iday night when they meet the Atlanta Hawks at the Bradley Center.After having a four-game winning streak snapped earlier in the week against San

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Three-time doubles gold medalists Serena and Venus Williams lost an Olympic match as partners for the first time, stunned in the opening round of the Rio de Janeiro Games by the Czech Republics Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4.The Williams sisters entered Sundays match with a 15-0 career record in the Olympics, winning the gold medal in womens doubles every time they entered the event: in 2000, 2008 and 2012.The American duo was seeded No. 1 in Rio and coming off a 14th Grand Slam championship together at Wimbledon a month ago.Neither Safarova nor Strycova, meanwhile, ever had won an Olympic doubles match, going a combined 0-3 with other partners. They are unseeded in Rio.And get this: They werent even supposed to be playing together at the Olympics. Strycova was a late replacement for Karolina Pliskova, who withdrew from the tournament.Indeed, Strycova and Safarova only had played one match as a team before Sunday night -- and they lost that, in a Fed Cup match last year.This was Serenas second match of the day: She won her first-rounder in singles earlier Sunday. Venus, meanwhile, now has two first-round exits at the Rio Olympics, because she was beaten in singles on Saturday night.After that defeat, Venus did not meet with reporters, but U.S. womens Olympic tennis coach Mary Joe Fernandez said that the seven-time major singles champion had been sick since before she arrived in Brazil. Fernandez also said Venus was dealing with cramping, dehydration and an upset stomach after Saturdays loss.In the doubles, played under the lights, when occasional chants of USA! would rise from some spectators, other members of the crowd would respond with boos.Safarova and Strycova did their best to keep hitting shots toward Venus when she was at the baseline, while Serena was left to stand near the net and watch those exchanges.The Williams sisters appeared to be getting back into the match in the second set, which was even at 4-all.But Venus got broken there, allowing Strycova to serve out the surprising victory.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Custom Avalanche T-shirts . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Authentic Custom Avalanche Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.customavalanchejersey.com/ . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Wholesale Custom Avalanche Shirts . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Avalanche Jerseys China . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Bucks, playing some of their best basketball of the season, try to wrap up their four-game homestand on a high note Friday night when they meet the Atlanta Hawks at the Bradley Center.After having a four-game winning streak snapped earlier in the week against San Antonio, the Bucks bounced back Wednesday night with a 115-107 victory over Portland. They won for the sixth time in their last eight games to move two games over .500 for the first time this season.Much of that success can be tied to a massive improvement in Milwaukees defense, which is the leagues stingiest in terms of field goal percentage at 42.8 percentage. And while opponents are attempting an NBA-high 31 3-pointers per game, they make 31.8 of those shots, the lowest percentage in the league.The numbers are reminiscent of coach Jason Kidds first year in Milwaukee, when the Bucks led the league in both categories and made a surprising run to the postseason.I think were getting used to our length, Kidd said Wednesday, when the Blazers attempted 40 but made only 17 3-pointers. Were guarding the 3-point line a little bit better than we have in the past.But when were making teams miss, we just have to rebound the ball. We want to get up in that top-10 for rebounding -- I think were 15th or 17th, somewhere in there -- so we can get better. If we can get better in that area, thats going to make our defense even better.Offensively, the Bucks young tandem of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker are starting to take a step forward. Antetokounmpo posted his second triple-double of the season Wednesday while Parker sccored a team-high 27 points.ddddddddddddParker has scored 20 or more points in three of his last four games and is averaging 21.8 points on 50 percent shooting during that stretch, leaving his teammate impressed.(Jabari) is a beast right now, Antetokounmpo said. The team is rolling right now. Were feeling good.Milwaukees defense didnt fare so well in its first meeting with the Hawks this season. Atlanta connected at a 48.6 percent clip -- the highest shooting percentage allowed by Milwaukee this season -- while holding the Bucks to 39.8 percent shooting for a 107-100 victory on Nov. 16.The Hawks are no slouch either on the defensive end and come into the game third in the NBA with 9.3 steals per game, second in forcing turnovers (16.3 per game) and fourth in turning those miscues into points (18.3).But Atlantas offense is struggling, especially inside where their 43.2 points per game rank 18th in the league. The Hawks scored 58 points in the paint Wednesday and the result was a 103-95 victory over Miami that snapped a seven-game losing streak.Dwight Howard, who scored 23 points in the contest, said better ball movement is key.On the offensive end we have to move the ball a lot better than we have in the past, Howard told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. We were doing a lot of things -- one pass and shot. We went from the top of the league in moving the ball and getting guys shots to the bottom half. We have to get back to just moving the ball and playing through motions. ' ' '