Los Angeles - With three key players out with injuries, Allen Iverson stepped in to rescue the Detroit Pistons.

Iverson scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, and the short-handed Pistons clipped the visiting New Jersey Nets 83-75 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.

Detroit played without All-Star guard Richard Hamilton, out with a groin injury, top reserve Antonio McDyess (sore ribs) and lost starting centre Rasheed Wallace to a sore right foot in the second quarter. However, the resilient Pistons relied on Iverson's offence, and a stifling defence by a makeshift lineup to hold the Nets to a season-low point total on 37 per cent field goal shooting.

Sydney, Jan. 1: Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds is set to miss the start of Australia''s back-to-back one-day series against South Africa and New Zealand after undergoing arthroscopy knee surgery.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Symonds had the surgery yesterday after battling right knee pain in the opening two Test losses against the Proteas and being ruled out of the third Test at the SCG starting on Saturday.

Cricket Australia today said Symonds developed the pain during the first Test at the WACA.

London - Novak Djokovic can officially don two hats after his family consortium won official approval to stage an ATP event in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.

The world number three will leave most of the heavy organizational lifting to his relatives, but cannot hide his delight that his work over the past months behind the scenes has finally resulted in a first tennis stop for the newest power nation in the game.

London, Dec. 31 : AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini has praised the work ethic of loan signing David Beckham.

The England midfielder is in Dubai with the rest of the Milan squad after joining the team on a short-term deal from the Los Angeles Galaxy and has taken part in his first training session with his new teammates.

Beckham has not played since the end of the MLS season in October, but Maldini is confident the former Manchester United star will be match fit again soon.

Nove Mesto, Czech Republic - Axel Teichmann of Germany got his second stage win on Wednesday while Swiss Dario Cologna retained the overall lead in the Tour de Ski cross-country series.

The former world champion Teichmann, who had dominated Saturday's prologue, won the 15-kilometres classic style stage in 39 minute 3.7 seconds.

Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway finished 5.0 seconds behind and Kazakh Nikolay Chebotko was third on the podium, 10.5 seconds off the pace.

Sydney, Dec. 31 : A shocked Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has said that Tuesday''s loss to South Africa in the second Test in Melbourne has left him disappointed, but warned that the team will strive to make amends in Sydney.

"I can''t speak for the whole team. I guess yesterday afternoon I was in a little bit of shock after coming off the field," Johnson told reporters at the team''s Sydney hotel on Wednesday.

A loss in Sydney would hand South Africa the top ranking in Test cricket at Australia''s expense.