IN BRIEF

OLYMPICS

Yao scores 11 points in return for Chinese team

Center Yao Ming marked his return from injury Thursday with 11 points in just over 12 minutes of play for the Chinese national basketball team in an Olympic warm-up against a Serbian squad in Hangzhou, China.

Entering six minutes into the first quarter to huge applause from the crowd, the Houston Rockets star made a solid contribution to China's 96-72 victory.

The game was Yao's first since a stress fracture in his left foot ended his NBA season in February.

Also: Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley will lead the U.S. men's soccer team into the Olympics.

Forward Brian McBride, goalkeeper Brad Guzan and defender Michael Parkhurst are the three overage players on the 18-man roster allowed in the under-23 tournament.

Selecting the Olympic squad was tricky because the Beijing Games overlap with World Cup qualifying for the U.S. team.

Laura Wilkinson and diving partner Jessica Livingston have asked an arbitrator to overturn a decision not to have them compete in synchronized platform at the Beijing Olympics, the Houston Chronicle reported on its Web site. A hearing is set for today in Los Angeles.

FOOTBALL

Browns' Jurevicius to miss start of season

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Joe Jurevicius probably will miss the start of the regular season because of his recent knee surgery.

Browns general manager Phil Savage told WTAM-AM that Jurevicius probably will start the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list. If he does, Jurevicius would miss at least the first six weeks of the season.

Jurevicius had swelling and discomfort in his right knee related to a previous operation and needed another procedure in June.

Jurevicius, 33, had 50 catches for 614 yards and three touchdowns last season.

Also: Tight end Kyle Watkins is transferring to UNLV from Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College, where he played one season.

Watkins was a record-setting receiver at Scottsdale's Cactus Shadows High School. In 2006, he set Arizona 4A records with 24 touchdown catches in a season, five TD receptions in a game and 21 catches in the state championship game.

Louisiana State offensive lineman Jarvis Jones was kicked off the school's football squad for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Jones played in seven games last year as a freshman for the Tigers.

MISCELLANEOUS

Williamses, Sharapova in field at U.S. Open

Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are among the five past U.S. Open women's champions in this year's tournament field.

Lindsay Davenport and Svetlana Kuznetsova are the other previous winners entered in the hard-court Grand Slam tournament, which begins Aug. 25.

Top-ranked Ana Ivanovic, the reigning French Open champion, heads a group that includes 99 of the top 100 women in the rankings.

Also: The Milwaukee Bucks signed guard Tyronn Lue and forward Malik Allen.

Lue, 31, played for Atlanta and Dallas last season, averaging 5.8 points and 1.5 assists in 50 games.

Allen, 30, began last season in New Jersey before being traded to Dallas. He averaged 4.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

The Los Angeles Clippers signed restricted free-agent swingman Kelenna Azubuike to an offer sheet. Terms were not announced.

Azubuike, 24, averaged 8.5 points and 21.4 minutes while playing 81 games for Golden State last season. The Warriors have seven days to match the offer once they receive a copy.

The Minnesota Timberwolves re-signed restricted free-agent forward Craig Smith.

Smith averaged 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season for the Timberwolves.