BASKETBALL

PAUL LEADS NBA’S ALL-ROOKIE TEAM Chris Paul of New Orleans, who led all rookies with 21 double-doubles, was an unanimous selection to the NBA all-rookie team yesterday. Paul topped the first team with 58 points, followed by Toronto’s Charlie Villanueva (56), Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut (55), Utah’s Deron Williams (46), and the Knicks’ Channing Frye (45) in balloting by the league’s head coaches.

Paul averaged 16.1 points, 7.8 assists and 5.1 rebounds for the Hornets, who took up temporary residence in Oklahoma City after Hurricane Katrina. Villanueva led the Eastern Conference rookies with 13 points per game. Bogut, the no. 1 pick in the 2005 draft, topped all rookies in rebounding (7.0). Williams averaged 10.8 points and ranked third among rookies with 4.5 assists. Frye led all rookie centers in scoring with 12.3 points.

The second team included Indiana’s Danny Granger, Charlotte’s Raymond Felton, Houston’s Luther Head, Atlanta’s Marvin Williams, and Boston’s Ryan Gomes.

Frye’s selection was a first for the Knicks since Rod Strickland made the second team in 1989. Mark Jackson was picked on the first team in 1988.

HOCKEY

JAGR NAMED MVP CANDIDTATE, WILL UNDERGO SURGERY Jaromir Jagr will have surgery on his dislocated left shoulder Monday and is expected to fully recover in time for the Rangers’ training camp in September. Jagr, chosen as an NHL MVP finalist earlier yesterday, broke the Rangers’ franchise records with 54 goals and 123 assists this season and led New York to its first playoff appearance since 1997. But he was rendered mostly ineffective in the postseason after he was injured late in a Game 1 loss to the Devils. Jagr sat out one game before returning in a limited capacity in Game 3. Less than a minute into the final game of the series, Jagr was hurt again when he was checked into the boards by Devils defenseman Brad Lukowich.

Also named yesterday as finalists for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s MVP, were San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton and Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. San Jose acquired Thornton from the Boston Bruins on November 30 in the most significant trade of the season. Thornton recorded a career-high 125 points, including 92 with the Sharks this season. Kiprusoff won his first William Jennings Trophy as the goaltender on the team that allowed the fewest goals (200) in the league. He led the NHL with a 2.03 goals-against average and 10 shutouts and ranked second in wins (42) and third in save percentage (.923).

TENNIS

WILLIAMS TOPPLES HINGIS IN THREE SETS Venus Williams overcame leg cramps and an inconsistent serve to beat Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 yesterday in the second round of the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland. It was the first meeting between the former top-ranked players since 2002 in Hamburg, Germany.

The 13th-ranked Williams played only her third match of the year, having been sidelined since the Australian Open with a strained right elbow. The 25th-ranked Hingis is back on the WTA Tour after an almost three-year hiatus.

Also yesterday, Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-1, Ana Ivanovic defeated Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-2, and Anna Chakvetadze beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-3.

GOLF

WIE IN POSITION TO MAKE CUT AT MEN’S TOURNAMENT Michelle Wie is in position to make the cut in a men’s tournament for the first time. Wie showed good touch on the greens yesterday in shooting a 2-under-par 70 that left her five strokes off the lead in the first round of the SK Telecom Open in Incheon, South Korea.

The 16-year-old star from Hawaii had four birdies and two bogeys in her eighth attempt at making it to the weekend in a men’s tournament. Adam Le Vesconte of Australia led after a 65 in the Asian tour event.

– Asssociated Press