SPORTS DIGEST

BASKETBALL

The Cleveland Cavaliers showed signs of returning to form as they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 107-91. The Cavs have been so patchy in recent weeks that Lebron James spoke out about their desire to retain their NBA title, but they found their groove against the Thunder. James scored a double-double, consisting of 25 points and 14 rebounds, while Kyrie Irving also got a double-double, top scoring with 29 points and adding 10 assists. Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with yet another triple-double, his 24th for the campaign. The Golden State Warriors shrugged off the absence of Stephen Curry to earn a ninth win from 10 in a 113-111 success over the Portland Trail Blazers. Kevin Durant stepped up in Curry’s absence, which was due to a stomach bug, and he scored 33 points and had 10 rebounds. The Atlanta Hawks eventually got past the New York Knicks 142-139, but they needed four periods of overtime to do it. Paul Millsap’s lay-up finally separated the two sides after over four hours of action. The Orlando Raptors beat the Toronto Raptors 114-113, the San Antonio Spurs suffered a surprise 105-101 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks and the Chicago Bulls downed the Philadelphia 76ers 121-108. NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: New York Knicks 139 Atlanta Hawks 142 (OT), Philadelphia 76ers 108 Chicago Bulls 121, Oklahoma City Thunder 91 Cleveland Cavaliers 107, Houston Rockets 101 Indiana Pacers 120, Washington Wizards 107 New Orleans Pelicans 94, Golden State Warriors 111 Portland Trail Blazers 113, Dallas Mavericks 105 San Antonio Spurs 101, Orlando Magic 114 Toronto Raptors 113.

CYCLING

TOUR DE SAN JUAN (Argentina) Stage 7, (San Juan - San Juan 138.2km): 1 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-step Floors 2hrs 16mins 48secs, 2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-step Floors at 3secs, 3 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec, 4 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi, 5 Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF, 6 Jose Luis Rivera (Arg) Equipo Continental Municipalidad de Pocito, 7 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team, 8 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Italy, 9 Daniel Juarez (Arg) Asociacion Civil Mardan, 10 Mattia Viel (Ita) Unieuro Trevigiani - Hemus 1896, 11 Ricardo Escuela (Arg) Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima, 12 Gerardo Tivani (Arg) Equipo Continental Municipalidad de Pocito, 13 Juan Pablo Magallanes (Mex) Mexico, 14 Nicolas Marini (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini, 15 Alan Ramirez (Arg) Municipalidad de Rawson Somos Todos, 16 Andres Paez (Arg) Municipalidad de Rawson Somos Todos, 17 Lucas Manuel Gaday (Arg) Los Cascos Esco - Agroplan, 18 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF, 19 Wilmer Dario Rodriguez (Col) Italomat-dogo, 20 Oliviero Troia (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi all at same time FINAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION: 1 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-segafredo 20hrs 19mins 00secs, 2 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Medellin - Inder at 14secs, 3 Rodolfo Torres (Col) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec at 16secs, 4 Ricardo Escuela (Arg) Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima at 20 secs, 5 Rui Costa (Por) Team UAE Abu Dhabi at 26 secs, 6 Laureano Rosas (Arg) Argentina at 27secs, 7 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team at 49secs, 8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team at 1min 15secs, 9 Egan Bernal (Col) Androni Giocattoli Sidermec at 1min 29secs, 10 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-step Floors at 1min 31secs, 11 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Argentina at 1min 49secs, 12 Enzo Josue Moyano (Arg) Equipo Continental Municipalidad de Pocito at 2min 4secs, 13 Juan Pablo Dotti (Arg) Sindicato Empleados Publicos of San Juan at 2min 20secs, 14 Julian Barrientos (Arg) Equipo Bolivia at 2min 21secs, 15 Rafael Reis (Por) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA at 2min 36secs, 16 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team at 3min 7secs, 17 Gonzalo Najar (Arg) Sindicato Empleados Publicos of San Juan 3min 10secs, 18 Julen Amezqueta (Spa) Wilier Triestina 3min 33secs, 19 Juan Pablo Magallanes (Mex) Mexico 3min 38secs, 20 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 3min 38secs.

