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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Simone Biles already owned three consecutive world titles and four U.S. national championships before she arrived in Rio. At 19, she already has a floor exercise move named after her that no other women in the world can throw, the surest sign in gymnastics that youre a sport-changing force. Former Olympic all-around champion Mary Lou Retton long ago called Biles the greatest female gymnast she has ever seen. Others have echoed the talk. But as Biles coach Aimee Boorman noted Thursday, A lot of people said she wouldnt be the greatest of all time until she wins the Olympic all-around.So-o-o-o, Boorman laughed and held out a hand, Mic drop!Biles was once again at her unparalleled best at the Rio Summer Games on Thursday with a winning score of 62.198 that left her a gaping two points clear of fellow American Aly Raisman, and nearly four points ahead of bronze medalist Aliya Mustafina of Russia.She finally, officially, conclusively, irreversibly placed herself in the conversation with Katie Ledecky, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt as one of the top five or six most wondrous athletes in the world right now. Theres no need to limit it to only whos in attendance at these Rio Summer Games.Heres the other thing: Even though it was a victory that had been long predicted -- For, like, years, Raisman, a two-time Olympian, said with a laugh -- the story of how Biles arrived at this moment and delivered on it is hardly routine or stripped of wonder.Her win felt drama-free or boring only if you dont like to watch a virtuoso performer stretching ideas of whats possible, or see a great creation story come to fruition.I think if you ask any of the all-arounders that won the gold medal, Biles said, its everything they dreamed of since they were a little girl. But I think mine is a little different.Biles was raised in suburban Houston by her paternal grandfather and his second wife after her own mother struggled with substance abuse problems in Cleveland. To see the amplitude and mastery of the skills she throws now -- the vaults that are so high flying the crowds in Rio have literally gasped at the enormous difference between her and the other gymnasts -- its easy to forget it wasnt always this way.Some girl gymnasts are on the Olympic track from the time theyre 9 or 10, but, said Biles, I didnt really start training for my Olympic dream seriously until just a few years ago. Boorman, a loose, joke-cracking woman who has coached Simone since she was six, has often told the story of how she actually pulled Biles from her first senior-level meet in 2013 after Biles barely held on during her beam routine, fell to her knees during the floor exercise and flew off the uneven bars.Even then, Biles was an obvious talent. She already had some amazing strength and power packed into her 4-foot-9 frame. But Thursday, after being told that national team coordinator Martha Karolyi had called her the best gymnast she has ever seen -- an enormous compliment considering Karolyi and her husband Bela also coached Retton here, and the great Nadia Comenci in Romania -- Biles laughed and said, I hadnt heard she said that -- then preferred to dwell more on an exchange she and Karoyli shared after she won Thursday.Its very amazing, because if you had asked her five years ago, Can you bring this girl onto the national team? ... shed have probably said no Biles said, because she just told me in the corner over there, For a couple years, I didnt even know about you because you were just this bouncy thing! And now youre standing here and youre the Olympic champion.A lot has changed.There were really only two moments of real drama as the competition unspooled Thursday, and one of them was really just the luck of the draw. Biles actually trailed Mustafina by a few tenths of a point after two rotations because they started on vault, where the gap between her and the Russian isnt that enormous, and then moved onto bars, where Mustafina, a former world champion, actually grabbed a three-tenths of a point lead as they moved to the most nerve-wracking apparatus, the beam.If Biles was ever going to crack, it was going to be here. Back at the U.S. Olympic trials in July, she fell off the beam twice and drolly joked later, Beam 2, Simone 0. Even Boorman laugh and admitted as she watched Biles take her last few warm-up passes before her routine, she was thinking to herself, JUST DONT FALL. I didnt like the rankings at that point. No.But Biles slammed down every one of her difficult tumbling passes. She nailed the dismount. After that, all that was left was the floor exercise, which had to feel like a walk in the park after what shed just been through. As it happened, Raisman and Biles were the last two gymnasts to go. They knew the last time the U.S. had two gymnasts on the podium in the event was in 2008, when Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson won gold and silver. Biles said, This morning when I woke up I walked into Alys room and said, I have a very good feeling about today. And she said, Me too. Raisman has rarely looked better or more radiant during a routine. She said she could see her longtime coach, Mihai Brestyan, pumping his fists with each tumbling pass she nailed, knowing she almost had the silver locked up. When it was over, she dissolved into tears as she walked off, knowing shed gone four-for-four in her routines and, in her words, won redemption for the mistakes that cost her dearly in the 2012 all-round medal race in London.Waiting for Raisman just off the mat was Biles, who still had to do her routine and laughed later, along with Boorman, about their indecision about what to do in that moment.Said Boorman: When Aly finished and she had her moment and everything, I went at Simone and I said, OK! We cant look at her or were both going to start crying. And she said, I know -- but I gotta go hug her. Biles said, What was going through my mind was Aly was going to cry, and then, oh my gosh, shes going to make ME cry. And thats not going to be good.But like everything else, Biles navigated it. Her score of 15.933 was the highest anyone posted on the night. She flew so high on a couple of her tumbling passes, the crowd gasped, same as it had at her vaults. Karolyi later gushed that it was like watching a force of nature.Biles herself was asked by reporters later if she felt pressure knowing she was trailing going to the beam and she flatly said, No. Well why not? I dont know, she said, I deal with pressure very well. A third reporter, still not satisfied, asked Biles now if she feels pressure in anything she does in life, and Biles, in that typically incisive, no-bull way of hers, said, All I have is gymnastics. So Ill have to think about it.Everyone laughed.Biles was later asked if she agrees shes the best female gymnast there has ever been, and she just shrugged.Im not exactly sure how to answer that, she said. I didnt even know my all-around [title was won] till, like, five minutes ago.It was typical Biles. Again. But maybe theres a lesson in that. For her, the surest way to achieve greatness is never taking greatness for granted. Adidas William Carrier Jersey . 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On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. NEW ORLEANS -- Lauren Holiday gave birth to a healthy girl this week, New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis said Friday, and both the team and her husband, Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, now await her surgery to remove a benign tumor from the right side of her brain.She had a baby girl, so shes doing fine, Davis said at the Pelicans media day. Now its time to get Lauren back on track.Lauren Holiday, 28, a former U.S. womens national team soccer player, was expected to undergo surgery six weeks after giving birth, and Pelicans general manager Dell Demps said she is currently preparing for the procedure.Demps said there is still no timetable for the return of Jrue Holiday, 26, who will miss an indefinite number of games to start the 2016-17 season as he supports his wifes recovery and cares for the newborn.When the time is right, Jrue will come back to the team, Demps said. And when he comes back -- and Ive said it before -- were going to welcome him with open arms. We feel as an organization, led by the Bensons, that its most important that he be with his family and be a great husband right now. Weve been in contact with him and constant communication.When the time is right, hell return. But as of now, our hearts and prayers are with them. And were hoping that Lauren has a successful surgery.The childs due date was set for mid-October, but the Holidays planned to induce labor sooner to expedite Lauren Holidays surgery. The couple has resided in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area, near the Duke University medical specialists who will handle the surgery, and several Pelicans teammates recently went to visit and to work out with Jrue Holiday.Were always praying for him, were always in his corner, Davis said. He knows that if he needs anything, he can always call any of us. It was just good to see a smile on his face.ddddddddddddSaid Quincy Pondexter: To see him in the spirits that he was in, it really made me that much more of a fan of his, because hes handling it really well. Him and his wife are handling it extremely well. Theyre amazing people.Doctors believe that Lauren Holiday should return to full health.If you had to choose a person to be able to deal with this and go through it, it would be Lauren Holiday, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. Shes a very, very tough individual. Having Jrue there for support is very important. In our case, we told Jrue to forget about the basketball part of it. This is where you take care of your family. And were going to welcome him back whenever he feels that its time to come back and his family is in good hands. To me, thats the most important thing.Gentry said the team is still discussing ways to fill Jrue Holidays void. Holiday was limited to a combined 74 games in his first two seasons in New Orleans because of right-leg injuries, but he broke through in 2015-16, averaging 16.8 points and six assists in 65 games. His season was cut short after he fractured an orbital wall of his right eye during a game.This offseason, the Pelicans signed guards ETwaun Moore and Langston Galloway, re-signed point guard Tim Frazier, signed swingman Lance Stephenson to a partially guaranteed contract?and drafted guard Buddy Hield.Well do a lot of switching lineups and putting guys in different situations and different positions, and well come to a conclusion as a coaching staff, Gentry said. I think what you will see is a lot of versatility in the way we play, because we have those kind of players. ' ' '