Sports Roundup: Apr. 13, 2011- NBA, tennis, 2011 FIBA-Asia

The Los Angeles Lakers might have ended their five-game losing streak by beating the undermanned San Antonio Spurs, but the win came with a heavy price.

Meanwhile, former tennis world no. 1 Roger Federer is off to a brilliant start in the 2011 Monteclay by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-2, 6-1 in his first match in the 2011 Monte Carlo Masters.

In other news,

national basketball team head coach Rajko Toroman said that he doesn’t believe that there is such a thing as a “Group of Death” in the upcoming FIBA-Asia Champions Cup. With the draw yet to be done this Friday, the Serbian mentor believes that his team can be placed in any group and will remain competitive.

NBA: Bynum down

The Los Angeles Lakers may have expected the San Antonio Spurs to simply roll over and die, but they did not, despite Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker being out of commission.

Instead, the Lakers had to use everything in their arsenal to beat an undermanned Spurs team. After a struggle, they eventually prevailed against the Spurs’ second and third stringers, 102-93.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 27 points, Lamar Odom added 23, and Spanish center Pau Gasol finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Despite the win, the Lakers’ starters have to log in heavy minutes just to be able to fend off a Spurs squad that sent their B team to Los Angeles.

The biggest news in the game however, was how center Andrew Bynum fell awkwardly on DeJuan Blair’s foot in the second quarter, which caused Bynum to hyperextend his right knee. Bynum stayed on the floor for a few minutes, before standing up on his own power, cautiously walking toward the locker room.

The 7’0"-center will undergo an MRI later today to diagnose the extent of the injury. The Lakers’ medical team has already announced that Bynum will not play in the team’s final game against the Sacramento Kings.

Bynum sustained the injury on the same knee that was surgically repaired last summer and that caused him to miss 28 games this season.

For the Spurs, a team that is already assured of home-court advantage throughout the Western conference finals, guard Gary Neal led the team with 16 points while forward Matt Bonner finished with 13.

The Lakers snapped their five-game losing skid by ending the Spurs’ four-game winning streak. With the Spurs’ loss, they are now tied with the Chicago Bulls for the best record in the league.

Tennis: Federer notches first Monte Carlo win

Swiss tennis star Roger Federer was off to a smashing start by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-2, 6-1 in the 2011 Monte Carlo Masters tournament in Monaco.

Federer's consistency enabled him to outplay Kohlschreiber from the very start. He beat the German tennis player in only 50 minutes.

Federer made sure that Kohlschreiber would have a hard time in the match by hitting shots beyond the German’s reach. Aside from that, the 16-time champion broke Kohlschreiber twice before taking his first win in the tournament by claiming his fifth ace of the match.

Federer’s record against Kohlschreiber now stands at 6-0. So far, the Swiss tennis star has only lost one set against Kohlschreiber, and that was way back in 2009 in Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who is the consensus best player in the world today, begged off from Monte Carlo because of a sore knee. The 23-year-old tennis superstar has a 24-0 record this year.

2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup: Smart Gilas ready for stiff competition

With just a few months left before the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championship, the Smart-Gilas national basketball team is making sure that it has all the exposure it needs before earning the right to play in the 2012 London Olympics.

That’s why, when asked what he wants for the Philippines in the official draw for the FIBA-Asia tournament, national team coach Rajko Toroman said that he doesn’t really care.

For Toroman, the only real concern is the time of the draw and other than that, it doesn’t matter whether the Philippines ends up in a tough bracket or not. Toroman believes that Smart-Gilas has what it takes to win regardless of the competition.

This year’s FIBA-Asia Champions Cup will be held from May 28 to June 5 and all the games will be played at the Philsports Arena in Pasig city.

Right now, there are some teams that are still trying to finalize their decision over whether they’re going to join or not. So far, the teams that have confirmed their participation are Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.

A team from Afghanistan was invited but it looks like it’s about to back out because of financial issues. Organizers have mentioned the possibility of adding Japan and Malaysia to the list of participating countries.

Image: "Andrew Bynum" by Keith Allison c/o Flickr. Some rights reserved.

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