Sports

There were goals galore in the Champions League on Tuesday as Barcelona and Bayern Munich advanced to the knockout stage, and also secured top spot in their groups.

Barcelona had already qualified following BATE Borisov draw with Bayer Leverkusen earlier, but they clinched top spot in Group E in style, hammering Roma 6-1 as Lionel Messi marked his return from injury with two goals.

“It’s tough to get back up to full speed,” said Messi. “I prepared well and trained but it’s not the same as going out on the pitch and lasting 90 minutes. I will take it with calm and get my pace back.”

Bayern routed second-placed Olympiakos 4-0, despite playing almost 40 minutes with 10 men, to ensure they will finish top of Group F, while Chelsea won by the same scoreline at 10-man Maccabi Tel Aviv in Group G.

Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 to keep alive their chances of progressing. The Premier League side need to beat Olympiakos in their final group match.

Zenit St Petersburg secured top spot in Group H with a 2-0 win over Valencia.

Group E

Lionel Messi is back and scoring netting a double in Barcelona’s 6-1 win over Roma that put the titleholders into the knockout round for a 12th consecutive season.

Messi showed no rust in his second appearance since recovering from a left-knee ligament he tore on September 26 and scored Barcelona’s second and fifth goals of the one-sided match.

Luis Suarez opened the scoring at Camp Nou in the 15th minute. Three minutes later Messi scored his first goal from Suarez’s pass.

Suarez and Gerard Pique added more goals before Messi struck again. Adriano capped the demolition after converting from the rebound following Neymar’s missed penalty.

“Messi is the best and I feel very happy for him for his goals and because he played the entire match,” Suarez said.

Edin Dzeko got Roma’s goal just before the final whistle.

Victory moved the Spanish club on to 13 points at the top of Group E with a game to spare.

Roma were left with five points along with Leverkusen, while BATE have four.

BATE’s Mikhail Gordeichuk’s took the lead in the second minute, only for Admir Mehmedi to equalise in the 68th minute.

Group F

It’s all over, at least for Bayern Munich. Pep Guardiola’s team can’t concede, let alone lose, even while playing most of the second half with 10 men. Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller scored inside the first 20 minutes.

Defender Holger Badstuber was sent off in 53rd minute on his first start after nine months out with a knee injury for downing Ideye Brown. But it was Bayern that went on to score again with Kingsley Coman completing the emphatic win in the 70th minute.

Bayern now top the group with 12 points and cannot be dislodged with one match remaining.

“We managed to win the group again, that was our goal,” Guardiola said. “My compliments to the team, we can be pleased.”

Arsenal can still advance to the knoutout stage as second in the group after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. Alexis Sanchez scored twice and set up Mesut Ozil for Arsenal’s first goal.

Arsene Wegner’s side must beat Olympiakos 2-0 or by a one-goal margin of at least 3-2 due to the head-to-head formula used by UEFA to separate teams. Arsenal is third, three points behind Olympiakos with nine.

Group G

Chelsea remained in the hunt to advance from Group G after easing past 10-man Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0.

Tel Aviv was reduced to 10 men five minutes before halftime when former Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim was sent off for a rash challenge on Diego Costa, but it took Chelsea more than half an hour to double their lead, when Willian curled in a free kick.

Gary Cahill had put the visitors up in the 20th minute. Oscar and substitute Kurt Zouma scored the other goals.

In the only negative point for Chelsea, captain John Terry fell awkwardly in the 75th minute and was taken off on a stretcher.

Chelsea’s win, and Porto’s loss to Dynamo Kiev, tied the first two teams on 10 points, two more than Kiev.

Andriy Yarmolenko and Derlis Gonzalez netted to inflict Porto’s first defeat of the season.

In the final round of group games next month, Chelsea hosts Porto in a likely winner-takes-all match, and Kiev hosts winless Tel Aviv.

Group H

Russia striker Artyom Dzyuba scored again as Zenit secured top spot in Group H by beating Valencia 2-0, while Gent maintained their chances of qualifying after winning 2-1 at Lyon thanks to Kalifa Coulibaly’s injury-time winner.

Gent have seven points, one more than Valencia, and can guarantee qualification by beating Zenit at home on December 9. But Lyon with one point see it miss out on a Europa League berth.

Dzyuba’s 74th minute goal, his fifth of the group stage, was a simple finish after a lay-off from Hulk. Midfielder Oleg Shatov scored the opener.

Valencia finished with 10 men after defender Ruben Vezo was shown a straight red card in the 80th minute for slicing down Shatov.

“Apart from 10 minutes in the second half, we dominated completely,” Zenit coach Andre Villas-Boas said.

Meanwhile, Lyon failed to properly clear a corner and Coulibaly nodded home from close range to punish a lacklustre Lyon side that led through midfielder Jordan Ferri’s seventh-minute goal.

The Belgian side equalised in the 32nd minute through Danijel Milicevic’s cleverly-worked free-kick.

Before the match, Lyon fans held scarves aloft as they sang the French national anthem in honour of the victims of the Paris attacks on November 13, which left 130 dead and hundreds more wounded.

With France under a state of emergency and Brussels staying on high alert over serious terror threat, no Gent fans were allowed in Lyon.

OAKLAND, California — The defending champion Golden State Warriors set the record for best start in NBA history at 16-0, as Stephen Curry had 24 points and nine assists in a 111-77 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

With their coach sidelined, the Warriors surpassed the 15-0 starts by the Washington Capitols of 1948-49 and 1993-94 Houston Rockets.

Confetti streamed down when the final buzzer sounded, but Golden State’s players barely celebrated.

“It’s a special accomplishment any time you can do something that hasn’t been done before,” Curry said. “It’s not going to be total dominance for 82 games.”

Draymond Green added 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as the Warriors extended their team-record home winning streak to 27 games with coach Steve Kerr watching from behind the scenes, while recovering from complications following two back surgeries.

Kobe Bryant shot 1 of 14 for just four points, matching the worst-shooting performance of his career in a game where he had at least one basket. The Lakers dropped to 2-12 with the second-worst record in the NBA.

Bryant sank to a new low in a trying season expected to be his last.

Bryant, slowed by age and past injuries, has looked like a shadow of his former self this year and that was never more apparent then against Golden State who blasted the Lakers to improve to a record 16-0.

The Oracle Arena crowd, hoping to see a vintage Bryant performance amid their team’s inevitable win, seemed to deflate with every miss from the 37-year-old player.

The misses have piled up as high as the Lakers’ (2-12) losses for Bryant this campaign as he entered the night shooting just 33 per cent from the field.

“He’s struggling right now to make a shot. I think he’ll be the first to tell you that,” Los Angeles coach Byron Scott told reporters following his team’s defeat.

“You can see that he was getting pretty frustrated at himself.”

Bryant has indicated that unless something changes this will likely be the final chapter of a career that has included five championships and countless of memorable moments.

Elsewhere, Indiana made a club-record 19 3-pointers in a 123-106 win over Washington, the Los Angeles Clippers ended a three-game losing streak with a 111-94 victory over Denver, and Atlanta routed Boston 121-97.

Paul George scored a season-high 40 points and made seven 3-pointers, while C.J. Miles added 32 points, including eight 3-pointers, in his highest-scoring game since joining the Pacers before the start of last season.

The Pacers, which won for the ninth time in 11 games, finished 73.1 per cent (19 of 26) from 3-point range, crushing their previous season high of 44.4 per cent.

In Denver, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan each scored 18 points for the struggling Clippers, who improved to 7-7 with the win.

The Clippers, who hadn’t been under .500 this far into a season under coach Doc Rivers, made eight 3-pointers after coming into the game at 31.3 per cent.

Jordan finished with 11 rebounds and four blocks, while Griffin had 10 rebounds. Chris Paul had 15 points and 10 assists to give the Clippers three players with double-doubles.

Paul Millsap scored 25 points and Jeff Teague added 16 for Atlanta, which had dropped four of five, including a loss Saturday at Cleveland in which coach Mike Budenholzer was ejected and subsequently fined $25,000 for bumping into referee Ben Taylor.

The Hawks essentially put this game out of reach with an 18-3 run that made it 100-80 with 6:20 remaining on Teague’s three-point play.

In other games, Mike Conley scored 21 points and Jeff Green added 19 to lead seven Memphis players in double figures in the Grizzlies’ 110-96 win over Dallas.

Marc Gasol had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis, which won its fifth in the last six games.

Chicago’s Jimmy Butler scored 22 points and Derrick Rose added 17 in his return to the line-up as the Bulls held off Portland 93-88.

Rose had missed two games with a left ankle injury.

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 team is set to play Iraq in a friendly as it prepares for the 2nd Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship, which also serves as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The squad faced Wihdat, Jazira, Faisali and Shabab Urdun in friendlies this month as coach Jamal Abu Abed underlined “matches had served their purpose”. The coach underlined defensive and offensive tactics had improved and added the regrouping had helped ensure “team cohesiveness”. Team officials said that the line-up would not be finalised until mid-December after the final training camp.

The Kingdom qualified to the U-23 Championship after it topped Group B qualifiers in Amman as Jordan held Kuwait 3-3, beat Kyrgyzstan 4-0 and Pakistan 5-0 to advance.

Jordan got a tough draw at the 16-team championship set for January 12-30, 2016 in Qatar where it will play in Group D next to Australia, the UAE and Vietnam.

The Jordan Football Association (JFA) recently assessed national team line-ups and staff after most teams were eliminated from their receptive Asian qualifiers. Those include U-23 and U-19, the U-16 boys and women’s teams who were all eliminated echoing earlier concerns by observers.

Despite a technical issue causing their elimination from the 1st West Asian Championship, the JFA expressed confidence in the U-23 team’s staff and announced coach Abu Abed would stay and prepare for the upcoming agenda. Misinterpretation of regulations cost the team qualification on points at the 1st West Asian Championship. After defeating Yemen 3-1, losing 2-1 to Qatar, assuming Palestine’s results were scrapped after it was eliminated from the competition, so the team’s reserves played as Jordan lost 1-0 to Palestine and ended up fourth in the group, allowing Yemen, the only team they beat, to advance as best second placed team.

In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship (now renamed the AFC U-23 Championship), the U-23 team beat South Korea to take bronze, as Iraq beat Saudi Arabia to take the title.

The team had a modest preparation period hampered with no training camps and no serious friendlies. In 2014, the U-23 squad had similar circumstances when it represented Jordan at the Asian Games. It made to the quarter-finals despite a bumpy preparation period amid the busy agenda of the national team, as well as, local clubs.

LeBron James joined Oscar Robertson on an exclusive NBA list and Kevin Love scored a season-high 34 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeaten at home with a 117-103 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday.

James had 15 points and 13 assists and joined Robertson as the only players in league history to rank in the top 25 in career points and assists.

With his fifth assist, James moved past Norm Nixon (6,386) into 25th place and moved alongside Robertson, who finished his Hall of Fame career with 26,710 points and 9,887 assists. James will soon eclipse Robertson’s scoring total and the unselfish superstar is a good bet to pass the guard on the assist list as well.

Love scored 27 in the first half for the Cavs, now 8-0 at home and an Eastern Conference-leading 11-3.

Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant had 27 points and six rebounds in his return from a hamstring injury as the Thunder downed the Utah Jazz 111-89.

Durant was 10 for 13 from the field in his first game since he got hurt November 10 at Washington. Russell Westbrook narrowly missed his third triple-double of the season with 20 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.

The Thunder ran away with the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Jazz 40-26 and shooting 14 for 19 from the field.

In Miami, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh each scored 16 points, as the Heat downed the Knicks 95-78 to end New York’s four-game winning streak.

