Sports

CLEVELAND — Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and LeBron James, returning to the line-up after sitting out a game, added 21 as the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled past the Detroit Pistons 104-81 on Friday.

Elsewhere, Golden State cruised to a comfortable victory against Boston, Oklahoma City defeated Brooklyn on the back of another triple-double from Russell Westbrook and Charlotte ended Atlanta’s hot streak.

At Cleveland, Irving was 11 of 15 from the field with 11 assists, one short of his career high, in 29 minutes as the defending champions were hardly challenged by Detroit.

James, who rested Wednesday in a loss to Indiana, made 9 of 14 shots and played only 28 minutes.

Following a slow start that saw Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue call timeout less than two minutes into the game, the Cavaliers took over. Cleveland led by 11 at the end of the first quarter, took a 56-39 lead into half-time and continued to dominate.

Cleveland built the lead to 33 points in the fourth quarter, allowing Lue to rest his starters for the entire final period.

The Pistons’ starting five of Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris, Andre Drummond, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith combined for only 37 points.

J.R. Smith, who returned after missing three games with a sprained right ankle, hit three 3-pointers and moved past the Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki into 15th place on the NBA’s all-time list for 3s.

Klay Thompson scored 28 points, Kevin Durant had 23 points and 10 rebounds against the team he spurned this summer and the Golden State Warriors scored 18 points in a row in the third quarter to pull away and beat the Boston Celtics 104-88.

Stephen Curry had just 16 points — his second-fewest of the season — while sitting out much of the fourth quarter as the Warriors cruised to their sixth straight victory.

Avery Bradley had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Boston and Isaiah Thomas scored a season-low 18.

At Oklahoma City, Westbrook had 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in his fourth triple-double of the season, and the Thunder defeated the Brooklyn Nets 124-105.

Westbrook made 13 of 21 shots and had just three turnovers. It was the 41st triple-double of his career.

Victor Oladipo scored 26 points and Steven Adams added 15 for the Thunder, who won their second straight after a four-game losing streak.

Brook Lopez scored 22 points for the Nets.

Nic Batum had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Cody Zeller matched his career high with 23 points and Charlotte came from behind to end the Atlanta Hawks’ six-game winning streak with a 100-96 victory.

Zeller was 9 of 10 from the field. Kemba Walker overcame a slow start and scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half for his 10th straight 20-point game.

The Hornets improved to 8-3 with their first victory against one of the upper-echelon teams in the Eastern Conference.

Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Kent Bazemore had 19 points.

Dwight Howard had 10 points and 18 rebounds before being ejected in the fourth quarter when he delivered an intentional elbow to Zeller’s face. Howard had been a key factor up until that point, but the Hawks seemed to collapse without him.

Also Friday, the Phoenix Suns beat the Indiana Pacers 116-96, the San Antonio Spurs topped the Los Angeles Lakers 116-107 and the Toronto Raptors held off the Denver Nuggets for a 113-111 victory.

AMMAN — Jordan’s Olympian Lawrence Fanous finished second in the ASTC West Asian Triathlon and Duathlon’s Elite Men’s category held at the Ayla Oasis in Aqaba, according to the Jordan Olympics Committee (JOC) News Service.

Fanous, 31, the first Jordanian to compete at an Olympic Games in Rio this summer, came in second behind Slovenia’s rising triathlete star Domen Dornik, 25, with third also going to Slovenia in the shape of international newcomer Nik Kojc, 20.

In the women’s event, Spain’s Zurine Rodriguez, 34, comfortably won the elite women’s section followed by Sameera Al Bitar, 26, representing Bahrain in second and Syria’s Wessal Saloukha, in third.

Fanous’ finish saw him take the West Asian (Arab) section, followed by Syria’s Mohammed Al Sabbagh and Bahrain’s Jamie Price. Bitar took the women’s West Asian (Arab) category, followed by Saloukha and Tunisia’s Ons Lajali.

