Heat pull away from Celts in Eastern finals opener
The way LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are rolling right now, one bad quarter is hardly too much for the Miami Heat to overcome.
And with that, the Heat are three wins away from another trip to the NBA Finals.
James scored 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Wade scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Heat beat the Boston Celtics 93-79 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
"One down. And they still have an opportunity in Game 2 to accomplish what they want to," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, referring to how Boston can still grab home-court advantage by winning Game 2. "At times it was a strange game. Some good runs, both teams. We felt we could have played better and I'm sure they felt the same thing. But we found a way to grind it."
Shane Battier, playing in the conference finals for the first time, had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who wasted an early 11-point first-half lead, then gave up 35 second-quarter points before running away to break a halftime tie -- getting going with a 9-2 run early in the third.
Miami outrebounded the Celtics 48-33, blocked 11 shots and didn't trail at any time.
"A block is like a dunk," Wade said. "It gets your team going."
Kevin Garnett had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Boston, which got 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Rajon Rondo and 12 points from Paul Pierce. Ray Allen shot just 1 for 7 from the floor for Boston, which was outscored by 10 in the first quarter and 11 in the third.
"On the road, you can't have two quarters of lulls," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Miami.
And while both sides would say there's a long way to go in this series, Game 1 winners have a decided edge in any best-of-seven, the conference final being no exception. In the most recent 10 postseasons, teams with 1-0 leads in conference finals have advanced 15 out of 20 times.
James and Wade scored 197 points in the final three games of Miami's second-round series with Indiana, all those games being Heat wins. The momentum carried over into Game 1 with the Celtics.
"We get a lot of the press, we get a lot of the headlines," James said. "But our teammates, they do everything to help us win ball games."
It's the third straight year the Heat and Celtics have met in the playoffs, and the third straight year James has seen his postseason path go through Boston -- the first of those matchups coming in 2010 in his final run with Cleveland.
Each of those came in the first or second rounds, not this close to the NBA Finals. And yes, the rivalry seems to be heating again.
"They're home, they're comfortable and when you're comfortable you do things like that," Garnett said, suggesting that Miami was showboating at times down the stretch. "We have to show them to take them out of their comfort zone. We've got to fight a lot harder."
Last season's Miami-Boston series ended with James scoring the final 10 points of Game 5, and the start of this year's matchup had him putting on another offensive display.
He had 13 points in the first quarter -- two more than the entire Celtics roster -- and Miami ran out to a 21-11 lead after the opening period. Garnett made three of his four shots in the quarter, while everyone else in Boston green was 2 for 16 from the floor.
"I thought they were ready to play," Rivers said. "I'm talking about Miami. I thought we kind of joined the game."
The 11 points matched the lowest output by any team in the opening quarter this postseason. The other team to manage that few was San Antonio, which then dropped 32 on the Los Angeles Clippers in the second quarter of their game on May 19.
The Celtics' response was even better.
Boston scored 35 in the second quarter, erasing what was an 11-point deficit early in the period by scoring 27 points in the final 8:46 of the half to pull into a 46-all tie. Rondo, Garnett and Pierce combined to score 23 points in the quarter, looking absolutely vintage, near-perfect offensive execution getting to Miami time and time again.
And the Celtics' comeback happened even while they got hit with three technical fouls in the second quarter, plus Allen missing four first-half free throws -- matching his career-worst for an entire game.
"We may never see that again," Rivers said.
In the end, it went down as merely a one-quarter lapse for Miami.
Another technical foul, this one on Rondo, came in the third quarter, likely born from frustration as the Heat started to roll again.
With the game tied at 50, Rondo missed three shots in a 31-second span early in the third, the last of those getting blocked by Battier -- who hit a 3-pointer 11 seconds later. It started a 9-2 Miami burst, including a touchdown pass from Wade to James -- Wade grabbed the rebound of a miss by Pierce, spun and delivered a 90-foot pass to the reigning MVP -- for an easy score.
"We knew at halftime we hadn't played our best basketball," James said. "So we just had to stop making the mental mistakes and start to play the way we're capable of playing."
And that's what happened.
Miami led by as many as 13 late in the third, before taking a 72-61 lead into the fourth. James scored 10 more in the third, Boston went cold again, shooting just 27 percent in the period, and Wade's left-handed bullet pass into the lane set up Joel Anthony for a dunk that pushed the Heat lead to 15 with 10:13 remaining.