GOLF

OFFICIAL WORLD RANKING: 1 Jason Day (Aus) 10.16, 2 Rory Mcilroy (Nirl) 9.45, 3 Dustin Johnson (USA) 9.01, 4 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 8.48, 5 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 7.82, 6 Jordan Spieth (USA) 7.82, 7 Adam Scott (Aus) 6.08, 8 Justin Thomas (USA) 5.67, 9 Patrick Reed (USA) 5.31, 10 Alex Noren (Swe) 5.27, 11 Justin Rose (Eng) 4.89, 12 Bubba Watson (USA) 4.79, 13 Danny Willett (Eng) 4.72, 14 Rickie Fowler (USA) 4.49, 15 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 4.46, 16 Paul Casey (Eng) 4.33, 17 Branden Grace (Rsa) 4.18, 18 Russell Knox (Sco) 4.11, 19 Brooks Koepka (USA) 3.96, 20 Phil Mickelson (USA) 3.87, 21 Matt Kuchar (USA) 3.83, 22 Jimmy Walker (USA) 3.81, 23 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 3.66, 24 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 3.58, 25 Rafael Cabrera-bello (Spa) 3.47, 26 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 3.43, 27 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 3.43, 28 Ryan Moore (USA) 3.30, 29 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 3.27, 30 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 3.22, 31 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 3.20, 32 J.B. Holmes (USA) 3.19, 33 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 3.05, 34 Daniel Berger (USA) 3.01, 35 Kevin Chappell (USA) 2.98, 36 Scott Piercy (USA) 2.91, 37 Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 2.82, 38 Zach Johnson (USA) 2.80, 39 Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 2.73, 40 Jim Furyk (USA) 2.69, 41 Gary Woodland (USA) 2.58, 42 Bill Haas (USA) 2.57, 43 Lee Westwood (Eng) 2.55, 44 Chris Wood (Eng) 2.54, 45 Kevin Kisner (USA) 2.54, 46 Jon Rahm (Spa) 2.51, 47 Byeong-hun An (Kor) 2.49, 48 William Mcgirt (USA) 2.49, 49 Andy Sullivan (Eng) 2.47, 50 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 2.46. WOMEN’S WORLD RANKINGS: 1 Lydia Ko (Nzl) 10.51pts ave, 2 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 7.49, 3 In Gee Chun (Kor) 6.70, 4 Shanshan Feng (Chn) 6.57, 5 Lexi Thompson (USA) 5.96, 6 Ha Na Jang (Kor) 5.60, 7 Sei Young Kim (Kor) 5.49, 8 So Yeon Ryu (Kor) 5.44, 9 Brooke M. Henderson (Can) 5.37, 10 Sung Hyun Park (Kor) 5.25, 11 Inbee Park (Kor) 4.74, 12 Amy Yang (Kor) 4.66, 13 Stacy Lewis (USA) 4.33, 14 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 4.27, 15 Charley Hull (Eng) 3.97, 16 Bo-mee Lee (Kor) 3.90, 17 Minjee Lee (Aus) 3.70, 18 Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 3.60, 19 Gerina Piller (USA) 3.58, 20 Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 3.43, 21 Haru Nomura (Jpn) 3.20, 22 Brittany Lang (USA) 3.07, 23 Jiyai Shin (Kor) 3.07, 24 Mi Rim Lee (Kor) 3.04, 25 Hyo Joo Kim (Kor) 2.91.

