BASKETBALL

Good news in Oklahoma: Durant cleared to play

Thunder forward Kevin Durant can play without restriction after recovering from a foot injury, General Manager Sam Presti said Wednesday.

Durant, the league MVP and scoring champion in 2013-14, played just 27 games last season because of a broken bone in his right foot.

Without his full-time services, the Thunder struggled and missed the playoffs.

He had surgery in October and a screw rubbing against another bone was removed this February. Durant then had a bone graft in March.

WNBA: Tina Charles had 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the New York Liberty to an 84-67 home victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Playing a day after they advanced out of the first round for the first time in five years, the Liberty didn’t show any signs of fatigue. They scored nine of the first 13 points and never trailed.

The Liberty had to play back-to-back games because of the Pope’s visit to New York. He’s performing Mass at the Garden on Friday and the building is closed Thursday to prepare for it.

Game 2 is Sunday in Indianapolis.

HOCKEY

NHL: A rape investigation involving Chicago Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane took a bizarre turn Wednesday when the attorney for the accuser said an empty paper bag that once held the woman’s rape kit had been secretly placed in the doorway of her mother’s home.

Police officials responded that no packaging is missing from the rape kit.

“Something seriously has gone amiss,” attorney Thomas Eoannou told reporters during a news conference, where he held up the wrinkled brown bag that he said pointed to the possibility of evidence tampering.

n Calgary Flames defenseman T.J. Brodie suffered a broken bone in his right hand and is expected to miss three to six weeks.

Brodie took a shot off his hand in Monday’s preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers.

TENNIS

OPEN DE MOSELLE: Third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame qualifier Mischa Zverev to reach the quarterfinals at Metz, France, with a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 6-3 win.

ST. PETERSBURG OPEN: Third-seeded Dominic Thiem breezed into the quarterfinals in Russia, beating fellow Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-2, 7-6 (2).

PAN PACIFIC OPEN: Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat Ana Konjuh 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals in Tokyo.

SOCCER

SPAIN: Celta Vigo earned a shocking 4-1 victory over Barcelona, while Real Madrid went to the top of the Spanish league with a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao on a mixed night for the title contenders.

CYCLING

UCI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus topped a surprising podium in the men’s time trial at the world championships at Richmond, Virginia, while three-time world champion Tony Martin and heavy favorite Rohan Dennis missed out on medals entirely.

Kiryienka covered the 53- kilometer course from the Kings Dominion amusement park to downtown Richmond in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 29 seconds. Adriano Malori of Italy was 9 seconds back to take silver and Jerome Coppel of France another 17 seconds back to earn bronze.

Taylor Phinney was the top American finisher in 12th.

– From news service reports