Pierce was 5 for 18. Rondo shot 8 of 20. Ray Allen was 1 for 7 from the floor and 3 for 7 from the foul line -- missing four free throws for just the third time in his 1,270 career regular-season and playoff games.
"We kept fighting," Rondo said. "It wasn't pretty. We missed four or five layups, a bunch of free throws. That being said, we were tied at halftime but we just didn't come out with the right mindset in the second half."
Miami did and takes a 1-0 lead into Game 2 as its reward. But James said he knows Boston is far from done.
"I look at them as a top opponent, as a top contender and a competitive group ... a championship-caliber team," James said.
England v West Indies: Hosts wrap up victory to clinch series win
England swept to a nine-wicket victory over West Indies in the second Test at Trent Bridge to wrap up the series with a game to spare.
Marlon Samuels added a defiant 76 not out to his first-innings century as West Indies limped from overnight 61-6 to 165 all out, setting England a slender target of 108.
But under more Nottingham sunshine the England opening pair of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook first saw off the new ball and then prospered under little pressure from a dispirited opposition.
Strauss perished for 45 with just 19 needed but Cook, who finished 43 not out, and Jonathan Trott eased England home, the winning runs coming half an hour after tea when Trott tickled Samuels fine for four.
The four-day win, allied to the five-wicket victory at Lord's a week ago, means England go to Edgbaston next week with an unassailable lead in the three-match rubber.
It is England's seventh series win on the bounce at home, and their sixth in seven against West Indies.
For the chastened tourists it extends their series winless streak in this country to 24 years, and means they have won just one of their last 25 Tests against England.
Samuels was the lone obstruction to England's seemingly inevitable progress once he had lost overnight partner Darren Sammy for 25, to Tim Bresnan's fourth lbw of the innings.
Kemar Roach went in the same fashion to James Anderson before Samuels launched a late assault on the England bowling.
Graeme Swann had Shane Shillingford caught by Anderson at slip for a 22-ball duck but was then smashed for two mighty straight sixes by the phlegmatic Samuels.
Ravi Rampaul edged to third slip to end the fun and leave Samuels with an aggregate score in the match of 193.
Roach again found real pace in his opening spell as England began their pursuit.
But, with the pitch remaining as true as it had been on the first three days, Strauss and Cook chipped away at the modest target in unhurried fashion.
In doing so they became the third most prolific opening pair in Test history after Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, and Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer.
Strauss was clearly irritated to push a gentle loosener from Samuels down Darren Bravo's throat at cover, but he has still been England's best batsman in the series.
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The match had been won and lost late on Sunday when Bresnan's spell of 3-10 blew the West Indies' fragile top order apart.
Bresnan finished with 4-37, and there was at last reward for Anderson's excellence with 4-43 from 20 overs.
Sterner tests will come later this summer with the arrival of South Africa and their much-vaunted pace attack.
For now, Strauss and England are successfully putting their difficult winter behind them, their number one world ranking secure for at least another three months.
Lazio captain arrested in match-fixing investigation
The captain of Lazio has been arrested by police investigating claims of match-fixing.
Midfielder Stefano Mauri, 32, was held along with former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto, police said.
Juventus coach Antonio Conte, who just led the club to the Serie A title in his first season in charge, is among those being questioned by police.
Officers also visited Italy's pre-Euro 2012 training camp to question left-back Domenico Criscito, 25.
Police are searching more than 30 homes, including those of players, trainers and administrators of clubs in Serie A, Serie B and lower divisions.
Five people were also arrested in Hungary on suspicion of being part of an illegal international betting ring.
Police said Conte was being investigated on suspicion of sporting fraud and fraudulent association over allegations concerning a match between his previous club Siena and Novara in April 2011.
However Conte's lawyer, Antonio De Rencis, said: "Conte's reaction is that of someone who is completely innocent and strongly determined to prove his total innocence."
Later on Monday Italian football federation vice president Demetrio Albertini announced that Cristico, a former Genoa and Juventus defender who is now at Zenit St Petersburg in Russia, would not be selected for Euro 2012 'in order to clear his name'.
"We are disappointed but we have to remain close to the player," Albertini said. "Arrests have been made today but until proven otherwise, we are talking about innocent people even though they are considered suspects.
"I know Domenico and he is incredulous. He is an extraordinary guy and he has already seen his lawyers this morning. It is a strange day for us.
"These are things that we would not like to have had to go through."
Monday's operation was part of a wider investigation which has already seen a number of arrests of current and former Italian players. In June last year, the Interior Ministry set up a special match-fixing task force in response to a number of high-profile cases.
Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci has also been linked to match-fixing in testimony from a probe in Bari, where he used to play, but is not under formal investigation and will go to the tournament in Ukraine and Poland.
Former Atalanta captain and Italy midfielder Cristiano Doni was banned for three-and-a-half years in August for his part in the 'Calcioscommesse' scandal involving Serie B matches last season. He was also arrested in December 2011 over match-fixing and betting allegations.
Atalanta, promoted from Serie B, were deducted six points in the top flight this season as a result of the scandal.
Former Lazio and Italy striker Giuseppe Signori was banned for five years and 15 other players were banned for between one and five years for their parts.
Mauri, who joined the Rome club from Udinese in 2006 and has 11 caps for Italy, made 16 league appearances last season as Lazio finished fourth in Serie A.
Milanetto, 36, signed for Serie B side Padova last summer after five years at Genoa and made 15 starts last season.
Three-weight world champion Johnny Tapia found dead
Three-weight world champion Johnny Tapia has died at the age of 45.
Tapia, whose career was marked by cocaine addiction, alcohol, depression and run-ins with the law, was found dead on Sunday in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He won the WBO super-flyweight title in 1994, two belts at bantamweight and the IBF featherweight belt in 2002.
Police spokesman Robert Gibbs said the death "did not appear to be suspicious".
His tragic start in life - both parents were murdered - several stints in jail and numerous rivalries garnered him a cult following in the sport.
Tapia was orphaned at eight when his mother was murdered in brutal circumstances and, despite his successes in the ring, trouble stalked him for the rest of his life.
Having been banned from boxing for three and a half years in the early 1990s because of his cocaine addiction, he beat Henry Martinez to become a world champion for the first time.
Tapia went 11 years unbeaten as a professional before Paulie Ayala defeated him in 1999 in The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year, taking his WBA bantamweight title. Tapia lost a rematch with Ayala in 2000.
In 2002 he beat Manuel Medina to secure the IBF featherweight crown and was good enough to take Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera the distance later that same year.
In 2007, he was hospitalised after an apparent cocaine overdose. Several days later, his brother-in-law and his nephew were killed in a car accident on their way to Albuquerque to see the ailing boxer.
In his 2006 autobiography, Tapia described how he had been declared clinically dead five times, each time due to a drug overdose. He also survived shootings, a bus crash and a near-drowning.
Tapia last fought in June, outpointing Mauricio Pastrana. He finished with a 59-5-2 record.
Andy Murray ready for Tatsuma Ito in Paris
Britain's Andy Murray has dismissed concerns over his fitness ahead of Tuesday's meeting with Japan's Tatsuma Ito in the French Open first round.
Murray's encounter with the world number 68 is the fourth match on Court Suzanne Lenglen at around 16:00 BST.
The fourth seed has had a back problem since December but he told BBC Sport: "It's much better now, I'll be fine."
Heather Watson plays Elena Vesnina at 10:00 BST and Anne Keothavong v Melinda Czink is third on the same Court Six.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal opens his bid for a record seventh Roland Garros title against Simone Bolelli third on Court Phillipe Chatrier.
Serena Williams v Virginie Razzano is last on Chatrier, while the Lenglen action begins with Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova against Ashleigh Barty followed by Maria Sharapova v Alexandra Cadantu.
But the main focus for British fans is Murray , who resumes his search for a maiden Grand Slam title against Ito.
"The back is feeling much better now," said Murray, 25. "It was just something that had been niggling for a lot of the year and obviously the more you play on it, it's going to get a little bit worse each time.
"I needed to take a break and let it settle down a little bit, but it feels better now. This time last year I twisted my ankle after my third round match, I was on crutches and had an MRI scan.
"No matter how sore my back is, it's much better than how my ankle was at this stage last year and I managed to have a good run, so hopefully it will be the same case this year."
Murray fell to Nadal in the semi-finals 12 months ago and this clay season has seen him reach the last eight in Monte Carlo and Barcelona before he withdrew from Madrid and lost to Richard Gasquet in Rome.
Ito, 24, lost his only previous meeting with a top-10 opponent and has made it past the first round at a Grand Slam just once.
"I don't know that much about him," Murray commented. "I played doubles against him last year in Tokyo. He's quite a flat hitter of the ball but I don't know him that well.
"I played well in Monte Carlo, had a good tournament there. In Barcelona I had the problems with my back. In Rome I played two decent matches and was starting to get back into it a little bit.
