Because of injuries to their bigger shooting guards, the Clippers now have one of the smaller backcourts in the NBA.

All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who is listed at 6 feet, now starts alongside backup point guard Darren Collison, who also is listed as a 6-footer.

Collison is scheduled to start his second consecutive game as shooting guard against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night because 6-foot-5 Jamal Crawford is out with a strained left calf.

Crawford, usually the Clippers’ sixth man, became the starter because the 6-foot-4 J.J. Redick is out with a bulging disk in his lower back.

And though both Paul and Collison are smaller, they use their quickness to their advantage.

“It’s made it easier on everybody,” Collison said. “Everybody is more alert. When Chris has the ball or when I have the ball, we can all make plays. So it just makes it easier for everybody. We get up and down the court a lot faster.”

Collison recognizes that the Clippers’...

Paula Creamer hadn't won on the LPGA tour since the 2010 U.S. Women's Open.

So her next victory was going to be special no matter what.

But "special" doesn't even begin to describe the way Creamer won her 10th LPGA title Sunday at the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore.

On the second hole of a playoff against Azahara Munoz, Creamer faced a 75-foot eagle putt on the 18th green for the victory.

Rather than play it safe and go for the tie, Creamer went for it. Her putt curled across the green and rolled slowly down the slope and right into the hole.

“It's one of those putts where if you just get it in the right spot, it's going to fall down,” she said. “But I could stand there all day long and putt that and I don't think get it within six, seven feet.”

Creamer followed a shot for the ages with a celebration to match, as she ran across the green and then fell to her knees and pounded the ground while laughing and crying.

Watch it all unfold in the video above.

ALS...

Carl Yastrzemski picked the right day to make his first appearance at spring training for the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, Fla.

The Hall of Famer who spent his entire career with the Red Sox was on hand to see his grandson, Mike Yastrzemski, score a run in his first major league spring training game as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, who drafted the Vanderbilt product in the 14th round of last June's draft.

“It means a lot,” said the elder Yastrzemski, who worked with his grandson on his hitting in high school. “Just proves that a lot of hard work will take you a long way. He's worked hard all his life. He wanted to be a player and he put the time and effort into it.”

The 23-year-old entered as a pinch runner in the sixth inning, receiving a warm ovation from the Red Sox crowd when his name was announced. He went on to score Baltimore's first run.

Orioles Manager Buck Showalter probably envisioned such a moment when he decided to bring the younger Yastrzemsk...

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Russell Henley got a do-over of sorts at the Honda Classic and he took full advantage of it.

After making a disappointing par five on the 18th hole at the Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa, Henley birdied it the next time to win a four-man playoff Sunday afternoon and his second PGA Tour title.

The 549-yard 18th was the first playoff hole and Henley hit a five-wood to reach the green in two, then two-putted from 54 feet after Rory McIlroy, Russell Knox and Ryan Palmer all got pars.

All four men had struggled during a windy final round to finish at eight-under-par 272.

McIlroy, who began the day with a two-shot lead over Henley, shot a four-over 74 after starting with rounds of 63-66-69. Henley shot 72, Knox 71. Only Palmer was under par Sunday, shooting 69.

Billy Hurley III also shot 69 to finish fifth at 273. David Hearn shot 67 and Will MacKenzie shot 70 tie for sixth at 274.

Tiger Woods, who started the day at five under, withdrew after 13...

TEMPE, Ariz. -- As the Angels identify their starting rotation, Joe Blanton is on the outside looking in.

Blanton lost his spot in the rotation last season. If he pitches well this spring and the Angels still like their starting five, they might be able to trade him. If he does not pitch well, they might have to release him.

With scouts from other teams in attendance Sunday, Blanton got off to a rough start in his Cactus League debut. He entered the game in the fifth inning and gave up hits to the first three batters he faced, including a two-run double that gave the Oakland Athletics their final runs in a 3-2 victory over the Angels.

Blanton rebounded to retire seven of the final eight batters he faced. In all, he pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up two runs, three hits and one walk. He struck out two.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said Blanton “missed some spots” to those first three batters –- singles by Jed Lowrie and Josh Donaldson followed by a double by Yoenis...

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kevin Harvick won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway in dominant fashion Sunday while Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second.

"This is awesome," said Harvick, who now holds the record for most Cup victories at PIR with five. "What a race car."

Harvick led 224 of the race's 312 laps around the one-mile oval, and he continually kept Earnhardt at bay on several restarts following caution periods.

"We didn't have enough race car all day long" to catch Harvick, Earnhardt said, adding that Harvick "feels good and confident about what he's doing here."

Brad Keselowski finished third, his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano was fourth, and Earnhardt's teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

This was the second race in the Cup series' 36-race season. The series moves to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next Sunday.

ALSO:

Tiger Woods withdraws from Honda Classic

Josh Beckett...

Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the Honda Classic after playing 12 holes Sunday because of back spasms.

