Rasho Nesterovic collected a season-high 23 points and hauled down 13 rebounds to help the San Antonio Spurs end a three-game losing streak with a 109-92 win over the host Boston Celtics Sunday.
The defending NBA champion Spurs took a 12-point lead by halftime and used a balanced scoring attack and strong defense to snap their losing streak.
San Antonio has beaten Boston 12 straight times and is 18-1 against the Celtics in their last 19 meetings.
Tony Parker picked up 20 points for the Spurs, all in the first half as his team took control early.
"He [Parker] is very important to us," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "It was nice to see him be aggressive and make some shots."
Tim Duncan added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs, who never let the Celtics get within 13 points in the final quarter.
Paul Pierce recorded 19 points to lead the Celtics, who have lost four games in a row.
Mark Blount added 15 points for Boston while Ricky Davis totaled 14 points off the bench.
In Phoenix, Joe Johnson contributed 25 points, including the winning basket with 18 seconds left, to propel the Suns to a 96-92 triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Shawn Marion had 22 points and 16 rebounds while Leandro Barbosa added 20 points for the Suns, who won their third straight game to tie a season-high for consecutive victories.
Zach Randolph piled up 25 points and 11 rebounds as Portland lost its fifth game in a row. The slumping Trail Blazers have been beaten in nine out of 10, including two in five days to the Suns.
Rasheed Wallace added 19 points for the Blazers but none in the fourth quarter.
In Denver, 31 points from Carmelo Anthony inspired the Nuggets to an 88-80 win over the Miami Heat.
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