NBA amends rule for 6-on-5 scenario

NBA owners approved a rules change regarding violations for too many men on the court, closing a loophole that allowed Portland to score on a 6-on-5 situation against the Celtics earlier this season. If a team is given a technical foul for having too many players, the non-offending team can accept or nullify the action that took place before the whistle blew. If the team playing with five scores, it can keep the points. Should that team nullify the play, the game clock reverts to the time before the ball was put in play with too many players on the floor. The rule will take effect today. The Trail Blazers made a basket against the Celtics in December with six men on the floor. They were whistled for a technical, but were allowed to keep their 2 points because the violation wasn't caught before the basket.

Kim Clijsters will return to professional tennis after two years in retirement, saying she has regained the competitive hunger that led to the No. 1 ranking. The 25-year-old Belgian retired in May 2007 to get married and start a family. Clijsters, who gave birth to a daughter last year, said she has already requested wild cards for hard-court tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto in August and the US Open. The US Tennis Association said it will set aside a spot in the main draw for Clijsters, who won 34 career singles titles . . . Seve Ballesteros will undergo a fourth round of chemotherapy as he continues treatment of a cancerous brain tumor. Ballesteros said that blood tests from his third round of chemotherapy showed that he could continue with the treatment, with the next round scheduled to begin tomorrow. The five-time major winner underwent four brain surgeries to remove the cancerous tumor in October.

International ice hockey chief Rene Fasel said yesterday he'll work day and night to make sure NHL players take part in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Fasel's job could be tough after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman gave a less than enthusiastic outlook on the league's players continuing to participate in the Games. Speaking at a convention in Denver, Fasel and Bettman had a frank and sometimes heated exchange that underscored the difficult negotiations ahead for the NHL to remain part of the Olympics. Said Bettman: "It's not so easy to simply say, 'Let's go to the Olympics.' We shut down our season for two weeks to 17 days and there is a momentum to our season that is lost . . . No other league stops to go do this." The NHL is committed to freeing players to compete in the Vancouver Games next year but future participation will have to be negotiated into the new collective bargaining agreement . . . Olympic officials have called for an end to international torch relays in the aftermath of a year that spawned protests around the globe before the Beijing Games. Gilbert Felli, executive director of the IOC, said that relays would be limited to within the Olympic country beginning next year in Vancouver. IOC officials decided there was too much risk in taking them worldwide.

David Beckham credits his move to AC Milan with putting him on the verge of becoming the player with the second-most appearances for England. The 33-year-old midfielder could make his 109th appearance tomorrow in an exhibition against Slovakia at Wembley, surpassing 1966 World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore and trailing only goalkeeper Peter Shilton (125) . . . Goalkeeper Tim Howard will be a spectator tomorrow when the US national team visits El Salvador for its second World Cup qualifying match. Howard was suspended one game because of yellow card accumulation in the 2-0 win against Mexico Feb. 11 in Columbus, Ohio. Backup keeper Brad Guzan will start . . . Freddie Ljungberg says he will play for the Seattle Sounders FC tomorrow against Real Salt Lake. The 31-year-old had hip surgery in December.

State officials may have to run through the NCAA and NFL before they can score additional revenue for Delaware through a sports betting lottery. Representatives of the NFL and NCAA visited Dover this week to lobby against Governor Jack Markell's proposal to reauthorize sports gambling in Delaware. NCAA officials are threatening to ban all playoff games in Delaware if the state legalizes sports betting, and NFL representatives made their opposition known in a brief meeting with Markell. The sports betting lottery is expected to generate about $55 million for the cash-strapped state in its first year if it clears the General Assembly . . . Michigan quarterback Nick Sheridan will miss the rest of spring drills with a broken leg. Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez said Sheridan was injured during a scrimmage Tuesday. Sheridan is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks . . . Promoter Don King filed a protest over Marco Antonio Barrera's loss to Amir Khan, saying the lightweight bout should have been declared no-contest after an accidental early clash of heads. Khan won the March 14 fight in Manchester after the ring doctor stopped the contest in the fifth round.