Goran Dragic had 13 points and nine assists for the Heat, who went on a 36-8 run in the first half. Tyler Johnson scored 12, and Hassan Whiteside had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for New York, which has lost 13 of its last 16 games in Miami.

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Philadelphia 100-95 to keep the 76ers winless this season after Andrew Wiggins scored 17 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter.

Kevin Garnett had eight points and 10 rebounds and the Timberwolves (6-8) won at home for the first time in seven games this season. They dropped Philadelphia to 0-15 and avoided another embarrassing home loss to the Sixers, who snapped an 0-17 start to last season with a win at Target Centre.

In other games, Greg Monroe had 20 points and 13 rebounds in his first game against his former team, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to a 109-88 victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Charlotte Hornets downed the Los Angeles Kings 127-122 in overtime and the San Antonio Spurs were 98-84 winners over the Phoenix Suns.

“In the first half, we couldn’t get it going because we were turning it over, too,” said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who had eight points in 19 minutes. 

“We were not as sharp today [as we have been]. We let them get away with a lot of open looks. It’s a win, but we’ve had better ones.”

PARIS — The UEFA Champions League gets to the business end of the group play-offs, with Manchester United and last season’s runners-up Juventus among the sides looking to qualify for the knockout last 16 quarter-finals.

Group A

This game is all about the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to face his hometown club and the team where he started his glittering career before leaving for Ajax in 2001.

The interest in this fixture is huge in Sweden — after the draw was made there was talk of moving it to Stockholm to allow more fans to attend, and tickets have reportedly been going on the black market for as much as 20,000 kronor.

PSG’s 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid three weeks ago remains their only loss this season. A win here will take Laurent Blanc’s side through to the last 16.

A draw would suffice depending on the result in the other game in Ukraine.

Defeat would leave their qualification hinging on the closing set of results next month.

Marco Verratti and David Luiz will be missing for PSG.

Malmo, whose domestic season ended last month, need to win to stay in contention. 

The pressure on Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez is intense in the wake of Saturday’s 4-0 trouncing at the hands of Barcelona in the Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

That came after a 3-2 defeat at Sevilla and has left Madrid six points adrift of leaders Barca in La Liga.

Los Blancos are in crisis and president Florentino Perez felt compelled to call a press conference yesterday to give Benitez the dreaded vote of confidence.

At least they can head to Ukraine with the pressure off, having already secured their place in the last 16, although a win in Lviv will guarantee top spot.

Shakhtar are top of the Ukrainian league but realistically need a win to maintain any hope of reaching the knockout stages themselves.

Sergio Ramos and Marcelo have been ruled out for Real.

Group B

In one of the closest groups to call, CSKA are bottom but could move into second place, if they beat Wolfsburg at the Arena Khimki and other results go their way.

However, they could also be eliminated should they lose.

Wolfsburg are third, but just one point behind leaders Manchester United.

CSKA are looking to avenge a 1-0 defeat in Germany in September, and also lost at the weekend.

The 2-0 home reverse against Krylya Sovetov Samara was their third defeat on the bounce, but they remain top of the Russian Premier League.

Wolfsburg, in contrast, travel east after crushing Werder Bremen 6-0 in the Bundesliga at the weekend.

For all the criticism aimed their way this season, Louis van Gaal’s United are just one point off the top of the Premier League.

A win against PSV will secure their berth in the last 16 with one game to spare.

Van Gaal’s side won 2-1 at Watford at the weekend despite being without Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney owing to injury and illness respectively.

United lost 2-1 in Eindhoven in September when Luke Shaw suffered a horrific leg break, and PSV remain right in contention.

Coach Philip Cocu, who played under Van Gaal at Barcelona, is looking for his team to leapfrog United with a win.

Held to a 2-2 draw by Willem II at the weekend, PSV are four points behind Dutch league leaders Ajax.

Group C

Benfica have saved their best form for Europe this season and a fourth win in five Group C outings when they make the long trip to Kazakhstan will take the Portuguese giants through to the last 16.

A draw will also be enough if Galatasaray fail to beat Atletico Madrid later tomorrow, but Rui Vitoria’s side have lost captain Luisao for two months with a broken arm and lost 2-1 after extra time to Lisbon rivals Sporting in the Portuguese Cup at the weekend.

Since they last played in the competition, Astana have retained the Kazakh title and lost to Kairat in the national Cup final.

They are still to win in the group stage but have already held Galatasaray and Atletico at home. They need to win this time to keep their hopes alive.

Beaten 2014 finalists Atletico need only draw against Galatasaray at the Vicente Calderon to secure their place in the last 16, although they may have to win to retain a chance of finishing top of the section.

Diego Simeone’s side, who welcome back Juanfran for this match, are eight games unbeaten in all competitions after a Koke goal secured a 1-0 victory at Betis on Sunday to leave them second in La Liga behind Barcelona.

Galatasaray must win but these are turbulent times for the Turkish champions, who sacked coach Hamza Hamzaoglu last week and drew 3-3 at home to Antalyaspor at the weekend despite leading three times.

Since then Mustafa Denizli, 66, has been named the new coach as he returns for a third spell, 23 years after his last stint in charge.

Group D

With Manchester City already through, Juventus can join them in advancing from Group D with a win in Turin.

A draw will also suffice, as long as Sevilla do not win their game in Germany, and the current form guide suggests Juve are the favourites.

After a slow start to the campaign, the reigning Serie A champions and last season’s Champions League runners-up made it three straight league wins at the weekend by beating AC Milan 1-0.

City, in contrast, travel on the back of a chastening 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool in which their defending was shambolic.

However, a win for Manuel Pellegrini’s men here will secure them top spot, an important objective as they aim to avoid a tricky tie in the last 16.

Samir Nasri is out for several months for City while Hernanes is suspended for Juve.

Sevilla’s only points so far came in a 3-0 win at home to Gladbach in September and they must win again in Germany, and hope Juventus fail to beat Manchester City, to maintain any hope of reaching the last 16.

Gladbach cannot reach the last 16, but can still pip Sevilla to the consolation of a berth after Christmas in the Europa League, a competition Sevilla have won in each of the past two seasons.

Gladbach are fifth in the Bundesliga after beating Hanover 96 2-1 at the weekend thanks to a late Raffael winner.

Sevilla have been dogged by inconsistency all season long, and lost Italian defender Marco Andreolli to a ruptured achilles tendon in a 2-0 weekend defeat to Real Sociedad.

PARIS — The FIFA ethics committee has requested a life ban for Michel Platini, the Frenchman’s lawyer said Tuesday, a move that would rule the UEFA president out of the race to succeed Sepp Blatter.

Thibaut d’Ales told The Associated Press that the maximum sanction was asked for when the FIFA ethics committee investigations unit submitted its final case report.

Platini faces a hearing before FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert in December.

“The overreaching of the request really convinces us of this commission’s total lack of credibility,” D’Ales said in a telephone interview. “There is not a single tangible element in this case that can confirm the suspicions.”

Platini is currently serving a 90-day ban over a $2 million payment of FIFA money he received in 2011 as backdated salary. He worked as a presidential adviser from 1998-2002 for Blatter, who also faces the ethics court’s judgment in the case.

Platini denies wrongdoing and says he had a verbal contract with Blatter to receive the money.

Eckert is expected to give his verdicts in the cases of Platini and Blatter in December. Any sanctions can be challenged at the FIFA appeals committee and Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

D’Ales said he was informed of the ethics committee’s request on Monday and decided to make it public after it leaked in the French press. He said FIFA’s aim is to prove that there was no contract between Platini and Blatter.

“Obviously we’ve got the proof that such a deal existed,” D’Ales said. “We will submit it to CAS, which will handle the case within a fairly short space of time.”

A spokesman for the FIFA ethics prosecutors declined to confirm what sanction was requested last week.

“We are entitled to comment but we decided for reasons of personality rights and the presumption of innocence not to publish the request,” Andreas Bantel told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “If Mr Platini wants to comment on the request he is entitled to do that.”

Platini aims to clear his name and stand as a candidate in the FIFA presidential election on February 26 to succeed Blatter, who is stepping down. Blatter announced his exit plans on June 2 under pressure from American and Swiss federal investigations into bribery and corruption at FIFA.

Switzerland’s attorney-general has opened criminal proceedings against Blatter over the $2 million payment as suspected criminal mismanagement of FIFA money.

Platini was quizzed on September 25 at FIFA headquarters as “between a witness and an accused person”, according to Attorney General Michael Lauber.

A FIFA life ban has been overturned by CAS in the past.

Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar had his expulsion by FIFA overturned on appeal in July 2012, more than one year after a bribery allegation ended his presidential campaign against Blatter. The CAS panel said a FIFA investigation did not prove Bin Hammam was the source of $40,000 bribes to Caribbean voters, though it suspected he was.

Golden State tied the best start to a season in NBA history by beating the Denver Nuggets 118-105 on Sunday, moving to 15-0.

“It’s a huge accomplishment coming off a championship and taking care of business 15 straight times to start the season,” Curry said. “You couldn’t ask for a better start, obviously.”

The Warriors have not avoided talking about their record-setting start, choosing to acknowledge it often as the wins piled up.

“Maybe two games ago it became a real conversation in the locker room,” Curry said. “Now that we’re at 15 let’s get 16.”

The Warriors matched the start of the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and the ‘93-94 Houston Rockets. The Warriors can break the record when they played at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

The Warriors are on the cusp of history without head coach Steve Kerr, who is recovering from two offseason back surgeries. Interim coach Luke Walton has kept in constant communication with Kerr and credits his system for the success.

“All we’re doing is following his leadership,” Walton said. “I’m just glad to not be letting my boss Steve down.”

Darrell Arthur, who started because forward Kenneth Faried was out with a sprained left ankle, led Denver with a season-high 21 points. Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton had 19 points each and Emmanuel Mudiay had 17 and eight assists for the Nuggets (6-8).

“Darrell was terrific,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “He comes out 9-of-12, 21 points, eight rebounds. Darrell stepped up and had a heck of a game.”

Looking tired

The Nuggets wanted to be the team to stop the streak, but could not keep up with the reigning champions.

“Personally, I cared a lot,” Mudiay said. “I wanted to stop the streak just because I hate records being set on me or any of my teammates.”

Curry took just 16 shots for his season low in points, but the Warriors did not need the MVP to hand the Nuggets their third straight loss. He scored nine points in the third quarter when the Warriors extended their halftime lead to 91-79.

Elsewhere, Oklahoma City came back from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter to edge Dallas, and Toronto clamped down early on the Los Angeles Clippers stars and had a comfortable win.

Golden State’s Klay Thompson scored 21 points for the Warriors, who surpassed the ‘57-58 Boston Celtics for the best start by a defending champion.

Thompson hit a 3-pointer with 2:08 remaining in the second quarter and Golden State never trailed again. The reserves built up a sizeable lead and allowed Stephen Curry to rest the entire fourth quarter. Curry had 19 points, the first time this season he hasn’t reached 20.

Darrell Arthur had 21 points for Denver, which has lost three straight.

Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook had 31 points and 11 assists, hitting two key baskets in the final 63 seconds, to lead the Thunder past Dallas 117-114, halting the Mavericks’ six-game winning streak.

Westbrook broke a 113-113 tie with a jumper with 1:03 left. Zaza Pachulia made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line to pull the Mavericks within a point before Westbrook’s 5.5m jumper with 24 seconds left capped the scoring.

Serge Ibaka had 16 points, nine rebounds and a key late blocked shot for Oklahoma City, which was without star forward Kevin Durant (injured hamstring) for the sixth straight game.

Deron Williams led Dallas with 20 points, but missed an 5.5m and had his layup attempt blocked by Ibaka on consecutive possessions, and Wesley Mathews’ last-second off-balance heave from 3-point range came nowhere close to the basket.

Toronto kept Blake Griffin and Chris Paul scoreless for the first 20 minutes, setting up a 91-80 win against the Clippers.

DeMar DeRozan had 21 points and DeMarre Carroll scored all his 21 points in the first half for the Raptors, who shot a poor 37 per cent from the field but made up for it by forcing 19 turnovers.

J.J. Redick scored 17 points for Los Angeles, which is 2-7 in its past nine game after starting the season 4-0. The only other time they were under a .500 winning percentage during Doc Rivers’ two-plus seasons as coach was after his first game on the job.

New Orleans’ Anthony Davis capped a 32-point, 19-rebound performance with a tiebreaking 3 in the final minute to lead the Pelicans past Phoenix 122-116.

Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Jarrett Jack scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter to steer the Nets to a 111-101 win against Boston.

Portland beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the sixth straight time, winning 107-93 on the road behind Damian Lillard’s 30 points and career-high 13 assists.

AMMAN — The 11th Ayla Red Sea Half Marathon kicks off on December 4 with the participation of local, regional and international runners.

“We have selected ‘Run for a Cause’ as a theme for this year’s event to highlight an important aspect of all Run Jordan events, that 20 per cent of the ticket sales go to charity,” Lina Al Kurd, deputy general manager of Run Jordan, said at a press conference on Sunday.

“This year, we have established cooperation agreements with two major NGO’s in the city of Aqaba namely: The Friends of Autism Society, which helps to support autistic children and their families in the southern region of the Kingdom; and the Bride of the South Orphan Society, which offers counselling and educational support for orphans,” she added. 

The race, under the patronage of HH Prince Firas, chairman of the board of Run Jordan, consists of three categories: 21km Half Marathon, 10km Fun Run and 4.2km Children’s Race. 

“The starting point for the 21km race will be the InterContinental Hotel and end at Revolution Square [Thawra Plaza]. The 10km and 4.2km events will start from Ayla towards Revolution Square,” Kurd pointed out.

According to Kurd, Run Jordan is expecting a major event in Aqaba.

“We are expecting runners from all ages to participate in the event as the weather usually is great in Aqaba and people like to visit Aqaba during the month of December. One of the main objectives of the event is to encourage tourism to Jordan and promote athletic cooperation across countries in the Middle East and the world,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sahel Dodin, CEO of Ayla, one of the main sponsors said: “Our support of this unique sports and health activity lines up with our corporate social responsibility objectives and strategies which aim to improve the health of our society and increase the level of health awareness.”

“As the main sponsor of this event for the third time in a row, we seek to build solid bridges between our company and the local community particularly in Aqaba,” he added.

“I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to support sustainable development, public service, and events that promote Aqaba as a major destination for domestic and international tourism,” he stated.

Last year, Ra’fat Zboun was crowned champion of the 21km race of the men’s category after clocking 1h9m30s, followed by Ayman Suradi (1h11m33s) and Bashar Raheel (1h12m2s).

In the 21km women’s category Sudan’s Hanouya Hasballah came first in 1h16m 24s, followed by Razam Muqbel (1h36m48s) and Samah Najjar (1h38m6s).

In the 21km Wheelchair category, Ali Sawalmeh clocked 1h16m24s, followed by Bilal Bersameh (1h42m49s) and Raed Qasaymeh (2h12m29s).

In the 21km Visually Impaired category Suhail Nashash clocked 1h25m31s, followed by Abed Raouf (1h30m5s).

Registration is open for runners online at Run Jordan website (www.runjordan.com) and at its offices. Registration doors in Aqaba will also open at Aqaba City Centre between November 29 and December 3 from 10am until 6pm.

AMMAN — Week 8 of the 64th Jordan Professional Football League kicks off Tuesday after last week’s results drastically changed the standings apart from Shabab Urdun and titleholders Wihdat, who remained in the top two spots.

Shabab Urdun will play Kufrsoum after their 2-0 win over Jazira maintained their one point lead over Wihdat, who beat Sarih 2-1 and next play Ahli. Ahli beat Baqa’a 4-1 and jumped to third. Faisali are fourth after they beat That Ras 1-0 and next play Jazira, who are down at 10th after finishing runner-up last year.

Ramtha dropped from third to fifth after they held with Hussein Irbid 0-0. They will next play Baqa’a as Hussein Irbid play newcomers Asala, who are still winless.

League Standings 
(Last week’s position in parenthesis)

MADRID — Barcelona dealt a stinging blow to Real Madrid’s title hopes when Luis Suarez and Neymar continued their scintillating form to fire the champions to a stunning 4-0 victory in the La Liga “Clasico” on Saturday.

Suarez struck twice either side of goals from Neymar and captain Andres Iniesta as Barca humiliated their arch rivals with an imperious performance at the Bernabeu.

They surged six points clear at the top with 30 from 12 matches and ratcheted up the pressure on under-fire Real coach Rafa Benitez who had the luxury of fielding the trio of Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema but to little effect.

Barca’s dominance in the 231st meeting between the two teams, which prompted the angry Real fans to roundly whistle their own players and chant for President Florentino Perez to step down, was all the more remarkable considering coach Luis Enrique had started with a fit-again Lionel Messi on the bench.

The Argentina captain, who has been out for nearly two months with a knee injury, came on for Ivan Rakitic just before the hour and promptly sent Suarez clear to score the European champions’ fourth.

An utterly dominant Barca could easily have added to their tally in the closing stages and Real’s humiliation was complete when substitute Isco was shown a straight red card for a wild lunge at Neymar six minutes from time.

“We played what was quite honestly a complete match in every sense,” Iniesta, who was given an ovation by the home fans when he was substituted late on, told Spanish television.

“There is a long way to go, it’s not decisive at all but we are going away very, very satisfied,” added the Spain playmaker.

A giant French flag was unfurled in the stands and the Marseillaise played during a minute’s silence before kickoff to honour the victims of the Paris attacks and security was tight for the clash in the Spanish capital.

In an ominous sign for the home side, Barca had the first clear chance of the game when Suarez laid the ball off to Neymar in the seventh minute but the Brazil forward fired wildly over.

Sergi Roberto burst through the middle and played Suarez in on the right of the penalty area to open the scoring in the 11th minute with a clinical finish.

James Rodriguez had Real’s only dangerous shot of the first half in the 28th minute before Iniesta slipped a pass through for Neymar to make it 2-0 five minutes before the break.

Marcelo had to clear a Suarez effort off the line moments before halftime after brilliant work from Neymar and as the players trooped off, a cacophony of whistles rang out around the stadium mixed with chants for Perez to go.

Full blast

Real came out fighting after the break and Marcelo and Rodriguez each went close before Neymar sent a backheel into Iniesta’s path in the 53rd minute and he hammered the ball past Keylor Navas into the top corner.

Isco came on for Rodriguez shortly after and initially gave Real some much-needed zip in attack, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema largely anonymous.

Suarez’s second effort in the 74th minute was the 20th he and Neymar have scored between them out of Barca’s last 21 goals in La Liga.

After the whistle, thousands of Real fans waved anything white they could get their hands on in the traditional sign of discontent with the board of directors, while the music came on full blast to drown out any more embarrassing chants.

Chasing a sixth La Liga title in eight years, Barca have 30 points, with Real, who lost 3-2 at Sevilla in their previous outing, on 24.

Atletico Madrid can climb back to within four points of Barca and leapfrog Real into second with a win at promoted Real Betis on Sunday.

Valencia missed a chance to move above Celta Vigo into fourth when they lost the lead in a 1-1 draw at home to Las Palmas as Celta lost 2-0 at Galician rivals Deportivo La Coruna. Valencia have 19 points while Celta remain on 21.

Goals from Imanol Agirretxe and Xabi Prieto gave Real Sociedad coach Eusebio Sacristan a winning start in a 2-0 success at home to stuttering Sevilla.