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Sports In Brief
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By The Associated Press Video Report: Video Sports Minute
Updates from the world of golf, tennis, football, basketball, hockey and the Olympics.
BASKETBALL
BOSTON (AP) - On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners, the Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one - at last - for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen - their Big Three for a new generation.
After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green.
Lifted by earsplitting chants of “Beat L.A.” from their adoring crowd, which included Boston legends Bill Russell John Havlicek and JoJo White, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6.
With the outcome assured, Boston fans sang into the night as if they were in a pub on nearby Canal Street. They serenaded the newest champs in this city of champs, and taunted Kobe Bryant and his Lakers, who drowned in a green-and-white wave for 48 minutes.
Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and Pierce, the finals MVP, added 17 as the Celtics, a 24-win team a year ago, wrapped up their first crown since 1986.
OLYMPICS
KASHGAR, China (AP) - Hundreds of security personnel lined the streets to head off any disruption as the Olympic torch relay resumed in western China's restive Muslim region of Xinjiang.
Black-gloved security agents jogged alongside the torch as it wound through the streets of Kashgar, an ancient Silk Road city near the borders with Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Foreign journalists were not allowed along the route, where cheering bystanders shouted “Go China!” under sunny skies.
The event ended without incident two hours later.
Also Wednesday, Olympic torch relay organizers said the flame will make a one-day stop in Tibet's capital of Lhasa on Saturday.
That leg has been shrouded in secrecy because of political sensitivities surrounding Tibet. The route has been criticized by Tibet activist groups who see it as an attempt by Beijing to symbolize its control over the Himalayan region.
TENNIS
EASTBOURNE, England (AP) - Nicole Vaidisova, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist last year, didn't make it through the first round of the International Women's Open on grass.
Vaidisova, preparing for her Wimbledon return, was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Olga Govortsova. The 19-year-old Czech has lost six of her past eight opening-round matches since a fourth-round loss to Serena Williams at the Australian Open.
Earlier, former No. 1-ranked Lindsay Davenport withdrew with a knee problem before her first-round match, but still hopes to play at Wimbledon.
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) - Top-seeded Radek Stepanek beat John Isner of the United States 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the Wimbledon tuneup tournament at Nottingham.
The 15th-ranked Czech next plays qualifier Vincent Spadea of the United States, who beat wildcard Alexander Slabinsky of Britain 6-1, 7-5.
Three other seeded players also won in straight sets. Third-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain beat Marcos Daniel of Brazil 6-4, 7-6 (3); fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France ousted Donald Young of the United States 6-1, 6-4; and eighth-seeded Gael Monfils of France defeated Chris Guccione of Australia 7-6 (4), 6-4.
DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) - Top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain beat Italian qualifier Massimo Dell'acqua 6-2, 7-6 (3) to advance to the quarterfinals of the Ordina Open.
Second-seeded Richard Gasquet was upset 7-5, 7-6 (6) by fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel in the second round. The 31-year-old Gicquel fended off seven break points before winning.
Gicquel next plays Austria's Jurgen Melzer, who upset fifth-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 in the grass court tournament.
Two-time Ordina champion Mario Ancic of Croatia, seeded sixth, beat Belgian Steve Darcis 6-2, 6-4.
FOOTBALL
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker remained hospitalized with a concussion and a battered face, one day after he was beaten, robbed and left unconscious on a Las Vegas street after a night of partying.
Police said a large amount of cash and some jewelry were taken from Walker, who suffered “a moderate concussion and significant injuries to his face.”
Police Lt. Clinton Nichols said detectives are retracing Walker's activities in the hours before he was found injured Monday morning on a street off the Las Vegas Strip.
HOCKEY
TORONTO (AP) - Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame along with former linesman Ray Scapinello and junior hockey builder Ed Chynoweth.
The turning point in Larionov's NHL career came early one morning in October 1995 when he received a call from Scotty Bowman and found out he'd been acquired by the Detroit Red Wings. Larionov soon found himself playing on a five-man Russian unit with Sergei Fedorov, Slava Kozlov, Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov.
He ended up winning three Stanley Cups in Hockeytown.
Anderson won six Stanley Cups during his career and ranks fifth in NHL history with 93 career playoff goals.
He was known as a big game player and became a key part of the Oilers dynasty. Anderson will now be enshrined with former teammates Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr and Jari Kurri.
Scapinello began his career as an NHL linesman in 1971 and didn't retire until 33 years later. In the meantime, he worked almost 3,000 career games - 2,508 in the regular season, 426 in playoffs - and never missed an assignment.
Chynoweth was a longtime president of the Western Hockey League and helped found the Canadian Hockey League in 1973.
