XINHUA – Sports Africa

Angola and Cameroon sides advance to semi-finals of Basketball Africa League

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Angolan and Cameroonian teams cruised to the semifinals of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs that kicked off in Kigali, Rwanda on Saturday.

In the game between two former African champions at Kigali Arena, Petro de Luanda of Angola advanced to the semifinals after beating AS Sale of Morocco 102-89.

In another game of the day, Cameroon’s Forces Armees et Police (FAP) edged Rwandan side Rwanda Energy Group (REG) 66-63.

This year’s BAL playoffs and finals run from May 21-28 with eight teams competing for the title. On Sunday, four other teams will take to the floor to wrap up the quarter-finals series.

Terrel Stoglin of Morocco’s AS Sale leads the BAL in scoring with 33.2 points per game after 30 regular-season games, while Ater Majok of Tunisia’s US Monastir emerges as the most dominant player in the paint with an average of 13.2 rebounds per game. Chris Obekpa of Guinea’s Seydou Legacy Athletique Club leads the league with 4.6 blocks per game.

The league displays some of Africa’s finest basketball talents as many players from the participating teams were capped for their national teams.

The BAL, newly born out of the partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA, features top club teams across Africa. This year’s teams include champions from the national leagues of Morocco, South Africa, Cameroon, Angola, Rwanda, Guinea, Tunisia and Egypt.

Except for South Africa’s side Cape Town Tigers, Rwanda’s Rwanda Energy Group and Seydou Legacy Athletique Club (SLAC) of Guinea, the other five teams all featured in the inaugural BAL last year in Kigali, where the Zamalek from Egypt beat the US Monastir of Tunisia to win the championship.

Besides BAL playoffs and finals, the inaugural BAL Elevate Showcase will feature top prospects from NBA Academy Africa taking on the U-23 Rwanda National Team at Kigali Arena on Friday, May 27.

Heat ease past Celtics in NBA Eastern Conference finals

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Miami Heat defeated Boston Celtics 109-103 in Game 3 of the 2021-2022 NBA season Eastern Conference finals on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Bam Adebayo’s 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals inspired Heat to victory.

Max Strus led the Heat to have an 8-2 run at the beginning of the game. Then all starters of the Heat scored in the first four minutes, providing the Eastern top-seeded team double-digit advantages. Adebayo scored 12 and the Heats finished the first quarter 39-18.

After a 7-2 run, the Heat enlarged the gap to 26 in the midway of the second quarter. Although the Celtics were checked in the offense as they only made 3 of 12 attempts beyond the arc in the first half, the Green put on a more aggressive defense, cutting the deficits to 15 at halftime.

At the start of the second half, Miami announced that guard Jimmy Butler won’t come back in Game 3 due to a knee injury which also force him to miss Game 5 of the Heat’s first-round series with the Hawks.

The Celtics chased down the Heat’s lead to 9 points in the third quarter but the wave was soon dismissed by Tyler Herro’s four points and an assist, giving the Heat an 87-72 lead before the final period.

With 8:42 remaining on the clock, Grant Williams narrowed the gap to one digit for the home team through a three-pointer. In the midway of the fourth quarter, Jaylen Brown brought the Celtics a 12-0 run, making his team only trail by one.

But the Celtics had two consecutive fatal turnovers, seeing the rival score seven points off them and seal the victory.

Before exiting, Butler had eight points, three rebounds and two assists. Strus added 16 points and four rebounds for the Heat.

Brown led the box score with 40 points. Al Horford of the Celtics pocketed a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals will be played on May 23 in Boston.

Fiorentina beats Juventus to qualify for Conference League playoffs

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Fiorentina booked a place in next season’s UEFA Conference League play-offs after beating a lacklustre Juventus side 2-0 in the final round of Serie A on Saturday.

Juve had secured fourth place before Saturday’s match. Giorgio Chiellini and Paulo Dybala who are set to leave at end of the season started in the final game while youngster Fabio Miretti stood in the middle of the park.

The Bianconeri only had 33% ball possession and managed one attempt throughout the game, the sub-par performance from Juve allowed the Viola to claim the victory at ease with Alfred Duncan’s rocket and Nico Gonzalez’s penalty.

The win, coupled with Atalanta’s 1-0 defeat, saw Fiorentina qualify for the Conference League play-offs while La Dea out of the Europa battles.

Elsewhere, Lazio locked the fifth place after a 3-3 thriller with Hellas Verona while already-relegated Genoa finished the season with a 1-0 home defeat to Bologna.

Leipzig stun Freiburg to lift German Super Cup

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Ten-man Leipzig rallied from behind to shock wasteful Freiburg 4-2 (1-1) in post match penalties to lift the German Super Cup, their first-ever title in the club history at Berlin Olympia stadium on Saturday.

