SPORTS SHORTS Jerusalem stays hot in Champions League
Hapoel Jerusalem moved to 2-0 in the Basketball Champions League round-of-16 group stages with a 83-74 win over Pinar Karsiyaka on Wednesday night at its home-away-from-home in Belgrade, Serbia.
Levi Randolph and JaCorey Williams paced the Reds to the victory after a tight first quarter as a total of four players ended the game in double figures.
Randolph scored 19 points, Williams added 15 points, Speedy Smith scored points and dished out 12 assists while Zach Hankins and Khadeen Carrington each scored 10 points in the win. Darrun Hilliard and Vernon Carey had 18 points apiece for the Turkish side in the loss.
“We played against a very quality team with a lot of potential,” Jerusalem coach Ilias Kantzouris said. “They beat a Euroleague team by 20, scoring 100 points a few days ago. We knew that the biggest part was going to be our defense. The players did an excellent job executing the plan, but we lost some of the small details and Karsiyaka hit some big shots that kept them in the game. I am happy with the assist-to-turnover ratio. This is how we need to move on, take good shots, keep the hierarchy and play defense.”
Williams, who came off the bench as a spark for Jerusalem, also commented afterwards.
“We got into an offensive battle with them in the first quarter and they are a very good offensive team. We just had to find a way in the second half to get some stops and we kept scoring. I am an energy guy and I’m just here to help my team.” • Joshua Halickman
Liverpool moves five points clear in EPL
Twenty-year-old Conor Bradley scored his first goal for Liverpool and claimed two assists as Jurgen Klopp’s team moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea late Wednesday.
Diogo Jota, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz were also on target for Liverpool while Darwin Nunez failed to convert a first-half spot kick in a dominant display, but the hosts were perhaps lucky not to concede a penalty themselves with Chelsea having two strong appeals waved away.
Nunez also became the first player since 2003/04 to hit the woodwork four times in a Premier League match.
Liverpool, unbeaten at Anfield this season in all competitions, has 51 points after 22 games. Manchester City, which has a game in hand, is second and level on points with third-place Arsenal on 46. Chelsea is 10th with 31.
Bradley became the youngest Liverpool player to both score and assist a goal in a Premier League match since Raheem Sterling, who was on the pitch for Chelsea on Wednesday, nearly 10 years ago.
Liverpool’s victory was the 200th under Klopp, who announced last week that he will leave at the end of the season
In other action, Tottenham Hotspur climbed to fourth place in as a second-half broadside fired them to an enthralling 3-2 home victory over struggling Brentford.
Ange Postecoglou’s side, knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City in its previous home game, moved above Aston Villa on goals scored with both clubs on 43 points from 22 games, three behind Arsenal and eight adrift of leader Liverpool
Meanwhile, Julian Alvarez celebrated his 24th birthday with two goals as Manchester City cruised to a 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Burnley at the Etihad Stadium to climb to second.
City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne made his first start for City since the opening day of the season and striker Erling Haaland came off the bench for the final 20 minutes after missing the previous 10 games due to injury.