In brief: France upends host Spain in FIBA World Cup quarterfinals
BASKETBALL: France upset Spain 65-52 in front of its stunned fans in the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup in Madrid on Wednesday.
After dominating its first six games and blowing out France by 24 points in the group phase, Spain appeared to be the main candidate to dethrone the United States in a possible final that would have been a rematch of the past two Olympic gold-medal games.
But France defended well and rebounded even better to ruin Spain’s quest for a title for a second straight summer, after France also ousted Spain from the last European championship.
Boris Diaw scored 15 points and Thomas Heurtel added 13 for France.
Pau Gasol had 17 for Spain.Also at the tournament, Serbia routed Brazil 84-56 to advance to the semifinals.
Brazil and its trio of NBA centers in Varejao, Tiago Splitter and Nene beat Serbia 81-73 in the group phase last week.
But Serbia bettered the bigger Brazilians inside and out and turned a five-point halftime advantage into a blowout by outscoring Brazil 29-10 in the third period.
Brazil didn’t help its cause with Splitter and Vieira earning consecutive technical fouls for protesting during that span.
Guard Milos Teodosic scored 23 points, and shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic added 12 for Serbia.
Varejao had 12 for Brazil.
• Warriors get Barbosa, extend West: The Golden State Warriors signed guard Leandro Barbosa. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Barbosa appeared in 20 games with the Phoenix Suns last season. He averaged 7.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 18.4 minutes per game.
Barbosa is averaging 11.9 points, 2.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds over his 11-year NBA career. He also has played for the Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics.
The Warriors also announced that executive board member Jerry West agreed to a two-year extension with the team through the 2016-2017 season.
This move, coupled with the new deal for general manager Bob Myers through the 2017-2018 season, puts a bow on co-owner Joe Lacob’s desire to keep his front office together for the long-term as the team gets set to move into a San Francisco arena by 2018.
West, 76, recently told associates that he was thinking about retiring, especially after the chaos of the Warriors’ 51-win season and subsequent firing of coach Mark Jackson.
Boudreau, Ducks agree to extension
NHL: Coach Bruce Boudreau and the Anaheim Ducks agreed to a two-year contract extension through the 2016-17 season.
Boudreau is 111-55-22 in nearly three seasons with the Ducks, transforming an underachieving club into a championship contender. Anaheim won the Pacific Division title in each of the past two seasons.
The Ducks finished last season with the Western Conference’s best record at 54-20-8 before losing a seven-game series in the second round of the playoffs to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.
Boudreau has the NHL’s top winning percentage among active coaches at .663 (312-143-62). • Koivu retires: Longtime Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu retired.
The NHL players association announced that the Finnish star would call it a career after 18 seasons, all but five of which were spent in Montreal. He won four Olympic medals with Finland in the Winter Olympics, including a silver medal in their 2006 loss to archrival Sweden in the final.
In a statement released by the NHLPA, Koivu says he has “been contemplating retirement for quite some time” and “very confident” in his decision.
In 1999, Koivu was chosen as the first European-born captain in Canadiens history.
• Winter Classic site announced: The season’s Winter Classic will be played at Nationals Park.
The NHL announced that the home of baseball’s Washington Nationals will host the game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals on New Year’s Day.
The Capitals were selected as the home team for the 2015 game nearly a year ago, but the league then needed to choose among several possible stadiums – including RFK Stadium and FedEx Field.
Nationals Park was the favorite all along. The 41,000-seat ballpark opened in 2008 and is located about a mile south of the Capitol along the Anacostia River.
Degenkolb wins 17th stage at Vuelta
CYCLING: John Degenkolb of Germany sprinted to win the Spanish Vuelta’s 17th stage, while Alberto Contador maintained the red leader’s jersey with four days to go.
Degenkolb edged fellow sprinting experts Michael Matthews and Fabian Cancellara to claim the flat 118.5-mile ride from Ortigueira to A Coruna in just less than 4 1/2 hours.
Contador finished with his nearest challengers, protecting his advantage of more than a minute and a half ahead of Alejandro Valverde and Chris Froome.