Thunder whittled their deficit to four by the end of the p

Thunder whittled their deficit to four by the end of the p

13.01.2020 13:59

LONDON -- Without a doubt, Andy Murray will be the No. 1 player in the world for the rest of the year.The Wimbledon champion needed to win the final match of the season to ensure his place at the top. And he did it, rather easily.Murray beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 Sunday to earn his first title at the ATP finals, and make sure he remained No. 1 until next season.I would like to try and stay there, obviously. Its taken a huge effort the last five, six months to get there, said Murray, who took over the top ranking two weeks ago and has now won 24 straight matches.Im aware thats going to be extremely difficult because I had a great year this year. I only managed to do it by one match.Murray replaced Djokovic as the top-ranked player in Paris, but the second-ranked Serb could have regained the No. 1 position by winning Sunday at the O2 Arena.And Murray seemed vulnerable heading into the final, especially after playing three sets against Milos Raonic in Saturdays semifinals. He started against Djokovic with a pair of double-faults in the opening game, but it was soon his opponent that was struggling with his serve as the unforced errors piled up.There was no serious chance for me to win todays match, Djokovic said. From the very beginning we could see that. He was just a better player all in all.Normally so steady with his groundstrokes, Djokovic found himself missing easy shots time after time, finishing the match with a whopping 30 unforced errors and only 13 winners. Murray had 15 unforced errors and 13 winners.In the first set, Djokovic had a routine smash that he whacked wide. And in the second, he netted a basic forehand volley.It never got much better for the 12-time Grand Slam champion, who was trying to win a record-tying sixth title at the season-ending tournament and finish the year as the top-ranked player for the fifth time.I didnt do much from my side. Every time I would get an opportunity, I would miss, said Djokovic, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open this year.Murray is the first man other than Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to finish the year as the No. 1-ranked player since Andy Roddick in 2003.He took over the top spot on Nov. 7 after winning his eighth title of the season at the Paris Masters. He also reached the Australian Open and French Open finals, losing to Djokovic on both occasions, but won his second straight Olympic gold medal in singles at the Rio de Janeiro Games after claiming his second Wimbledon title.On Sunday, he capped a long stretch of playing some of the best tennis of his life, and the best tennis in the world.I was solid enough when I needed to be, Murray said, perhaps understating his accomplishment. You never beat a player as good as Novak if you dont play well.Sundays match was the first time since 2000 that the year-end No. 1 ranking was on the line in the final match of the season. Sixteen years ago, Gustavo Kuerten beat Andre Agassi to give the Brazilian the top ranking ahead of Marat Safin.Despite winning the opening two Grand Slam tournaments this year, Djokovic has struggled in the second half of the season. He lost to Sam Querrey in the third round at Wimbledon, ending a 30-match winning streak at major championships. He later lost to Stan Wawrinka in the U.S. Open final.Well, the last five, six months have not been ideal, Djokovic said. But sometimes its just normal, I guess, to experience, to live these kind of things, not to have the half seasons as well as you want them to be, as well as theyve been in the last three, four years. Thats all. Cheap Yeezy 700 . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Yeezy 700 Utility Black Outlet .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. http://www.yeezy700outlet.com/discount-yeezy-700-utility-black-online.html .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Yeezy 700 v2 Black Outlet . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Yeezy 700 Carbon Blue Outlet .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Russell Westbrooks triple-double streak ended at seven games, but he finished the night with two things that meant more to him -- a win and his long-lost shooting stroke.Westbrook scored 23 of his 37 points in the second half to help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Boston Celtics 99-96 on Sunday. He had 12 rebounds but only six assists, ending the NBAs longest triple-double run since Michael Jordan had seven straight in 1989.Westbrook hadnt been satisfied. He shot just under 38 percent during the streak, and said after Fridays loss to Houston that it bothered him. Against the Celtics, he made 14 of 26 shots and finally found his rhythm.Just taking shots I wanted to take, that was the most important part, he said. And playing from the block. Thats the most important part. I talked to my dad this morning, and he got on me about not using that to my advantage, and I definitely tried to do more of that tonight.Westbrook wasnt worried about the streak ending.Honestly, Im just happy we won tonight, he said. Thats the most important thing. As a player, I always try to look forward. Maybe at the end of the season, I can talk about it, but as of right now, my job is to move forward and get ready for Portland.Steven Adams scored 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting and Enes Kanter added 14 points for the Thunder, who have won seven of eight. Oklahoma City got away with making just 14 of 27 free throws.Al Horford scored 19 points, and Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley each added 18 for the Celtics.The Celtics controlled most of the first half and led 43-39 at halftime. It was Oklahoma Citys lowest-scoring first half of the season.The Celtics led by 13 in the third quarter, but the Thunder whittled their deficit to four by the end of the period.Westbrook made a driving layup with 30.6 seconds left to give the Thunder a 96-94 lead.dddddddddddd Westbrook then won a jump ball with Bradley to start a fast break, and Jerami Grant finished it with a dunk that put Oklahoma City up 98-94 with 14.4 seconds to play.Marcus Smart scored in close for Boston to make it 98-96. Westbrook made the first of two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to leave the door open, but Smarts 3-pointer for the tie bounced away as time expired.I think we just stopped moving the ball, Bradley said. We took some bad shots. We werent able to score the ball. If we continued to play the way we had, we could have made it easier on ourselves.---TIP-INSCeltics: G Isaiah Thomas missed his third straight game with a strained right groin. He averages 26 points per game. ... Smart, who played college ball at Oklahoma State, got his eighth start of the season. He finished with 11 points, nine assists and six rebounds. ... Crowder fouled out.Thunder: Westbrook was issued a technical foul in the second quarter. ... The Thunder missed their first 16 3-pointers and finished 3 for 21. ... Coach Billy Donovan was called for a technical foul midway through the third quarter.INJURY UPDATEThunder guard Victor Oladipo left the game for good after spraining his right wrist on a hard fall with 5.2 seconds left in the first quarter. He leaped to challenge a shot by Jonas Jerebko and fell onto Jerebkos shoulder and back on the way down, causing him to lose control of his landing.STAT LINESAdams has made 15 of 17 field goal attempts and 10 of 14 free throws over the past two games, with averages of 20 points and nine rebounds.UP NEXTThe Celtics visit San Antonio on Wednesday.The Thunder play at Portland on Tuesday.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP. ' ' '


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