Both teams started highly motivated in the encounter, yet the spectators had to wait until the 14th minute to see the first clear-cut chance as Emil Forsberg tested Freiburg goalkeeper Mark Flekken from a tight angle.

The opener was scored at the other end of the pitch five minutes later when Maximilian Eggestein hammered a loose ball from the edge of the box past Leipzig custodian Peter Gulacsi.

Leipzig should have leveled the scores in the 24th minute but Christopher Nkunku couldn’t take advantage of Nicolas Hofler’s misplaced pass.

After the restart, the “Red Bulls” started where they left off as Nkunku’s turn shot forced Flekken into action once again in the 50th minute.

Leipzig’s game suffered a heavy setback in the 57th minute when Marcel Halstenberg committed a professional foul to receive his marching orders.

Freiburg gained momentum and pushed forward but Vincenzo Grifo, as well as Roland Sallai, rattled only the side netting in quick succession at the hour mark.

However, as the match progressed, Freiburg reduced its offensive actions and got flabbergasted by resilient Leipzig, who restored parity through Nkunku out of thin air.

Ten-men Leipzig sparked to life and pressed uninspired Freiburg on the back foot. The “Breisgauers” defended deep in their territory and had a lot of work to reach the overtime.

In the overtime, Freiburg assumed control again and squared two promising opportunities by substituting Yannick Haberer against smart defending Leipzig.

However, after 120 minutes and a 1-1 stalemate the penalty shoot-out had to bring the decision. Ten-men Leipzig kept its nerves from the spot and snatched the title as Freiburg’s Christian Gunter and Ermedin Demirovic couldn’t convert their penalties.

“This is nuts. We played over 60 minutes with ten men and staged a terrible performance in the first half. It is unbelievable. This is the first title in our club history,” said Leipzig’s sporting director Oliver Mintzlaff.

Warriors outsmart Mavericks in NBA Western Conference finals

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Golden State Warriors outsmarted Dallas Mavericks 126-117 on Friday to lead the best-of-seven NBA Western Conference finals 2-0, Stephen Curry scored 32 points with six 3-pointers.

After the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and San Antonio Spurs, the Warriors became the fifth team in NBA history to win 200 playoffs.

The process of the Warriors reaching this milestone has been arduous as Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson got hot to help the Mavericks lead by up to 19 points in the first quarter.

The Warriors couldn’t find a good solution in the whole first half, hopelessly watching the Mavericks score 40 points with nine 3-pointers in the second quarter.

As fans in Chase Center thought the game would be a blowout, they once again witnessed the Warriors’ third-quarter flurries. It was Kevon Looney who sounded the clarion call when he had 11 points in six attempts in the third quarter. “Tonight was my night to make a big difference and I just stepped up,” Looney said after the game.

Curry and the Warriors then took over the rest of the time, shooting 15 for 19, scoring 43 points to seal the game.

Six Golden State players finished in double figures, Curry had 32 points and eight rebounds, and Looney scored a career-high 21 and grabbed 12 rebounds. Jordan Poole added 23 points off the bench.

On the Mavericks side, Luka Doncic produced another high-scoring show with 42 points, five rebounds and eight assists, while Jalen Brunson had 31 points.

The Mavericks badly need a comeback as the Warriors only lose the series once while leading 2-0, and it happened six years ago.

“It’s the Warriors. They have a great team. They’re a championship team. We’ve got to adjust our defense,” Doncic said. “But we can’t look back. What happened, happened. So we’ve got to move on.”

Wimbledon to be deprived points by ATP and WTA

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Both ATP and WTA Friday announced that they will deduct ranking points for this year’s Wimbledon Championships after the grass-court Grand Slam banned players from Russia and Belarus.

One month ago, the All England Club (AELTC) revealed their decision of declining entries from Russian and Belarusian players to the Wimbledon Championships 2022, which has been condemned by the world governing bodies for both the men’s and women’s professional tennis.

The ATP insisted in a statement on Friday that the ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to the tour. “The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the UK this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP Ranking system.”

The WTA also said that they decided not to award ranking points to this year’s Wimbledon “as a result of the AELTC’s position that it will not honour its obligation to use the WTA Rankings for entry into Wimbledon and proceed with a partial field not based on merit”.

The ITF, the International Tennis Federation will also withdraw ranking points for Wimbledon Juniors and Wheelchair events.

“Tournament organisers are not permitted to unilaterally impose entry criteria inconsistent with the ITF’s published open entry criteria. Therefore, in accordance with its protocols, the ITF has the right to withdraw ranking points,” read a statement released by the ITF on Friday.

The AELTC said they were disappointed at the decisions taken by the ATP, WTA and ITF in removing ranking points for The Championships, but they would stand by the decision they have made.

This year’s Wimbledon is scheduled to run from June 27 to July 10. Players such as the men’s singles world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev from Russia and the women’s singles world No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus couldn’t compete on the grass courts in London this time.