In the Duathlon, it was a clean sweep for Iran with Zahra Nafchi, Zohreh Afkham and Sanaz Kodeini taking the top three places respectively in the Elite Women. In the Elite Men, Moussa Kurich took the honours for Bahrain with Dornik having enough energy to compete again and take second while Iran’s Salman Taymori took third.

The event was hosted and sponsored by Ayla and HRH Prince Feisal, JOC president, presenting the awards. He was also joined by Asian Triathlon Confederation President Justin Sukwon Park, Afro/Arab Triathlon Confederation President Ahmad Nasser and JOC Secretary General Nasser Majali.

The event welcomed 175 athletes from across the world.

TORONTO — Golden State’s star duo of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant combined for over half the Warriors’ score in a 127-121 win at Toronto on Wednesday that extended their winning streak to five games.

Curry had 35 points and Durant added 30 for the Warriors, who moved within half a game of the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Clippers, who were beaten at home by Memphis.

Another division leader to lose was Cleveland, who rested LeBron James against Indiana and paid the price, while Atlanta extended its lead atop the Southeast Division by downing Milwaukee.

Golden State extended its run of wins against the Raptors to five, with three of those coming in Toronto.

NBA scoring leader DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 34 points. He was 17 of 17 from the free-throw line, and had his ninth 30-plus-point game in 11 games this season.

Memphis’ Marc Gasol hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from the left corner with 14 seconds left, and the Grizzlies hung to edge the Clippers 111-107, ending L.A.’s seven-game winning streak.

Mike Conley scored 30 points and Gasol added a season-high 26 for the Grizzlies, who equalled a season high with 15 3-pointers, including a career high-tying seven by Conley.

J. J. Redick scored a season-high 29 points for the Clippers, who still have the NBA’s best record at 10-2. Both of their losses have come at home.

Indiana capitalised on the absence of the resting James and beat Cleveland 103-93.

James, who is averaging 23.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, sat out for the first time this season. Guard J. R. Smith also missed the game because of a sprained right ankle.

Paul George scored 21 points for the Pacers, who are 6-1 at home this season but 0-5 on the road.

Kevin Love had 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who lost for only the second time this season.

Atlanta extended its winning streak to six by defeating Milwaukee 107-100.

Paul Millsap scored 21 points for the Hawks, who overcame the absence of star centre Dwight Howard due to a contusion on his left thigh. Atlanta drew level with Cleveland for the best record in the Eastern Conference at 9-2.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 26 points and 15 rebounds for Milwaukee.

Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook scored 30 points, including a hammer dunk over an opponent in the closing seconds, to give the Thunder a 105-103 win against Houston.

Oklahoma City led by three when Westbrook dunked with 5.5 seconds left to put the Thunder up five.

Victor Oladipo had season highs of 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who snapped a four-game losing skid.

James Harden had 13 points and 13 assists for the Rockets, making just 4 of 16 shots.

San Antonio continued it perfect road record with a 110-105 victory at Sacramento.

Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard all topped 20 points for the Spurs who are 6-0 in away games.

DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points and 17 rebounds for the Kings.

New York’s Kristaps Porzingis scored a career-high 35 points to lead the Knicks past Detroit 105-102.

Boston’s Isaiah Thomas scored 22 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics hold off Dallas and win 90-83.

Denver’s Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 28 points as the Nuggets won at home for the first time this season, defeating Phoenix 120-104.

Orlando’s Serge Ibaka scored 16 points in an 89-82 victory for the Magic against New Orleans.

Philadelphia notched its second win of the season, beating Washington 109-102.

AMMAN  — The Jordan Professional Football League enters its third week on Friday after a two-week break as the national team regrouped to play three friendlies. 

Teams head into Week 3 with Hussein, Manshieh and Jazira in the lead after they scored wins that left titleholders Wihdat trailing in fourth place, while Faisali dropped to 10th.

Hussein and Manshieh lead the pack. Hussein beat That Ras 2-0 and now play last placed Baqa’a, who lost 1-0 to Sarih. Manshieh upset Ahli 2-0 and next play Faisali who were held 0-0 with Ramtha. The latter will next play Shabab Urdun.

