FOOTBALL

MOORE TO MISS GAME AGAINST NINERS

Jets right guard Brandon Moore will miss Sunday’s game against San Francisco with a strained left hamstring. Moore was downgraded from doubtful yesterday. The Jets had already ruled out left guard Pete Kendall, who has a broken big toe on his right foot. Coach Herman Edwards said Brent Smith will start at left guard and Jonathan Goodwin at right guard.

Kendall said that for his injury to heal properly, he would need to rest it four to six weeks. But he intends to play next week with a protective covering on his shoe.

Receiver Santana Moss didn’t practice yesterday and is still questionable with a strained right hamstring. If he cannot play, Justin McCareins would return punts.

MIAMI’S AHANOTU QUITS TEAM

Defensive end Chidi Ahanotu has left the Miami Dolphins after complaining about a lack of playing time.

Ahanotu played sparingly in each of Miami’s five games, all losses. The 12-year veteran signed as a free agent at the end of the preseason. Ahanotu missed practice Wednesday and yesterday, and told the team he wants to be released or traded. Coach Dave Wannstedt declined to comment beyond saying Ahanotu won’t play this weekend at Buffalo.

MIAMI RALLIES PAST LOUISVILLE

Led by Brock Berlin and Devin Hester, the third-ranked Hurricanes erased a 17-point deficit over the final 20 minutes and came from behind twice in the fourth quarter to beat no. 18 Louisville 41-38 last night.

Berlin threw three touchdown passes and directed the winning drive, a 56-yard march capped by Frank Gore’s 1-yard run with 49 seconds left.

Stefan LeFors threw three touchdown passes for Louisville before being sidelined with a concussion in the fourth quarter.

BOXING

WILLIAMS TO MEET KLITSCHKO FOR TITLE

Danny Williams has earned a heavyweight title shot nearly three months after derailing Mike Tyson’s comeback.

Williams will fight World Boxing Council champion Vitali Klitschko in New York on December 11.Williams stopped Tyson in the fourth round of their fight in Louisville on July 30.

Klitschko is 34-2 over an eight-year career. His last loss came in June 2003, when a cut above his eye forced him out in a championship bout with Lennox Lewis. Lewis retired later that year but advised Klitschko’s next opponent, Sanders. Lewis has also worked with Williams. Williams is 32-3 with 27 knockouts since turning pro in 1995.

BASKETBALL

KNICKS BEAT NETS IN PRESEASON OPENER

Jamal Crawford had 19 points, and the Knicks scored the first 21 of the fourth quarter to defeat the Nets 92-84 last night in the exhibition opener for both.

Making his Knicks debut after being acquired from Chicago in an off-season trade, Crawford hit two 3-pointers in the game’s opening moments and another in the fourth quarter as the Knicks turned a 74-63 deficit after three periods into a 85-74 lead with 3:11 left.

Vin Baker and Michael Sweetney keyed the run for the Knicks. Baker scored seven points, including a layup with 7:30 left that gave the Knicks a 76-74 lead. Sweetney made five of six free throws and found an open Baker to assist on the go-ahead basket.

The Nets didn’t score a fourth-quarter point until rookie guard Alex Scales hit a free throw with 3:11 left, and New Jersey didn’t make a basket until rookie forward Darius Rice hit an 18-foot jump shot with 1:28 to go.

Richard Jefferson led the Nets with 18 points and forward Brian Scalabrine added 10 points. Kurt Thomas had 14 points for the Knicks. Jason Kidd, recovering from knee surgery, and Alonzo Mourning, making a comeback after a kidney transplant, did not accompany the Nets to Wilkes-Barre.

YAO MING IS STAR OF FIRST NBA GAME IN CHINA

Yao Ming was the star in the NBA’s first game in China, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets past the Sacramento Kings 88-86 yesterday.

There was a capacity crowd on hand at Shanghai’s city gymnasium to cheer the 7-foot-6 center, whose return has dominated headlines in his hometown. The crowd chanted Yao’s name repeatedly – even when he wasn’t on the court.

HOCKEY

NHL WON’T CONSIDER CONTRACTION

The NHL has no plans to eliminate teams in the face of an extended labor dispute with the players association.

“We have not, we will not, and we do not believe in contraction,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said at a news conference with Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. “With the right economic system, all 30 of our clubs can be healthy and competitive.”

Bettman later joined Karmanos for a town hall-style meeting with season ticket holders at the RBC Center – where the Hurricanes were supposed to open the season last night.

The NHL has been shut down for nearly a month following the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. The league and the players association are so far apart philosophically that they haven’t met or spoken since September 9.

TENNIS

DAVENPORT REGAINS TOP RANKING

American Lindsay Davenport regained the no. 1 ranking for the first time since early 2002 by defeating Dinara Safina of Russia 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the Kremlin Cup yesterday.

Davenport officially will overtake France’s Amelie Mauresmo next week to move atop the WTA rankings for the fifth time. She trailed Mauresmo by just 15 points, 4,395 to 4,380, after winning the Porsche Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany, on Sunday. Davenport won at Filderstadt when Mauresmo retired with a strained left thigh after losing the first set of the final.

Davenport was joined in the quarterfinals by fellow American Venus Williams, who defeated Russian teenager Vera Douchevina 6-0, 6-4. French Open and defending champion Anastasia Myskina overcame a one-set deficit to defeat fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. Fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia also reached the quarterfinals, winning 6-3, 6-3 over Croatian qualifier Sanda Manic.

– Associated Press