Dominating the rebounding matchup and scoring almost half their points from inside, the Philadelphia 76ers got back into their second-round series by defeating the Detroit Pistons 93-83 Saturday night.
The 76ers still trail the second-round series 2-1; Game 4 is Sunday night in Philadelphia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Led by big men Kenny Thomas and Tyrone Hill, the 76ers outrebounded the Pistons 48-30 and scored 27 second-chance points in a one-sided game that offered little suspense in the second half.
Thomas had 10 points and 14 rebounds before pulling a leg muscle late in the third quarter. Hill had nine points and six rebounds in just 22 minutes, but that was still more than Detroit's Ben Wallace managed to contribute in 36 minutes. The NBA's leading rebounder was held to six points and six rebounds.
Allen Iverson had 25 points and 11 assists, and Keith Van Horn had his best game of the series with 17 points.
Richard Hamilton scored 24 points to lead the Pistons, and Tayshaun Prince had 17.
Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle, but the team hopes to have him back for Sunday night's game.
Mavericks 141, Kings 137
In Sacramento, California, Walt Williams scored all 10 of his points in two overtimes as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Kings 141-137 to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Nick Van Exel scored 40 points off the bench and Steve Nash had 31 to lead four players with 20 or more points for the Mavericks.
The Mavs rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, then prevailed in two back-and-forth extra periods to beat an inspired Kings team determined to show it could win without star Chris Webber, who is out for the rest of the playoffs with an injured knee.
"It was a really tough loss," Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. "We had three or four chances to win. We couldn't get it done. You can say it was our missed free throws or it was their 3-point shooting. We didn't do enough to win the game, and they did."
Dirk Nowitzki, averaging 27.9 points in the playoffs, had 25 points and 20 rebounds. He scored 24 in the Mavs' 132-110 victory in Game 2 on Thursday, in which they scored an NBA playoff-record 83 points in the first half. Nowitzki made several pretty turnaround jumpers on Saturday night, and almost always did it with a hand in his face.
Dallas put up 42 shots from 3-point range, breaking the NBA playoff record by eight. The Mavs made 19 of them, falling short of Houston's 1996 mark by one. Van Exel went 6-of-12, and Nash and Michael Finley each went 5-of-10.
Peja Stojakovic delivered the brilliant performance the Kings desperately needed, but Sacramento couldn't convert when it counted the most.
Stojakovic scored a career playoff-high 39 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists. Six other players scored in double figures for Sacramento, with Vlade Divac finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Doug Christie added 18 points, including two big 3-pointers in the first overtime.
Phil Jackson has angioplasty
Coach Phil Jackson of the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers underwent an angioplasty on Saturday after experiencing chest pains during the last week.
The procedure, which lasted over two hours, was necessary to open Jackson's left anterior descending artery that had an over 90 percent blockage, team spokesman John Black said.
A balloon was inserted to open the artery and a stent was placed in it, Black said.
Jackson, slated to be kept at Centinela Hospital Medical Center on Saturday night, has not ruled out coaching Sunday's Game 4 at home.
"If all goes well, he'll be able to coach the game," Black said.
Jackson, 57, had been bothered by tightness and pain in his chest for several days. He underwent tests Friday before the Lakers beat San Antonio 110-95 in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals. Los Angeles trails the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Doctors wanted to complete all tests Friday, but Jackson decided to wait until after the game. Jackson told assistant coach Jim Cleamons to run Saturday's practice. Cleamons would also lead the team if Jackson is unable to coach.
Jackson, the winningest coach in NBA playoff history with 161 victories, missed three games because of a kidney stone that was removed on Feb. 24. He had coached 1,249 regular-season and playoff games without missing one in 13 seasons. He is in his fourth season with the Lakers and has won 25 straight playoff series, dating to his years with the Chicago Bulls.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite