IN BRIEF

Celtics’ Garnett leads All-Star Game voting

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett maintained his overall lead in voting released Thursday for the NBA All-Star Game, to be played in New Orleans on Feb. 17.

Garnett has received 1,527,963 votes. Cleveland’s LeBron James, the 2007 top vote-getter, follows Garnett at the forward spot in the Eastern Conference with 1,294,019 votes, the second-highest overall total.

Orlando’s Dwight Howard (1,260,987 votes) leads at center for the East, and Miami’s Dwyane Wade (1,019,582) and New Jersey’s Jason Kidd (743,683) lead at guard.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (1,234,111 votes) and Houston center Yao Ming (1,077,244) lead Western Conference players. The Rockets’ Tracy McGrady (809,395) is second at guard, and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan (1,049,641) and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony (1,029,335) lead at forward.

Also: New Jersey court officials have delayed the retrial of former Nets star Jayson Williams on a reckless manslaughter charge until at least May, a spokeswoman said. The delay allows prosecutors time to appeal a December ruling that they provide Williams’ defense with details surrounding a racial slur made by an officer investigating the 2002 shotgun killing of a hired driver.

The U.S. Basketball League canceled its 2008 season before it began. The 23-year-old league, which has helped develop such NBA players as Spud Webb and Raja Bell, plans to reorganize and hopes to return in 2009, a spokesman said.

TENNIS

Davenport makes final, now 17-1 since return

Lindsay Davenport reached her third final in four events since her return to the WTA Tour, beating Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek 6-4, 6-3 at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Davenport improved to 17-1 in singles since her return to the tour two months ago after the birth in June of her first child. She has dropped only one set in four matches en route to the final.

Davenport’s opponent will be France’s Aravane Rezai, who beat New Zealand wild card Marina Erakovic, 6-3, 7-5.

Also: Venus Williams beat China’s Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-2 in her first match of the year at the JB Group Classic exhibition tournament in Hong Kong, a warm-up for the Australian Open.

Williams next will play Russia’s Elena Dementieva, who upset top seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. The other semifinal pits Russians Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze.

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open in Doha and will face Andy Murray in a repeat of last year’s semifinal matchup. The third-seeded Murray beat Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (4), 6-0.

Top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal brushed aside American qualifier Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Chennai (India) Open quarterfinals. Nadal next will play fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

MISCELLANEOUS

Avalanche’s Smyth out with broken ankle

Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan Smyth has a broken right ankle and will miss up to eight weeks, the latest blow to a team that already lost captain Joe Sakic to injury.

Smyth, who has 11 goals and 17 assists in 36 games, was hurt in Colorado’s 4-3 overtime loss at Phoenix on Monday. The club said the fracture was discovered during a follow-up MRI.

Sakic, who underwent hernia surgery Dec. 28, is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks.

Also: UNLV senior Katie Carney was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America third team. Carney led the Rebels in scoring for the fourth straight year and has a cumulative grade-point average of 3.67.