Suns’ Beasley arrested after pot found in his car again
Maya Moore had 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and the visiting Minnesota Lynx beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 93-80 on Tuesday night for their second 10-game winning streak of the season. Seimone Augustus added 21 points, Rebekkah Brunson had 20 and Lindsay Whalen had 11 points and 10 assists for league-best Minnesota (17-3). Danielle Adams had a season-high 31 points and Jia Perkins added 18 points for San Antonio (7-14).
New York reserve guard Alex Montgomery scored a career-high 21 points to help New York rally for a 93-88 win Tuesday against the visiting Washington Mystics. Montgomery, who scored 13 points in the second quarter, helped the Liberty (9-12) overcome a 14-point deficit early in the fourth quarter. She finished 8 of 15 from the field with five rebounds. Montgomery’s previous career high was 13 points.
TENNIS
Next week, for the first time in 40 years of ATP rankings, there will be no American men in the top 20. That’s because John Isner, who is 20th this week, is assured of dropping lower after losing Tuesday in the first round of the Rogers Cup to Vasek Pospisil of Canada 5-7, 7- 6 (5), 7- 6 (4) at Montreal. Isner was a semifinalist at the hard-court tournament last year and failed to defend those points. It’s the latest indication of the recent decline of men’s tennis in the United States, which produced Grand Slam champions such as Bill Tilden and Don Budge, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. At Wimbledon in June, for the first time in 101 years, no men from the country reached the third round at the All England Club. The last time that happened there, way back in 1912, none entered. The U.S. Open, which starts Aug. 26, will mark 10 years since the last time an American man won a Grand Slam tournament, Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open. Roddick was a fixture in the top 10 until a series of injuries hampered him. He retired during last year’s U.S. Open.
SAILING
Rebounding from a shaky start and damage to its wing sail, Italy’s Luna Rossa sped ahead of Artemis Racing of Sweden to win the opening race of the America’s Cup challenger semifinals Tuesday on San Francisco Bay. The Italian catamaran, sponsored by the Prada fashion house, won by a comfortable 2 minutes to take the lead in the best-of-seven series. Artemis Racing made its debut in the Louis Vuitton Cup nearly three months after Andrew “Bart” Simpson was killed when the syndicate’s first boat was destroyed in a capsize during a training run May 9. The syndicate launched its second 72-foot catamaran on July 22 and missed the round robins.
From Staff and Wire Reports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Forward Michael Beasley, who vowed when he joined the Phoenix Suns a year ago that his marijuana problems were in the past, has been arrested by Scottsdale police after they found what they believe to be marijuana in his car.
Beasley was arrested early Tuesday following a traffic stop, according to Officer David Pubins. An officer found three cigarettes suspected to contain marijuana in Beasley’s Mercedes after smelling marijuana during the stop, Pubins said.
Beasley was released after being cited for investigation of one felony count each of marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. According to Pubins, court proceedings in the case will begin once results of lab tests are available.
Beasley, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft by Miami out of Kansas State in 2008, signed a three-year, $18 million contract with the Suns a year ago. But he went on to have a disappointing, inconsistent season, averaging career lows of 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 75 games as Phoenix compiled the worst record in the Western Conference and second-worst in franchise history.
Marijuana issues followed Beasley to Arizona.
In June 2011, Beasley was ticketed for possessing marijuana and speeding in a Minneapolis suburb. He also has acknowledged that while playing for Miami, he twice violated the NBA’s drug policy and entered a treatment facility in 2009.
At a news conference following his signing with the Suns, Beasley pointedly said he was through with marijuana.
“I realize 10 minutes of feeling good is not really worth putting my life and my career and my legacy in jeopardy,” he said then, “so I’m confident to say that that part of my career, that part of my life, is over and won’t be coming back.”
DEVELOPMENT
Heat schedule perk: The Miami Heat are going to the Super Bowl. Well, at least Super Bowl weekend.
Among the favorite moments for Heat players on their way to a second straight NBA championship last season was staying in Toronto for a few unplanned hours after a game against the Raptors so the team could throw itself a Super Bowl watch party. The Heat won that day to start what became a 27-game win streak, the second-longest in NBA history.
And this year, the Heat will get a better look at Super Bowl hoopla.
The league is sending Miami to Madison Square Garden on Feb. 1 one night before the NFL championship game at the nearby stadium that the New York Giants and Jets call home for a game that is certain to be a star-studded affair.
It’s one of the clear highlights on this coming season’s schedule, released by the league Tuesday night.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of last season’s championship club will get their latest rings on Oct. 29, shortly before the Heat start the year against the Bulls. That game also figures to be Derrick Rose’s return from an April 2012 knee injury that kept him sidelined all of last season including Miami’s victory over Chicago in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“You care a little bit about what the schedule says, like where you’ll be for the holidays and making sure that your family is there around you,” Heat guard Mario Chalmers said. “Going to LA on Christmas this time, that’s a little weird ... but you just show up and play.”
It’s the first time since 2008 that the league’s reigning champ will be on the road for Christmas. Miami will play on Dec. 25 at the Lakers.