Roma beat Torino to qualify for next season’s Europa League

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AS Roma has booked a ticket to next season’s Europa League after edging Torino 3-0 away in a Serie A tie played on Friday night.

Six-placed Roma was one point ahead of Fiorentina before the last round and a victory was enough for Jose Mourinho’s side to book a place at the Europa League stage.

The Giallorossi took the lead in the 32nd minute as Torino players gave the ball away cheaply. Lorenzo Pellegrini assisted for Tammy Abraham whose mazy run allowed him to finish with a low strike.

Torino made another howler before the interval as Ricardo Rodriguez’s back-pass was too weak, forcing goalkeeper Etrit Berisha to trip down Abraham. The England hitman converted the penalty to bag a brace.

The away side sealed the win in the 77th minute with another spot-kick, when Nicolo Zaniolo was dragged down in the box. Pellegrini stepped up to score the last goal for Roma in this season’s domestic league.

Roma’s task is still unfinished, as La Lupa will take on Feyenoord in the Conference League Final on Wednesday.

Celtics crash Heat to tie in Eastern Conference finals

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Boston Celtics smashed Miami Heat 127-102 on Thursday to tie the best-of-seven NBA Eastern Conference finals 1-1.

Jayson Tatum of the Celtics scored a team-high 27 points, while Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart contributed 24 points respectively to the dominant win. Jimmy Butler of the Heat notched a match-leading 29 points but lacked help from his teammates.

The Celtics set the tone in the early minutes as they made nine three-pointers from 11 attempts, storming a 27-6 run to lead the first quarter 35-24. They kept it rolling in the second quarter to establish a 25-point lead by halftime, their largest first-half playoff lead on the road in franchise history.

The lopsided game saw the Celtics show great shooting performance, as they scored 20 of 40 attempts from three-point range.

Though Butler tried to narrow the deficit by scoring 16 points in the third quarter, his teammate Bam Adebayo was not in the same rhythm, as the star center only attempted six shots, finishing with six points and nine rebounds.

Game 3 will be in Boston on Saturday.

Everton fight back to survive relegation battle

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Everton fought back from 2-0 down to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 at Goodison Park on Thursday night.

The victory means that Frank Lampard’s side are now safe from the drop, leaving Leeds United and Burnley to contest the last relegation spot.

Things had looked bleak for Everton when they trailed to a 21st-minute goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta and a second from Jordan Ayew 15 minutes later.

Michael Keane gave Everton a lifeline nine minutes into the second half after being given time to control a knockdown, and Richarlison leveled with 15 minutes to go.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin then sent the home fans wild with a diving header from Seamus Coleman’s free-kick with five minutes left to play, sparking jubilant scenes and a pitch invasion that will surely cost Everton a hefty fine.

Burnley moved out of the bottom three on goal difference over Leeds United after a 1-1 draw away to Aston Villa, who had beaten them 3-1 less than two weeks ago.

Ashley Barnes’ penalty on the stroke of half-time put Burnley ahead, but Emiliano Buendia leveled for Villa three minutes into the second half.

A win at home to Newcastle United on Sunday will now assure Burnley’s top-flight survival.

Finally, Chelsea and Leicester City drew 1-1 with James Maddison putting Leicester ahead in the sixth minute before Marcos Alonso equalized half an hour later.

Warriors edge Mavericks in Western Conference finals series

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Golden State Warriors sailed past the Dallas Mavericks to win their Western Conference finals series opener by 112-87 on Wednesday.

Curry started slowly and missed his initial five 3-point attempts, four of which were in the first quarter. But he got involved in other ways by dishing out four assists and grabbing seven rebounds in the first half.

The Mavs made 14 of 44 attempts from the field in the first half, and only seven of 29 three-point attempts, but only trailed by nine points at half-time and were able to remain within sight of the Warriors.

Klay Thompson’s time came in the second half. He had made only four attempts from the field and failed to score a point in the first two quarters, but got into the groove in the second half with 15 points.

With Doncic appearing to be nursing a sore shoulder, the Warriors outscored the visitors 34-24 in the third quarter to lead by 19 points. Warriors coach Steve Kerr was able to withdraw his starters with five minutes left, earning them a valuable rest for what could be a long series.

Curry had 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Andrew Wiggins added 19 points and made a remarkable contribution in stopping Doncic.

Doncic scored 20 points but shot just 6 for 18 and 3 of 10 from deep, while Dallas trailed for almost the entirety of the game. The Slovenian received a scratch across his face early in the game by Wiggins, who handled much of the defensive load, and also tugged at his troublesome right shoulder that had been taped earlier in the playoffs.

Game two of the series takes place in San Francisco on Friday. The winner of the series will play against the winner of the Eastern Conference, either Boston or Miami, in the NBA Finals.

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