Kevin Garnett had 20 points and seven rebounds, and Latrell Sprewell's defense helped the Minnesota Timberwolves hold Toronto to a franchise-low for points in a 73-56 victory.
Michael Olowokandi had 14 points and Sam Cassell added 13 Saturday for Minnesota, which scored a franchise-low 61 points the previous night at New Jersey. Toronto's 56 points was the lowest total ever against the Wolves.
Vince Carter was the only member of the Raptors in double figures, scoring 15 points.
PHOTO: AP
Toronto opened with a 2-0 record for the first time in franchise history, but Carter shot just 5-for-15 as Sprewell guarded him tightly all night.
Nets 98, Wizards 85
In Washington, Jason Kidd had 30 points and nine assists to lead the New Jersey Nets past a raw and younger image of themselves coached by their former assistant coach, Eddie Jordan.
Richard Jefferson added 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Nets, who never trailed.
Brian Scalabrine, starting for injured forward Kenyon Martin, had 12 points, including the first three in a 9-2 run that opened the fourth quarter and restored New Jersey's double-digit lead.
Pistons 96, Magic 85
In Orlando, Florida, Richard Hamilton scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, backcourt partner Chauncey Billups added 17, and Chucky Atkins, Detroit's third guard, had 14 points. Ben Wallace had 13 points and 17 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, leading the Pistons to a 50-33 rebounding advantage.
It was the first meeting between the teams since the opening round of last season's playoffs. Orlando held a 3-1 lead in that best-of-seven series, but Detroit rallied for three straight wins.
Pacers 103, Hawks 99, OT
In Atlanta, Anthony Johnson hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer in overtime, then sealed the victory by taking an elbow to the face from Jason Terry.
Ron Artest led the Pacers with 22 points, and Al Harrington scored 20 points as Indiana's reserves outscored their Atlanta counterparts 38-8. That didn't even include Fred Jones, who scored 15 points as a fill-in starter for Reggie Miller (sore back).
Johnson hit a 3 from the corner with 22.6 seconds left in overtime, breaking a 97-97 tie.
Frustrated, Terry swung a left elbow at Johnson, grazing his chin. The officials tossed Terry, and Johnson hit two free throws.
Spurs 86, Knicks 74
In San Antonio, Jason Hart and Shane Heal handled the point guard duties, and San Antonio got 15 points and 15 rebounds from Tim Duncan.
With Tony Parker (sore left ankle) and Anthony Carter (left patella tendinitis) sidelined, the Spurs gave the start to Hart -- signed Friday after being cut by Seattle. He had two points and two assists in 31 minutes.
Hornets 97, Celtics 90
In New Orleans, Baron Davis made six 3-pointers and scored 37 points to give the Hornets the first 3-0 start in franchise history.
Davis was 6-for-7 from 3-point range, his last coming with 4:26 left and giving the Hornets a 91-87 lead. The Hornets hit 12-pointers in all.
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
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