Los Angeles - Frenchman Tony Parker was unstoppable, and the San Antonio Spurs are no longer win-less.

Parker poured in a career-high 55 points, and the visiting Spurs outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves 129-125 in double overtime on Wednesday night.

At 0-3, the four-time NBA Champion Spurs were off to their worst start since the 1973-74 campaign when they played in the old ABA. However, Parker put an end to that, hitting 22-of-36 field goals, mostly on a mixture of layups and soft jumpers.

Lahore, Nov 6: Perhaps under ICC pressure against a proposal to appoint former Pakistan Test captain Salim Malik as the head coach of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), the PCB last evening said that it never appointed or offered to appoint him as the coach.

Malik, who had a life ban for alleged involvement in match-fixing overturned last month, had said on Tuesday that he had accepted an offer from the PCB to become head coach at the NCA.

London, Nov 6 : McLaren boss Ron Dennis has said that British driving sensation Lewis Hamilton is not arrogant.

The team boss admitted that some people believe the new Formula One champion is cocky, but Dennis said: “People say Lewis is aggressive, that he’s arrogant, but he is not. Definitely not.”

“He wants to win and, sometimes, people see that positivity as arrogance — but they’re wrong. He is a remarkably level-headed young man and you have to remember he is still maturing,” The Sun quoted Dennis, as saying.

The youngest ever F1 champion, Hamilton, admitted that he could stay at McLaren for the rest of his career.

Wellington, Nov 6: New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori believes that Australia is the best cricket side in the world despite struggling against Indian in the ongoing Test series.

Vettori rated the Aussies team as the biggest challenge in world cricket, and said Australia remained the topside in the world, “particularly in their own conditions”.

New Zealand is preparing to head across the Tasman next week for a four-day warm-up match against New South Wales in Sydney before tests in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Shanghai - With Rafael Nadal in injury crisis and missing the Masters Cup, healthy contenders began finding their form in smoggy Shanghai under the closed roof at the Qi Zhong stadium for the season-ending classic starting on Sunday.

Andy Murray, playing the eight-man wrap-up event for the first time in his career, has been keeping a relatively high profile, attending the midweek draw ceremony and earning praise from former great John McEnroe.

Lahore, Nov 6 : The PCB is learnt to have banned its star batsman Mohammad Yousuf after he announced joining the Indian Cricket League (ICL), considered as “rebel” to BCCI-promoted Indian Premier League (IPL).

Yousuf (34) had left for India on Monday without informing the PCB about his decision to join the ICL. His name was included in the 15-member squad for a three-match ODI series against the West Indies starting next week in Abu Dhabi, but was dropped when it was revealed that he had joined the ICL.