"I just need to make sure I'm ready and what's happened in the last few weeks is not going to make a difference once the tournament starts."
Looking ahead to his Roland Garros debut, Ito said of Murray: "He's a great tennis player. I'll try to do my best, be aggressive on every point.
"I played against him once before, in doubles. He has a good serve and is difficult to break. It's exciting for me.
"I would be famous if I won. I will try 100% and fight hard on every point."
With Elena Baltacha and Laura Robson eliminated on days one and two, British female hopes rest with Keothavong and Watson .
British number two Keothavong, who beat 116th-ranked Hungarian Czink in Copenhagen in April, said: "It gives me a bit of confidence but that was completely different - it was indoors on a fast court.
"She can play and has been around for a while, had a couple of big results in her career and it will be difficult."
Watson lost her only previous meeting with Vesnina, on the Charleston clay in 2010, and said: "It was a good experience but I'm a different player now, more experienced and confident in my game.
"I've been working on my serve a lot recently with my coach, trying to make it more powerful and more of a weapon. I'm doing what he tells me and it's been working."
Bahamas opposition leader promises to fight hard to become next government
Newly elected leader of the opposition Free National Movement Dr Hubert Minnis promised FNM delegates and supporters that he would work hard and fight even harder towards the FNM becoming the next government of The Bahamas.
Minnis said that despite the disappointing election loss, it was time for the FNM to “embark on a new day”.
“Our tasks are: To renew our party, revitalize our plans, rebuild confidence and return as the next government of this great Commonwealth,” he said on Saturday night in his acceptance speech.
Minnis was elected leader of the FNM unopposed at the party’s convention held on Saturday. He replaces former prime minister and party leader Hubert Ingraham, who announced his intention to step down after his party lost the May 7 general election.
Loretta Butler-Turner was elected deputy leader; Charles Maynard is the party’s new chairman; and Dr Duane Sands is the party’s new deputy chairman.
Minnis said the party could have communicated “earlier and better” the good work it had done while in office.
“Perhaps we could have in some ways spoken more directly to the hearts of our people,” he said. “And, we must be honest about our mistakes and be open to constructive criticism.”
Minnis said the FNM would be a “government-in-waiting, ready to “rescue The Bahamas from the disaster that is already emerging in the Christie administration”.
He reiterated that the FNM would not oppose “for the sake of opposing”.
“Our task as the opposition will be to remain ever vigilant in holding this government accountable, insisting on transparency and watching out for corruption,” said Minnis.
He said that the FNM in opposition would continue to promote its plans like the Back to the Island initiative and the development of a Native Food Market Over-the-Hill.
The FNM, said Minnis, would also carefully review and watch the government’s health care proposals in terms of responsible governance.
On the subject of crime, he said the opposition wants to work with the government to address the high level of criminal activity in the country.
“We have the unique ability to view governance from both sides of the aisle,” said Minnis. “We will be bipartisan in our goal to improve life for all Bahamians no matter one’s political persuasion.”
Courtesy of the Nassau Guardian
Haiti to pay mothers school incentives via mobile
The government in Haiti says it will begin transferring cash credits to mothers who send their children to school regularly.
Each mother will receive up to $20 (£13) a month and the transfers will be made via mobile phone.
The programme, called Ti Manman Cheri, or Dear Little Mother, aims to benefit initially a 100,000 families in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Venezuela is providing $15m (£9.5m) for the first phase of the programme.
Other Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, have adopted schemes that provide benefits to families who keep their children in education.
But the Haitian government says this is the first such initiative to use mobile phones for cash transfers.
Prime minister Laurent Lamothe said the programme represented "a revolution in the country."
It will initially benefit families in four of the poorest areas of Port-au-Prince and should be extended to the rest of the country by the end of the year.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere.
It suffered huge human and material losses when it was hit by an earthquake in 2010.
Jamaica debt reduction imperative, says finance minister
Jamaica must work to reduce its debt, even as negotiations continue on a new standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Peter Phillips.
Opening the 2012/13 Budget Debate on Thursday in the House of Representatives, the finance minister said that as of the close of the 2011/2012 fiscal year, the country’s debt stood at $1.7 trillion (US$19.5 billion) or $600,000 (US$6,900) for every resident of Jamaica.
“Let me make it clear, this is Jamaica’s problem and not that of the IMF. The bottom line is that we must set our debt as measured by its GDP (gross domestic product) firmly on a downward trajectory,” he said.
