IN BRIEF

PRO BASKETBALL

Timberwolves suspend point guard Telfair

Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Sebastian Telfair was suspended by the team Tuesday for three regular-season games after pleading guilty to criminal possession of a weapon.

Telfair was sentenced last month to three years' probation. He was arrested in April 2007 when police found him carrying a loaded gun in his car while he was a member of the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics traded him to Minnesota in the deal for Kevin Garnett, and Telfair had a solid and incident-free first season in Minnesota.

He signed a three-year, $7.5 million deal this summer to remain with the Timberwolves. He is the top backup to starter Randy Foye.

Also: Bruce Ratner's $4 billion dream for a new Brooklyn arena will have to wait until at least next year.

The New Jersey Nets owner and developer has been plagued by a string of problems that have delayed his plans for a new NBA arena, office towers and thousands of apartments in Brooklyn.

Ratner said a recent court ruling would delay the project by up to six months, meaning the Nets won't move in until at least 2011. Groundbreaking has been pushed back until at least 2009 for the project, which will cost more than three times what Ratner paid for the entire franchise.

And the financial crisis has made it tougher to raise money, potentially jeopardizing a lucrative naming rights deal with Barclays Capital.

Chris Paul showed no signs of fatigue as he set the tone for the New Orleans Hornets in a 96-80 victory over the Washington Wizards in a preseason exhibition game in Berlin.

Paul had eight assists and scored four points to help the Hornets jump to an 18-0 lead. He played the entire first and third quarters and sat out the other two, finishing with 11 assists and nine points.

GOLF

UNLV men's team takes fifth in Jerry Pate event

The UNLV men's golf team, paced by Eddie Olson's second-place individual effort, took fifth in the 12-team field at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Birmingham, Ala.

UNLV, ranked eighth, shot 3-over-par 283 in the third round to finish with a 1-over 841 total. Host and defending champion Alabama won at 10-under 830, six strokes ahead of Auburn.

Olson shot 1-under 69 in the final round for a 5-under 205 total, tying for second with Auburn's Glenn Northcutt, one stroke behind medalist Kelly Craft of Southern Methodist.

Rebels freshman Derek Ernst fired a 3-under 67 to tie for fourth at 206.

UNLV was coming off a victory in last month's William H. Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.

Also: Padraig Harrington and Jim Furyk both shot 2-under 68 and were tied for the lead after the first round of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Tucker's Town, Bermuda,

In the 36-hole tournament for major winners, Retief Goosen shot 70, and fellow South African Trevor Immelman was at 6-over 76 in a strong wind at Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda.

Harrington, who won the British Open and the PGA Championship this year, birdied three of his final five holes.

Furyk, in the field for the injured Tiger Woods, made the turn at par, then eagled the par-5 11th after hitting a 6-iron from the fairway within 4 feet. He bogeyed the 14th, then made birdie on his final hole to catch Harrington.

HOCKEY

Islanders' Martinek out four to six weeks

New York Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek will be out four to six weeks because of an upper-body injury sustained during a game last weekend, the club said.

Martinek was knocked out of the Islanders' home opener in the first period Saturday after he absorbed a hard hit behind the net against St. Louis. He was evaluated by doctors that night and didn't play in New York's 7-1 loss to Buffalo on Monday.

The Islanders revealed the length of time Martinek is expected to miss, but declined to provide specific information about the injury.

Also: The Washington Capitals could be without first-line right wing Viktor Kozlov for two weeks because of an injury, general manager George McPhee said.

Although the team has declined to provide details of the injury, Kozlov appeared to hurt his left leg in the second period of Monday's 5-1 victory over Vancouver.

Buffalo Sabres forward Jochen Hecht will miss at least two weeks after having surgery to repair an injured finger.

General manager Darcy Regier announced the news after Hecht returned to Buffalo as the Sabres practiced in New York to prepare for today's game against the Rangers.

BASEBALL

Ex-Cubs pitcher Foster dies from cancer at 39

Kevin Foster, who spent seven years in the majors pitching mostly for the Chicago Cubs, has died of cancer. He was 39.

He died in an Oklahoma City hospital Saturday after a six-month bout with renal cell carcinoma, brother Mark Foster said.

Foster was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 29th round in 1987 as an infielder. He converted to pitching three years later. The right-hander was traded to Seattle, then Philadelphia, where he made his first major league appearance in 1993.

Foster spent five seasons with the Chicago Cubs after being acquired from Philadelphia for Shawn Boskie in 1994, going 32-28 from 1994 to 1998.

Also: Jose Canseco was charged in federal court in San Diego with a misdemeanor offense of trying to bring a fertility drug across the border from Mexico.

The former baseball star did not address the court during his initial court appearance, which lasted about five minutes. He was charged with introduction into interstate commerce of a misbranded drug, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Paul Beeston returned to the Toronto Blue Jays as interim chief executive officer.

Beeston replaces Paul Godfrey, who announced Sept. 29 that he was resigning as president and CEO after eight years.

Third-base coach Bobby Meacham and special pitching instructor Rich Monteleone were fired by the New York Yankees.

Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder and is expected to be ready for the start of next season.

MISCELLANEOUS

Tennis star Nadal nears year-end No. 1 ranking

Rafael Nadal moved within two wins of clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking, defeating Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Madrid Masters in Madrid, Spain.

In other second-round matches, U.S. Open finalist Andy Murray advanced, and 11th-seeded James Blake and 13th-seeded Fernando Verdasco lost.

Also: American gymnast Nastia Liukin, the Olympic all-around champion, was honored as the Women's Sports Foundation's Individual Sportswoman of the Year at a ceremony in New York.

Arthur Blank, who already owns two pro sports franchises in Atlanta, is aiming for a third.

Blank's management and investment company, the AMB Group, announced it has submitted a bid for a Major League Soccer expansion franchise. Blank owns the Falcons and the Arena Football League's Georgia Force.

In a related matter, Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona will submit a bid to bring an MLS franchise back to South Florida.