The Philippine Online Chronicles

Defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia is back in the Australian Open finals after narrowly beating old rival Andy Murray in the semifinal round.

In the NBA, Paul Pierce led the Boston Celtics to a, 91-83, win over the Orlando Magic by scoring 24 points and dishing out 10 assists.

In the 2011-2012 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, the Powerade Tigers dodged a bullet with a 100-97 win over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters to extend the series to five games and prevent a sweep.

Australian Open Semis: Djokovic defeats Murray in five sets

It took every bit of what Novak Djokovic has before finally defeating world number four Andy Murray of Great Britain, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in the semifinals of the 2012 Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia. Djokovic won the first set, but Murray took sets two and three to establish a commanding 2-1 lead. However, Djokovic took sets four and five to win the five-hour match and setup a finals duel with Rafael Nadal of Spain.

Djokovic was already up 5-2 in the fifth set, but he let Murray tie the match before the Serbian finally closed it out by winning the last two games. Murray missed a forehand winner and that concluded what could already be this year’s most exciting match.

Djokovic is looking to win his fifth major title of his career against Nadal on Sunday whom he beat six times last year. The Serbian won all of the majors last year except the French Open while wrapping up 2011 with an amazing 70-6 record. Right now, the 25-year old Australian Open defending champion is trying to become only the fifth player in the open era to win three straight majors.

Murray and Djokjovic have been playing against each other since they were young. However, this is only their 10^th match as professional tennis players with Djokovic having a 6-4 advantage.

NBA: Celtics 91, Magic 83

The Boston Celtics erased a 27-point lead in the third quarter to beat the Orlando Magic, 91-83. Forward Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24 points and 10 assists while E’Twaun Moore added 16 coming off the bench.

The Magic actually had an 11-point lead going into the final 12 minutes of action, but they made just two field goals out of 17 attempts due to the Celtics’ stingy defense. For the Magic, center Dwight Howard scored 16 points and hauled down 16 rebounds. However, his numbers weren’t enough to save the Magic from another epic collapse.

This is the second time in one week that the Magic lost against the Celtics. Last Sunday, the Celtics took a 31-point win, snapping the Magic’s five-game winning streak.

The Magic completely controlled the game in the first three quarters, but the Celtics flipped it on in the fourth quarter with a 15-1 run. With more than seven minutes left in the game, the Celtics took a three-point lead for the first time since the first quarter.

With the Celtics tightening up the defense, the Magic mightily struggled from the field by missing all of their first seven shots in the fourth quarter. To make things worse, the Magic only converted one of six free throws while turning the ball over thrice.

With just three minutes remaining, the Celtics built a six-point lead, but the Magic made a mini run to cut it down to four points. The Celtics took care of the succeeding possessions and closed the game out eventually.

PBA Philippine Cup Finals: Powerade 100, Talk ‘N Text 97 (TNT leads series 3-1)

The Powerade Tigers will live for another day after taking a close, 100-97, win over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in Game Four of the 2011-2012 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The Tropang Texters could have swept the series and win their second Philippine Cup title in two years, but the up and coming Tigers simply refused to roll over and die.

Gary David, the Philippine Cup’s Best Player of the Conference awardee, torched everyone who guarded him by scoring 35 points. Aside from him, big man Sean Anthony had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the win.

The Tigers had an eight-point lead in the last four minutes, 94-86, but the Tropang Texters made a run that cut the lead down to three points. The Tropang Texters forced three crucial miscues while the Tigers also missed all of their five shots from the field. The Tropang Texters then made a 9-3 run capped by Larry Fonaciers’s back-to-back three pointers to tie the game at 97-all.

Anthony then made huge jumper in the next possession to make it 99-97, after which David split his free throws to give the Tigers a three-point lead. Guard Jason Castro, who scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, missed a three-pointer. Anthony grabbed the rebound, but he lost the ball to Jimmy Alapag. The 5’9 Alapag, who also chipped in 18 points, had a chance to tie the game with just 1.4 seconds left, but he missed a three-pointer before the buzzer sounded.

“IMG_9099” by Christopher Johnson c/o Flickr. Some rights reserved.