He stated that with the international donors withholding grant assistance until a deal is worked out with the IMF, it is imperative that the country develops the comprehensive policies needed to put the country on a solid path to reducing the debt burden.
In the meantime, Phillips said the budget debate assumes special significance this year, as the country is celebrating its 50th anniversary of Independence.
He said the country has a lot to be proud of, “for no one can deny the genuine progress that our country has made over these 50 years”.
“We have sustained and deepened our democracy; we have created a more egalitarian social order by providing unprecedented access to education and training at all levels and the improvements to our healthcare system have made life expectancy in Jamaica comparable to that which obtains in the developed countries of the world. Our performance in housing construction and the modernisation of our physical infrastructure is a source of national pride,” Phillips stated.
Oil drilling company expects to start work in Bahamas by end of next year
The company hired by the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) to plan and execute an exploratory well in Bahamian waters says it believes it will be drilling by the end of next year.
Applied Drilling Technology International (ADTI), based in Texas, is a division of Transocean, one of the largest offshore drilling contractors in the world with thousands of employees and billions in annual revenue. While ADTI refers to itself as a turnkey operator, providing an all-inclusive approach to drilling, top executives revealed to Guardian Business that, in this case, they will only provide project management services for the Bahamas Petroleum Company.
"We're doing the pre-planning and design of the well. We design it with our people here, on our staff. Once the design is done, we move into the logistics planning stage," said Jess Richards, managing director at ADTI. "Once that is done, we will have a small team of engineers that will manage the day-to-day operations on the ground in The Bahamas. There will be supervisors on the rig. Between our base teams and offshore teams, you're looking at around 12 people."
While not wishing to comment on the geological makeup in The Bahamas, Richards said, "We believe there is an incentive to drill a well. We believe we will be drilling by the end of next year. We're working as directed by BPC. All indications that we have received show we're on track."
According to BPC's drilling licences, the company is required to spud an exploratory well by April of 2013. The ADTI director said his company, compared to other areas of the world, has not done a lot of exploration in the Caribbean. ADTI does manage wells all over the world, he added, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, which holds many similarities to Bahamian waters.
"It'll be a challenging well, but that's our forte," Richards told Guardian Business.
Research fellow at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas, Jorge Pinon, called Transocean, and by extension ADTI, "a quality outfit with a high level of experience and expertise".
He said Repsol's failure to strike oil off the northern coast of Cuba was unfortunate. But he emphasized that this setback has nothing to do with prospects in The Bahamas.
"The fact Repsol came out dry is not an indication you also don't have other opportunities in Cuba or The Bahamas. So no, the fact it failed does not mean The Bahamas is not a geologically attractive area," said Pinon, who is also the former president of Amoco Oil in Mexico and Latin America.
The comments echo similar assurances made by Simon Potter this week, the CEO of BPC.
Potter said BPC's target represents an "entirely different structure". According to the company's 2012 annual report, also released this week, 3D seismic surveys have yielded very positive results.
It found that the basement is deeper than previously mapped, implying a thicker source rock.
An event that could more accurately predict the fortunes of BPC is another well being spearheaded by Zarubezhneft, a Russian operator in Cuba, immediately adjacent to BPC's "southern blocks".
Share price for BPC, listed on the London Stock Exchange, ended yesterday's trading down more than seven percent, finishing at 6.91 pence.
On Tuesday, Adrian Collins, non-executive chairman of BPC, acquired 200,000 ordinary shares in the company at a price of 7.12 pence each.
Shares have suffered so far this year, registering a marked decline compared to when they were worth as high as 16 pence earlier this year.
Courtesy of the Nassau Guardian
$65m heist trial put off in Jamaica
The case involving five men implicated in the robbery of $65 million from security guards in February last year has been put off until Thursday.
The case was called up today in the Gun Court.
The accused are Oral Chin, André Malcolm, Corriann Collins, Courtney Getten and Vernon Elliott, and they are charged with robbery with aggravation.
Chin and Malcolm were employed to the security company which was robbed.
It’s alleged that on February 3, last year employees of the security company were transporting money to a bank when a motor car bumped into their vehicle.
The security guards came out of their vehicle to assess the damage when armed men came out of the motor car and robbed them.
A report was made to the police and investigations led to the arrest of the five men.
The Crown is alleging that Chin was the mastermind behind the robbery.
Chin and Getten are on bail but Malcolm, Collins and Elliot were denied bail and remain in custody.