TENNIS

ATP CHAMPIONS RANKINGS 2017: 1 Andy Murray (Gbr) 11540pts, 2 Novak Djokovic (Ser) 9825, 3 Stan Wawrinka (Swi) 5695, 4 Milos Raonic (Can) 4930, 5 Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 4830, 6 Rafael Nadal (Spa) 4385, 7 Marin Cilic (Cro) 3560, 8 Dominic Thiem (Aut) 3505, 9 Gael Monfils (Fra) 3445, 10 Roger Federer (Swi) 3260, 11 David Goffin (Bel) 2930, 12 Tomas Berdych (Cze) 2790, 13 Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) 2765, 14 Jo-wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 2685, 15 Nick Kyrgios (Aus) 2415, 16 Roberto Bautista Agut (Spa) 2350, 17 Lucas Pouille (Fra) 2121, 18 Richard Gasquet (Fra) 1975, 19 Ivo Karlovic (Cro) 1875, 20 Jack Sock (USA) 1855, 21 Pablo Cuevas (Uru) 1745, 22 Alexander Zverev (Ger) 1735, 23 John Isner (USA) 1715, 24 Gilles Simon (Fra) 1495, 25 David Ferrer (Spa) 1470, 26 Pablo Carreno-busta (Spa) 1450, 27 Sam Querrey (USA) 1435, 28 Gilles Muller (Lux) 1415, 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) 1405, 30 Albert Ramos-vinolas (Spa) 1400, 31 Steve Johnson (USA) 1345, 32 Bernard Tomic (Aus) 1330, 33 Feliciano Lopez (Spa) 1330, 34 Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) 1245, 35 Mischa Zverev (Ger) 1238, 36 Martin Klizan (Svk) 1230, 37 Viktor Troicki (Ser) 1225, 38 Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) 1110, 39 Marcel Granollers (Spa) 1088, 40 Fernando Verdasco (Spa) 1070, 41 Joao Sousa (Por) 1055, 42 Nicolas Mahut (Fra) 1050, 43 Paolo Lorenzi (Ita) 1042, 44 Benoit Paire (Fra) 1040, 45 Daniel Evans (Gbr) 1031, 46 Nicolas Almagro (Spa) 1005, 47 Kyle Edmund (Gbr) 988, 48 Fabio Fognini (Ita) 980, 49 Federico Del Bonis (Arg) 950, 50 Florian Mayer (Ger) 913. WTA RANKINGS: 1 Serena Williams (USA) 7780pts, 2 Angelique Kerber (Ger) 7115, 3 Karolina Pliskova (Cze) 5270, 4 Simona Halep (Rom) 5073, 5 Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) 4985, 6 Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 4915, 7 Garbine Muguruza (Spa) 4420, 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 3915, 9 Madison Keys (USA) 3897, 10 Johanna Konta (Gbr) 3705, 11 Venus Williams (USA) 3530, 12 Petra Kvitova (Cze) 3415, 13 Elina Svitolina (Ukr) 2955, 14 Carla Suarez Navarro (Spa) 2625, 15 Timea Bacsinszky (Swi) 2407, 16 Elena Vesnina (Rus) 2357, 17 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) 2295, 18 Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 2295, 19 Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 2161, 20 Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 2136, 21 Roberta Vinci (Ita) 2090, 22 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 2040, 23 Samantha Stosur (Aus) 2016, 24 Kiki Bertens (Ned) 1956, 25 Caroline Garcia (Fra) 1885, 26 Daria Gavrilova (Aus) 1665, 27 Daria Kasatkina (Rus) 1580, 28 Irina-camelia Begu (Rom) 1562, 29 Mirjana Lucic (Cro) 1556, 30 Timea Babos (Hun) 1485, 31 Shuai Zhang (Chn) 1485, 32 Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) 1445, 33 Jelena Ostapenko (Lat) 1425, 34 Yulia Putintseva (Kaz) 1390, 35 Monica Niculescu (Rom) 1390, 36 Laura Siegemund (Ger) 1382, 37 Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) 1377, 38 Alison Riske (USA) 1367, 39 Ana Konjuh (Cro) 1351, 40 Katerina Siniakova (Cze) 1343, 41 Misaki Doi (Jpn) 1270, 42 Christina Mchale (USA) 1250, 43 Eugenie Bouchard (Can) 1245, 44 Alize Cornet (Fra) 1242, 45 Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) 1224, 46 Monica Puig (Pur) 1155, 47 Sara Errani (Ita) 1145, 48 Shelby Rogers (USA) 1138, 49 Jelena Jankovic (Ser) 1135, 50 Sloane Stephens (USA) 1127. Selected others: 73 Heather Watson (Gbr) 825, 98 Naomi Broady (Gbr) 658.