U.S. has easy time with Iran at world basketball championship

Basketball

Americans have easy time with Iran at worlds

ISTANBUL — The United States eased its way to the top seed in the knockout round of the world championship by beating Iran 88-51 Wednesday.

Kevin Love scored 13 and Kevin Durant 12 for the Americans (4-0), who play their final group game today against Tunisia. In the round of 16, they face the fourth-place team from Group A, which will be determined today.

After playing his starters for most of the second half of a 70-68 victory over Brazil on Monday, U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski went to the bench early. The Americans shot 58 percent and scored 23 off turnovers.

The tensions between the nations' governments over Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program provided a minor backdrop. A group of fans sitting near midcourt before the game held U.S. and Iranian flags and a sign reading "PEACE" in between.

"We should leave politics to the politicians," American C Tyson Chandler said.

"We're here to play basketball."

Celtics: G Delonte West, who spent his first three seasons with Boston, signed. West, who has been suspended for the first 10 games of the upcoming season after pleading guilty to weapons charges, was traded to Seattle as part of the 2007 deal for G Ray Allen. Last season, he averaged 8.8 points for the Cavaliers. They traded him to Minnesota, which waived him soon after.

Boxing

Holyfield sets sights on trio of champions

Evander Holyfield said he wants to fight heavyweight champions David Haye and Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. Holyfield, a former heavyweight champ who turns 48 next month, currently holds the lightly regarded WBF title, which he won by beating Francois Botha on April 10 and is scheduled to defend against Sherman Williams on Nov. 5. In his two fights before that, he lost on points to WBA champ Nikolay Valuev and WBO champ Sultan Ibragimov. Haye beat Valuev for the title, and Wladimir Klitschko beat Ibragimov. "My people have talked with (Vitali) Klitschko and his manager," Holyfield said. "(But) right now, everybody's busy with fights."

Light heavyweights: WBC and IBO champion Jean Pascal will defend his title against Bernard Hopkins on Dec. 18 in Quebec.

Junior lightweights: Mzonke Fana won the vacant IBF title by unanimous decision over fellow South African Cassius Baloyi in Brakpan, South Africa. The judges' scores were 119-109, 119-110 and 118-110.

Cycling

Ex-teammate's wife discusses Armstrong

Betsy Andreu, the wife of one of Lance Armstrong's former teammate, said she has spoken to a federal agent investigating the seven-time Tour de France winner and other cyclists and their alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. The wife of Frankie Andreu, declined to discuss details but said her husband also has talked to the agent. She previously said Armstrong admitted using performance-enhancing drugs to her while he was in the hospital in 1996 battling cancer. Other former Armstrong teammates, including George Hincapie and Tyler Hamilton, previously said they were contacted by investigators but also declined to give details.

Et Cetera

Track: American Tyson Gay beat Jamaican rival Nesta Carter in the 100 meters at the Zagreb World Challenge in Croatia. He finished in 9.92 seconds after the two briefly touched during the race. Gay said the collision was his fault and he would apologize. Carter, who shares the season best with Gay at 9.78, finished in 10.07.

Soccer: New York defender Mike Petke, a 13-year veteran of MLS, will retire at the end of the season. Petke, 34, is a three-time All-Star.

Times wires