The Philippine Online Chronicles

LeBron James felt sick before tipoff, but that didn’t stop him from filling the stat sheet as he finished with 31 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in leading the Miami Heat against the Los Angeles Lakers, 98-87. The Heat completely dominated the Lakers all throughout the game, leading by as much as 23 points at one point. The win improved their record to 5-1 at home. For the Lakers, power forward Pau Gasol scored 26 points while Kobe Bryant added 24 on 8-for-21 shooting.

In the 2012 Australian Open, Roger Federer of Switzerland was pushed to the limit before getting past Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-3, and advance to the fourth round. The win is Federer’s 10^th over Karlovic in the 11 matches that they’ve played against each other. Meanwhile, world number two Rafael Nadal easily took care of business by defeating Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Nadal is yet to lose a set in this tournament after three matches despite a nagging knee injury that showed up before his first match. Both Nadal and Federer might end up facing each other in the semifinals if they continue to win their respective matches.

In the 2012 PBA Philippine Cup, the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters drew first blood against the Powerade Tigers after a convincing, 116-100, win in Game 1 of the finals. Point guard Jason Castro led the Tropang Texters with 23 points, eight assists, and six rebounds while Ryan Reyes and Jared Dillinger added 15 points apiece. The Tropang Texters showed the upstart Tigers what championship-level basketball is all about by grabbing the lead early and never looking back.

NBA: Miami 98, LA Lakers 87

Without Dwyane Wade for the second straight game, the Miami Heat had to turn to the remaining members of their “Big Three” in Lebron James and Chris Bosh. Hours before the game against the Los Angeles Lakers, James announced that he’s doubtful to play because of flu-like symptoms. Then again, the two-time NBA MVP shook off his ailment and still managed to suit up and put up impressive numbers to lead the Heat against the Lakers, 98-87.

James had 31 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists while Bosh added 15 and Shane Battier chipped in 11. The Heat have already won five games without Wade and they’ve improved their home record to 5-1 with this win over the Lakers.

For the Lakers, Spaniard Pau Gasol scored a season-high 26 points while Kobe Bryant added 24 on 8-for-21 shooting from the field. Center Andrew Bynum had a quiet double-double performance with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

With under two minutes remaining, Bryant scored five straight points to cut the lead down to 10 points. Derek Fisher missed a three-pointer when the Lakers got the ball back and Udonis Haslem’s rebound resulted into a James’ 15-foot jumper to seal the deal.

The Lakers shot only 31 percent from the field in the first half and the loss resulted into their road record dropping to 1-5. The Lakers were outplayed and outhustled by the reigning Eastern conference champions when they missed 18 of their first 24 shots.

2012 Australian Open: Federer and Nadal advance to round of 16

The legendary career of Roger Federer continues and his skill doesn’t seem to slip even if he’s already 31 years old. Federer took care of business by eliminating Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-3, to advance to the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open.

Karlovic may have the fastest serve in tennis right now, but that’s not enough to derail perhaps the greatest player in history to try and get his fifth Australian Open career title. Federer broke Karlovic’s serve in the second and third sets and appeared to be in control of the match no matter how close it looked like. This is Federer’s 10^th win in 11 matches against the Croatian.

The 31-year old Swiss tennis superstar will face the winner of the Bernard Tomic- Alex Dolgopolov match.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal of Spain didn’t waste much time disposing Lukas Lacko of Slovenia to advance to the fourth round of the tournament. Nadal needed only less than two hours to get a, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, win against the 24-year old Lacko.

Nadal last won the Australian Open in 2009 and in the last two editions of the tournament, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals because of injuries. With the win, the 10-time major champion will be facing countryman Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round.

PBA Philippine Cup Finals: Talk ‘N Text 116, Powerade 100 (Talk ‘N Text lead series 1-0)

Unlike their last seven games against the Petron Blaze Boosters in the semifinals that came down to the last few seconds; the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters had a relatively easy time defeating the youngsters from the Powerade Tigers in the first game of the 2012 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

The Tropang Texters built a huge lead right from the start and never looked back to register an easy 116-100 win over the Tigers in Davao del Sur.

Point guard Jason Castro continues his stellar play by leading the Tropang Texters with 23 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Ryan Reyes and Jared Dillinger chipped in 15 points each while Larry Fonacier and Ranidel De Ocampo finished with 14.

In a way, the Tropang Texters were a bit lucky because JV Casio, the Tigers’ star point guard, didn’t play because of a pulled right hamstring. Casio was one of the biggest reasons why the eighth-seeded Tigers managed to pull off a miracle and reach the finals.

The Tropang Texters built a huge 17-point lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it. In the second quarter, Fonacier exploded for 14 points to erect a 65-52 lead going into the third quarter.

The Tigers tried to mount a rally in the fourth quarter by cutting down the lead down to nine points courtesy of Marcio Lassiter’s three-pointer. However, the Tropang Texters answered with a 7-2 run to finally seal the win.

For the Tigers, Fil-Am Sean Anthony scored a season-best 24 points while Gary David and Lassiter added 19 points each.

“Lebron James” by Keith Allison c/o Flickr. Some rights reserved.