Tracy McGrady scored 39 points in three quarters and the Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the fourth time this season, 109-85.
McGrady scored 30 or more points for the 42nd time this season, and tied a team record with his eighth consecutive 30-plus game. He also extended his team mark of 39 games in a row with 20 or more points Friday.
Milt Palacio scored 15 points to lead the Cavaliers, who have lost 10 of their last 11.
PHOTO: AP
The third quarter ended with McGrady making a spectacular reverse layup to reach 39 points. He had 23 in the quarter on 6-of-10 shooting and was 9-for-10 at the line. With the Magic ahead 84-64, McGrady watched the fourth quarter from the bench. He was 12-of-21 from the field and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line in 30 minutes.
Pacers 101, Grizzlies 92
In Indianapolis, Jermaine O'Neal tied his career high with 38 points and grabbed 18 rebounds as Indiana rallied from a 19-point deficit and beat Memphis.
Reggie Miller, who started the Pacers' comeback in the third quarter, added 14 points. Indiana played without Ron Artest, who was suspended for two games after committing his eighth flagrant foul of the season on Wednesday against Boston.
Mike Miller, Wesley Person and Lorenzen Wright each scored 15 points for the Grizzlies, who led 70-51 with 5:51 left in the third quarter.
Reggie Miller scored seven points during a 14-0 run and the Pacers held the Grizzlies scoreless for almost 13 minutes. The Pacers pulled within 76-75 going into the final quarter, and O'Neal then scored 12 points to lead an 18-7 run that broke it open during the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter.
Hawks 114, 76ers 105
In Philadelphia, Glenn Robinson matched his season high with 37 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 10 of his 22 in the final five minutes as Atlanta snapped a three-game losing streak.
Dion Glover had 18 points and Jason Terry added 17 for the Hawks, who made 33 of 37 free throws and improved to 3-0 against the 76ers this season.
Allen Iverson scored 25 points and had a season-high 12 assists for Philadelphia, but shot just 9-of-27 from the field. He was coming off a season-low five points in a loss at Detroit the previous night.
Heat 107, Raptors 98
In Miami, Rookie Caron Butler scored 22 points and the Heat snapped a four-game losing streak.
Rasual Butler scored 18 points for Miami, and Brian Grant added 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Heat snapped a six-game losing streak at home and scored 100 points for just the eighth time.
The Heat got a season-high 53 points from their reserves, including 18 from Malik Allen and 11 from Sean Lampley in Miami's second win in 10 games.
Caron Butler, who has led the Heat in scoring in five of the last seven games, notched his third straight game with 20 or more points.
Vince Carter scored 30 points, and Alvin Williams added 15 points and seven assists for the Raptors, who have lost seven of eight and six straight on the road.
Knicks 97, Pistons 93
In New York, Latrell Sprewell scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, including a clinching corner jumper from behind the backboard with 15 seconds remaining as New York defeated Detroit.
Combined with Milwaukee's loss to New Orleans, the Knicks moved within two games of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
Houston added 19 points _ only two in the fourth quarter _ and Othella Harrington had 14.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set