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MELBOURNE — Novak Djokovic claimed a record seventh Australian Open crown on Sunday as he demolished Rafa Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in his most dominant Grand Slam win in his long rivalry with the Spaniard.

The peerless Serb broke Nadal five times at a stunned Rod Laver Arena, while conceding only a single break point to clinch his 15th Grand Slam title and third in succession after winning Wimbledon and the US Open.

The pair’s 53rd Tour clash and eighth in a major final was not the marathon battle it was expected to be, as top seed Djokovic bulldozed through the first two sets with machine-like precision and wrapped up the match in just over two hours.

Sealing the win on the second championship point when a desperate Nadal fired a backhand long, Djokovic kneeled on the blue hardcourt and shook his fists at the sky, letting out a roar of triumph.

“I am just trying to contemplate on the journey in the last 12 months,” Djokovic said beaming at the trophy ceremony.

“Like Rafa, I had surgery exactly 12 months ago, and to be standing now here in front of you today, and managing to win this title and managing to win three out of four slams is amazing. I am speechless.”

Having moved past Roger Federer and Roy Emerson’s six titles to take sole ownership of the record, Djokovic took back his mantle as master of Melbourne Park.

On the strength of his annihilation of Nadal, a 17-times Grand Slam champion who had entered the final in outrageous form, Djokovic’s Australian haul appears set to grow in coming years.

Blitzed from the start, Nadal could only congratulate an opponent that condemned him to his worst Grand Slam defeat in their long rivalry.

“It has been very emotional two weeks. Even if tonight was not my best, I had somebody that played much better,” said the 32-year-old.

“I am going to keep fighting hard, going to keep working hard to be a better player every time, for the good things in life.”

It was a greater humbling than even the quarter-finals of the 2015 French Open, when Djokovic thrashed Nadal 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 to end the Spaniard’s six-year winning streak at his favourite claycourt tournament.

A centre court crowd that remembered the titanic 2012 decider, when Djokovic beat Nadal in a record five hours and 53 minutes, was quickly subdued by the Serb’s total dominance.

Nadal was broken in his first service game as he fired wild and wide when presented with an open court.

It was clear not everything was right with the Spaniard when at 4-2, he swung a forehand and completely missed the ball.

Eight games in, Djokovic had, yet, to lose a point on serve.

He finally conceded one when serving for the set at 5-3 but it was the only point he gave up before closing it out when Nadal found the net.

Nadal’s remodelled serve was quickly under siege, and he punched his racket strings in frustration after giving up two break points in the fourth game.

The crafty Serb floated a drop-shot over and Nadal’s scrambling retrieval clipped the net cord to give Djokovic ample time to swoop in and collect it.

The Serb threw a fiery glance at his players’ box after breaking to 5-2 and fired two aces to take a two-set lead.

All business, he then marched back to his seat in silence, without so much as a quiet fist-pump.

Nadal battled on but every piece of magic he produced was outdone by the Serbian sorcerer.

He scrambled in to feather a delicate, sliced drop-shot over the net, raising premature cheers from the crowd as Djokovic swooped on it and sent an even cleverer drop-shot cross-court.

After further baseline punishment, he broke Nadal for the fourth time, pulling him around like a puppet-master before tripping him up with an irretrievable drop-shot.

Nadal finally prised a break point in the fifth game of the third but it quickly disappeared in a maelstrom of power hitting.

Djokovic knuckled down to complete an astonishing rout.

Firing a forehand down the line to bring up two championship points, he converted the second to take back the Melbourne throne amid a thunderous chorus of Serbian cheers.

MELBOURNE — Naomi Osaka overcame nerves, tears and a spirited challenge from double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova to claim the Australian Open title with a 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4 win on Saturday.

It was a second successive Grand Slam crown for the Japanese, after her US Open triumph in September, and she became the first Asian player to claim the World No. 1 ranking in the process.

Kvitova saved four matchpoints, showing the same resilience she needed to return to the top level of tennis after a knife attack and lengthy surgery in 2016, but her fightback fell just short.

Osaka shed tears after losing the second set from a 5-3 lead but returned to court after a washroom break calmer and more composed.

She broke Kvitova in the third game of the final set and converted her fifth matchpoint to end a superb final in two hours and 27 minutes, receiving the acclaim of the crowd in stark contrast to her last Grand Slam success.

While she had heard only boos from an angry and frustrated crowd after defeating home favourite Serena Williams in an ill-tempered US Open final, on Saturday she received a proper coronation from an approving audience at the Rod Laver Arena. 

“Hello, sorry, public speaking isn’t really my strong suit so I just hope we can get through this,” Osaka said after receiving the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from former champion Li Na and a winner’s cheque for A$4.1 million ($2.95 million).

“Huge congrats to you Petra, I’ve always wanted to play you and you’ve been through so much. You’re really amazing and I’m really honoured to have played you in the final of a Grand Slam.”

The 21-year-old Osaka became the youngest women’s World No. 1 since Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who was 20 when she topped the rankings in 2010.

The fourth seed, one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in women’s tennis, also became the first player since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to win the next Grand Slam after her maiden major title.

For Kvitova, simply being in a Grand Slam final was a triumph of sorts. 

She had missed the tournament two years ago while recovering from an attack by a knife-wielding home intruder that left her with a stab wound to her racket hand. 

“It’s crazy, I can’t believe I just played a final of a Grand Slam again. It’s been a while in a final for me,” said an emotional Kvitova.

“But mostly thank you [to my team] for sticking with me even [if] we didn’t know if I would be able to hold this racket again.” 

Osaka took the first set on a tiebreak after both players had exhibited their entire array of shots in a high-quality opening to the match.

Kvitova’s serve, which looked impregnable during the early games of the opening set, suffered a dip as Osaka took up unconventional receiving positions, forcing the Czech to make adjustments.

Osaka had won 59 straight matches after taking the first set before Saturday’s final and showed why as her serves grew bigger and the winners flowed from her racket in the second.

After an early trade of service breaks in the second set, the Czech’s confidence appeared shaken and she was broken to love before Osaka held her serve to win a fourth straight game.

But the 28-year-old Czech, who had lost just seven out of 33 career finals before Saturday, fought back with booming serves to save three matchpoints and hold for 4-5, before breaking Osaka to draw level.

A teary-eyed Osaka could not stop Kvitova’s fightback as the Czech won four straight games to win the set after the Japanese served her fourth double fault.

A break in the third game of the decider, however, proved enough for Osaka, who fell to her knees as Kvitova’s forehand went wide to hand her the title.

MELBOURNE — US Open champion Naomi Osaka staved off a fightback from Karolina Pliskova to reach her maiden Australian Open final with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win on Thursday setting up a title clash with double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

Osaka burnished her reputation as one of the cleanest hitters of the ball in women’s tennis by smacking winners almost at will from both her forehand and backhand under the roof of the Rod Laver Arena which was closed due to extreme heat.

“I like the heat so I was kind of sad about that... No, but like, they have the roof open and I was like, ‘oh, it’s my time to shine’,” Osaka said in an on-court interview.

She scorched the court further with 56 winners, often going down on one knee to generate immense power to leave former world number one Pliskova stranded.

The Czech could muster only 20, half of which came in the second set when she hung in to level the match despite the barrage of winners from her opponent.

“I mean I kind of expected [the comeback] a little... I was expecting a really hard battle,” said the Japanese, who had won once in their three previous meetings before Thursday.

“I just told myself to regroup in the third set and try as hard as I can.”

Osaka has now won 59 straight matches when winning the first set and also trumped Pliskova on the service front.

Coming into the match as one of the biggest servers in the women’s game, Pliskova managed three aces in the match while the Japanese reeled off 15, often coming up with unreturned serves to win the crucial points.

“I believe she played unbelievable match. To be honest, maybe her best in the life. I don’t think she can repeat match like this,” Pliskova told reporters. 

“Amount of winners what she had, she just had very little mistakes. I don’t think I did actually something wrong.”

Osaka broke Pliskova’s service games twice while facing not a single breakpoint to canter through the first set.

Pliskova, who had stunned Serena Williams in the quarter-finals, showed lot of pluck to level the match with a second break at 5-4 after the players had an early trade of breaks.

Osaka converted her only breakpoint opportunity in the decider while her opponent wasted four and the 21-year-old made it to her second straight Grand Slam final with her 15th ace to seal the match in an hour and 53 minutes.

She was, however, made to wait before she could celebrate her victory. Osaka waited with folded hands after challenging the line call and then erupted in joy once the Hawkeye technology confirmed the ace.

“I don’t necessarily think I played the best I’ve ever played,” Osaka told reporters. “I mean, for me, what I take away from this is that I never gave up, and that’s something that I’m really proud of myself for.

“There are moments in the match where I thought, like, this is getting really close. I just thought I wouldn’t forgive myself if I had, like, a little dip or a moment of accepting defeat.”

Osaka will meet another Czech in Kvitova, who will compete in her first Grand Slam final in five years after defeating unseeded American Danielle Collins 7-6(2), 6-0 in the first semifinal.

Kvitova stands on the verge of completing one of the bravest comebacks in tennis.

Two years after missing the tournament while recovering from an attack by a knife-wielding home intruder, the eighth seeded Czech booked her first Grand Slam final since her 2014 Wimbledon triumph with a decisive 7-6(2), 6-0 victory at a scorching Melbourne Park.

“To be honest, I’m still not really believing that I’m in the final,” Kvitova told reporters, after becoming the first Czech finalist in Melbourne since Jana Novotna in 1991.

“It’s kind of weird, as well, that I didn’t know even if I was going to play tennis again.

“I think not very many people believed that I can do that again, to stand on the court and play tennis and kind of play on this level.”

TORONTO — Savaged by anti-doping hardliners for their leniency in handling the Russian doping affair, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) gave itself a pat on the back on Tuesday saying its patient diplomatic approach has moved the scandal closer to an end.

After provisionally reinstating the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in a controversial vote in September, WADA came under attack but has argued that the decision opened the door to the Moscow laboratory and provided access to secret data that might have otherwise remained close.

It left WADA exposed to scathing criticism from athletes groups and anti-doping bodies, who felt the agency had sold out the clean athletes it was supposed to protect, by welcoming Russia back before meeting all its obligations as laid out in the Road Map to Compliance.

“If we hadn’t taken this decision in September we would be exactly where we were the day before the decision in September,” WADA Director General Olivier Niggli told Reuters. “Nothing would have moved, there would be no progress.

“Getting this data is the only way to once and for all find out who was a cheat, going after them and making sure that those who have not been cheats are cleared.”

After missing a December 31, deadline, Russian authorities, following tense negotiations, finally allowed a WADA inspection team access the Moscow lab on January 3, to extract the data.

WADA said on Tuesday it had decided not to re-impose a suspension on RUSADA despite Moscow missing the deadline.

WADA will now examine the data for any sign of tampering, while the Russian authorities must ensure any re-analysis of samples required by WADA is completed in an accredited laboratory by June 30.

The analysis will be used to prosecute drug cheats, some of whom are currently competing said Niggli, adding that that alone should be enough to satisfy athletes and silence critics complaining of WADA’s methods.

“Don’t forget all the Russian athletes except for athletics are competing,” said Niggli. “And some of this data we are going to get is from athletes that are still active so this is really making a difference on the field as opposed to grandstanding.

“Getting some clarity who did what and if you really have been a cheater you shouldn’t be there any more, I think this should be welcomed by the athletes community.

“I hope they will see it this way.”

Kid gloves 

Hardliners, however, continue to believe WADA is treating Russia with kid gloves and should and only be welcomed back after all the analysis has been completed and conditions met.

RUSADA was suspended in 2015 after a WADA-commissioned report outlined evidence of systematic, state-backed doping in Russian athletics. Another report the following year documented more than 1,000 doping cases across dozens of sports, notably at the Winter Olympics that Russia hosted in Sochi in 2014.

Russia has denied the existence of state-sponsored doping in the country, but acknowledged some shortcomings in its enforcement of anti-doping regulations and indicated it would continue to cooperate with WADA.

Travis Tygart, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency and one of WADA’s loudest critics, conceded that retrieving the data was a positive step but still believes the Russian authorities have not acted in good faith and must be held accountable for operating a state doping programme.

“It is of course good that data was obtained, but there is still a long way to go for justice to be served as now the information out of the Moscow laboratory must be authenticated or not,” Tygart said in a statement on Tuesday.

Despite what he views as significant progress, Niggli said he accepted that no matter what WADA did there would be critics but he hoped athletes, at the end of the day, would not be among them.

“Yes there are people who make a lot of noise and call for [us to] sanction Russia, there are people who believe Russia should never be back no matter what we do,” Niggli said.

“We think we are doing justice for the athletes by getting this data and then being able to do the job we have been saying we want to do.”

ABU DHABI — Qatar wrestled its way past Iraq into the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup on Tuesday when a stunning free kick from the son of a former Iraqi international gave it a 1-0 victory at Al Nahyan Stadium.

Defender Bassam Al Rawi, whose father Hisham played for Iraq in the 1990s, found the net in the 62nd minute to decide a scrappy contest in favour of the 2022 World Cup host and set up a date with South Korea across town at Zayed Sports City on Friday.

Iraq, the 2007 champion, gave its all but paid the price for failing to take chances and departed the continental tournament before the quarter-final stage for the first time since 1972. 

Because of the current political and economic rift between the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, Iraq was cheered on by a noisy majority of the 14,000 crowd in the boutique ground, with barely a handful supporting the Maroons.

Qatar, which scored 10 goals and conceded none in the group stage, made the brighter start and left back Abdelkarim Hassan hit the bar in the fourth minute.

That was pretty much the extent of their threat on goal until he had a shot deflected onto the post just before the break, though, as the Qataris were muscled out of the game in midfield.

Iraq fared little better at the other end with Mohanad Ali having their best chance of breaking the deadlock in the 23rd minute as the 2007 champions started to make some progress with the ball over the top of the Qatari defence.

The young striker raced through on goal, but Saad Al Sheeb bravely dived at his feet, with the goalkeeper getting a boot to the face for his efforts.

A defensive error put Qatar winger Akram Afif through early in the second half but his touch woefully betrayed him, and the ball trickled harmlessly to Iraq keeper Jalal Hassan.

It was a foul on the dangerous Afif on the lefthand corner of the box that led to the breakthrough just after the hour mark, Bassam stepping up and curling the ball over the wall and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

The Qataris were charged with confidence by the goal and poured forward to pepper Hassan's goal with shots in the next 10 minutes before Iraq regained their grip on the midfield.

Iraq defender Ali Adnan went close to matching Bassam's effort from a free kick slightly further out in the 78th minute and twice Iraqi forwards flashed headers wide as they lay siege to the Qatar goal in the last few minutes.

But the Qataris held them out to register a fourth clean sheet in four matches at the tournament, almost outnumbering their small band of fans when they celebrated with them at the end.

Derrick Rose buried a 20-foot, tie-breaking jumper with nine-tenths of a second remaining Sunday night, delivering the Minnesota Timberwolves a 116-114 victory over the Phoenix Suns in the first half of a home-and-home sequence in Minneapolis.

The clubs will meet again Tuesday in Phoenix.

The Timberwolves trailed 110-106 before Rose capped a 31-point performance by scoring eight of Minnesota’s final 10 points over the closing 3:25.

The game-winner came after Taj Gibson stole the ball from Devin Booker with 25.0 seconds to go when the Suns had a chance to break a 114-all tie.

The game was tightly contested all the way, with the Timberwolves clinging to a 106-102 lead after a Jerryd Bayless 3-pointer with 7:35 to go before the Suns ran out eight straight points to grab a four-point advantage of their own.

Booker, Jamal Crawford and Dragan Bender had hoops in the burst.

Rose ended the Minnesota drought with a layup and converted a three-point play on the next possession to narrow the gap, then got the Timberwolves even at 114-all with 30.5 seconds left by making one of two free throws, setting up the exciting finish.

Rose hit 12 of his 24 shots en route to his game-high point total for the Timberwolves, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Karl Anthony-Towns shot 13 for 13 from the free throw line in a 30-point, 12-rebound double-double for Minnesota, while Gibson finished with 17 points and Andrew Wiggins 10.

T.J. Warren had a team-high 21 points for the Suns, who completed a winless four-game trip with two losses in two days. Phoenix lost at Charlotte on Saturday.

Bender notched a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double for Phoenix and Booker had 18 points to go with six rebounds and six assists, while Kelly Oubre Jr. (18 points), Josh Jackson (15) and Crawford (11) also scored in double figures.

The Suns outshot the Timberwolves 46.5 per cent to 42.9 and outscored the hosts 36-18 on 3-pointers.

Clippers 103, Spurs 95

Tobias Harris poured in 27 points, and Patrick Beverley scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and the visiting Los Angeles Clippers held on for a 103-95 win over the host San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.

The win snapped a season-worst five-game losing streak for the Clippers, who controlled the game even without injured stars sixth man Lou Williams and forward Danilo Gallinari.

The Spurs clawed to within 84-79 on Rudy Gay’s layup with 9:40 to play but Los Angeles would not allow San Antonio to get any closer. The Clippers rebuild their lead to 94-83 on Harris’ 3-pointer with 5:19 remaining and never looked back.

San Antonio, which brought a two-game winning streak into the game, lost for the second straight time at home.

Montrezl Harrell added 18 points for the Clippers, with Avery Bradley scoring 15 (all in the first half), and Johnathan Motley hitting for 10 points off the bench for Los Angeles.

LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers with 30 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for the Spurs. Gay racked up 19 points and Marco Belinelli contributed 12 for San Antonio in the loss.

The Spurs, who lead the league in free-throw per centage at 82 per cent, made just 9 of 17 in the game (52.9 per cent).

Los Angeles led throughout the game, building a 38-26 advantage by the end of the first quarter that it expanded to 19 points on two separate occasions early in the second.

The Clippers settled for a 60-53 lead at halftime with Bradley pacing all scorers with 15 points and Harris adding 14 over the first 24 minutes of play.

San Antonio got 13 points from Gay in the first half and 10 points and five rebounds from Aldridge.

The two teams played an even third quarter, with a layup at the horn by the Spurs’ Jakob Poeltl allowing San Antonio to stay within seven points, at 80-73, heading into the final 12 minutes.

San Antonio returns to the floor on Wednesday at Philadelphia for the first of a two-game road trip. The Clippers continue their four-game road trip with a game Tuesday in Dallas.

Pacers 120, Hornets 95

Victor Oladipo scored 21 points, and the host Indiana Pacers rolled to a 120-95 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.

The Pacers jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first quarter, led by 15 at halftime, and stayed in control the rest of the game. Charlotte got as close as five briefly in the third quarter, and then the Pacers pulled back out to lead by as many as 27 down the stretch.

The Pacers won their second straight and avenged a 127-109 loss at Charlotte in November. The Pacers have now won 18 of their last 23 games and continue to have the third-best record (31-15) in the Eastern Conference.

The Hornets had a three-game winning streak snapped. They were looking for their first four-game winning streak of the season.

Oladipo, the Pacers’ leading scorer, had his first 20-point performance in the past two weeks. The Pacers also got 19 points from Darren Collison, 16 apiece from Bojan Bogdanovic and Domantas Sabonis, and 14 from Tyreke Evans.

Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 23 points and seven assists. Malik Monk scored 11, Bismack Biyombo had 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Jeremy Lamb also scored 10. The Hornets struggled offensively all night, finishing at 40.2 per cent from the field.

Indiana went on a 10-0 run early in the first quarter for a 20-11 lead, then pushed the lead all the way to 32-16 before settling for a 34-26 edge after one quarter. The lead grew to 56-39 late in the second quarter before the Pacers settled for a 56-41 halftime lead. Indiana then led 83-71 after three quarters.

Both teams were playing the second game of a back-to-back. The Pacers beat Dallas 111-99 on Saturday, while the Hornets cruised to a 135-115 home win over Phoenix.

The Pacers were playing the fourth game of a five-game homestand. They will host Toronto on Wednesday.

The Hornets were opening a three-game road trip. They will play at Memphis on Wednesday.

MELBOURNE — Ashleigh Barty rallied from a set down to beat former World No.1 Maria Sharapova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Sunday, becoming the first Australian woman in a decade to reach the quarter-finals at her home Grand Slam.

With the last of the Australian men’s singles players dumped out in the early hours of Sunday morning, the nation’s hopes of a home Grand Slam champion now rest firmly on the shoulders of Barty, the 15th seed at Melbourne Park.

The 22-year-old, roared on by a raucous home crowd that included Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and men’s great Rod Laver, converted her fourth match point with an ace to seal the win in two hours and 22 minutes.

“These are the moments we train and we practise and prepare for,” Barty told reporters. “You know, sitting down with my team late last year, it was one of the goals we set out that we wanted to go deep into slams, and I feel like that was the next step for me. 

“It’s amazing that it’s happened in Australia,” added Barty, who is seeking to become the first home champion since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

Barty, who played professional cricket before returning to tennis in 2016, tried to take the sting out of the game early on by sending backhand slices to Sharapova.

However, the five-times Grand Slam champion, who beat defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in her previous match, looked in control, and after converting her third breakpoint in the ninth game followed it up with a service hold to love to take the opening set.

Barty fought back to break twice in the second set and level the match, as more unforced errors crept into her Russian opponent’s game, and then broke twice more in the decider to race into a 4-0 lead.

Sharapova, the 2008 champion, rallied to win three straight games, but could not prevent Barty closing out the match and becoming the first Australian woman to reach the quarters since Jelena Dokic in 2009.

Confidence player

Sharapova, who was suspended for 15 months for taking the banned drug meldonium in 2016, said Barty’s style was difficult to play against.

“I thought she played a really great match, and I still had my chances which I didn’t take,” she said. “I definitely had a let-down for many games straight, gave her that confidence, and she’s a confidence player, as well.”

Barty will meet twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals after the eighth seed thrashed American teenager Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-1 earlier in the day.

The Australian lost her last meeting with Kvitova, in Sydney before the year’s first Grand Slam.

“It doesn’t get any easier at all, it’s just another challenge and I’ll try to come out and play my best tennis,” said Barty.

“I think I love to play with freedom and fun and try and create as much variety as possible. 

“Obviously my game is built around my serve and forehand and bringing in a variety with the slice. I think every day I try and challenge myself to add another string to my bow in a sense and try and become the complete player.”

Unseeded American Danielle Collins took less than an hour to thrash 2016 champion Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-2 and power her way into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Collins, ranked 35th in the world, breezed through the opening set in 20 minutes with three service breaks, hitting winners on all sides of the court against the second seed, who had five double faults in the set.

After an early trade of breaks in the second set, Collins smashed a backhand to break Kerber’s serve and take a 4-2 lead, before breaking the German once again to seal victory on her first match point in 56 minutes.

Stephen Curry scored 28 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 14 in his Golden State debut as the visiting Warriors extended their winning streak to seven games with a 112-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

Cousins, who missed nearly a year of action because of an Achilles injury, fouled out in just 15 minutes of court time. He shot 5 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, while adding six rebounds.

The Clippers dropped their fifth consecutive game.

Celtics 122, Grizzlies 116

Kyrie Irving stalled a rally with two consecutive jumpers and later added a game-clinching 3-pointer to cap a 38-point effort as host Boston held on to beat Memphis.

Marcus Smart and Al Horford also hit key late hoops to finish off high-scoring nights in helping the Celtics win their second straight and complete a two-game, season-series sweep of the Grizzlies.

Mike Conley had 26 points to pace the Grizzlies, who lost their fourth straight.

Spurs 116, 

Timberwolves 113

Marco Belinelli canned two crucial free throws with 4.2 seconds left to play, and LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 25 points as San Antonio outlasted Minnesota in Minneapolis in a game featuring 27 lead changes and 17 ties through the middle of the fourth quarter.

Gay scored 22 points for the Spurs, while Belinelli had 19 points, Derrick White added 15, and Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes poured in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for San Antonio, who have won two straight.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Rose led the Timberwolves with 23 points each. Wiggins tallied 17 points, while Teague had 15, Taj Gibson scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Josh Okogie contributed 10 points for Minnesota.

Trail Blazers 128, Pelicans 112

Damian Lillard scored 24 points while CJ McCollum and Jake Layman added 20 apiece as Portland downed visiting New Orleans.

Jusuf Nurkic contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who extended their home winning streak to six games. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 15 points and Maurice Harkless had 12 for Portland.

Anthony Davis scored 27 points, Jrue Holiday chipped in 20 points and Julius Randle collected 19 points and nine rebounds for the Pelicans, who fell to 6-19 on the road this season. New Orleans have lost three of four overall.

Pistons 98, Heat 93

Blake Griffin collected 32 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Detroit overcame the early departure of Andre Drummond to edge visiting Miami.

Luke Kennard scored 22 points off the bench and Reggie Bullock had 19 for the Pistons. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 20 points and eight assists off the bench. Tyler Johnson contributed 16 points and Justise Winslow added 15 with nine rebounds.

Miami guard Josh Richardson missed the game due to an illness. The Pistons lost two key players in the opening half. Drummond, the league’s top rebounder, sustained a nasal injury when he was struck by a James Johnson elbow. Ish Smith departed shortly after entering the game due to groin tightness.

Nets 117, Magic 115

D’Angelo Russell scored a season-high 40 points to lead visiting Brooklyn to a comeback win over Orlando.

Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points for the Nets, who have a winning record for the first time this season, 24-23. Brooklyn, who trailed by 21 points in the second quarter Friday, was 10 games below .500 through December 5 but has gone 16-5 since.

Aaron Gordon led the Magic with 23 points, but he exited the game in the fourth quarter with lower back tightness and did not return. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 17 rebounds.

Jazz 115, Cavaliers 99

Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points as Utah rolled to an easy victory over Cleveland in Salt Lake City.

Rudy Gobert added 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and collected 15 rebounds as Utah extended their season-best winning streak to six games. 

Ante Zizic contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, and Collin Sexton also had 15 points.

AMMAN — Jordan plays Vietnam at 1:00pm local time on Sunday in Round 2 of the 2019 Asian Cup currently under way in the UAE.

The Kingdom topped Group B after it upset title holder Australia 1-0 in the opening match followed by a 2-0 win over Syria before holding Palestine 0-0.

Jordan’s coach Vital Borkelmans, who enlisted bench players in the third match notes his side is ready and the whole line-up is up to par as they prepare to play Round 2. “We do not underestimate any opponent and are ready to play any team,” he was quoted as the team practised on Saturday.

Vietnam which finished third in Group D advanced with difficulty and might be the easiest of opponents in this knockout round which will see the following matches: China vs Thailand, Oman vs Iran, Japan vs Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan vs Australia, Kyrgyzstan vs UAE, Bahrain vs South Korea and Iraq vs Qatar.

MELBOURNE — World No. 1 Simona Halep scraped through to an Australian Open third round clash with Venus Williams on Thursday after being pushed to the limit by unseeded Sofia Kenin over three sets.

The Romanian top seed eventually downed the American 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 after two-and-a-half hours in another unconvincing display after also struggling in her opening match.

The pressure on the reigning French Open champion will only increase in her next round, when she faces seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams.

“I have no idea how I won this tonight, it’s so tough to explain what happened on court,” Halep said after overcoming the dogged Kenin, ranked 37 in the world and fresh from winning the warm-up Hobart International.

Halep, 27, won the first set comfortably and appeared to be cruising at 3-0 up in the third when her momentum faltered, and she found herself in a battle for survival.

“It was difficult to stay in there for every ball and run so much,” she said.

“I got a little bit injured in the second set but I just fought because I wanted to win.”

Halep did not provide details of her injury, but a herniated disc cut short her season last year.

She lost an epic final to Caroline Wozniacki in Melbourne in 2018 but arrived this year on a five-match losing streak, equalling the worst run of her career.

The Romanian paid tribute to Kenin, a Russian-born American aged just 20, whose lost in the first round on her only previous campaign at Melbourne Park last year.

“It was a very tough one, she’s an amazing player,” she said.

Halep made a promising start with a break in the first game and kept the rallies short on her own serve to hold easily.

Kenin’s error rate mounted as the first set wore on and Halep broke again to claim it after 33 minutes.

Halep looked to be cruising early in the second set, with Kenin scoring only two points as the Romanian raced to a 3-0 lead.

But the American fought back with a break in the fifth and took the set to a tie-break, forcing a decider when a scrambling Halep hit her return long after a 12-shot rally.

The third set’s opening game, turned into an epic arm-wrestle that went to deuce seven times as Halep failed to convert four break points against the dogged Kenin.

Disaster loomed when the Romanian went down a break in the sixth game, but she rallied to get back on level terms in the next, then made a decisive second break. 

US Open champion Naomi Osaka called for the trainer and took a tablet during her dominant second round win over unseeded Slovenian Tamara Zidansek at the Australian Open on Thursday, but declined to reveal any details of her ailment.

The first player from an Asian country to win the US Open singles title, Osaka was hampered by a back injury towards the end of last season and withdrew from the Sydney International in the leadup to Melbourne Park after making the Brisbane semi-finals.

Osaka called for the trainer and took medication when leading 2-1 in the second set against Zidansek, but otherwise appeared in rude health as she bashed her way to a rousing 6-2, 6-4 win.

“I was able to finish and win the match, so it’s not that big of a deal,” the Japanese 21-year-old told reporters.

“It’s something that I have to keep an eye on. I’m not telling you, though.

“You’ll never guess. You’ll never find out,” she added with a smile.

Fourth seed Osaka reached the fourth round of last year’s Australian Open and has been getting used to the attention that comes with being a Grand Slam champion after New York.

She said she still felt too new to the tour to feel comfortable hugging her rivals after matches and preferred a handshake-first policy.

“The thing is, I’m used to handshakes. Every time someone comes for a hug, I’m very confused,” she said.

“I’m told that I give out the worst hugs, too.

“It’s not necessarily the best situation for me to try to hug someone unless I really know them. And I don’t really know anybody, so.”

Osaka, who will play Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei for a place in the fourth round, gave a second serving of joy to Japanese fans, who had watched compatriot Kei Nishikori close out a five-set cliffhanger against Ivo Karlovic on the previous match at Margaret Court Arena.

Osaka ran into Nishikori, Asia’s first male Grand Slam finalist when he made the 2014 US Open title-decider, when walking in the tunnel through to the court before her match.

“I told him, ‘Nice match’. He looked very tired. I was just like, ‘Oh, excuse me, I’ll get out of your way. You had a very, very long match. I had to warm up four times, so thank you for that.’”