Anthony signs with Rockets
Carmelo Anthony signed a one-year, $2.4 million deal with the Houston Rockets on Monday.
Anthony was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks last month before the Hawks released him. Houston general manager Daryl Morey announced the signing and the Rockets posted a picture on social media of Anthony signing his contract.
The 34-year-old joins a team led by MVP James Harden and star point guard Chris Paul. The Rockets hope the addition of Anthony will help them contend for their first title since 1995. They lost to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals last season.
Anthony will get a fresh start in Houston after spending last season with the Thunder, with whom he averaged a career-low 16.2 points in 78 games. The third overall pick in the 2003 draft has averaged 24.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists in his 15-year career.
Golf
RYDER CUP PICKS >> The upside to Jim Furyk finishing so early at the PGA Championship was being able to watch the final round on television, partly as a player but mostly as the Ryder Cup captain. And that meant seeing plenty of Tiger Woods.
Woods shot 6-under 64 for the lowest final round of his career in the majors, had his lowest 72-hole score in the majors, captivated one of the largest and loudest galleries in golf and was runner-up to Brooks Koepka by two shots.
As for the Ryder Cup, Furyk ended up with the same eight players who started the week atop the U.S. standings. The PGA Championship was the final event for eight players to earn automatic spots. Furyk will choose three captain’s picks next month after the second FedEx Cup playoff event, with the last pick Sept. 10 after the third playoff.
Koepka, who won three of the eight majors during the qualifying period, overtook Dustin Johnson to lead the points list, and the next six players are Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson.
Woods, who started the year with zero points, moved from No. 20 to No. 11 in the rankings.
BIG PGA CHAMPIONSHIP RATINGS >> The charge by Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship and the two-shot victory by Brooks Koepka drew the highest finalround coverage for the major in nine years. CBS Sports said that Sunday’s round at Bellerive drew a rating of 6.1 and share of 14 up 69 percent from last year.
Tennis
MURRAY LOSES CINCINNATI OPENER >> Andy Murray lost to Lucas Pouille 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Western & Southern Open, clearing another obstacle for Roger Federer in this U.S. Open tuneup. Top-seeded Rafael Nadal dropped out Sunday night to prepare for the U.S. Open after winning his fifth title of the year in Toronto. Murray had his best result since missing 11 months following hip surgery when he reached the quarterfinals in Washington two weeks ago. But he had a hard time adjusting to the Cincinnati courts . ... Serena Williams bounced back from the most lopsided loss of her career, cruising past Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2, also at the Western & Southern Open. Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner who returned to the tour this year after the birth of her first child, needed just 65 minutes to dispatch Gavrilova. She’ll face eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova in Tuesday’s second round.
Obituary
NEIDHART DIES >> Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, who joined with brother-in-law Bret Hart to form one of the top tag teams in the 1980s with the WWE, has died. He was 63. The Pasco Sheriff’s Office said Neidhart fell at home, hit his head and “succumbed to his injury” on Monday in Wesley Chapel, Florida. No foul play was suspected. Neidhart, Bret “Hitman” Hart and manager Jimmy “The Mouth of the South” Hart made up the Hart Foundation stable in the 1980s and 1990s and the tag team won two WWE championships.
Motorsports
DIXON STAYS WITH GANASSI >> Scott Dixon will likely finish his career with Chip Ganassi Racing under a new contract for one of IndyCar’s greatest drivers. The extension puts Dixon behind the wheel of the PNC Bank-sponsored entry and ends all speculation he’d leave Ganassi after 17 seasons to join Fernando Alonso on a new McLaren team. The McLaren entry has not been announced, but Dixon is among the top IndyCar drivers who had been targeted to team with Alonso.