DEVIN Booker scored 24 of his 35 points in the first half to propel the visiting Phoenix Suns to their 14th straight victory, courtesy of a 120-115 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

Booker made 14 of 21 shots from the floor to help the Suns match the third-longest win streak in franchise history. They sit three victories shy of equaling their franchise record, set in the 2006-2007 season.

Booker also tormented the Cavaliers in the teams’ first meeting this season. He celebrated his 25th birthday by collecting 27 points and nine assists in Phoenix’s 101-92 win on Oct. 30. That victory ignited the Suns’ current win streak.

Chris Paul recorded 17 points and 12 assists, Deandre Ayton had 16 points and nine rebounds and JaVale McGee added 13 points and 12 boards for Phoenix.

Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen collected 25 points and 11 rebounds to record his second straight double-double and seventh in nine games. Cedi Osman had 23 points, Darius Garland contributed 19 points and seven assists and Ricky Rubio added 15 points for the Cavaliers, whose skid reached a season-high five games.

Paul drained a midrange jumper to give Phoenix a 111-109 lead with 1:45 to play. Paul drew the sixth personal foul by Garland on the next possession before joining Jae Crowder in sinking a pair of free throws to run the Suns’ advantage to six points. — Reuters

THE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) joins the celebration of UNESCO’s World Development Information Day with a special episode featuring select media workers and personalities on Saturday, Nov. 27.

PSC Commissioner Celia Kiram and the PSC recognize that information and effective dissemination are vital to improving the day-to-day lives of Filipinos.

“Factual information is very important now and always, especially now that we are in a global health crisis. We want to honor the people doing a great job in disseminating information with integrity and reliability,” Ms. Kiram said.

In this episode, PSC’s Rise Up, Shape Up goes on a hike to Mt. Batolusong, also known as Mt. Susong Dalaga, in Jalajala, Rizal with influencers Renz Marcelino and Aliyah Bianca Dio, film director Enzo Manago, news correspond-ent Jasmine Payo, and sports and features correspondent Pauline Verzosa.

“We are grateful for the cooperation and partnership extended to us by friends in the information and media industry.” Ms. Kiram explain. She adds that the upcoming episode will also demonstrate how a mindful walk in nature can be beneficial for the fitness of the body and mind.

“From the onset, this web series aimed to spread awareness of how sports and physical activities can uplift physical, mental, emotional, and social wellness. This web series can reach Filipinos nationwide and encourage them to engage in sports and physical activities through the help of effective information dissemination,” Ms. Kiram remarks. She will also discuss a brief history of trekking in “K-Isport” segment.

The episode will also present tips and benefits of mindful walking to be discussed by Eileen Tupaz, a mindfulness advocate, meditation teacher, and co-founder of WhiteSpace Mind and Body Wellness Studio.

SYDNEY — Australia is considering not sending any government officials to the Winter Olympics to be held in Beijing next year amid growing calls from lawmakers for an official diplomatic boycott, the Sydney Morning Herald said in a report on Thursday.

Australian politicians from the ruling Liberal-National coalition and the opposition Labor party are urging the federal government to boycott the event, which will be held in February, the newspaper reported without citing a source.

A diplomatic boycott would involve not sending a delegation of officials, but allowing athletes to participate.

“A decision on (Australia’s) representation at the Beijing Winter Olympics is yet to be made,” a spokesperson for Sports Minister Richard Colbeck said in an e-mailed response. Australia’s foreign affairs department did not re-spond to a request seeking comment.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. last week said the United States is considering a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, a move that would be aimed at protesting China’s human rights record, including what Washington says is geno-cide against minority Muslims.

Britain has not yet made any decision on who will represent its government at the Olympics but Prime Minister Boris Johnson does not support the idea of boycotts, said his spokesman earlier this week.

The Australian government is awaiting the decision by the Biden administration before it makes a call on a diplomatic boycott, the report in the Sydney Morning Herald said.

Both the United States and Britain are close allies of Australia and the countries in September entered into a security partnership to help Australia build nuclear submarines. The trilateral deal riled China, the major rising power in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australia’s relationship with China, its largest trading partner, soured after it banned Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd from its 5G broadband network in 2018 and called for an independent investigation into the origins of corona-virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Beijing responded by imposing tariffs on several Australian commodities. — Reuters

THE city and county of St. Louis and other parties have agreed to settle for $790 million a dispute over whether the NFL violated its relocation guidelines when it allowed the Rams to move to Los Angeles in 2016.

The settlement agreement was reached with Rams owner Stan Kroenke and the National Football League (NFL), the city said in a statement on Wednesday.

NFL owners voted overwhelmingly to permit the move in 2016, ending the league’s 21-year absence in the United States’ second-largest TV market.

The relocation, however, broke the hearts of Midwest football fans who followed the team since it moved to St. Louis in 1995.

“This historic agreement closes a long chapter for our region, securing hundreds of millions of dollars for our communities while avoiding the uncertainty of the trial and appellate process,” Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said in a statement.

The city had argued in a civil lawsuit that the loss of the Rams hurt the region and benefited the league and its owners, who received a $550-million relocation fee.

An NFL spokesman confirmed the agreement and said “we appreciate the effort by all parties to reach a settlement and thank Judge Jack Garvey for his service as mediator.”

The Rams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The team, which won the Super Bowl while playing for St. Louis in 2000, shares the $5-billion SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, with the Los Angeles Chargers — who previously played in San Diego.

The facility, the first new football stadium built for Los Angeles in nearly a century, opened a year ago. — Reuters

Aaron Rodgers was businesslike in his virtual press conference following the Packers’ loss to the host Vikings over the weekend. Needless to say, much of the talk in the post-mortem focused on his injured left pinky toe, and not simply because it was aggravated by incidental contact in the first half of the close contest. He left early to have it treated, and whatever was done in the locker room must have helped tremendously; he was close to perfect in the final two quarters, going for touchdown passes in each of four drives covering at least 74 yards.

So good was Rodgers that the outcome of the set-to could well have been different were the timing more favorable; his last push knotted the score at 31 heading into the two-minute warning, with only a game-ending field goal by the Vikings clipping the rally short. In any case, he was prepared for inquiries from scribes on the state of his toe. In large measure, he anticipated the interest after he himself referred to it in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show the pre-vious week as a “COVID injury.” And he was ready with his reply.

Interestingly, Rodgers moved to quash speculation borne of his statement uttered in a light-hearted moment by showing his left foot on camera. He went about proving that it did not suffer from the discoloration said to be a symptom of “COVID toes.” Why it would be significant for him to go through such lengths to disabuse fans of news he fueled is subject to debate. He even sought an apology from The Wall Street Journal for previously reporting on it, never mind that he made a mistake as to who crafted the article; he called out former The Athletic scribe Molly Knight and not actual writer Andrew Beaton.

That said, any information on Rodgers, and especially when it comes to the virus, will continue to be media fodder. And, bottom line, the reigning league Most Valuable Player need just look in the mirror to find who to blame. After all, he misled the public with his declaration that he is “immunized” from COVID-19 despite being unvaccinated. Is his intent to keep deliberately fudging the facts, if for no other reason than to give all and sundry the finger? Who knows? Meanwhile, there’s no question on his impact on the field, COVID toes or no.

ANTHONY L. CUAYCONG has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development