Jazira, who beat Shabab Urdun 2-0, moved up to third and next play Wihdat, who were held 1-1 by newcomers Sahab and dropped to fourth. Sarih moved to seventh after their first win and next play Sahab while Ahli play That Ras, who are now 11th.

The season opened with Ahli making history when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup — the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar. Ahli have had a tough journey among top teams after they were relegated to Division 1 in 2004 for the first time ever before making a strong comeback to the Pro League in 2014, finishing 5th before finishing third in 2015/16 in when they were also the best overall team.

Earlier in the season, Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali to win the Jordan Football Association Shield — back on the calendar after four years. It was Shabab Urdun’s second Shield title after they first won in 2007.

The Jordan Cup preliminary round is slated to kick off December 4.

Last season, Wihdat retained the title in the final week with Faisali, Ahli, Jazira and Shabab Urdun in top five spots. Sahab and Manshieh were promoted from the First Division. 

It was Wihdat’s third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the Professional League in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli, who after years in the backstage, beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final.

Standings

CLEVELAND — Cleveland’s LeBron James had 28 points and 14 assists to lead the Cavaliers over Toronto 121-117 on Tuesday, matching the best start to a season in franchise history.

The Cavaliers moved to 9-1, equalling the record set in 1976-77, and are already 2-1/2 games clear in the Central Division, ahead of Chicago which won comfortably at Portland.

The Los Angeles Lakers kept up their strong home form with victory over Brooklyn.

Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving scored 24 points in another tense matchup between the teams who met in last season’s Eastern Conference finals and could get there again.

Channing Frye’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with 59 seconds left put the Cavs up by one. Cleveland then buckled down on defence, holding the Raptors scoreless until letting in a layup with 2.8 seconds left.

Kyle Lowry scored 28 and DeMar DeRozan added 26 for the Raptors.

Chicago opened a six-game road trip with a 113-88 win at Portland, led by Jimmy Butler’s 27 points and 12 rebounds.

Dwyane Wade had 19 points for Chicago, which was again without Rajon Rondo due to a sprained ankle.

The Blazers, who had won five of six, were cold from the start, falling behind by as many as 26 points. Damian Lillard, who made just two shots from the field in the first half, finished with 19 points.

Los Angeles’ D’Angelo Russell scored 32 points as the Lakers defeated Brooklyn 125-118.

Russell hit seven 3-pointers during the highest-scoring performance by any Lakers player in their impressive start to the season. Los Angeles’ balanced play under new coach Luke Walton has put the Lakers (7-5) two games above a .500 winning percentage for just the second time since April 2013.

Julius Randle added 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double.

Brook Lopez had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets.

Atlanta pushed its winning streak to five games with a 93-90 road victory at a Miami team that has dropped six straight.

Charlotte overturned a 12-point half-time deficit with a 36-17 third quarter that lifted the Hornets to a 115-108 win at Minnesota, led by 30 points from Kemba Walker.

LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul had 21 points and nine assists while Blake Griffin added 20 points as the Los Angeles Clippers blitzed the Brooklyn Nets 127-95 on Monday night to improve an NBA-best 10-1 with a seventh straight victory.

Los Angeles came in having outscored opponents by an average of 15.1 points, largest in the league. Brooklyn quickly found itself relegated to the Clippers’ quickly growing scrap heap.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets with 18 points and Sean Kilpatrick added 14. Brooklyn’s season-high 22 turnovers led to 35 points by the Clippers.

J. J. Redick added 18 points, Luc Mbah a Moute scored 11 points and DeAndre Jordan had 14 rebounds for the Clippers, who shot 53 per cent from the floor while extending the best start in franchise history. Their 127 points were a season high.

Spurs 94, Heat 90

Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and 12 rebounds and LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points, leading San Antonio to the victory.

San Antonio’s projected starting five of Leonard, Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Danny Green made its home debut after injuries to the starting backcourt led to five different starting line-ups in the team’s first nine games.

