Short Sport, December 27, 2012

Former Major League Baseball star centrefielder Andruw Jones was free on bond after being arrested in suburban Atlanta early on Tuesday on a battery charge, according to jail records. Police responded at around 1.30am to a call over a domestic dispute between Jones and his wife in Duluth. Gwinnett County Detention Centre records say Jones was booked into the jail at around 3.45am and released on a US$2,400 bond by 11am. Once one of the premier players in the big leagues, Jones broke into the majors with the Atlanta Braves in 1996 and won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1998-07 as their centrefielder. He has 434 career home runs over the span of 17 seasons in the majors. This month, he signed a US$3.5 million, one-year contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, who play in Japan's Pacific League. AP

James Harden scored 26 points and Jeremy Lin added 20 points and 11 assists to spark the Houston Rockets to a 120-97 NBA victory over the Chicago Bulls. The Rockets improved to 15-12, sixth in the Western Conference, with their fourth victory in a row, a streak that began in New York when Lin returned to beat his former Knicks teammates at Madison Square Garden this month. AFP