We understand their plays

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. Peter Moylan Jersey . - Maria Sharapova needed nine match points before she finally closed out a win Saturday in the third round of the Sony Open, beating Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-2. No. 1-ranked Serena Williams won a marathon, too, taking 2 1/2 hours to eliminate Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Mens No. 1 Rafael Nadal began a bid for his first Key Biscayne title by beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3. Sharapova had two match points in the tiebreaker, and seven more in the final game. The No. 26-seeded Safarova stayed alive with a succession of vital winners. "She kept hitting unbelievable shots," Sharapova said. "One more. One more. I said, How many chances are you going to get?" With the capacity crowd in a frenzy, a long exchange on the final point ended with Safarova pushing a weary forehand into the net. She then shared a hug with Sharapova. The match took three hours and ended at 10 p.m. to conclude an 11-hour day session on the stadium court, with two night-session matches yet to come. "After a match like that, its tough to have only one winner," Sharapova said, "because both players give a lot and both want to win so much." Williams match was a thriller, too. A succession of long rallies left her grunting, stumbling, lunging, squealing, flailing her arms and scolding herself. Despite all the drama and trauma, she moved one round closer to a record seventh Key Biscayne title. Williams is playing in her first tournament after a monthlong layoff, and rustiness might explain her 41 unforced errors, including seven double-faults. And the 20-year-old Garcia kept Williams on her heels with deep groundstrokes and serves that topped out at 117 mph. "I can play a hundred times better," Williams said. "I really gave myself a tremendous amount of trouble out there. Granted she played great, but I made so many errors ... 40-something errors. Its not the way to play professional tennis. Maybe amateur." Three-time champion Novak Djokovic was off Saturday but advanced to the fourth round anyway when his next scheduled opponent, Florian Mayer, withdrew because of a groin injury. Djokovics next match will be Tuesday. Stanislas Wawrinka bounced back from his first loss of the year by beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. No. 7 Tomas Berdych joined Wawrinka in the third round by beating Stephane Robert 7-6 (5), 6-1. No. 10-seeded John Isner rallied to win an all-American matchup against Donald Young, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4. Isner is back in the top 10 this week for the first time in 18 months. Sam Querrey, Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock lost second-round matches. That left Isner as the lone remaining American in the mens draw, reflecting the state of U.S. tennis. Williams and Garcia engaged in a succession of side-to-side baseline exchanges that had the stadium crowd roaring. But she finished in a hurry, serving out the final game at love with the help of consecutive aces. Reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has predicted that Garcia will someday climb to No. 1, but the Frenchwoman is now 0-3 against Williams. "Its always nice to play against a big player," Garcia said. "You are working and practicing to play this match, because its in this kind of match you can learn more. But next time I prefer to win." Williams is playing for the 14th time at Key Biscayne, an hour from her home in Palm Beach Gardens. She won the event for the first time in 2002 and tied Andre Agassis record of six titles last year. Jim Eisenreich Jersey . Richard Jefferson scored 17 points and Diante Garrett had a career-high 15 points as the Jazz had seven players with 10 points or more in Utahs largest margin of victory this season. Danny Duffy Jersey .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. https://www.cheaproyals.com/1357a-meibrys-viloria-jersey-royals.html . It all would have been for naught, however, had it not been for some clutch shooting in the fourth quarter by Kobe Bryant and a couple of equally critical hustle plays by Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol in the final minutes. OKLAHOMA CITY -- It took a fraction of a second for the Memphis Grizzlies to take control of their first-round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. With 2.9 seconds remaining in overtime, Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant missed a long 3-point attempt. Teammate Serge Ibaka tipped the ball in on the rebound, sending the crowd into a celebration. The shot was reviewed, however, and it was determined that it was released just after the buzzer, giving Memphis a 100-99 victory Tuesday night and a 3-2 lead in the series. "I had a good look at it and I thought it was good when it left my hand," Durant, the NBAs scoring champion, said. "And then Serges follow shot was just late. It was a tough finish but weve got to come back." It was a record fourth straight overtime game in the series, and Memphis has won three of them. The seventh-seeded Grizzlies can close out the second-seeded Thunder on Thursday night at home. "Nothing comes easy for us," Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph said. "We get it out of the mud, we grind and were underdogs. Its what we do." Before the final overtime sequence, Durant made the first of two free throws with 27.5 seconds left to cut Oklahoma Citys deficit to 100-99. Before his second shot, referee Joey Crawford took the ball from Durant and walked over to the scorers table. Moments later, Crawford was screaming at the scoreboard operator, asking him to make a change. After the delay, Durant, an 87 per cent free throw shooter during the regular season, missed the second attempt. "Im not sure what happened, but Ive got to focus and Ive got to make that foul shot," Durant said. The Grizzlies didnt understand what was going on, either. "We just looked at Joey and we were like, What is Joey doing?" Memphis guard Mike Conley said. Mike Miller scored 21 points, Randolph had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Conley added 17 points for the Grizzlies. Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, but he made just 10 of 31 shots from the field. Durant scored 26 points on 10-for-24 shooting. He has struggled throughout the series, but Thunder coach Scott Brooks said hes not worried. "Hes going to get his shots and hes going to make his share," Brooks said. "Hell get himself ready for the next game.&quoot; Overall, the Thunder shot just 39 per cent. Josh Staumont Jersey. The Thunder, one of the leagues most potent offensive teams in the regular season, have shot below 40 per cent in four of the five games in the series. "We understand this team very well," Memphis guard Tony Allen said. "Weve been playing against this team the last four years with this group. We understand their plays, we understand who theyre trying to run their offence through. We know Kevin Durant is going to take his shots and Russell Westbrook is going to take his shots. We have to contest those shots and stick to our defensive coverages for 48 minutes." Oklahoma City trailed by 20 points in the third quarter but trimmed its deficit to six by the start of the fourth quarter and finally took a 79-78 lead on a 3-pointer by Durant. Memphis maintained its composure. Consecutive baskets by Conley put the Grizzlies up 87-82 with just under 4 minutes to play. Oklahoma Citys Caron Butler was fouled by Randolph as he hit a 3-pointer with 2:40 to play. He made the free throw to cut Memphis lead to 87-86. Oklahoma City, trailing 89-88, had a chance to take the lead in the final minute of regulation, but Durant was stripped, and the ball was stolen by Conley. Allen made the first free throw with 30 seconds left. He missed the second, but Marc Gasol of the Grizzlies got the rebound with 20.3 seconds to play. Conley was stripped by Westbrook, and Westbrook dunked with 4 seconds left to tie the game at 90. Memphis didnt get a shot off in time at the end of regulation and the teams went to overtime again. Miller hit two early 3-pointers in the extra period for the Grizzlies. "Defensively, we made a few mistakes at the end of regulation," Gasol said. "But we came out in overtime, made a couple of 3s, and that gave us a big lift in confidence. We were able to manage it and control from there." NOTES: The Grizzlies wore their warmups inside out and the Thunder wore black socks and shoes in protest of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterlings incendiary racial remarks. ... The Grizzlies shot 60 per cent from the field in the first quarter to lead 30-25. ... Oklahoma City made 6 of 9 3-point attempts in the first half, but just 9 of 34 shots inside the arc. ... Tulsa Shock guard Skylar Diggins attended the game. ' ' '