BASKETBALL
Blazers’ Lillard scores 50
Damian Lillard on Friday scored 50 points in just three quarters of action as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Sacramento Kings 118-100. The All-Star point guard did not play at all in the final quarter after reaching 50 points late in the third quarter. He scored 22 points in the third and shot 16 of 26 overall, including eight from beyond the arc. He was a perfect 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. Maurice Harkless added 15 points, C.J. McCollum scored 13 and Ed Davis had five points and 14 rebounds for Portland, who made 15 three-pointers.
GOLF
Johnson, Hossler share lead
Dustin Johnson apparently has an issue with the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club only when the weather is ugly. Under a gorgeous sky on Friday, the world No. 1 shot a seven-under 64 to share the 36-hole lead with Beau Hossler at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Johnson opened with three straight birdies, including a 9-iron on the par-three 11th. The weather was so foul last year that he hit 4-iron. He is to head over to Pebble Beach for the final two rounds as he tries to win his second straight PGA Tour event. Hossler played bogey-free at Spyglass Hill for a 67. They were at 12-under par.
SOCCER
Improving Las Palmas draw
UD Las Palmas on Friday continued to show improvement under new coach Paco Jemez when they drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. Jemez took over the Canary Islands club in late December last year and, after a poor start, his team have won two and drawn one of their past four matches to climb to 18th in the 20-team La Liga. “We knew this was a tough place to play, so a point is a good result,” said Las Palmas goalkeeper Leonardo Chichizola, who made several fine saves in the second half. “We have played better in the last three or four matches, but we have to keep this going.”
SOCCER
Leipzig dominate Augsburg
Teenager Dayot Upamecano on Friday scored the first senior goal of his career to set up a 2-0 win for RB Leipzig against a lackluster Augsburg in the Bundesliga. The 19-year-old Frenchman, in his second season at the club, scored acrobatically from a rebound after Augsburg goalkeeper Marwin Hitz parried Yussuf Poulsen’s header. Midfielder Naby Keita capped an inspirational display by scoring the second with a deflected free-kick in the 70th minute, the Guinean’s fourth league goal of the season — all of them from outside the area. Leipzig dominated the game, although goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi made a difficult save from Daniel Baier’s shot just before the second goal. Kevin Kampl was close to a third for Leipzig when he struck the crossbar from a free-kick and Timo Werner nearly put away the rebound.
TENNIS
Goffin cruises into semis
Top seed David Goffin on Friday did not face a break point as he beat qualifier Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Open Sud de France. Goffin, who had an excellent season last year capped by a runner-up spot at the ATP Finals, next meets three-time champion Richard Gasquet. Gasquet got off to a slow start against fourth seed Damir Dzumhur, but eventually progressed 6-4, 6-2 at the indoor tournament. He was 4-1 down before winning 11 of the final 13 games. Third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is to face Lucas Pouille in the other semi-final. Tsonga defeated Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), while his French Davis Cup teammate beat Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-4.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was