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Sports
Tiger Plays Augusta; Unsure About Masters
Kevin Durant Has Bone Graft On Foot
Kevin Durant in hospital after having surgery on his foot.
The Thunder ruled Kevin Durant out for the season less than a week ago, after he continued to experience sore- ness in his foot and it was dis- covered that he would need an additional surgery to more permanently fix the issue.
That surgery has taken place, and the timetable of 4- 6 months for his return re- mains in place.
Durant was able to ap- pear in only 27 games this season, and while Russell Westbrook has played at an MVP level in his absence to more than likely drag the Thunder to the playoffs, they’ll almost assuredly be quickly bounced by the War- riors in the first round.
Next season is a pivotal one in Oklahoma City — not just for Durant, but poten- tially, for the future of the franchise.
Durant will be an unre- stricted free agent after next year, and the Thunder’s best chance of retaining him would be finishing next season as NBA champions.
Duke, UK Favorites In Final Four Matchups
Tiger Woods played Tuesday at Augusta National Golf Club. Will he play the Masters next week?
Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent, confirmed that Woods flew up to Au- gusta, Ga., early Tuesday and played 18 holes on the course where he has won four green jackets.
According to The Augusta Chronicle, Woods' Gulf- stream G5 arrived at Augusta Regional Airport in the early morning hours. The paper re- ported the plane departed late afternoon.
Woods, a four-time Mas- ters champion, has not played
Tiger plays 18 holes at Au- gusta National Golf Club.
on the PGA Tour since with- drawing from the Farmers In- surance Open on Feb. 5 at Torrey Pines. Six days later he announced he was taking a leave of absence from the Tour to work on his game, stating he wouldn't return until he felt he could compete with the world's best players.
JUSTICE WINSLOW Duke freshman star forward
The No. 1 Duke Blue Dev- ils will be gunning for their fifth-straight win over No. 7 Michigan State when they take on the Spartans in this Saturday's Final Four as five- point favorites in March Madness betting at the on- line sports books. The game starts at 6 p.m.
The Blue Devils make their return to the Final Four for the first time since 2010 after topping the No. 2 Gon- zaga Bulldogs by a convinc- ing 66-52 score in last weekend's Elite Eight, easily covering as two-point betting favorites at sports books monitored by OddsShark.com and improv- ing to 16-1 SU in their last 17 games, 12-5 ATS.
Duke now faces a familiar foe in Saturday night's Spar- tans vs. Blue Devils matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indi- anapolis. The Blue Devils claimed an 81-71 victory over Michigan State earlier this season, covering as 8.5-point favorites, and will be facing the Spartans for a fifth time in the NCAA Tournament since 1994, going 3-1 SU in their previous four meetings including a 68-62 win as 11- point favorites in their last
ANDREW HARRISON Kentucky star guard
Final Four meeting back in 1999.
In Saturday's other Final Four contest, the No. 1 Ken- tucky Wildcats will be look- ing to extend their perfect record to 39-0 SU when they take on the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers as five-point fa- vorites. The game starts at 8:30 p.m.
However, the Wildcats are just 1-3 ATS in this sea- son's NCAA Tournament, with their sole ATS win com- ingina78-39routofNo.5 West Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen, a game in which they were pegged as 12.5- point favorites.
Kentucky had a much harder time in its Elite Eight battle against No. 3 Notre Dame, coming within a missed three-pointer at the buzzer of having its winning streak and season ended in a 68-66 win over the Fighting Irish, failing to cover as 11- point favorites.
The Badgers have also struggled at times to produce ATS wins, but looked on track in their 85-78 Elite Eight victory over No. 1 Ari- zona, their fourth ATS win in their last six, and their 10th straight SU victory.
Spurs Defeat Heat To Go 12-3 For The Month Of March
MIAMI -- Something about the Miami Heat brings out the best in Kawhi Leonard.
And with the playoffs looming, the NBA champions might be peaking.
Leonard had 22 points, nine rebounds and four steals, Tony Parker added 16 points in his 1,000th NBA game, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Heat 95-81 on Tuesday night.
"We played good D," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after his team's fourth straight win, holding opponents under 92 points in each of those games.
Leonard was NBA Finals MVP last year against Miami, and has scored at least 20 points on at least 53 percent shooting in each of his last five games against the Heat. He
excelled on both ends Tues- day, helping hold Dwyane Wade to a 6-for-20 shooting night.
"He has a way of knocking it all sideways," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Four steals, it felt like 10."
Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio, which went 12-3 in March -- the league's sec- ond-best record behind only Golden State. Boris Diaw scored 11 points.
Goran Dragic had 19 points and Wade added 15 for Miami. Hassan Whiteside returned from a three-game absence because of a lacerated hand and scored 10 points.
It was Parker's 718th win in his 1,000 games. That's the best winning percentage in league history with that many games played.
Romo Says He Would Have
Taken Pay Cut For Murray
IRVING, Texas -- How much did Tony Romo want DeMarco Murray to remain with the Dallas Cowboys?
Romo said he was willing to take a cut in pay from his $17 million base salary in 2015 to keep Murray, who led the NFL in rushing with 1,845 yards.
Tony Romo said he was willing to take a pay cut from his $17 million salary in 2015 to keep DeMarco Murray.
"DeMarco ended up ask- ing me, 'Why don't you take a pay cut?'" Romo said while appearing on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday. "I was like, 'I will. I will take a pay cut to go do this.' I was like, 'They're going to restructure me and the whole thing,' that's the same thing in some ways just for salary-cap purposes. He was like, 'OK, now we're back to being friends.' 'You're really worried about me? I would take $5 million less if it meant getting you back'. He knew
TONY ROMO
that."
The Cowboys never went
toRomotoseekacutinpay and Murray ended up sign- ing a five-year, $42 million deal that included $18 million fully guaranteed. The Cow- boys were firm in their four- year, $24 million offer to Murray.
They have since signed Darren McFadden to a two-year deal worth $3 mil- lion and could get involved in a possible deal for Adrian Peterson should the Min- nesota Vikings decide to part ways with the All-Pro running back or take a runner early in the upcoming draft.
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