Sports

Harrison Barnes scored 31 points as the Dallas Mavericks, owners of the NBA’s worst record, upset the Washington Wizards 113-99 on Tuesday night.

Dennis Smith Jr. had 22 points and Wesley Matthews 14 for the Mavericks, who had lost six games in a row and were winless in five previous road games.

John Wall had 23 points and 14 assists for the Wizards in his return to the line-up. Wall sat out Washington’s 107-96 win at Toronto on Sunday after injuring his left shoulder on Friday in a home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Bradley Beal also scored 23 points for the Wizards, who have lost three straight road games and are 2-5 since their 3-0 start.

Spurs 120, Clippers 107

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points and Danny Green added a season-high 24 as San Antonio won their third straight.

San Antonio scored a season-high 40 points in the third quarter, 26 of which came in the final six minutes.

Austin Rivers scored a season-high 24 points to lead the Clippers, who have lost five of their past six games after starting the season with four wins.

Knicks 118, Hornets 113

Kristaps Porzingis scored 28 points and Doug McDermott added a season-high 20 as New York won for the sixth time in seven games.

For the second consecutive game, the Knicks waged a furious late rally, as the Hornets led by as many as 15 points and by 13 with 1:07 left in the third quarter.

Dwight Howard, Kemba Walker and Malik Monk each had 21 points to lead Charlotte, which lost a third straight game.

Raptors 119, Bulls 114

Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 10 rebounds, DeMar DeRozan added 24 points, and Toronto held on to defeat Chicago.

The Raptors led by as many as 23 points before the Bulls trimmed the deficit to three in the final minute on a basket by Bobby Portis. DeMar DeRozan hit a jumper to increase the margin to five.

Portis, playing in his first game of the season after being suspended for eight games for punching teammate Nikola Mirotic during practice on October 17, had 21 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.

Cavaliers 124, Bucks 119

Kevin Love scored a season-high 32 points and J.R. Smith had a season-high 20 points while hitting five 3-pointers to lead Cleveland’s win.

Smith passed Rashard Lewis (1,787 3-pointers) for 14th on the NBA’s career list. LeBron James had 30 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had lost five of their previous six games.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA’s top scorer, had 40 points and nine rebounds. He has scored at least 28 in nine of Milwaukee’s 10 games. Bucks forward Khris Middleton contributed 20 points and 11 assists.

Pelicans 117, Pacers 112

Anthony Davis scored 37 points, DeMarcus Cousins added 32, and New Orleans extended their winning streak to three, all on the road.

Davis and Cousins each had a key basket in the final 1:10.

The Pacers, who have lost three in a row, got 21 points and 12 rebounds from Myles Turner. Indiana had beaten New Orleans seven consecutive times.

Nuggets 112, Nets 104

Nikola Jokic scored a career-high 41 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Denver past Brooklyn.

Jokic was aggressive throughout. He was 16 of 25 from the field in 31 minutes and had two blocks and two steals.

Tyler Zeller had a season-high 21 points off the bench for the Nets, who lost for the fifth time in six games.

76ers 104, Jazz 97

Philadelphia won in Utah for the first time since 2005 and snapped a nine-game overall losing streak in the series against the Jazz.

Dario Saric scored 25 points on a career-high five 3-pointers and added 10 rebounds to help the 76ers. Ben Simmons piled up 16 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals.

Rodney Hood had 19 points for Utah, who lost their third straight game and second in a row at home. Rudy Gobert added 16 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Grizzlies 98, Trail Blazers 97

Tyreke Evans came off the bench to score 21 points, and Mike Conley had all 20 of his points in the second half as Memphis held off Portland.

CJ McCollum bombed in a season-high 36 points for the Trail Blazers, but he missed a 15-foot jumper with seven seconds left that would have put Portland ahead.

Conley was 0 of 7 from the field in the first half before taking a lead role for the Grizzlies. Portland guard Damian Lillard ran his consecutive free-throw streak to 50 by going 4 of 4.

Kings 94, Thunder 86

Zach Randolph scored all 18 of his points in the second half, and Sacramento overcame a horrific start to end their six-game losing streak and hand Oklahoma City their third straight loss.

Buddy Hield tallied a game-high 21 points for Sacramento, which won at home for the first time in four tries this season.

