Los Angeles  - The Detroit Pistons' second game with newly-acquired Allen Iverson was worse than the first.

Reserve Tony Allen scored 23 points, Ray Allen had 17 and the Celtics rolled to their fourth straight victory by punishing the Pistons 88-76 in Iverson's home-debut at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

"It was our best defence of the year by far, and it was all game," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said. "We had active hands, were physical, got up in their bodies, and it was neat to see."

Shanghai  - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga blamed clueless ball kids for his opening loss at the Masters Cup, with the petulant French player perhaps finding excuses for his own rookie mistakes on court.

A debutant at the year-end event, the hyper-fit 23-year-old who won the Paris title a week ago said he "lost energy" waiting for hardd-working ball kids to fetch him his towel frequently between points as he went down in Gold group play to Nikolay Davydenko in three sets.

"When I ask for my towel, my towel didn't come," lamented Tsgona, "When I ask for a ball, the ball didn't come. That's it."

Sydney, Nov 10 : Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who was sidelined from the team over his attitude problems especially after he went fishing instead of attending a team meeting in West Indies, is officially back into his national side as he had reportedly been called for this Friday''s Twenty20 exhibition match against an All-Star team in Brisbane.

Sydney, Nov 10 : The Border-Gavaskar Trophy, considered one of the game''s prized possession, now appears destined to return to Indian hands because of Ponting’s blunders on the fourth day, said an article in The Daily Telegraph.

The paper blasted the Aussie captain for running behind at least 13 overs on the fourth day, as he talked tactics to contain the Indians and opting for wrong bowlers choices on the penultimate day of the last Test, especially when the hosts are leading 1-0 in the four match series.

Athens - Paul Lekuraa led a Kenyan podium sweep in the Athens Classic Marathon on Sunday, the fifth win in a row for the proud running nation at the event.

London, Nov. 9 : Arsenal''s two-one win over arch rivals Manchester United has led team coach Arsene Wenger to claim that his critics have finally been silenced. 

Two goals from Samir Nasri gave the Gunners a 2-0 lead before a late reply from Rafael Da Silva. 

Earlier, Arsenal fans had hit out at Wenger during the lead up to the match after they lost to Stoke last week. 

"I can take criticism. I am in a job where you have to take that. There is only one answer - with your performance on the pitch. It was vital to win. To keep in the race, you need to win big games like that, and it is vital for a young team," The Sun quoted Wenger, as saying.