Gasol had 12 points, Parker added 11 points and six assists and Green was limited to three points in 15 minutes.

The Heat lost their fifth straight game. Dion Waiters, who hurt San Antonio in the play-offs last season while with Oklahoma City, had 27 points for Miami. Hassan Whiteside had 23 points and 17 rebounds.

Pelicans 106, Celtics 105

Anthony Davis had 25 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and two blocks as the New Orleans Pelicans won for only the second time in their first 11 games, 106-105 over the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball League on Monday night.

Langston Galloway scored a season-high 21 points, while Terrence Jones added 15 points and a season-high 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which has won two of three after an 0-8 start.

Isaiah Thomas scored 37 for Boston, including a driving scoop that tied the game with 7 seconds left. But Boston’s Kelly Olynyk fouled New Orleans guard Tim Frazier with 2.5 seconds left, and Frazier sank one free throw for the margin of victory.

Avery Bradley had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Marcus Smart scored 15 points for Boston.

Pacers 88, Magic 69

C. J. Miles made four 3-pointers and scored 16 points as the Pacers spoiled Frank Vogel’s return to Indiana.

Vogel coached the Pacers for more than five seasons before he was let go in May. He was quickly scooped up by Orlando.

The crowd cheered when Vogel was introduced before the game.

Paul George had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Pacers, who pulled away in the second half. Monta Ellis also scored 13 points, and Jeff Teague finished
with 11.

Orlando shot 32 per cent from the field. Evan Fournier led the Magic with 14 points on 4-of-15 shooting, and Aaron Gordon had 11.

Rockets 115, 76ers 88

James Harden scored 23 of his 33 points in the first quarter, helping Houston to the easy win. Harden, who posted a triple-double in his previous two games, added nine assists and seven rebounds.

The Rockets had a three-point lead with five minutes left in the first quarter when Harden took over, scoring all of Houston’s points in a 17-9 run to make it 35-24.

The Sixers were led by Joel Embiid and Ersan Ilyasova, who had 13 points apiece.

Knicks 93, Mavericks 77

Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis each scored 24 points as the Knicks rolled after a halftime line-up change.

The Knicks benched Joakim Noah, their $72 million free-agent signing, starting guard Justin Holiday and moved Porzingis to centre in a small line-up. They responded by scoring 31 points in the third quarter after managing just 36 in an ugly first half.

Anthony scored 17 in the third quarter and 20 in the second half after shooting 1 for 6 in the first half. Porzingis finished with 11 rebounds.

Harrison Barnes scored 20 points and J. J. Barea had 17 for the Mavericks, who are still without Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams.

Pistons 104, Thunder 88

Tobias Harris scored 22 points and Aron Baynes added 20 points and eight rebounds to help the short-handed Pistons beat the Thunder.

The Pistons (6-5) improved to 5-0 at home despite being without their two best players. Reggie Jackson has not played this season due to knee tendinitis, and Andre Drummond was sidelined with a sprained ankle.

Russell Westbrook had 33 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for Oklahoma City (6-5), which has dropped four in a row. Victor Oladipo finished with nine points, but he was the only other starter to score more than four.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 17 points for Detroit.

Grizzlies 102, Jazz 96

Marc Gasol scored a season-high 22 points, powering Memphis to the road win.

The Grizzlies used a 9-2 run sparked by Mike Conley’s 3-pointer and a 3-point play by Gasol to take a 94-88 lead with 1:25 remaining. Memphis led by as many as 13, but the Jazz kept answering with big plays from Joe Ingles and Trey Lyles.

Conley had 18 points and seven assists for Memphis, and Zach Randolph added 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Ingles scored a career-high 20 points and Lyles finished with 18.

SAO PAULO — Winning is not enough now for Lewis Hamilton who would welcome a helping hand from rivals Red Bull in his Formula One title showdown with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg next week.

