ATHLETICS
The Dutch world half-marathon champion Lornah Kiplagat said yesterday she is to concentrate on road races only. "After about seven years of combining track, cross-country, road and marathon it is now time to concentrate the remaining years of my running on the road alone," the 34-year-old said. Basketball
NBA: Chicago Bulls 105 New York Knicks 100; Cleveland Cavaliers 114 Toronto Raptors 94; Dallas Mavericks 126 San Antonio Spurs 133; Houston Rockets 92 Atlanta Hawks 84; Minnesota Timberwolves 96 Utah Jazz 99; Phoenix Suns 125 Milwaukee Bucks 110; Portland Trail Blazers 108 Orlando Magic 109; Sacramento Kings 113 LA Lakers 101; Washington Wizards 107 Detroit Pistons 94.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
W L Pct GB
Boston 20 2 .909 -
New Jersey 11 8 .579 7.5
Philadelphia 9 12 .429 10.5
NY Knicks 9 12 .429 10.5
Toronto 8 12 .400 11
Central Division
Cleveland 18 3 .857 -
Detroit 11 9 .550 6.5
Chicago 10 11 .476 8
Milwaukee 9 14 .391 10
Indiana 7 13 .350 10.5
South-east Division
Orlando 17 5 .773 -
Atlanta 12 8 .600 4
Miami 12 9 .571 4.5
Charlotte 7 14 .333 9.5
Washington 4 15 .211 11.5
Western Conference
North-west Division
W L Pct GB
Denver 14 7 .667 -
Portland 15 8 .652 -
Utah 14 9 .609 1
Minnesota 4 16 .200 9.5
Oklahoma City 2 20 .091 12.5
Pacific Division
LA Lakers 17 3 .850 -
Phoenix 13 9 .591 5
Golden State 6 15 .286 11.5
Sacramento 6 16 .273 12
LA Clippers 4 17 .190 13.5
South-west Division
New Orleans 11 6 .647 -
Houston 14 8 .636 0
San Antonio 12 8 .600 .5
Dallas 11 9 .550 1.5
Memphis 6 15 .286 7
BOXING
The British featherweight champion Paul Appleby has been made an "unbelievable" offer to defend his title against Martin Lindsay in Belfast next year, according to his manager Tommy Gilmour. Gilmour said the offer, understood to be in the high five-figure range, to take Appleby to Belfast's Ulster Hall on 7 March for a mandatory defence was just too good to turn down.
ICEHOCKEY
NHL: Montreal Canadiens 4 Calgary Flames 1; Nashville Predators 1 Vancouver Canucks 3; Philadelphia Flyers 4 New York Islanders 3; Colorado Avalanche 6 Los Angeles Kings 1.
SQUASH
Women's Sharm El Sheikh Open (Sharm El Sheikh, Eg) First round: R Grinham (Aus) bt J King (NZ) 9-11 15-13 11-5 11-2; J Hawkes (NZ) bt N El Tayeb (Eg) 11-3 11-7 11-3; O A Kawy (Eg) bt T Mullins (Can) 11-5 11-3 11-4; L Briggs (Eng) bt S El Noamany (Eg) 11-6 11-2 11-3; D Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt L Crome (NZ) 11-5 7-11 9-11 11-8 13-11; S Kitchen (NZ) bt H El Torky (Eg) 11-8 11-6 11-6; R El Weleily (Eg) bt O Noom (Neth) 11-8 11-5 11-1; J Duncalf (Eng) bt A Pittock (Aus) 6-11 11-2 11-9 11-7.
