Report: Jason Kidd headed to Knicks
NEW YORK, July 5 (UPI) -- Jason Kidd has changed his mind about staying with the Dallas Mavericks and is set to join the New York Knicks, multiple reports indicated Thursday.
The New York Daily News reported Kidd has decided to sign with the Knicks after previously working out most of the details on what would have been a multiyear contract with the Mavericks.
Kidd, 39, is second on the NBA's all-time list in both assists and steals. He averaged 6.2 points, 5.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 48 games for Dallas last season and was a key contributor to the team's NBA title run in 2011.
Kidd has been a member of the all-star team 10 times.
With Kidd apparently headed to the Knicks, New York point guard Jeremy Lin became a potential target for Dallas. Lin, however, has agreed to sign a four-year, $28.8 million offer sheet with the Houston Rockets. the Houston Chronicle and other media sources reported. Once Lin does sign an offer sheet, the Knicks would have three days to match the offer.
Lin averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists in 35 games during a breakout 2011-12 season for the Knicks. He suffered a knee injury in March that ended his season.
Pirates win fourth straight
PITTSBURGH, July 5 (UPI) -- Jeff Karstens, in his third start since returning from a shoulder injury, threw eight shutout innings Thursday in sending Pittsburgh to a 2-0 win over Houston.
Karstens (2-2) has won two starts in a row to add fuel to Pittsburgh's surprisingly successful campaign.
The Pirates, whose last winning season was 20 years ago, have grabbed four victories in a row to move 10 games above .500. Houston's losing streak was extended to eight games.
This was only the sixth appearance of the year for Karstens, who missed more than two months of action. He gave up four hits, struck out eight and walked one.
Joel Hanrahan walked two in the ninth, but one of those runners was erased in a double play and he earned his 22nd save.
A double in the second by Casey McGehee, one of just five Pittsburgh hits, drove in a run and Garrett Jones had a sacrifice fly in the third.
Bud Norris (5-6) went without support and took the loss, giving up the two runs and five hits in seven innings.
Houston was shut out for the ninth time this season and for the third time in their last seven outings.
Vijay Singh leads at Greenbrier
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va., July 5 (UPI) -- Vijay Singh, holder of the PGA Tour record for most wins over age 40, took the lead at the Greenbrier Classic Thursday with his lowest round in six years.
Singh, 49, shot a 7-under 63 in the opening round to lead Jeff Maggert, Martin Flores and Jonathan Byrd by one shot.
Tiger Woods, coming off his tour-best third win of the season, settled for a 71 that left him in a tie for 88th place. Phil Mickelson shot the same score.
John Daly (68) and 62-year-old Tom Watson (70) were among those who finished in front of Woods and Mickelson Thursday.
Singh won his 12th PGA Tour event a month before his 40th birthday in 2003 and since then has won 22 more times. His 63 Thursday was his best round on the tour since he fired a 61 at the 2006 Deutsch Bank Championship, where he eventually finished second.
He birdied six of the last eight holes at the Old White-TPC course in a bid to win on the tour for the first time in four years.
Those tied for fifth at 65 included Garth Mulroy, Andres Romero, J.B. Holmes and recent U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson.
There were 62 sub-par scores turned in during the opening round. Defending champion Scott Stallings had a 67.
Greipel takes Tour de France Stage 5
SAINT-QUENTIN, France, July 5 (UPI) -- Andre Greipel of Germany dashed to victory Thursday in Stage 5 of the Tour de France, winning his second straight stage.
Greipel covered the 196.5-kilometer (122 mile) route Rouen to Saint-Quentin in 4 hours, 41 minutes, 30 seconds, finishing ahead of a group including Matthew Gross of Australia, Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina Samuel Dumoulin of France and world champion Mark Cavendish of Great Britain.
"That was one of the hardest sprints I've ever done in my career," Greipel said.
Greipel, who managed to avoid a crash less than 3 miles from the finish, has a 7-second lead over Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain and Sylvain Chavanel of France, heading into Friday's Stage 6 -- a mostly flat 207.5-kilometer (129 mile) course from Epernay to Metz.
