Off the wire

BASKETBALL Fever, Lynx win

Shavonte Zellous scored 20 points to lead the defending-champion Indiana Fever in an 85-72 victory over the Chicago Sky in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Friday night. Briann January and Karima Christmas had 16 points each, Erlana Larkins added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Tamika Catchings scored 11 points for the Fever. Elena Delle Donne scored 20 points to lead Chicago after receiving the league’s Rookie of the Year award before the game. Epiphanny Prince had 19 points and Sylvia Fowles added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Catchings’ basket with 5:36 left in the third quarter gave the Fever a 19-point lead, and the Sky got no closer than 12 the rest of the way. The Lynx led the Storm 40-36 at halftime, stretched it to 14 after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth to improve their home playoff record to 10-1 over the past three years. Temeka Johnson led the Storm with 14 points, and Tanisha Wright finished with 13.

FOOTBALL Bryant probable

Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant says he will play against St. Louis after battling back spasms, and defensive end Anthony Spencer was questionable Friday because of his troublesome left knee. Bryant missed the first practice of the week but progressed to full participation by Friday and declared himself ready to “roll” Sunday against the Rams. He said he had spasms after getting hit in the back in the first quarter last weekend against Kansas City. It’s the second time in three games dating to last season that Bryant has battled back issues. He was in a wheelchair and spent a night in the hospital after last season’s finale in Washington. Spencer played for the first time this season against the Chiefs but missed two of three practices during the week. He had arthroscopic knee surgery July 25 and missed all of training camp and the preseason. Bryant is listed as probable along with quarterback Tony Romo (ribs), cornerback Morris Claiborne (shoulder) and defensive end DeMarcus Ware (neck). Backup linebacker Ernie Sims will miss his second straight game with a groin injury.

The Carolina Panthers have announced that starting cornerback Josh Thomas will not play Sunday against the New York Giants.Thomas had been listed as questionable on the team’s initial injury report distributed on Friday, but after meeting with independent physicians later in the afternoon it was determined he’s not ready to play. Thomas said on Twitter he is being held out by doctors “for precautionary reasons.” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said earlier Friday that either Drayton Florence or Josh Norman would start opposite Captain Munnerlyn at cornerback against the Giants.

The Seattle Seahawks have placed left tackle Russell Okung on injured reserve with a designation to return after injuring a toe against the San Francisco 49ers last week. Okung injured his left big toe blocking 49ers defensive end Justin Smith on the final play of the first quarter. Coach Pete Carroll says Okung suffered a torn ligament in his toe and the injury is expected to keep him sidelined for six to eight weeks. Paul McQuistan will start in place of Okung against the Jacksonville Jaguars. McQuistan started the first two games of the year at left guard for the Seahawks. Under the injured reserve rules, Okung will be ineligible for the next eight weeks. He can return to practice six weeks after being placed on the list and eligible to play against Minnesota on Nov. 17.

Oakland defensive back Brandian Ross made a fairly smooth transition from cornerback to safety this past offseason. But trying to stop Denver quarterback Peyton Manning is an entirely different challenge. Ross was named the Raiders’ starting strong safety Friday, ending a week’s worth of speculation over how the team would compensate for the loss of injured Tyvon Branch. Ross went undrafted out of college two years ago and was on Green Bay’s practice squad at the beginning of last season. He has only one other start in his NFL career, which came at cornerback in the 2012 regular season finale. Branch injured his ankle in Oakland’s 19-9 win over Jacksonville last week.

MOTOR SPORTS Vettel sets pace

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in Friday’s practice for the Singapore Grand Prix. Vettel finished in 1 minute, 44.249 seconds on the Marina Bay circuit, six-tenths of a second ahead of teammate Mark Webber. He’s chasing his third straight win in Formula One’s annual night race. He’s also aiming for a fourth consecutive drivers’ championship. Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were the next nearest rivals, but third-placed Rosberg was more than a second slower than Vettel. Lotus driver Sebastian Grosjean was fifth, outperforming teammate Kimi Raikkonen in eighth. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was sixth, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button. Force India’s Adrian Sutil and McLaren’s Sergio Perez were ninth and 10th.

The merged United SportsCar Championship Series will have a 12-race season next year that begins with the Rolex 24 at Daytona and ends in October at Road Atlanta. The 2014 debut season includes sites from both the existing Grand-AM and ALMS schedules. International Motor Sports Association CEO Ed Bennett said it was the only way to put together a schedule that was fair to existing track partners in the first year of the merged series. Preseason testing will begin in November in Florida. The schedule goes from the Rolex to Sebring in March, then Long Beach in April. It’s on to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Detroit Belle Isle in May. The series will race at Watkins Glen in June, and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. August has stops at Road America and Virginia International.

GOLF Nicklaus believes

Jack Nicklaus remains confident Tiger Woods will surpass his mark of 18 major titles despite facing a level of competition the Golden Bear didn’t during his successful run.Nicklaus was in Charleston, S.C., for the opening of a pizza restaurant in which he and son Gary are investors. Nicklaus says he’s never wavered from believing the 37-year-old Woods will win the five remaining major golf tournaments needed to set the record despite not winning since the 2008 U.S. Open. Nicklaus says Woods faces as “many good players as we’ve ever had in the game” as he chases the goal. Nicklaus believes Woods has at least 10 strong years of golf left on the PGA Tour, giving him plenty of time to win additional major titles before he’s done.

Club pro champion Mike Small and Bob Sowards won their matches Friday and the Americans swept the fourballs session to build a 6-2 lead over Great Britain and Ireland in matches between golf professionals at Hexham, England. Small and Sowards won their foursomes match, 5 and 4, over Greig Hutcheon and Scott Henderson. In the afternoon at Slaley Hall, they secured a 2-up win over Hutcheon and Graham Fox. Both teams won two foursomes matches in the morning, but the Americans took a big step toward retaining the cup with a sweep in the afternoon. Only one match went to the 18th hole in fourballs. J.C. Anderson and Kelly Mitchum had the easiest time, winning 6 and 5 over Nick Brennan and David Greenwood.

BASEBALL Rasmus hit in face

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Colby Rasmus left Friday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox after he was hit in the face with a ball while jogging out to the field in the middle of the first inning. Rasmus was replaced by Kevin Pillar in the lineup. Rasmus was heading to center field when a ball came from the direction of right fielder Anthony Gose and hit him in the face. A Blue Jays trainer went out to help Rasmus and then led him off the field. Rasmus was activated from the disabled list last week after spending 29 games on it with a strained muscle in his left side.

Alex Rodriguez has hit his 24th career grand slam, breaking a tie with Yankees Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig for most in major league history. New York’s designated hitter connected off Giants reliever George Kontos with two outs in the seventh inning Friday night, sending a drive the opposite way to right-center that gave the Yankees a 5-1 lead. It was A-Rod’s 14th slam with the Yankees, snapping a tie with Joe DiMaggio for second place on the team’s list.