Kobe Bryant piled up 37 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a wild 120-117 double overtime win over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
Bryant, who had an embarrassing fall during the third quarter, teamed up with Shaquille O'Neal to finally overcome the injury-plagued Spurs, who were without the injured Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.
O'Neal added 35 points and 20 rebounds while Karl Malone had 15 points and 19 rebounds to help the Lakers (5-0) remain unbeaten. Gary Payton picked up 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Los Angeles.
Manu Ginobili had 33 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs, who had six players in double figures.
Malik Rose added 15 points and eight rebounds for San Antonio (3-3) while Rasho Nesterovic had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Pacers 87, Nets 81
Former Net Anthony Johnson held off a late New Jersey rally with two straight 3-pointers and the Indiana Pacers won their third straight game 87-81 on Thursday.
Ron Artest had 21 points, Johnson added 17 and Jermaine O'Neal had 15 for the Pacers, who saw a 19-point third-quarter lead shrink to two points with just under four minutes left.
Kerry Kittles had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Nets, who struggled with their shooting for the second straight game. Richard Jefferson added 18, and Aaron Williams had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Raptors 77, Mavericks 71
In Toronto, Vince Carter had 19 points and the Toronto Raptors held Dallas to its lowest-scoring game in nearly six years.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points, but had just four in the second half. It was the fewest points the Mavericks have scored in a game since they were held to 67 in a loss to the New York Knicks on Dec. 22, 1997.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB