BASKETBALL
LAKERS COACH MIKE D'ANTONI DELAYS BENCH DEBUT: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mike D'Antoni is postponing his debut on the Los Angeles Lakers' bench, giving the coach a few more days to recover from recent knee replacement surgery.
D'Antoni was tentatively planning to take over Sunday night against Houston, a week after the Lakers hired him to replace Mike Brown.
Instead, Lakers trainer Gary Vitti and D'Antoni's wife persuaded him to wait at least another game.
D'Antoni agreed, saying he doesn't "want to be a sideshow."
The 61-year-old former player is getting around without crutches, but isn't his usual spry self yet.
Interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff will lead the Lakers against the Rockets. The Lakers are 3-1 under Bickerstaff, and D'Antoni says he'll keep the veteran coach on his staff for the rest of the season.
TENNIS
CZECH REPUBLIC WINS DAVIS CUP TITLE 3-2 OVER SPAIN: PRAGUE (AP) — It's a job for two when the Czechs win Davis Cup finals.
Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek gave the Czech Republic the title for the first time as an independent nation by beating Spain 3-2 in the final on Sunday. Each spent about 10 grueling hours on court, playing the opening singles, teaming up for the doubles and then completing the reverse singles.
Ivan Lendl and Tomas Smid did the same when Czechoslovakia defeated Italy 4-1 in the 1980 final.
"They've been our inspiration, our idols. They're the legends and now we're joining them," Stepanek said after clinching the title with a 6-4, 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-3 upset victory over Nicolas Almagro in the last reverse singles.
BASEBALL
PETE ROSE BAN DOCUMENT FAILS TO SELL AT AUCTION: NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Rose's copy of the 1990 agreement in which he accepted a lifetime ban from baseball failed to sell at auction because no bid met the minimum.
Goldin Auctions said Sunday the highest bid was $236,000, a price that would have been raised to $258,600 including the auctioneer's 10 percent fee.
Among the items that did sell were Barry Lyons' 1986 Mets World Series ring ($22,840), a 2009 Derek Jeter game-used bat ($8,982) and Michael Jordan's American Express card ($3,146).
