley Barresi off Paul van Meekeren. Any buoyancy Netherlands gained from those two wickets was soon overshadowed when Colin Ingram and JP Duminy dug their heels in to consolidate. The pair put together a match-changing 151-run stand for the third wicket over the course of 28.5 overs to help steady the innings and build-up to a vo-
luminous ending. Ingram finally fell to Bukhari after being caught by Ahsan Malik for 82. Faf du Plessis was sent in next, and together with Duminy, who passed a 100 in the process, put on a further 152 runs in the remaining 13.1 overs. This was a critical partnership for South Africa, and ended up being a match-clinching one at that, as the duo went at 11.54 runs an over – prior to this the match was rumbling along at just over five runs an over. The final five overs of the innings produced 98 runs. A total of 16 boundaries, including 12 sixes, were hit in those latter overs by the pair. South Africa finally finished on 341 for 3.
Netherlands started steadily enough, with the openers putting on 43 runs for the first wicket, before both batsmen were dismissed on the same score. South Africa continued to pick up wickets, and were firmly ahead all through despite Peter van Borren and Szwarczynski putting on 70 runs for the fifth wicket. With an asking rate escalating out of control, Netherlands simply had too much to do, as Borren fell two-runs shy of a halfcentury, and Szwarczynski missed out on what would have been a well-deserved maiden ODI ton. Netherlands eventually finished the innings on 257 for 9. (Cricinfo)
SCOREBOARD South Africa innings H Amla c †Barresi b van Meekeren 20 A Petersen c Borren b Mudassar Bukhari 6 C Ingram c Jamil b Mudassar Bukhari 82 JP Duminy not out 150 F du Plessis not out 62 Extras: (lb3, w17, nb1) 21 Total: (3 wkts, 50 overs) 341 Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-38, 3-189 Bowling: Mudassar Bukhari 10-2-79-2, P van Meekeren 7-0-54-1, M Jamil 10-0-83-0, P Borren 6-0-27-0, P Seelaar 8-0-57-0, T Cooper 9-0-38-0 Netherlands innings S Myburgh c Petersen b Behardien E Szwarczynski run out (Behardien) W Barresi† lbw b Duminy
27 98 0
T Cooper lbw b Peterson 14 D van Bunge c du Plessis b Behardien 3 P Borren* c du Plessis b Peterson 48 T de Grooth b Kleinveldt 8 Mudassar Bukhari c †de Villiers b Peterson 22 P Seelaar c McLaren b Peterson 2 P van Meekeren not out 15 M Jamil not out 10 Extras: (lb4, w4, nb2) 10 Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 257 Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-43, 3-88, 4-97, 5-167, 6-191, 7-219, 8-223, 9-232 Bowling: R Kleinveldt 10-048-1, L Tsotsobe 9-0-33-0, JP Duminy 5-0-22-1, F Behardien 8-1-34-2, R McLaren 9-049-0, R Peterson 9-0-67-4