Rosberg will be crowned world champion for the first time if the German finishes on the podium at the Abu Dhabi finale, even if Hamilton takes his fourth race victory in a row and 10th for the season.

With Mercedes dominant, and Yas Marina not the easiest track to overtake on, the Briton has to hope others can get between him and his teammate.

It almost happened in Brazil on Sunday with Max Verstappen overtaking Rosberg for second place behind Hamilton only for Red Bull to then make the wrong tyre choice and put the Dutch teenager on intermediates that needed changing again for wets.

Verstappen drove a sensational race from 16th to third in the last 17 laps but Rosberg was too far ahead.

“Unbelievable, when will it end?’, said Hamilton of his bad luck. “Red Bull made such a big mistake with that call.”

“Verstappen still had a great race and got back up to third but it would be good if they made some good calls at the next race.

“I am in an awkward position going into the last race,” said Hamilton. “It doesn’t really make a big difference if I go and drive like I do right now because I have already lost so much through the year.

“I can’t give up because you never know what can happen. It’s unlikely but you never know.”

No driver has failed to be champion with eight or more wins in a season but Hamilton has nine after Interlagos, a triumph that also put him second on the all-time list.

The 31-year-old, who also has 11 pole positions from 20 races, will have to beat the odds to become Britain’s first four times champion given Rosberg’s 12-point lead.

“I am happy that I beat everyone today... Nico is driving at his best right now and today he had nothing on me,” said Hamilton after yet another Mercedes one-two at the end of a wet and chaotic race.

“I am happy that we as a team are continuing to make history... but Nico is doing all he has to do.”

Rosberg, who also has nine wins, has finished second in the last three races and been off the podium only five times this year.

OAKLAND, California — Golden State’s Klay Thompson hit two late three points and finished with a season-high 30 points to steer the Warriors to a free-scoring 133-120 win against Phoenix on Sunday.

Stephen Curry also had 30 points with five 3s for Golden State, which had to work hard to avoid a second home defeat in the early part of the season, having only lost two total in each of the previous two seasons.

It was even tighter at Oklahoma City, where Serge Ibaka hit a basket with less than a second on the clock to snatch victory for Orlando against his former team, while Cleveland had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to win at home against Charlotte.

The Warriors were guided to victory by the 30-point performances of Thompson and Curry plus 29 from Kevin Durant.

Thompson shot 11 for 18 also with five 3s and scored 14 of his points in the fourth.

Eric Bledsoe and T.J. Warren scored 20 points apiece to lead six players in double figures for the Suns.

Orlando’s Ibaka had a point to prove to the team that traded him in the offseason as he led the Magic to a 119-117 victory at Oklahoma City.

Ibaka scored a career-high 31 points, capped by the game winner.

With the score tied in the final minute, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook missed a jump shot, and Orlando rebounded and called timeout with 11 seconds remaining to set up Ibaka’s winner with 0.4 seconds left.

Westbrook finished with 41 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season and 40th of his career. The Thunder had won on the past 20 occasions when Westbrook tallied a triple-double.

Elfrid Payton scored 23 points for the Magic, who had lost their previous three.

Cleveland’s LeBron James sparked the fourth-quarter comeback that lifted the Cavaliers over Charlotte 100-93.

James scored 11 points in the fourth quarter after a disappointing game up to that point, going 4-of-15 in shooting over the first three quarters.

Channing Frye scored a season-high 20 and James had 19 for the Cavaliers, who kept Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love on the bench in the fourth quarter as coach Tyronn Lue stuck with the group that helped Cleveland take control of the game.

Kemba Walker scored 21 points for the Hornets.

Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins had a career-high 47 points, equalling the entire Los Angeles Lakers starting line-up to lead the Timberwolves to a 125-99 victory.

Portland’s Damian Lillard scored 32 points as the Trail Blazers won 112-105 and handed struggling Denver a fourth straight loss.

