Vin Baker hit a fallaway jumper in the lane with 20 seconds left to give the Boston Celtics a 78-76 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal missed a short jumper with time winding down and Boston's Eric Williams corralled the loose ball to seal the victory Tuesday.
"Vin really hit a clutch shot," Boston coach Jim O'Brien said. "It's nice to see guys want to shoot the basketball at the end of the game."
PHOTO: AFP
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and Baker had 12 points and four rebounds.
O'Neal, who had 25 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, blasted the officials for calling three offensive fouls that kept him on the bench much of the second half.
"Do I need to make five or six more All Star games, win an Olympic gold, continue to make All-NBA teams for me to get some respect in the paint?" he asked. "It's frustrating to me."
O'Neal had 21 points and nine rebounds in the first half to help the Pacers take a 48-34 lead.
76ers 112, Wizards 105
In Washington, Allen Iverson scored a season-high 40 points, winning a fast-paced scoring duel with Gilbert Arenas and leading the Philadelphia 76ers over the Washington Wizards.
Arenas scored a season-high 36 points in a game featuring two of the most exciting guards in the Eastern Conference. Iverson had more than his share of misses -- he was 12-for-29 from the field -- but he never stopped shooting.
Iverson also made 14 of 18 free throws. The 76ers went 24-for-26 from the line in the second half.
SuperSonics 89, Timberwolves 87
In Minneapolis, Ronald Murray hit a jumper over Latrell Sprewell at the buzzer, capping a career-high 29-point performance and lifting Seattle over Minnesota.
Murray also had six rebounds and eight assists to help the Sonics snap a nine-game losing streak in Minnesota.
Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Sprewell scored 20 points.
Mavericks 125, Hornets 97
In Dallas, Steve Nash hit all five of his 3-point shots and sparked a huge third-quarter run that led the Dallas Mavericks over the New Orleans Hornets.
The Hornets cut a 19-point deficit in the second period to 66-60 early in the third. Then Nash hit a 3 that started a 23-2 burst capped by Antawn Jamison's dunk.
Antoine Walker had 21 points, Michael Finley 20 and Dirk Nowitzki 18 for the Mavericks. Nash finished with 17 points and 11 assists in Dallas' most-lopsided victory of the season.
Baron Davis had 25 points, 20 in the first half, for the Hornets while David Wesley added 18.
Rockets 90, Heat 70
In Houston, in just the second time in NBA history that brothers coached against each other, Jeff Van Gundy's Houston Rockets sent Stan Van Gundy's Miami Heat to their seventh straight loss.
Houston won its fourth in a row and kept Miami as the only winless team in the league.
Herb and Larry Brown are the only brothers to coach against each other in the NBA.
Yao Ming had a career high seven blocked shots, 16 points and eight rebounds. Eddie Jones led the Heat with 21 points.
Kings 97, Pistons 91
In Sacramento, California, Mike Bibby had 23 points and five assists and the Sacramento Kings snapped Detroit's five-game winning streak, beating the cold-shooting Pistons.
The Kings, coming off a 1-3 road trip, overcame a sluggish fourth quarter to beat Detroit for the seventh straight time at Arco Arena and ninth out of 10 as they begin a stretch with 11 of 13 home games, including an eight-game homestand.
Bobby Jackson added 16 points and Doug Christie had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Kings, who held Detroit to only nine assists.
Richard Hamilton had 19 points to lead six players in double figures for Detroit.
Trail Blazers 83, Raptors 80
In Portland, Zach Randolph had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Portland overcame a big game from Vince Carter.
Carter scored 19 of his 33 points in the first half for the Raptors, who shot just 41.4 percent from the field.
Dale Davis added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Portland, and Rasheed Wallace had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Clippers 115, Hawks 103
In LA, Quentin Richardson had career highs of 32 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Clippers over the Atlanta Hawks, giving coach Mike Dunleavy his 400th career victory.
Corey Maggette added 21 points and Chris Wilcox scored a career-high 19 before fouling out with 2:59 left for the Clippers (2-2), who were below .500 all last season.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim led Atlanta with 23 points. Dion Glover had 22 points and seven rebounds and Stephen Jackson added 17 points for the Hawks.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and