INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ― Roy Hibbert scored 22 points and Danny Granger matched his season high with 13 to help Indiana hold off Toronto 86-79 Tuesday night.The Pacers (28-6) won their third straight, retaining the NBA’s best record by holding the Raptors to a season low in points.Toronto (16-17) has lost two straight on the road ― at Miami and Indiana ― after winning four straight. The Raptors were led by DeMar DeRozan with 28 and Patrick Patterson with 20 against a Pacers team that looked more like

More SportsJan. 8, 2014

The countdown to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi reached 30 days on Wednesday, as South Korean athletes set their sight on another top-10 finish in the medal table.   With the clock ticking down, it was business as usual for the athletes at the National Training Center in Seoul, where they're gearing up for the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games in Russia.   Figure skater Kim Yu-na, who will try to win her second straight Olympic gold, and speed skaters Mo Tae-bum and Lee Sang-hwa, two defending Olym

Olympic GamesJan. 8, 2014

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ― Nikola Pekovic had to chuckle on the bench as fans held a pair of gigantic cutouts of his head right over him.His Minnesota teammates were certainly amused, laughing at the trio of Pekovic heads.“When you look at the heads, then you hold it up to close to him, they’re actually the same size,” Kevin Love said, smiling.The T-Wolves could afford some levity after a romp on a night when the basket had to look as large as one of those oversized heads.Love scored 16 of his 26 point

More SportsJan. 7, 2014

General managers of the teams in the top South Korean baseball league on Tuesday discussed potential rule changes for the upcoming season, including tweaking the current free agency system.The officials of the 10 teams in the Korea Baseball Organization held their first executive committee meeting on Tuesday. The nine current teams were joined by the KT Wiz, which will enter the KBO in 2015.The officials discussed allowing clubs to sign free agent players returning from overseas leagues to multi

BaseballJan. 7, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) ― There were no sports channel highlight shows the last time the Golden State Warriors won nine in a row in the same season. Even if there were, the top-10 compilers surely would have been hard-pressed to find a Gus Williams-to-Rick Barry moment that looked anything like the off-the-backboard play executed Sunday night by Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut.Klay Thompson scored 26 points, Curry and Bogut connected on a play worthy of the NBA’s slam dunk contest, and the Warriors won t

More SportsJan. 6, 2014

South Korean baseball club Nexen Heroes announced on Monday they've reached a strategic partnership agreement with the reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox.The Seoul-based Korea Baseball Organization team said its president, Lee Jang-seok, met with Allard Baird, vice president of player personnel for the Red Sox, in the South Korean capital on Sunday to ink their deal.The Heroes noted that this is Boston's first strategic partnership with an Asian pro club.Under the partnership, the Red

BaseballJan. 6, 2014

As the clock ticks down on the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian resort town of Sochi, South Korea is hoping to duplicate the historic success it enjoyed in Vancouver four years ago, represented by what should be the country's largest-ever Winter Games delegation.The countdown will hit 30 days on Wednesday for the Feb. 7-23 Sochi Winter Olympics, where South Korea will aim for another strong performance.At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, South Korea won an all-time high of 14 med

Olympic GamesJan. 6, 2014

BRISBANE (AP) ― Serena Williams showed she has carried her momentum from 2013 into the new season, beating No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to defend her title at the Brisbane International and set the tone for the Australian Open.The top-ranked Williams extended her winning streak to 22 matches with the emphatic win over the reigning Australian Open champion, making it back-to-back victories over two of her main rivals. She beat four-time major winner Maria Sharapova in strai

More SportsJan. 5, 2014

FC Seoul in the top-flight South Korean football league said Sunday it has acquired a Spanish defender Osmar Barba from a Thai pro club.In a news release, the K League Classic club said it has signed the 25-year-old defender to a three-year deal. The team said the player, simply known as Osmar, is able to play as centerback and holding midfielder.Osmar starred for Buriram United in the Thai Premier League in the past two years, helping the team win the Thai league title in 2013 and become the fi

SoccerJan. 5, 2014

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ― Paul George scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead four Pacers in double figures and Indiana rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit for a 99-82 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.Lance Stephenson scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Danny Granger came off the bench to score 13 and George Hill added 10 for Indiana.Former Indiana University star Eric Gordon finished with 21 points for the Pelicans after scoring 17 in the first half.Alexis Ajinca

More SportsJan. 5, 2014