NBA

Chandler sprains right ankle

NEW ORLEANS -- Hornets center Tyson Chandler sprained his right ankle in the first quarter of New Orleans' preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.

A Hornets spokesman said Chandler was not expected to return.

The injury occurred under the Hornets' basket after Chandler stepped into the lane to help defend a drive by C.J. Watson. Chandler appeared to turn his ankle as he landed and immediately dropped to the floor, lying on his back until trainers helped him to the locker room.

The 7-foot-1 Chandler played a key role in helping the Hornets win a franchise record 56 games and the Southwest Division title last season, averaging 11.8 point and 11.7 rebounds during the regular season.

• Rivers says he's happy with training camp: At Newport R.I, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers canceled training camp practice scheduled for Monday, saying he wants to give the defending NBA champions a day off before they prepare for their first preseason game.

Boston takes on the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday at the University of Massachusetts' flagship campus in Amherst.

"I liked the way we were going so I figured go one more day, give them a day off and then we get a day before our (first) preseason game," Rivers said Sunday after the Celtics held their final practice at Salve Regina University. "It works out pretty good."

Rivers says he was pleasantly surprised by what he has seen of rookie Billy Walker.

"He's not your typical rookie that thinks he's got it figured out already," Rivers said. "He really isn't. He knows he has some catching up to do but he's been a pleasant surprise."

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Walker was the 46th overall pick by Washington in the 2008 NBA draft but was acquired by Boston in a straight cash deal.

He averaged 15.3 points in just 37 career games at Kansas State and played only six during the 2006-07 season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament.

"Clearly, he would have gone earlier if he projected healthy," Rivers said. "I think he would have been mid-first (round) definitely to low-first. But everyone was scared about his knee."

"He clearly can earn a position if a team is willing to take the chance."

The question is what position can he play since, considering his height, he's a classic "tweener."

"He's that in size but in body he's a three," Rivers said. "I think he would struggle even more guarding twos. He's athletic enough to, but his body tells you he's a 3 because he's so strong.

"He attacks the basket, too, and will live on the foul line. He's got to work on his ball handling a little bit, but if he comes off the cuts, he's going to live on the foul line."

If that transpires, Walker may prove to be an asset especially if he can improve his free throw shooting. In college he shot 72.7 percent which is adequate but not spectacular.

Rivers says he believes that Walker could excel in a transition game and could be even more productive as a post-up guard.

"Billy's great in transition," Rivers said. "But I think Billy's going to be a great post guard. I don't know if he knows that yet, but I think he will be."

• Heat giving Livingston second chance at NBA career: At Miami, Shaun Livingston has never seen the gruesome video of himself grabbing a loose ball near midcourt, dribbling three times, going in for a layup attempt and having his left knee shred on the landing.

He doesn't intend to watch it anytime soon, either.

"I'm not focusing on the past. I'm just really looking forward," Livingston said. "No mental image in my mind should really derail me."

Livingston

More than 19 months after that misstep nearly ended his career, Livingston has a second chance. The free agent point guard signed a two-year contract Friday with the Miami Heat, who believe Livingston -- the No. 4 overall pick in the 2004 draft by the Los Angeles Clippers -- could eventually be a steal.

"He has great size and feel for the game at his position," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I've followed him for a few years. It's unfortunate, really, what happened, but we'd normally never be able to get a player of his talent at this time. He's very committed to getting healthy and we have a great staff to help him get there."

The Heat had Livingston in for a workout about two weeks ago, and talks began intensifying Thursday night on a deal.

WNBA Finals

No Shocker: Detroit wins third title in 6 seasons

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Winning a gold medal in Beijing, a WNBA championship and the league finals MVP award.

How does it feel, Katie Smith?

"I mean, it's been OK," she said to laughter in the interview room Sunday after the forward led the Detroit Shock to their third WNBA crown in six seasons.

The 76-60 win completed a three-game sweep of the San Antonio Silver Stars and came less than two months after the 34-year-old started for the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic team.

"It's been fun. It's just been a lot of fun," she said.

Smith, who scored a team-high 18 points, was lifted from the game with time running out as coach Bill Laimbeer emptied his bench to the ear-splitting delight of the crowd.

A few minutes later, she was sprinting back on to the court with her teammates to celebrate yet another championship as confetti rained down.

Detroit became the second team in league history to win a third championship. Only the Houston Comets, who won the first four (1997-2000), have more. Los Angeles (2001, 2002) is the only other team with more than one.

It was an especially sweet win for the Shock, who let the 2007 title slip away, losing Game 5 at The Palace to the Phoenix Mercury.

"Last year was brutal. Last year was discouraging and we lost the championship, and I thought about moving on," Laimbeer said. "At some point, I'll move on, but I don't necessarily think it is right now."

Detroit swept the league's best regular-season team, winning the clincher at Eastern Michigan University's Convocation Center, a venue forced upon them because of a scheduling conflict.

"It was our floor and our rims and our baskets," Laimbeer said. "We understand the situation, and we'll make the most of it. I thought we had a lot of fans in there that had never been a part of this before."

NHL Preseason

Redden and Gomes rally Rangers

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Wade Redden and Scott Gomez each scored second-period goals and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Sunday to sweep their two-game, season-opening series in Europe.

The Lightning had only three shots on goal in the opening period, but went up 1-0 when Adam Hall scored after Henrik Lundqvist partially blocked Andrej Meszaros' shot with 1:43 remaining.

Redden tied it with a power-play goal 3:47 into the second period when he blasted a shot past goalie Olaf Kolzig off a pass from Markus Naslund.

Gomez made it 2-1 at 12:12 of the second period.

Kolzig made 37 saves, and Lundqvist stopped 18 shots.

• Senators 3, Penguins 1: At Stockholm, Sweden, Dany Heatley scored two more goals and captain Daniel Alfredsson had two assists for Ottawa, which beat Pittsburgh.

Heatley, who also had a goal in the Senators' 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins on Saturday, helped Ottawa take three of four points during the season-opening European series.

Alex Goligoski spoiled Ottawa goalie Alex Auld's shutout bid with a power-play goal just 2 seconds before the final buzzer in front of another sold-out crowd of 13,699 at the Globe Arena.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby set up Goligoski's goal.

Antoine Vermette made it 3-0 with 4:10 left of the game, skating in alone and beating goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with a low shot.