Pistons deal Lakers first defeat of NBA season

Rasheed Wallace and recently acquired Allen Iverson scored 25 points apiece Friday as Detroit handed the Los Angeles Lakers their first defeat of the National Basketball Association season.
All five of Detroit's starters scored in double figures as the Pistons downed the Lakers 106-95.
Wallace made 8-of-15 shots from the field, including four 3-pointers. He grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, earning his fifth double-double of the season.
Iverson made 11-of-12 free throws and added four steals while Tayshaun Prince scored 18 points with six assists and four rebounds.
Richard Hamilton scored 12 points and Kwame Brown added 10 with 10 rebounds for the Pistons.
The Pistons shot 56 percent in the first half and led by 11 points at the break. A burst late in the third quarter saw them lead 77-62 heading into the final period, a deficit the Lakers couldn't overcome.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant had 29 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Lakers, who had outscored opponents by an average of 18 points in winning their first seven games of the season.
The Lakers' 7-0 start was the third-best in franchise history, and they were the last unbeaten team in the league.
Iverson said ending the Lakers' season-opening run of success was less important for the Pistons than building their own momentum.
"Eventually they were going to lose anyway," Iverson said. "But a win is a win."
Iverson was acquired by Detroit from the Denver Nuggets on November 3 and took a couple of games to settle in before helping the Pistons to back-to-back victories over Sacramento and Golden State heading into Friday's contest.
The Pistons complete their Western road trip at Phoenix on Sunday.

China's Yao powers NBA Rockets past Hornets

China's giant centre Yao Ming scored 21 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 91-82 win over the New Orleans Hornets.
Luis Scola had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who went 1-4 on a recent road trip.
Their lone win came in Los Angeles against the lowly Clippers on November 7.
On Saturday, Houston led nearly the entire game against New Orleans, trailing only once at 1-0.
The Rockets led 70-53 at the end of three quarters. The Rockets limited Hornets star point guard Chris Paul, who entered the game averaging 21.9 points, to 12 points on two field goals in 34 minutes.
Paul shot two-of-10 from the field, scoring his second basket with just 28 seconds to play.
The Rockets used a 15-2 run in the second quarter to jump to a 48-36 edge at halftime. New Orleans went 5:41 without a point while Houston ran off 11 straight.
Yao concluded the run with back-to-back free throws, the first for a three-second violation and the second against Hornets forward James Posey, a former Rocket.
McGrady scored nine points in the first and Scola's six propelled Houston to a 26-21 lead at the end of one period.

Djokovic thrashes Davydenko to win Masters Cup tennis

World number three Novak Djokovic thrashed Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 7-5 in the Masters Cup final on Sunday to lift his second major trophy this year.
The Australian Open champion fizzed through most of the match at a packed Qi Zhong Stadium and snuffed out a late revival as he ended a six-month title drought at the lucrative season finale.
Djokovic, who becomes the first Serbian year-end champion and takes home 1.24 million dollars in prize money, also moves to within just 10 points of Roger Federer's second rankings spot.
"I certainly put it at the level of the Grand Slams. It's a great achievement for me, I'm so happy," Djokovic said.
With defending champion Federer knocked out and top-ranked Rafael Nadal injured, it was up to Djokovic to add a dash of class to the final and he duly delivered in a clinical first set.
The 21-year-old Serb was immediately spraying backhands past Davydenko and he broke at the first attempt when the Russian netted. Davydenko was in deep trouble when he mis-hit a backhand to go 4-0 down.
Djokovic lifted a perfect lob over Davydenko, who managed just six points in the first five games before finally holding serve 5-1. The Serb briefly wobbled as he served for the set, saving two break points before going ahead after just 32 minutes.
The fifth-ranked Davydenko unfroze at the start of the second set and he won a peach of a point with a savage approach shot and tightly angled backhand volley.
But the Russian's shoulders slumped again as he hit an easy smash wide and was broken again as the backhand volley failed him.
He saved two match points on his serve and then, as Djokovic served for the match, broke for the first time in a sudden resurgence.
However, Djokovic broke back for 6-5 and made no mistake at his second attempt to serve it out, sinking to his knees as Davydenko netted a return at 40-0.
"It's difficult to be positive when you're losing 5-0 and you see you have no chance," Davydenko said.
"When you feel 100 percent like you're going to lose, it's very difficult to be positive. Normally I play very fast and with good control, and today I didn't."
Djokovic had already beaten Davydenko in the group stage here along with Juan Martin del Potro and downed Gilles Simon in the semi-finals. He lost all three group matches on his debut last year.
The two had only met once before this tournament, when Djokovic retired from their Davis Cup match in February with dizziness and exhaustion.
After the Australian Open, Djokovic won Masters events in Indian Wells and Rome but had not claimed a title since May.
Davydenko is appearing at his fourth straight end-of-year tournament after another busy season when he won more than 50 matches including titles at the Miami Masters, Poertschach and Warsaw.
The Russian, who beat Britain's Andy Murray in the last four, is left waiting for his first top-level title after four Grand Slam semis and nearly three-and-a-half years in the top 10.
Belgrade-born Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic earlier won the doubles title, beating US twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in the final.
The 4.45 million dollar end-of-season event is making a final appearance in Shanghai before moving to London as the World Tour Final.