Chynoweth died in April at the age of 66 of cancer.
BASKETBALL
BOSTON (AP) - On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners, the Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one - at last - for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen - their Big Three for a new generation.
After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green.
Lifted by earsplitting chants of “Beat L.A.” from their adoring crowd, which included Boston legends Bill Russell John Havlicek and JoJo White, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6.
With the outcome assured, Boston fans sang into the night as if they were in a pub on nearby Canal Street. They serenaded the newest champs in this city of champs, and taunted Kobe Bryant and his Lakers, who drowned in a green-and-white wave for 48 minutes.
Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and Pierce, the finals MVP, added 17 as the Celtics, a 24-win team a year ago, wrapped up their first crown since 1986.
OLYMPICS
KASHGAR, China (AP) - Hundreds of security personnel lined the streets to head off any disruption as the Olympic torch relay resumed in western China's restive Muslim region of Xinjiang.
Black-gloved security agents jogged alongside the torch as it wound through the streets of Kashgar, an ancient Silk Road city near the borders with Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Foreign journalists were not allowed along the route, where cheering bystanders shouted “Go China!” under sunny skies.
The event ended without incident two hours later.
Also Wednesday, Olympic torch relay organizers said the flame will make a one-day stop in Tibet's capital of Lhasa on Saturday.
That leg has been shrouded in secrecy because of political sensitivities surrounding Tibet. The route has been criticized by Tibet activist groups who see it as an attempt by Beijing to symbolize its control over the Himalayan region.
TENNIS
EASTBOURNE, England (AP) - Nicole Vaidisova, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist last year, didn't make it through the first round of the International Women's Open on grass.
Vaidisova, preparing for her Wimbledon return, was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Olga Govortsova. The 19-year-old Czech has lost six of her past eight opening-round matches since a fourth-round loss to Serena Williams at the Australian Open.
Earlier, former No. 1-ranked Lindsay Davenport withdrew with a knee problem before her first-round match, but still hopes to play at Wimbledon.
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) - Top-seeded Radek Stepanek beat John Isner of the United States 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the Wimbledon tuneup tournament at Nottingham.
The 15th-ranked Czech next plays qualifier Vincent Spadea of the United States, who beat wildcard Alexander Slabinsky of Britain 6-1, 7-5.
Three other seeded players also won in straight sets. Third-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain beat Marcos Daniel of Brazil 6-4, 7-6 (3); fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France ousted Donald Young of the United States 6-1, 6-4; and eighth-seeded Gael Monfils of France defeated Chris Guccione of Australia 7-6 (4), 6-4.
DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) - Top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain beat Italian qualifier Massimo Dell'acqua 6-2, 7-6 (3) to advance to the quarterfinals of the Ordina Open.
Second-seeded Richard Gasquet was upset 7-5, 7-6 (6) by fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel in the second round. The 31-year-old Gicquel fended off seven break points before winning.
Gicquel next plays Austria's Jurgen Melzer, who upset fifth-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 in the grass court tournament.
Two-time Ordina champion Mario Ancic of Croatia, seeded sixth, beat Belgian Steve Darcis 6-2, 6-4.
FOOTBALL
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker remained hospitalized with a concussion and a battered face, one day after he was beaten, robbed and left unconscious on a Las Vegas street after a night of partying.
Police said a large amount of cash and some jewelry were taken from Walker, who suffered “a moderate concussion and significant injuries to his face.”
Police Lt. Clinton Nichols said detectives are retracing Walker's activities in the hours before he was found injured Monday morning on a street off the Las Vegas Strip.
HOCKEY
TORONTO (AP) - Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame along with former linesman Ray Scapinello and junior hockey builder Ed Chynoweth.
The turning point in Larionov's NHL career came early one morning in October 1995 when he received a call from Scotty Bowman and found out he'd been acquired by the Detroit Red Wings. Larionov soon found himself playing on a five-man Russian unit with Sergei Fedorov, Slava Kozlov, Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov.
He ended up winning three Stanley Cups in Hockeytown.
Anderson won six Stanley Cups during his career and ranks fifth in NHL history with 93 career playoff goals.
He was known as a big game player and became a key part of the Oilers dynasty. Anderson will now be enshrined with former teammates Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr and Jari Kurri.
Scapinello began his career as an NHL linesman in 1971 and didn't retire until 33 years later. In the meantime, he worked almost 3,000 career games - 2,508 in the regular season, 426 in playoffs - and never missed an assignment.
Chynoweth was a longtime president of the Western Hockey League and helped found the Canadian Hockey League in 1973.
Chynoweth died in April at the age of 66 of cancer.
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