Two eagles see Molinari storm to title in Morocco
CHICAGO: Jimmy Butler scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including five during an 8-0 run midway through the final period that put Chicago in control, and the Bulls held on to beat the Boston Celtics 106102 on Sunday in the opener of a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Chicago prevailed on an emotional night in Boston, as Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas played the day after his younger sister, Chyna, was killed in a car crash. Thomas played through tears with “RIP Lil Sis” written in tribute on his shoes. He paced Boston with 33 points.
Thomas led a last-gasp effort for the Celtics, hitting a layup with 7.5 seconds left to cut Chicago’s lead to 104-102, but Butler dribbled off a few seconds and sealed it with a pair of free throws with 3.3 seconds to go. Wizards 114, Hawks 107 John Wall had 32 points and 14 assists as Washington controlled the second half to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Bradley Beal scored 22 points and Markieff Morris had 21 points for the Wizards, and Marcin Gortat finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Dennis Schroder scored 25 points and Paul Millsap had 19 for the Hawks. Atlanta made 32 of 39 free throws, but only shot 43.6 per cent from the field and committed 21 turnovers. Warriors 121, Trail Blazers 109 Draymond Green led a defensive surge early in the fourth quarter and backup point guard Ian Clark contributed seven points to a 15-2 flurry as Golden State won Game 1 of the series. The eighth-seeded Trail Blazers never trailed by more than eight points in the first three quarters and used a three-point play by backup Pat Connaughton in the final seconds of the third period to draw even at 88-all. Rockets 118, Thunder 87 Patrick Beverley carried the load until James Harden rebounded from a poor shooting start, and Houston claimed Game 1 of its Western Conference first-round series with a romp over Oklahoma City at Toyota Center.
Beverley scored a playoff career-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds, steering the ship until Harden got untracked. Harden missed all six of his 3-point attempts in the first half but finished with 37 points, nine assists and seven boards. Game 2 is on Wednesday night at Toyota Center.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, a co-favourite with Harden for league MVP honours, tallied 22 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and nine turnovers. He missed 17 of 23 shot attempts and was largely rendered ineffective in the second half, scoring seven points as Houston extended its five-point half-time lead to 33 points. RABAT: Edoardo Molinari came from four shots behind at the start of the final round to win a European PGA Tour event for the first time in almost seven years when he edged Irishman Paul Dunne at the first playoff hole to take the Trophee Hassan II on Sunday.
Italian Molinari, 36, stormed through with two eagles in his last seven holes to shoot 68 and tie the 24-yearold Dunne, who had a twostroke lead at the start of Sunday’s final round, at nine under-par after 72 holes at the Royal Golf Dar es Salam club in the Moroccan capital.
Dunne hit his tee shot on the playoff hole straight into the trees and missed a difficult putt for a bogey on the par-five 18, allowing Molinari a short putt to clinch his first title since success at Gleneagles in 2010.
“It’s been a while now, I’ve been through some tough times in the last years. I felt my chances had gone after a bogey on the 16th but then I got a birdie on the difficult 17th and a very exciting eagle at the last,” said Molinari, who has had several serious injuries.
Paul Waring of England finished third on eight under with Victor Dubuisson of France and Dane Lasse Jensen tied for fourth on six under.