Sports briefs

SAN JOSE — Andy Murray used a mix of deft drops shots and backhand winners to upset third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) on Sunday in the SAP Open, claiming his first ATP Tour title.

Murray started slow, but settled down in the second set. Once he gathered himself, his powerful backcourt game proved too much for Hewitt.

On match point in the third-set tiebreaker, Murray sliced a few shots to set up a crisp backhand crosscourt winner that Hewitt could only watch.

"Obviously, it’s the biggest moment in my life in tennis so far,” Murray said of the win, which earned him $52,000. The win also moves Murray into the top 50 in the tour rankings for the first time.

Sabbatini survives a scare to win at Riviera

LOS ANGELES— Rory Sabbatini blew a four-shot lead, then quickly emerged from a four-way tie Sunday with a tee shot into 5 feet for birdie on the pivotal par-3 16th to escape with a one-shot victory in the Nissan Open.

Sabbatini closed with a 1-over 72 — the highest final round by a winner at Riviera since 1977 — and had few complaints. He outlasted Riviera favorite Fred Couples, won for the first time on the PGA Tour in three years and finally had something to show for his strong start to the season.

But he never felt safe until lagging a 45-foot putt on the 18th hole to within a foot, leaving him a tap-in for par to avoid a playoff with defending champion Adam Scott.

East 122, West 120

HOUSTON — A push from the Detroit Pistons plus an MVP performance by LeBron James decided an NBA All-Star game that went down to the final seconds. Trailing by 21 points, the East rallied for a 122-120 victory Sunday night behind King James and the Pistons’ Fab Four. The East didn’t wrap it up until hometown hero Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets missed a jumper with the clock ticking down. Kobe Bryant then had the ball slip out of his hands for a turnover, and it hardly mattered that Vince Carter missed a breakaway dunk on the other end just before the buzzer.

McGrady led all scorers with 36 points. The 21-year-old James, playing in his second All-Star game, scored 29 and led the comeback.

Detroit teammates Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace and Richard Hamilton, all selected as reserves from the team with the league’s best record, came off the bench together to help the East rally.

The West took a 74-53 lead 2 minutes into the third quarter. But the East responded with a 28-13 run over the next 6 minutes as James scored 13 points.

The East grabbed a 117-107 lead with 3:29 to go. But the West tied it at 120 on Bryant’s fadeaway jumper with 32 seconds remaining before Miami’s Dwyane Wade had a putback with 16 seconds to go for the winning points.

That set up the final sequence. McGrady missed a jumper, and the East clinched the victory when Rasheed Wallace stole the ball from Bryant with 5 seconds left.<