Reuters Sports News Summary

By anaafrica On Sep 3, 2020

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Rockets hang on to defeat Thunder, move on to West semis

James Harden capped a miserable shooting performance with atimely defensive play, and the Houston Rockets held on for a104-102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 oftheir Western Conference first-round playoff series on Wednesdaynear Orlando. Harden closed out on Thunder guard Luguentz Dortand recorded a blocked shot with 4.8 seconds left and Houstonclinging to a one-point lead. Following a Robert Covington freethrow, the Rockets blew up an inbounds play from the Thunderwith 1.1 seconds left to clinch the series and set a dateopposite the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conferencesemifinals.

Kazakhstan’s Lutsenko wins Tour de France stage six

Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko won the sixth stage of the Tour deFrance, a 191-km trek from Le Teil on Thursday. The Astana riderprevailed from an eight-man breakaway at the top of the MontAigoual.

No sign of slowdown as Osaka beats second-round challengerat U.S. Open

Former champion Naomi Osaka made quick work of second-roundopponent Camila Giorgi 6-1 6-2 at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, ina lopsided matchup at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in which sheshowed no sign of slowing down. A dominant Osaka came roaringout of the gate, winning the first five straight games innear-pristine form, committing just four unforced errors in thefirst set and winning 10 of her 12 first-serve points.

MLB roundup: Duvall gets Braves’ second straight three-homergame

The visiting Atlanta Braves got a three-homer performancefor the second straight night, this time by Adam Duvall in a 7-5win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday. The result gaveAtlanta a three-game sweep of Boston, the first time the Bravesswept three from the Red Sox since 2002.

Ice hockey – KHL game between Finns Jokerit and Dinamo Minskcancelled amid fan protests

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) game between Finnishclub Jokerit and Belarus’s Dinamo Minsk scheduled for Thursdayhas been cancelled, the league said, amid fan protests inFinland because of the political crisis in Belarus. The KHLawarded Jokerit a technical defeat for having failed to travelto Minsk. The league said earlier on Thursday it would providethe reasons for Jokerit’s absence at a later time.

‘Not easy’ during U.S. Open, but Djokovic moving forwardwith players body

Novak Djokovic is finding it tough to deal with issuesrelated to his breakaway players body in the middle of the U.S.Open but the world number one says he is moving forward with itas more professionals join the cause daily. Djokovic resigned ashead of the ATP player council last week, along with membersVasek Pospisil, John Isner and Sam Querrey, to form theProfessional Tennis Players Association (PTPA).

Brooklyn Nets name Hall of Famer Nash as head coach

Basketball Hall of Famer Steve Nash has been named headcoach of a Brooklyn Nets squad that will be led by the dominantKevin Durant next season, the NBA team said on Thursday. Nashjoins the Nets after spending five seasons as a playerdevelopment consultant with the Golden State Warriors, where hecontributed to two NBA championship teams and made fourconsecutive trips to the NBA Finals.

Former New York Mets star pitcher Tom Seaver dies at 75

Tom Seaver, the Hall-of-Fame pitcher who won more than 300games during his Major League Baseball career and led the NewYork Mets to their unlikely 1969 World Series championship, hasdied at the age of 75. Seaver, who was nicknamed “The Franchise”and “Tom Terrific” because of how valuable he was to the Mets,died in his sleep on Monday from complications of Lewy bodydementia and COVID-19, the Baseball Hall of Fame said in astatement.

Makeup game to conclude Mets-Yankees season series

The first five Subway Series games featured each teamgetting wins in the late innings and under unique circumstancesbefitting the abbreviated 60-game season. The final meeting willoccur Thursday afternoon when the New York Yankees visit the NewYork Mets.

Johnson and Rahm set for battle in playoff finale

The PGA Tour wraps up a season unlike any other with thisweek’s Tour Championship in Atlanta where the winner from anelite 30-player field will be crowned FedExCup champion and takehome an eye-popping $15 million. Due to a staggered scoringsystem that gives a head start to the top players in the pointsstandings, Dustin Johnson will begin at 10 under par, followedby Spaniard Jon Rahm at eight under and former FedExCup championJustin Thomas at seven under.