Jermaine O'Neal had 25 points and 20 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Denver Nuggets 71-60 Tuesday night.
Ron Artest and Al Harrington bottled up Denver rookie Carmelo Anthony, and the Nuggets shot just 29 percent and committed 23 turnovers. The Pacers weren't much better, shooting 35 percent and committing 18 turnovers. But they withstood a 17-2 surge by Denver in the final period.
Anthony scored just 2 points on 1-of-13 shooting in his worst night as a pro. Artest and Harrington harassed and frustrated the rookie star all night, getting a hand in his face on nearly every shot.
Earl Boykins led the Nuggets with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. His teammates finished 16-for-67 (24 percent) from the floor.
Artest had 18 points and six rebounds, and Harrington added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting for the Pacers. The 131 points are the ninth-lowest total since the NBA instituted the shot clock in 1954-1955.
Rockets 86, Nets 75
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Steve Francis ignited a game-ending 14-1 run with eight straight points and an assist to lead Houston.
Francis finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Rockets won for the third time in four games under former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy.
Cuttino Mobley led Houston with 20 points. Maurice Taylor added eight of his 14 points in the final quarter, when the Rockets' league-leading defense limited the Nets to 4-of-18 shooting. Yao Ming added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Richard Jefferson had 21 points to lead the Nets, who looked a little listless playing for the second straight game without Kenyon Martin, who has an ankle injury. Jason Kidd had 16 points, seven rebounds and nine assists in a performance that was misleading because he had 13 points in the first quarter.
Lakers 113, Bucks 107
Kobe Bryant wasn't the only one booed, when fans jeered him and former Buck Gary Payton every time they touched the ball in Los Angeles' comeback victory,
Bryant scored 31 points, Shaquille O'Neal had 23 and Payton 19 as the Lakers (4-0) stayed unbeaten by overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit.
The Bucks, outscored 24-10 over the final 7:07, got a career-high 36 points from Michael Redd.
Bryant expects jabs in every NBA arena outside the Staples Center. Payton only played 34 games in Milwaukee last season after the blockbuster trade with Seattle before bolting to Los Angeles for the chance to win a ring.
That was enough for the Bradley Center crowd to feel spurned, and they razzed Payton and Bryant with equal vigor, especially when Payton took a pass from Bryant underneath and drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lakers a 57-54 halftime lead.
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