Russell Westbrook scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Oklahoma City, but the Thunder could not hold on after building a 25-8 lead late in the first quarter.

LONDON — Force India are prepared to let Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon race more freely in the last two races of the season now that the team are sure of fourth place in the Formula One championship, co-owner Vijay Mallya indicated on Tuesday.

Mexican Perez and his young French teammate were reined in by the Silverstone-based team after their on-track clashes cost Force India points, and possible podium places earlier in the year.

Force India are now 99 points clear of fifth-placed Williams, and 165 behind third-placed Red Bull, with a maximum 86 remaining to be won. 

“With fourth place secure, we have the freedom to take a new approach into the remaining races — perhaps by trying some different things or different Friday drivers in the car to see what we can learn for next year,” said Mallya in a team preview for this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

“We can also be more aggressive with strategies and take more risks,” added the tycoon, who is contesting an extradition request from India on fraud charges and has not left Britain since March last year.

“We’re still hungry for strong results and want to end the season on a high note. The race in Brazil this week is an opportunity to continue our run of strong performances at the very least.”

Mercedes-powered Force India, who finished fourth overall last year with 173 points, are enjoying their best season yet in terms of points scored with 175 from 18 races so far. 

Perez finished fourth at a wet Interlagos last season, while Ocon — then with now-defunct Manor in his debut season — was 12th.

Force India have been running Mexican reserve driver Alfonso Celis Jr in some of their Friday morning free practice sessions. Mallya did not name any others who might get slots in Brazil or Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, British teenager Lando Norris will replace retired world champion Jenson Button as McLaren’s test and reserve driver next season, the Formula One team announced on Monday.

The 17-year-old has been part of McLaren’s Young Driver programme since the start of the year and is expected to compete in Formula Two in 2018 after winning the European Formula Three championship this year.

“Lando is an outstanding young talent. Today’s announcement is thoroughly deserved, and underlines the incredible high regard in which we hold his abilities,” said McLaren Executive Director Zak Brown in a statement.

“His summer test for McLaren was also remarkably impressive, and was further proof that he is ready to step up and take on a role of this size, scope and responsibility.

“At McLaren, we are all extremely keen to help him achieve his goal of racing in Formula One.”

Norris, who will be 18 next week, will attend Grands Prix and have an active role in testing and the simulator, starting with a tyre test at Interlagos after next weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

He will stand in for race drivers Fernando Alonso, a double world champion, and Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne if either are unable to compete.

“I’m still working hard to finalise my own racing programme for 2018 — we’re close on a number of different fronts, but not quite there yet. I hope to be able to announce something shortly,” said Norris.

AMMAN — Jordan’s successful young athletes have returned home following a tremendous showing at the Arab Juniors Athletics Championship in Tunisia.

The Kingdom won three gold and two bronze medals to highlight Jordan’s reemergence as a regional athletics power.

Aliya Bushnaq won gold medals in the 400m and 200m while Asian Junior Champion Sharief Al Atawneh proved he is also the best in the Arab World by winning the 3000m, stunning a quality field of North African runners. It was a fine tournament too for Nour Al Qadi who is turning 17 this week and clinched two bronze medals in the high jump and the long jump.

The event welcomed 13 Arab countries including Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Sudan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iarq, the UAE, Oman, Yemen, Qatar and Jordan.

ZHUHAI, China — German Julia Goerges tamed American CoCo Vandeweghe 7-5, 6-1 in the final of the WTA Elite Trophy to claim the biggest title of her career on Sunday.

Second seed Vandeweghe got an early break and breezed to a 5-2 lead in the opening set before the German staged a brilliant comeback.

The seventh seed, who won the Kremlin Cup in Moscow a fortnight back, broke back while the American was serving for the opening set and went on to win it 7-5.

Vandeweghe won only one of the last 12 games in the match as the 29-year-old pinned her with a barrage of winners while dropping just one point on serve in the second set.

Goerges was simply unstoppable in the second set and she completed the victory with a crosscourt return winner on her second championship point.

The 29-year-old screamed in delight after completing a stellar year in which she won two titles and reached five finals.

“I can’t imagine a better ending to the season, two titles in two weeks... this is the biggest one,” Goerges said after receiving the trophy from her compatriot and 22-times singles Grand Slam champion Steffi Graf.

