Former Knicks guard Ray Williams dies at 58

Ray Williams a former New York Knicks guard had died on Friday at the age of 58. He had been battling colon cancer at Manhattan's Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Williams was the 10th overall pick in the 1977 draft, taken by the Knicks.

He played 10 NBA seasons, including two stints with the Knicks.
The 6-foot-3 Williams had career averages of 15.5 points a game and 5.8 assists a game.

Williams had difficulties after he retired. He was bankrupt and homeless for periods, which led to his wife and children leaving him.

Elvis Dumervil staying with Denver Broncos

 
Elvis Dumervil was staying with the Denver Broncos. And then, he wasn't.

On another busy day of NFL free agency, the highlight - or lowlight - came after a strange sequence of events in which the Broncos and the defensive end reached an agreement on a new deal that ended up not valid because the paperwork was filed too late.

And now, Dumervil is a free agent. Broncos front office chief John Elway said the team delivered its final contract proposal to Dumervil at 11 a.m. and set a 1 p.m. deadline for a decision. Elway said Dumervil accepted the contract at around 1:25 and ''although we expressed our concern regarding the time constraints, we were assured that the signed documents would be submitted to us before the league's waiver deadline.''
''We did not receive the documents from Elvis by the league's deadline and were forced to release him shortly before 2 p.m. MDT,'' Elway said.

Dumervil's agent, Marty Magid, did not return messages left by AP via text and voicemail.

Also Friday, Greg Jennings left Green Bay to head to rival Minnesota, Dustin Keller became the latest member of the Jets to leave and Kevin Kolb was released by Arizona.

Jennings spent seven years getting the best of the Vikings' secondary while playing for their bitter rivals in Green Bay. No longer feeling as important to the Packers after two seasons shortened by injuries, Jennings crossed the border and found a team that welcomed him with desperately open arms. Jennings signed a five-year contract with the Vikings on Friday.

BASEBALL: Puerto Rico eliminates US to reach World Baseball Classic semis

MIAMI (AP) - Once again, the United States could only watch as an opposing pitcher celebrated at the World Baseball Classic.

This time it was 38-year-old right-hander Nelson Figueroa, who became the pride of Puerto Rico on Friday night when he led his team into the semifinals and eliminated the Americans, 4-3.

On Thursday, demonstrative Dominicans dominated the All-Star-laden U.S. squad. The Americans endured a scoreless streak of 14 innings spanning the two defeats, and Figueroa limited them to two singles in six shutout innings.

Puerto Rico advanced for the first time to the semifinals, which begin Sunday in San Francisco. They'll play the Dominican Republic on Saturday in the final game in Miami, which will determine seedings for the championship round.

Two-time defending champion Japan and the Netherlands round out the final four.

NBA Top Stories - Miami Heat, LA Lakers Win

 
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- LeBron James and Chris Bosh scored 28 points each, as the Miami Heat made it 21 straight wins, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 107-94 on Friday night.

Only three other teams have won 20 in a row in one season, and the Heat now trail just the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33) and the 2007-08 Houston Rockets (22) after moving ahead of the 1970-71 Bucks.

They withstood an early scare when Dwyane Wade walked to the locker room with a neck strain after crashing to the court. Miami led by as much as 17 in the third quarter, then withstood a push by the Bucks to remain unbeaten since a loss at Indiana on Feb. 1.

Miami next plays Sunday at Toronto, where the winning streak began on Feb. 3.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - After hobbling around on a severely sprained left ankle for one quarter, Kobe Bryant took himself out of the game and made sure he was the most valuable player on the Los Angeles Lakers' bench.

He exhorted his teammates to play hard, to read the defense and to take advantage of any openings they found against Indiana. He diagrammed plays and pulled players aside, coaching them up all night. Then, Dwight Howard completed a tiebreaking three-point play with 90 seconds to go, and the Lakers pulled away from Indiana for a 99-93 win.

Bryant, known as a remarkably quick healer who hasn't missed a game since the 2009-10 season, gallantly played less than 48 hours after turning his ankle when he landed on Dahntay Jones' foot in the waning seconds of Wednesday's loss at Atlanta.

Ex-NBA player banned in Philippines for "choking" team mate

Former NBA player Renaldo Balkman has been banned from the Philippine Basketball Association in the Philippines for choking a teammate during a game.

The former New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets player has also been slapped with a fine of 250,000 Philippine pesos ($6,100) over the incident, Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Chito Salud said in a statement on Monday.

Howard leads Lakers over Bulls 90-81

The Los Angeles Lakers routed the Chicago Bulls, 90-81, at home to improve to 33-31. It marks the first time this season they have been two games over .500. The Lakers also moved a half-game ahead of the Utah Jazz and into sole possession of the No. 8 playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Dwight Howard had 16 points and 21 rebounds; Kobe Bryant finished 19 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds; and Steve Nash chipped in 16 points. They led by as many as 18 points in the third period.

"We're very focused," Bryant said. "We know what we have to do and what lies ahead. Everybody's locked in."

"I think I am getting a little bit better," said Howard, who was 0 for 5 from the free throw line. ''I'm just going to keep working on my conditioning, get my timing back and just keep going hard.''

The Lakers, who have won eight of 10 since the All-Star break, led by four points at halftime. But point guard Steve Nash keyed a 21-7 third-quarter spurt that put the Lakers up by as many as 18 points. Nash scored 10 of his 16 points in the third quarter.

Tiger Woods wins in Miami

Tiger Woods had a dominant win at the World Golf Championships tournament at Doral with a two-shot victory over Steve Stricker.

Graeme McDowell's day fell apart on the back nine and the Northern Irishman tied for third with Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson.

This is Tiger Woods second win in 2013 and moved him closer to Rory McIlroy's number one spot in the world rankings.