One day after shooting a five-under-par 65 in the third round, Woods walked off the Champions Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., with his children in tow. He was five over par for the day and trailing leader Rory McIlroy by 13 shots.

It's only the sixth time in 297 starts on the PGA Tour that Woods has withdrawn, although it's happened four times in the last five years.

"It's my lower back with spasms," Woods said in a statement released by the tour. "It started this morning warming up. It’s the same feeling I had at Barclays."

With the Masters -- the first major of the year -- set for April 10-13, Woods said he will weigh his options about trying to play next week in the Cadillac Championship at Doral, where he's the defending champion.

"I'll get treatment every day to try to calm it down," Woods said. "Don't know yet. We'll see how I am, wait until Thursday...

Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine lost to Orlando Salido by split-decision in his quest to win the World Boxing Organization featherweight title in just his second U.S. pro fight.

Salido lost the belt Friday when he weighed in over limit. He then weighed 145 pounds Saturday in pounding Lomachenko in the early rounds to gain the victory.

Referee Laurence Cole missed several Salido low blows in the 12th round that might have resulted in a point deduction as Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, rallied too late.

“That shows you why you don’t rush into a title fight,” Lomachenko promoter Bob Arum said. “He was conserving energy and didn’t do enough until the end. If he had started fighting that way earlier, he wins the fight.

“He’s not too damaged by that, but it’s a reality check that you can’t do things like that so quick. He still has a great upside, a bright future.”

Arum said Lomachenko made it a condition of signing with...

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. wasn’t showboating in the final rounds of his Saturday night victory over Bryan Vera as much as he was dealing with pain.

Promoter Bob Arum said Sunday that Chavez Jr. will be evaluated by a hand-and-foot specialist Monday after his convincing unanimous-decision victory over Vera in their super-middleweight fight in San Antonio.

“We’ll get a [treatment] schedule and go from there,” Arum said.

Following the 117-110, 117-110, 114-113 victory on Saturday, Chavez Jr. (48-1-1, 32 knockouts) said he wants to next fight unbeaten world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26 KOs).

Earlier Saturday, Golovkin, who trains in Big Bear, announced he was scrapping his April 26 fight against Andy Lee to follow his country of Kazakhstan’s 40-day period of mourning following the death of his father.

“We want the fight, but we don’t know Golovkin’s plans,” Arum said. “Will he take another fight in the summer,...

Coach Mick Cronin of No. 11-ranked Cincinnati had a sideline meltdown Saturday when a call went against his Bearcats in a 51-44 loss to unranked Connecticut, but he didn't receive a technical foul even after a heated exchange with referee Teddy Valentine.

A very animated Cronin appeared to be berating Valentine as he approached the sideline after giving possession of the ball to the Huskies following a scrum underneath the Bearcats' basket. Cronin, who had to be restrained by players and eventually pulled away by an assistant coach, was most upset that Valentine had confronted him.

"I don't appreciate people getting in my face,” Cronin told reporters after the game. “Where I come from, you don't jump in somebody's face. He apologized. He thought I was coming at him. I wasn't. I've got nothing but respect for Ted. He's a great official. I don't see people doing that to Rick Pitino."

In an interview with ESPN's Andy Katz, Cronin went a little further.

"Am I allowed to T him?"...

WICHITA, Kan. -- The chant started when Ron Baker walked toward the Wichita State bench for the final time, and reached a crescendo when he popped the front of his jersey — No. 31.

As in, 31-0. A perfect regular season.

“Undefeated!” the sellout crowd roared in unison. “Undefeated!”

Baker finished with 13 points, Cleanthony Early led the way with 19 and the second-ranked Shockers rolled to a 68-45 victory over Missouri State on Saturday, becoming the first team since Saint Joseph's in 2004 to enter its conference tournament unbeaten.

Wichita State (18-0 in conference) will have a first-round bye in the Missouri Valley tournament next week.

“My teammates told me a couple weeks ago that my number was something special, because that's how many games we could potentially win,” Baker said. “I didn't put that together myself, but it's very special. It's going to be something I look back on forever.”

Missouri State (19-11, 9-9) had the...

LeBron James knows that what's in the best interest of the NBA is usually in his best interest, which probably is why he complied with the league's request to wear a clear mask to protect his broken nose Saturday night rather than the cooler-looking black one he wore Thursday.

No need for the Miami Heat forward to thumb his nose at the NBA, which prefers that players wear clear masks and goggles when protecting their faces and eyes.

"It's not a league rule, but it's the league's request that you don't wear the black one," James told reporters before a 112-98 victory over the Orlando Magic in Miami on Saturday. "The reasons they told me didn't make sense to me, but I'm just a player. I will abide by the request."

Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report surmised that the NBA believes the cool-looking black mask makes it harder for opponents to read James' eyes, which the four-time MVP alluded to Saturday.

"As long as it’s transparent," James said of the mask. "As long as they can see...