AMMAN — Jordan host Lebanon at 6pm at the Amman International Stadium on Tuesday in the third and last friendly scheduled this month as part of their training agenda for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Jordan lost to Uzbekistan 1-0 last week and earlier held Iraq to a goalless draw. Head coach Abdullah Abu Zam’eh hopes his squad will come out with a win as the latest three matches come after the Kingdom dipped to 104th — its lowest 2016 FIFA ranking and dropped out of the Asian top 10. That followed earlier unimpressive results last month where Jordan lost to the Moroccan second tier team 2-1 and held Oman 1-1. They had earlier held Bahrain 0-0, Lebanon 1-1 and lost 3-2 to Qatar. 

“We were the better team against Uzbekistan. There was a marked improvement despite the 1-0 loss which I find unacceptable. However, the past two matches undoubtedly helped boost cohesiveness and that’s our aim for advanced results in the upcoming phase,” Abu Zam’eh told the media.

Observers are scrutinising the plan and path to the Asian qualifiers as the past year saw four coaches take over in less than a year, after Jordan was eliminated from 2018 World Cup qualifiers. The Jordan Football Association entrusted Abu Zam’eh in the interim period and the coach recalled players from the Olympic squad and shifted focus towards a younger line-up that will compete in the Asian qualifiers kicking off in March 2017.

Group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + one slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.

SAO PAULO — Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton won a stop-start, wet and chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday to take the Formula One title battle with Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

The Briton's third win in a row from pole position and first in Brazil left him 12 points behind Rosberg, who finished second, with the pair both on nine victories each for the season.

Rosberg, who would have taken his first title with a third successive victory at Interlagos, need now only finish third at Yas Marina in two weeks' time to clinch his first title, even if Hamilton wins again.

"I was generally just chilling up front," said Hamilton, whose 52nd career win put him second on the all-time list behind seven-times champion Michael Schumacher (91) but ahead of Alain Prost.

"When it rains, it's usually a good day for me ... it was a very easy race, generally. It was pretty straightforward."

He led all the way, the only minor drama occurring when water began seeping through his Ayrton Senna-themed helmet visor during the first phase of the race. He changed helmet after the first stoppage.

"No mistakes, no issues, no spins," he said.

Behind him, there was mayhem and chaos in a crash-filled thriller that was twice stopped and re-started, with five safety car periods and lengthy delays after cars aquaplaned off.

"It didn't go my way today with the win, Lewis just did a great job," said Rosberg, who survived a half-spin of his own.

"It was very difficult conditions out there. I can live with second place today, for sure."

In amongst it all, the talent of Dutch teenager Max Verstappen shone through like a beacon in the gloom.

The 19-year-old passed Kimi Raikkonen at the start and then Rosberg for second place.

He then saved a near spin, still staying ahead of Rosberg, but dropped back to 16th after his final pitstop and overtook more than half the field in the space of 17 laps to finish third.

"I think a second was definitely possible," he said.

Verstappen's main rival for driver of the day had to be Bernd Maylander, the German threading the safety car around the anti-clockwise circuit on one of the busiest afternoons of his extensive career.

Mexican Sergio Perez was fourth for Force India with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel fifth and Spaniard Carlos Sainz sixth for Toro Rosso.

Germany's Nico Hulkenberg put Force India further ahead of rivals Williams with a seventh place while Australian Daniel Ricciardo was eighth for Red Bull.

Brazilian Felipe Nasr, whose compatriot Felipe Massa crashed his Williams in his final home race, finished ninth to hand Sauber their first points of the season and allow the Swiss team to seize 10th place from Manor.

Fernando Alonso took the final point for McLaren on the fourth anniversary of the team's last win.

The race started behind the safety car after a 10-minute delay, with Frenchman Romain Grosjean crashing his Haas on the way to the grid, and was twice red-flagged due to accidents and the treacherous conditions.

At one point it looked like half-points might have to be awarded, as heavier rain threatened and drivers got out of their cars and waited.

The first delay was 35 minutes, the stoppage coming after Sweden's Marcus Ericsson hit the wall, and the second for 27 minutes after Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen crashed -- with the race taking just over three hours to complete.