Ricky Davis scored 21 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 20 in a matchup with Houston center Yao Ming, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Rockets 105-102 Wednesday night.
Maurice Taylor scored a season-high 30 points to lead Houston, which lost for the seventh time in 10 games.
Cuttino Mobley scored 24 points for the Rockets.
Chinese rookie Yao scored 14 points, but did not match Ilgauskas' outside shooting. Cleveland's 2.2m Lithuanian center, who will face Yao again Sunday in the All-Star game, shot 8-for-17 on a variety of midrange jumpers. Yao did not score until hitting a hook shot with 42 seconds left in the first half.
Celtics 114, SuperSonics 74
In Boston, Paul Pierce scored 26 points as Boston routed Seattle just five days after the most lopsided loss in Celtics history.
The 40-point margin was the Celtics' biggest of the season. Last Friday night, they lost to Detroit 118-66.
Celtics coach Jim O'Brien got the 100th victory of his NBA career as they ended a four-game losing streak and got plenty of backcourt bench help. Tony Delk scored 22 points and Shammond Williams added 15.
The Sonics were led by Rashard Lewis with 15 and Gary Payton with 14.
Pistons 89, Clippers 80
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Turkish rookie Mehmet Okur had the first double-double of his career with 19 points and 11 rebounds as Detroit beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
Detroit was missing All-Star Ben Wallace, who is in Alabama after the death of his mother. Wallace will go directly to Atlanta for Sunday's All-Star game after the funeral Saturday.
Detroit enters the All-Star break with a four-game winning streak, while Los Angeles has lost four in a row and seven of eight.
Cliff Robinson had 17 points for the Pistons and Corliss Williamson added 12. Elton Brand led the Clippers with 18 points and Melvin Ely had 14.
Nets 111, 76ers 85
In Philadelphia, Kerry Kittles scored a season-high 35 points to lead New Jersey to victory over Philadelphia.
The Atlantic Division-leading Nets have won six of their past seven games after losing their first three games on a West Coast trip. New Jersey heads into the All-Star break tied with Indiana for the best record in the Eastern Conference at 34-15.
Allen Iverson had 28 points and Keith Van Horn added 16 for the Sixers, who have lost three of their past four and enter the break at 25-24.
Jason Collins had 13, and Brian Scalabrine and Aaron Williams each had 12 for the Nets.
Jason Kidd, who played despite a stomach flu, had eight points, seven rebounds and six assists in 27 minutes.
Trail Blazers 101, Heat 87
In Miami, Scottie Pippen scored a season-high 26 points, one more than his previous best set the night before, as Portland beat Miami.
Rasheed Wallace added 22 points for Portland, 18 in the second half. Wallace also was called for a technical foul early in the third quarter.
Eddie Jones scored 20 points for the Heat, and reserve Eddie House added a season-high 18.
Upset at the at lack of foul calls for his team, Heat coach Pat Riley was shouting at referee Derrick Stafford as the game wound down.
"It's not about you," Stafford shouted back. "Go on TV crying."
Earlier this season, Riley publicly derided NBA officiating and was fined dlrs 50,000.
Hornets 108, Kings 84
In New Orleans, Jamal Mashburn scored 26 points and David Wesley added 17 points and nine assists to lead New Orleans over Sacramento.
Peja Stojakovic scored 20 to lead Sacramento, which appeared tired from playing its third game in four days, including a dramatic victory in Dallas a night earlier. The Kings have lost five of their last seven games.
With Chris Webber out and center Vlade Divac leaving with a strained back after the first half, a visibly weary Sacramento team shot only 33 percent in the third quarter as New Orleans pulled away.
The Hornets shot 49 percent and outrebounded the Kings 52-41 en route to their second straight victory heading into the All-Star break.
Jazz 105, Grizzlies 84
In Salt Lake City, Karl Malone scored 12 of his 31 points in the third quarter as Utah erased an 11-point deficit to overcome Memphis.
John Stockton had 11 assists and 10 points for the Jazz, who snapped a two-game losing streak and avoided being the first team to lose to Memphis in two weeks by outscoring the Grizzlies 63-35 in the second half.
The Jazz were playing without injured forward Matt Harpring, their second leading scorer and rebounder.
Spurs 103, Warriors 99
In Oakland, California, Tim Duncan had 30 points, 12 rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 2:51 left to lead San Antonio over Golden State.
Tony Parker added 21 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and Stephen Jackson had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs. Jackson made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to seal the win.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was