Clan-Members » e against Phoenix coincides with the 30th

It was fitting that Andy Murrays first public comment, so to speak, upon becoming world No. 1 was to post a picture to his Instagram account quoting Rudyard Kiplings poem If.It is a line from the same poem that Murray passes below every time he walks out onto Centre Court at Wimbledon.The words were the last thing he saw before that heartbreaking 2012 final defeat to Roger Federer, but also the glorious victories over Novak Djokovic a year later -- the second in the Olympic final -- and this summer against Milos Raonic that brought him two of his three Grand Slam titles.Those gold letters read: If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same. It seems like a strapline for Murrays career.He posted the extended version online on Saturday when he completed his ascent to world No.1, after Raonic withdrew injured from their Paris semifinal. The poem has never rung truer, nor been more relevant for the Scot.There must have been times when Murray was weighed down by self-doubt; it would have taken some strength after losing five of seven Grand Slam final meetings against Djokovic, the latest at this years French Open, to feel confident his quest to topple his greatest foe was not futile.Dont forget, Djokovic held a seemingly insurmountable lead of more than 8,000 points over Murray in the rankings after beating the Scot at Roland Garros.But Murray is 56-4 since the start of the Rome Masters, when the Amelie Mauresmo era came to an official end, and claimed the title in Italy before tournament wins at Queens, Wimbledon, the Olympics, Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna and, finally, Paris.Now, more than seven years after becoming the second-best player in the world, in August 2009, he has cleared the final hurdle.Murray, remarkably, now has a 130-point lead over Djokovic in the year-end battle, with a total of 10,910 points. Few would have thought that possible when the Serb lifted his 14th major title in France earlier this summer, to complete his career Grand Slam.Yet, as good as it will have felt to overtake Djokovic, Murrays deflation will be just as sizeable should they return to the status quo and he finish the year playing second fiddle in the rankings once again.The Olympic champion will surely be determined to make a statement at the World Tour Finals, which begin in London on Sunday, to prove he is here to stay at the top of the game.The good thing for Murray is that he has only 200 points defend, while for Djokovic, the 2015 champion, 1,300 points are at stake.The Briton has not got a great record at the finals and won just one of his three round robin matches last year, on his way to an early exit. However, in trying to retain his ranking, he has to bear in mind the loss on Nov. 28 of the 275 points earned in last years Davis Cup final.If Murray wants to keep it simple, winning the World Tour Finals would make him the year-end No.1.There are other, more complicated scenarios in which he can still finish 2016 atop the rankings, though: if he matches or does better than Djokovic; if he finishes runner-up with three round-robin wins and the Serb wins the title with one round-robin win; or if Murray wins three round-robin matches and Djokovic is runner-up with one round-robin win.Djokovic is far from helpless in this, however. If he successfully defends his title with at least two round-robin wins, he will finish as the No.1 for the fifth time in the past six seasons.It all makes for a potentially thrilling finale to the season at the O2 Arena, where a maiden World Tour Finals title victory would also set Murray up to really cement a glittering legacy in 2017.This years has, undoubtedly, been great for Murray -- one British bookmaker is offering odds of 1/5 he will be knighted in the New Year Honours list, and Federer seemed to hint Murray deserved the accolade in a congratulatory tweet -- but next year could be the defining season of his career.With Federer and?Rafael Nadal?seemingly succumbing to injury, and Djokovic showing signs of waning, Murray would have a chance to dominate the mens game. Ending his awful run in Australian Open finals, with four of his five defeats at the hands of Djokovic, would be a very good place to start.Elsewhere on his to-do list, victories at Indian Wells and Monte Carlo would complete his Masters collection, and highlight just how consistently successful he has been to this point.Murrays Paris victory at Bercy brought his 43rd career title and eighth of the season, the match win over John Isner in the final his 19th in a row.Having also won Wimbledon, the US Open, the Olympics twice and the Davis Cup, that would leave him needing just the French Open to complete a career clean sweep if he had already triumphed in Melbourne in January.With Djokovics faltering form a puzzle, it is surely time for Murray to press home his advantage. Reaching world No. 1 needs to be just the beginning.Djokovic spent 119 consecutive weeks at the top of the pile, and 220 overall, while Federer still holds the record for total weeks at No. 1, with 302, and most consecutive weeks, with 237.Murray must make sure his reign goes longer than a fortnight. Adidas Brendan Perlini Jersey . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. Adidas Wayne Gretzky Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. 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INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers are more than familiar with facing the Cleveland Cavaliers when LeBron James rests, so they didnt get distracted by the four-time NBA MVPs absence Wednesday night.The Pacers beat the LeBron-less Cavaliers 103-92 to improve to 3-1 at home in the past two years when James sits.I found out when Coach (Nate McMillan) came in and said, `LeBrons not playing, said Pacers point guard Jeff Teague, who had 20 points and eight assists. I didnt know, but we needed a win. We werent worried about who was playing or who was going to be on the floor, we were just going to go out and compete.Jeff Teague added 20 points and eight assists, and Thaddeus Young had 16 points to help the Pacers improve to 6-1 at home and 6-6 overall.James sat out for the first time this season. Averaging 23.4 points and 8.9 rebounds, he rested after playing Tuesday night in a home victory over Toronto. Guard J.R. Smith also missed the game because of a sprained right ankle.It doesnt matter about LeBron not playing, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. We just lost the game.Kevin Love led Cleveland with 27 points and 16 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving had 24 points and seven assists. The Cavaliers dropped to 9-2 after matching the best start in franchise history with the victory over Toronto on Tuesday night.We had our chances, Love said. We cut the lead to four or five a couple times, and it just felt like we either had a bad possession, had a turnover, and then that lead went to eight or nine points, having to fight kind of uphill to claw back and try to win the game, and it was too little too late.Indiana led 80-68 lead after three quarters. The Cavaliers cut it to four points midway through the fourth, but the Pacers put it away with a 9-2 run. C.J. Milees hit a 3-pointer for the games largest lead -- 97-84 with 5:10 remaining.dddddddddddd.Of course its different, Miles said about facing the Cavaliers without James. Were talking about him still and he didnt even play tonight. Hes arguably the best player in our game. (But) we cant disrespect anybody. Theyve got guys who can play basketball.TIP-INS:Cavaliers: Smith has missed the last three games. The last time James skipped a road game at Indiana, the Pacers prevailed 123-109 on April 6, 2016. The Cavaliers extended their NBA-record streak of games with at least 10 3-pointers to start a season to 11 games.Pacers: G Rodney Stuckey (right hamstring strain) was scratched for the 10th consecutive game. Thanks in large part to C Myles Turners 2.3 blocks per game, Indiana is No. 1 in the NBA with a 6.4 average.HICKORY NIGHT RETURNS:Fridays Indiana home game against Phoenix coincides with the 30th anniversary of the classic 1986 basketball movie Hoosiers and will be the first of six Hickory Nights, in which the Pacers will wear Hickory Huskers replica uniforms from the movie. Hoosiers screenwriter Angelo Pizzo, director David Anspaugh and some of the films actors, including Maris Valainis (who played Jimmy Chitwood) will be in attendance.SEE YA DOWN THE ROAD:The Eastern Conference rivals dont play each other again until Feb. 8 at Indiana, then Feb. 15 at Cleveland and April 2 at Cleveland. The Cavaliers have won five in a row at home against the Pacers, who have a 93-88 series edge.UP NEXT:Cavaliers: Host Detroit on Friday night, then have a four-day break.Pacers: Host Phoenix on Friday night to end a four-game homestand. ' ' '