Kobe back, but Lakers fall short
Kobe Bryant had nine points and eight rebounds in his season debut for the host Lakers, but Amir Johnson scored a careerhigh 32 points in the trade-depleted Raptors’ 106-94 victory on Sunday night.
Bryant began his 18th NBA season by shooting 2-for-9 with four assists and eight turnovers in 28 minutes. The fourth-leading scorer in NBA history hadn’t played since tearing his Achilles tendon in April, undergoing several months of rehabilitation. But the Lakers never led, and Toronto improbably snapped its five-game slide despite playing without forward Rudy Gay, who is expected to be traded to the Kings on Monday as the centerpiece of a seven-
player deal. The Raptors will get Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, John Salmo
ns and Chuck Hayes. The Kings also will land Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy.
rutgers sACKs tHree AssistAnts
Rutgers fired defensive coordinator
Dave Cohen, QB coach Rob Spence and OL coach Damian Wroblewski, head coach Kyle Flood saying the three would not coach in the Pinstripe Bowl vs. Notre Dame. Cohen’s defense allowed a schoolrecord 3,737 yards passing, and a former player accused Cohen of mistreating him.
VOnn: i’M reADY
After a fifth-place finish in a World Cup super-G, her third race in three days, Lind
sey Vonn used six simple words to sum up where things stand in her comeback from major knee surgery. “I know,” Vonn said, “I can win again.” She also had this to say after coming within a second of winner
Lara Gut of Switzerland in Lake Louise, Alberta: “I’m ready for Sochi.”
The 2014 Winter Games are less than two full months away, and Vonn said she might only race once or twice before then. “I know that I’m skiing well,” said Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist and a four-time overall World Cup champion. Vonn, 29, had not competed since a high-speed crash at the world championships in February ripped two ligaments in her right knee and broke a bone in that leg.
Ted Ligety turned in a flawless final run to win a fourth straight World Cup giant slalom, edging American teammate
Bode Miller in Beaver Creek, Colo. Ligety completed the course in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 35.77 seconds, eclipsing Miller by 1.32 seconds. Moments after Miller took the lead with a hardcharging run, Ligety thrilled the capacity crowd with a furious run of his own, leaning across the finish line. He became the first to capture four straight giant slaloms since Italy’s Alberto Tomba in 1991.
tiger FALLs At WOrLD CHALLenge
Zach Johnson, four shots down with eight holes to play, holed out for par from the drop area on the 18th hole that got him
into a playoff with Tiger Woods at the World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Calif., then won when Woods hit a poor shot into the bunker and missed a 5-foot par putt on the first extra hole. Johnson shot a 4-under 68, Woods a 70 as both finished at 13-under 275.