Japan's Ozaki wins Tokyo women's marathon

Japan's Yoshimi Ozaki staged a come-from-behind victory to take her first career title at the Tokyo International Women's Marathon on Sunday.
The 27-year-old overtook favourite Yoko Shibui at the 38.5-kilometre point to win in two hours 23 minutes 30 seconds, almost a minute ahead of fellow Japanese Yuri Kano came in second in 2:24:27.
Mara Yamauchi of Britain was third in 2:25:03 while Shibui, the 2004 Berlin marathon champion, finished fourth in 2:25:51.
Ozaki said the crowd had helped her surge from behind to take over the race.
"There were so many spectators who were cheering me," she said. "That really helped."
Shibui set the pace from the start in a front group with Ozaki, Kano and Kenya's Magdaline Chemjor.
Shibui and Chemjor left Ozaki and Kano behind after the 9km point, and then the Japanese turned it up a gear to take sole lead.
Shibui was more than 100 metres ahead of the pack at one point but could not hold off Ozaki.
It was the last running of the Tokyo race. Elite women runners are being added to the field of the separate Tokyo Marathon instead.

Spain's Telefonica Blue wins third stage of Volvo yachting Race

Spanish yacht Telefonica Blue won the third stage of the Volvo Ocean Race around the world from Kochi, India to Singapore, snatching the lead from Sweden's Ericsson 4 as the boats headed for the finish.
The US entry Puma Ocean Racing grabbed second place, just ahead of the all Nordic crew of Ericsson 3. Race favourite Ericsson 4 came fourth.
Telefonica Blue, skippered by Dutch veteran Bouwe Bekking, arrived in Singapore at 10:51 pm local time (1451 GMT) to win the stage of 1,950 nautical miles.
The victory kept it in second place in the overall standings, but closed the gap on the event's leader Ericsson 4.
The Spanish yacht manoeuvred the Strait of Malacca, where navigation is difficult, to pass the then leader Ericsson 4, skippered by Brazil's Olympic gold medallist Torben Grael.
"We kept our heads cool today, and as predicted it wasn't over until close to the finish," said Bekking.
"We had all the excitement in the last 50 miles, dodging fishing nets, zig-zagging around tugboats, hundreds of commercial ships, and then the wind which was ranging from 20 knots to nearly zero.
"A real test for all the guys' minds, as our nice advantage over the others nearly vanished, but we pulled it off and all the guys did a marvelous job."
Three other yachts -- Spain's Telefonica Black, the Chinese-Irish entry Green Dragon and Team Russia -- arrived early Tuesday morning in Singapore.
The last team in the race, Delta Lloyd, was scheduled to arrive early Wednesday morning, according to navigator Matthew Gregory.
"We are limping home. We are about 20 hours from the finish line with an expected eta (estimated time of arrival) in the dawn hours on the 24th," he said.
The team fell behind after their keel's hydraulic ram system was damaged during the race.
Teams are to leave Singapore on January 18 for Qingdao, China on the fourth stage of the event.
The race, one of the most arduous in sport, will end in St Petersburg, Russia, in June after nine months negotiating 10 stages over 37,000 nautical miles at sea.
Positions on the third stage at 0420 GMT Tuesday:
1. Telefonica Blue (ESP)/Bouwe Bekking (NED) arrived in Singapore at 14h51 GMT Monday
2. Puma Ocean Racing (USA)/Ken Read (USA) arrived
3. Ericsson 3 (SWE)/Anders Lewander (SWE) arrived
4. Ericsson 4 (SWE)/Torben Grael (BRA) arrived
5. Telefonica Black (ESP)/Fernando Echavarri (ESP) arrived
6. Green Dragon (CHN/EIR)/Ian Walker (GBR) arrived
7. Team Russia (RUS)/Andreas Hannakamp (AUT) arrived
8. Delta Lloyd (NED)/Roberto Bermudez (ESP) 140 miles
Overall standings after the third stage (Kochi to Singapore)
1. Ericsson 4 (SWE) 35.0 points
2. Telefonica Blue (ESP) 30.5
3. Puma Ocean Racing (USA) 27.5
4. Ericsson 3 (SWE) 23.5
5. Green Dragon (CHN/EIR) 20.5
6. Telefonica Black (ESP) 19.5
7. Team Russia (RUS) 10.5
8. Delta Lloyd (NED) 8.0

Kostelic ends two-year wait for World Cup win

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia won the men's World Cup slalom here on Monday ahead of Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange and Benjamin Raich of Austria.
Kostelic, picking up his ninth career win on alpine skiing's elite circuit and his first in two years, dominated the first run ahead of Grange and Raich in a time of 49.26sec.
It gave the 29-year-old Croatian, the brother of retired alpine great Janica, the edge in a thrilling second run which saw the lead change several times.
Kostelic kept his nerve to finish in a total time of 1min 39.83sec, with Grange and Raich respectively at 0.20 and 0.80 behind.
It was Kostelic's first World Cup victory since the super-combined at Reiteralm, Austria two years ago and his first slalom win since Madonna di Campiglio in December 2003.
"It's beautiful ... coming into the finish to see my name above everyone else," said Kostelic, who claimed his first World Cup podium of the season in Sunday's giant slalom.
"I was a litle bit surprised with the first run, especially at the bottom I didn't think I was so fast.
"But it's great to win again."
Reflecting on his last slalom win, Kostelic added: "It's five years since I last won a slalom but last season I wasn't too far away.
"Training and rest are my secret ingredients. Although I do love this piste, it's really legendary."
Raich said he was looking forward to some rest during the festive period, but promised: "I have to come back stronger next year to make sure I finally win here."
Grange retained the lead of the World Cup slalom standings and Kostelic admitted it would be difficult to loosen the Frenchman's grip.
"I beat him today but it will be difficult to take the slalom lead from him - especially after seeing his performance in Levi (Finland) earlier this season.
"I think he showed there he's a notch above the rest of us."
Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who did not qualify for the slalom second run, retained the lead of the overall standings.