“I’m just happy. I think I have not really any words to describe right now. I think I still can’t believe it... It’s just amazing,” said Goerges.

“I’m looking forward to next year,” she added.

It was the ninth win in a row for Goerges, who hit 21 winners compared to her opponent’s 18 during the one hour 20-minute match.

The German, however, managed to keep her unforced errors to just nine while Vandeweghe had 22. Vandeweghe was also not helped by six double faults on her serve at crucial situations.

Despite the loss Vandeweghe will finish the year in the top 10 for the first time while Goerges will rise to a career-best 14th.

The tournament’s 12-player singles field featured the leading players on the women’s tour who did not qualify for last week’s WTA Finals in Singapore while one wildcard was awarded to China’s top-ranked player Peng Shuai.

Asked how she felt about receiving the trophy from tournament ambassador Graf, Goerges said it was “a very special moment”.

“I think she was very happy to give the trophy to a German player,” she said laughing, adding that the exchange, which included getting a picture, “was probably worth it more than millions”.

Goerges had enjoyed a smooth road to the final, seeing off Slovakia’s number one Magdalena Rybarikova, top seed Kristina Mladenovic and Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova — also in straight sets.

Meanwhile, former World No. 1 Graf on Sunday said Serena Williams can “absolutely” surpass Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles if the American returns to tennis after giving birth earlier this year.

Williams has not competed since winning the Australian Open in January but the 36-year-old posted several videos on social media showing her hitting balls during her pregnancy.

Williams was about two months pregnant when she captured her 23rd Grand Slam singles title in Melbourne, one short of the all-time record held by Australian Court.

“Absolutely, yes,” Graf told fans and reporters ahead of Sunday’s WTA Elite Trophy singles final in Zhuhai. 

“I think a lot of it is determined on her drive and if that is what she wants to do.”

Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles which was eclipsed by Williams in January.

Williams told Vogue magazine in August about her “outrageous plan” to defend her title in Australia, where the year’s first Grand Slam will be played from January 15-28.

“It sounds from what I hear that she is looking to come back to tennis and, you know, everything that she has shown over her career just makes you believe that if she has that in her sights then she will go after it and achieve it,” Graf said.

AMMAN — Jordan plays Iran on Monday in their second match at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers currently under way at the Prince Mohammad Stadium in Zarqa.

The Kingdom beat Palestine 2-0 in its opening match as Iran held Syria 1-1 in the other Group E match.

The continents’ 43 teams have been split between East and West Asia into groups of five or four teams with the top team from each group and five second-placed teams advancing to the AFC U-19 Asian Championship.

Jordan which qualified to the Asian Championship four times and reached the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007, aims to advance to the Asian Championship again this year after failing to qualify to the 2014 and 2016 championships.

The team finished fourth in 2006, but exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

The squad played the UAE in two friendlies in Dubai last month in the final phase of preparation tying them twice 1-1 and 0-0. 

On another note, Jordan’s U-23 team in high gear, is set to play three friendlies in preparation for the 3rd Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship in 2018 as well as the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

During their current training camp, the team will face the senior national squad on November 7 in Aqaba before twice facing Jordan Professional Football League club That Ras.

Jordan advanced to the AFC U-23 Championship from Group E qualifiers in which they finished second behind Palestine. Oman moved from Group A, Iraq and Saudi from Group B, Qatar and Syria from Group C, Uzbekistan from Group D, Australia form Group F, North Korea from Group G, Malaysia and Thailand from Group H, South Korea and Vietnam from Group I and China and Japan from Group J.

Earlier this year, Jordan’s U-16 team qualified to the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship after topping Group A qualifiers. Jordan joined group winners Tajikistan (Group B), Iran (Group C), Iraq (Group D), Yemen (Group E), North Korea (Group F), Indonesia (Group G), Australia (Group I), South Korea (Group H), Japan (Group J). Oman, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia moved as second placed top four teams.

Organised by the AFC, and held once every two years for Asian U-16 teams, the competition also serves as a qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the top four countries qualifying. Iraq is the reigning champ. Since the event kicked off in 1995, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia and Oman have each won the title twice. Qatar, Iran, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Iraq won once each. Jordan failed to qualify to the 2016 AFC U-16 Asian Championship.