Sporting week in numbers

Miami Heat's LeBron James (left) drives on Indiana Pacers' Lance Stephenson during Game 1 of...
Miami Heat's LeBron James (left) drives on Indiana Pacers' Lance Stephenson during Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference final basketball playoff in Miami, Florida. Photo by Reuters

APNZ takes a look at the sporting week in numbers.

2.2 - With only 2.2 seconds left on the clock, Miami Heat forward LeBron James caught an inbound pass and drove to the hoop for a game-winning lay-up as he led his side to a 103-102 overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers in game one of the NBA's Eastern Conference finals in Miami on Thursday. James finished with his ninth-career triple-double in the playoffs with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

4 - Kiwi mixed martial arts fighter Mark Hunt is currently riding a four-fight win streak heading in to his heavyweight bout with Junior dos Santos at UFC 160 in Las Vegas on Sunday. Hunt, 39, is the underdog for the fight against the younger and taller dos Santos but possesses prolific punching power.

90.7 - Central Pulse goal attack Donna Wilkins might be 35 but the champion netball player is still performing at a high level in the ANZ Championship this year and has shot 186 goals from 205 attempts - good for a 90.7 per cent success rate. Wilkins and the Pulse will meet the West Coast Fever in Wellington on Sunday night.

69 - Manly Sea Eagles dummy-half Matt Ballin made a club-record 69 tackles during Monday night's extra-time 10-all draw with the Melbourne Storm. It was a busy night for the one-cap Queensland State of Origin player but not as busy as former Warriors back-rower Micheal Luck, who in 2009 made an incredible 74 tackles in a 14-14 draw with Melbourne.

2 - Incoming Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick did things by twos during his successful stint with the Melbourne Victory from 2005-2011. The 60-year-old won two premierships and was also named coach of the year twice. What Phoenix fans would give for a similar run of results.

77 - Ali Williams played 77 tests for the All Blacks (78 games all up) between 2002 and 2012 before announcing his retirement from international rugby today. He was part of three World Cup campaigns, finally earning a winner's medal in 2011.

33 - The America's Cup is an ever-changing landscape and the rules for this year's instalment could soon change drastically with recommendations to reduce wind limits from a maximum of 33 knots to 20kts in July, 21kts in August, and 23kts in September.

11 - Magic netball coach Noeline Taurua has announced she will step aside from the franchise at the end of the transtasman league season, ending an 11-year tenure in the job. Under Taurua's stewardship, the Magic have produced an enviable record of being the only team to make the playoffs every year during the semi-professional era of the ANZ Championship, the only team to make three grand finals and New Zealand's only team to win the competition.

1 - Marina Erakovic might have won her breakthrough WTA tournament in February but things haven't gone well since with the New Zealand No 1 tennis player winning only one of her seven singles matches since. It has seen her ranking drop from 67 at the start of the year to 91.

5 - Tim Southee became just the fifth New Zealand bowler to have his name etched n the honours board at Lord's following his match figures of 10-108 in the first test against England. The most significant number, however, was 68 - the total the Black Caps mustered in their second turn at bat.

 

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