Off the wire

BASKETBALL China, Rockets in spat

China’s official basketball association said it will suspend cooperation with the Houston Rockets following a tweet by the team’s general manager in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. The Chinese Basketball Association said Sunday on its official Twitter-like Weibo account that Daryl Morey had made “improper remarks regarding Hong Kong” to which it expressed its “strong opposition.” That underscores Beijing’s extreme sensitivity about foreign attitudes toward the ongoing protests in the semi-autonomous territory that have lately grown in violence. China accuses foreign parties in the U.S. and elsewhere of encouraging the demonstrations. Morey’s now-deleted tweet read: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta attempted to distance the team from Morey’s tweet with a Twitter post of his own: “Listen. @dmorey does NOT speak for the @HoustonRockets. Our presence in Tokyo is all about the promotion of the NBA internationally and we are NOT a political organization.” China’s relationship with the Rockets has been especially close because Chinese hall of famer Yao Ming played his entire NBA career with the team.

FOOTBALL Miles fires OC

Kansas Coach Les Miles fired offensive coordinator Les Koenning halfway through their first season with the Jayhawks on Sunday and promoted Brent Dearmon to the same position. Koenning was hired by Miles after spending last season as the running backs coach at Southern Miss. He also has been offensive coordinator at Duke, Alabama, Texas A&M, South Alabama and Mississippi State, and Koenning spent a season with the Miami Dolphins among his many jobs. The Jayhawks, who fell to 2-4 with a 45-20 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday, are averaging just over 22 points per game. That is last in the Big 12 by a wide margin. Dearmon joined the Jayhawks after serving last season as the head coach at Bethel, where his team produced the highest-scoring offense at any level of college football. He had been serving as an offensive consultant with Kansas.

GOLF Na wins playoff

Kevin Na lost a three-shot lead on the back nine, saved his chances with a clutch par putt on the 17th hole and won the PGA Tour’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at Las Vegas in a playoff Sunday when Patrick Cantlay three-putted the second extra hole. It was a wild finish at the TPC Summerlin made possible mainly by Na’s mistakes. He chopped his way to a triple bogey on the 10th hole. He hit into the water on the par-5 16th and made bogey. He closed with a 1-under 70. Cantlay lost his late lead with a tee shot in the water on the 17th, and he lost the playoff by missing a par putt from just under 6 feet.

Knight takes first title

Cheyenne Knight won her first LPGA Tour title in what she figured would be her last event of a tough rookie season, closing with a 5-under 67 for a two-shot victory in front of home support at the Volunteers of America Classic at The Colony, Texas. Knight had missed the cut in half of her 18 starts on the LPGA Tour and assumed she would be going back to the qualifying series. Instead, she pulled ahead of Jaye Marie Green and made a key birdie on the 17th hole to stay in front at Old American Golf Club. Along with a two-year exemption, Knight, 22, is eligible for the Asia Swing and will reach the CME Globe Tour Championship next month. Brittany Altomare (67) and Green (69) finished two shots back. Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot even-par 71 and tied for 16th at 5-under 279. Maria Fassi (Razorbacks) shot a second consecutive 6-over 77 and tied for 70th at 7-over 291.

Rahm victorious again

Jon Rahm won the Spanish Open in Madrid for a second consecutive year on Sunday, beating Seve Ballesteros’ record for the fastest Spaniard to reach five European Tour victories. Golfing great Ballesteros needed 49 events to get 5 wins on the tour. Rahm, 24, did so in 39 tournaments after shooting a 5-under 66 on the final round to finish 22 under and win by five strokes. Rafa Cabrera Bello (66) was second, followed by another Spaniard, Samuel del Val (68), who was seven strokes back at the Club de Campo Villa.

TENNIS Djokovic successful

Novak Djokovic capped his dominant run at the Japan Open in Tokyo on Sunday with a straight-sets victory over Australian qualifier John Millman to capture his fourth title of the year. The top-ranked Serb, who did not drop a set in his five singles matches at Ariake Colosseum, needed just one hour nine minutes for the 6-3, 6-2 victory. Playing in the Japanese capital for the first time, Djokovic captured his 10th title in a tournament main draw debut. Djokovic broke Millman to go up 3-1 in the first set with a perfectly placed crosscourt volley to the corner.