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James, O'Neal help Cavs down Bobcats
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Published: October 7, 2009
Updated: 10/07/2009 01:40 am
CLEVELAND
LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal made their debut as Cleveland teammates last night in the Cavaliers' 92-87 preseason-opening victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
The two are hoping to end this city's pro-sports championship drought stretching to 1964, and while they are as much as nine months away from accomplishing that goal, it's already clear their pairing will be fun to watch.
James, wearing a pink pair of his signature Nikes for breast-cancer awareness month, scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 14 minutes. O'Neal, who said his goal is to "win a ring for the King" in Cleveland, scored six points and added three rebounds and a block in 15 minutes. Neither played in the second half.
D.J. Augustin scored 12 for the Bobcats. Charlotte was without injured starters Tyson Chandler (ankle surgery) and Boris Diaw (ankle sprain). Coach Larry Brown of the Bobcats was called for a technical foul by official Ben Taylor, one of three replacement referees being used while the regular refs are locked out. Brown spent most of the night chirping at the refs.
More basketball
■ The Charlotte Bobcats are exercising the third-year option in guard D.J. Augustin's contract for the 2010-11 season.
The team has until the end of the month to decide whether to do the same with center Alexis Ajinca.
Augustin, the ninth pick in the 2008 Draft, averaged 11.8 points and 3.5 assists last season. He led NBA rookies by shooting 89 percent from the foul line.
Augustin will make $2.1 million next season. Charlotte also has an option for a fourth season.
The 7-foot Ajinca was the 20th pick last year but played sparingly as a rookie.
■
Diana Taurasi hasn't found her rhythm during the WNBA finals and the Phoenix Mercury is paying the price.
The Indiana Fever leads the series 2-1 and can win its first championship tonight in Game 4. Indiana's odds of closing the best-of-5 series increase if Taurasi, the league's MVP, has another poor shooting performance.
Taurasi is averaging 20 points per game in the finals, but she's making less than a third of her shots while being hounded by Tamika Catchings, the defensive player of the year Tamika Catchings.
Taurasi shot 46 percent in the regular season, but is at 33 percent in the Finals. She recognized that she was in a slump and said she's been spending extra time on her shot.
Cycling
■
Lance Armstrong has signed a contract with Anheuser-Busch InBev to be the spokesman for its Michelob Ultra brand of beer.
Armstrong, a seven-time winner of the Tour de France, and the brewer announced the three-year deal yesterday.
Armstrong will appear in two television ads next year for the brand. His image will be on packaging, outdoor, print and in-store advertising.
■ The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said that Mitch Comardo has accepted a two-year suspension from the sport after testing positive for several prohibited substances.
USADA said yesterday that a urine sample collected out of competition from Comardo on Aug. 24 contained the estrogen blocker Tamoxifen and its metabolite 4-hydroxytamoxifen, hormone antagonists and modulators, the fertility drug human chorionic gonadotropin, and an anabolic agent.
Miscellaneous
■ The NCAA has added North Carolina Tech Christian Academy in Charlotte to a list of prep schools that don't meet minimum standards.
Students enrolled at the school can still have their individual academic records reviewed by the NCAA to gain freshman eligibility.
The school also can have its case reconsidered if it provides additional information.
The NCAA imposed the standards in April 2006 to weed out so-called "diploma mills." North Carolina Tech recently notified the NCAA it was using the Accelerated Christian Education program. The NCAA said that it had not obtained either model or quality status from the ACE, the minimum, and therefore does not have to accept transcripts from the school for freshman eligibility.
■ Defender Frankie Hejduk of the Columbus Crew has been added to the United States roster for World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Costa Rica.
Hejduk, 35, scored the final goal in a 2-2 tie at El Salvador in qualifying on March 28. He was on the U.S. roster for 1998 and 2002 World Cups, then was on the 2006 roster before missing the tournament because of a torn knee ligament.
Hejduk has played in 17 qualifiers and started the first three this year before a groin injury. He replaces midfielder Clint Dempsey, who will miss Saturday's match at Honduras because of a sprained right shoulder. It's not clear whether Dempsey will be able to play Oct. 14 against Costa Rica in Washington.
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