IN BRIEF (Page 24)
Tennis
Croatia face Britain in Davis Cup playoffs
LONDON: Croatia, the 2005 Davis Cup winners, must beat Britain to keep their place in the elite World Group after the draw was made for the playoffs on Wednesday.
The Croats will visit their opponents for the tie to be played from Sept. 21-23 after home advantage was decided by lot, the International Tennis Federation said on its website.
Australia have been drawn away against Serbia, Austria face Brazil while Peru host Belarus.
Chile must visit Israel, Czech Republic take on Switzerland, Romania go to Japan and Slovakia meet South Korea.
The eight playoff winners will advance to the 2008 World Group, while the losers will start next year in a lower tier.
Basketball
Pistons top Magic to wrap up Eastern Conference
The Detroit Pistons locked up the Eastern Conference title with a 104-99 home win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Chauncey Billups scored 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting, with 10 points coming in the fourth quarter. Richard Hamilton added 21 points as the Pistons won their third straight and sixth of their last seven.
"I give our guys credit," Pistons coach Flip Saunders told reporters after the game. "I thought things got a little bit lax refereeing-wise in the second half, but our guys kept our composure."
Saunders said clinching home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs was no surprise.
"I don't think we ever anticipated that we weren't going to have it," he said.
(China Daily 04/13/2007 page24)
