Seattle SuperSonics guard Ray Allen was fined US$10,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for criticizing officials.
The All-Star was furious over a series of calls in the final minutes of Seattle's 94-92 loss at the Golden State Warriors on Friday. He fouled out on an offensive foul with 3:57 left.
"That refereeing tonight was disgusting," Allen said. "There were so many bad calls down the stretch that decided the outcome of that game. For them to have an impact on the game like that is ridiculous.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"It is driving me crazy. I want to play in this league. I made the All-Star team, and I should have some type of respect around here."
Allen, the Sonics' leading scorer, had only eight points on 2-of-10 shooting against the Warriors.
Jazz 93, SuperSonics 92, OT
In Seattle, Andrei Kirilenko scored two critical baskets in overtime as Utah beat Seattle for the second time in two nights.
The first-time All-Star from Russia hit a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Jazz ahead 91-89 with 1:28 to go, then got an offensive rebound after a miss by Tom Gugliotta and scored with nine seconds on the clock.
The Jazz won despite a 40-point outing by Ray Allen, seven short of his career-high.
Kirilenko finished with 22 points and Carlos Arroyo added 16 for the Jazz, who beat the Sonics for the third straight time this season. Rashard Lewis had 15 points for the Sonics.
TIMBERWOLVES 81, NETS 68
Troy Hudson filled the shoes of Sam Cassell just fine, helping end the New Jersey Nets' winning streak at 14 games.
Hudson, making his first start of the season in place of the injured Cassell, scored a season-high 29 points as Minnesota beat New Jersey 81-68 on Wednesday night, handing Nets coach Lawrence Frank his first loss.
"Losing is a part of the game," Frank said. "Nobody likes it. Nobody accepts it. The only thing you can do is learn from it.''
Hudson, the streaky shooter who has been hampered all season by a sprained ankle, erased any hope for Frank's 14th consecutive win with 12 fourth-quarter points. Hudson and Fred Hoiberg scored Minnesota's first 20 points of the quarter, and the Wolves used a 15-0 run to open a 75-58 lead.
Kevin Garnett scored 18 points and Wally Szczerbiak, who missed 53 games with a plantar fascia strain, added a season-high 14 points. Kenyon Martin led the Nets with 18 points.
Hornets 99, Clippers 93
In New Orleans, Baron Davis' 26 points and nine assists led New Orleans over the Los Angeles Clippers and out of a two-game losing skid.
Jamaal Magloire had 21 points and 14 rebounds, including a jump hook off an offensive rebound to give New Orleans a 91-85 lead with just under two minutes left.
Jamal Mashburn scored 20 for the Hornets, while P.J. Brown hit a pair of late jumpers and grabbed a key rebound with 28 seconds remaining as part of his 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Elton Brand led Los Angeles with 19 points, while reserve Chris Wilcox had 18.
Bucks 106, Celtics 104
In Boston, Walter McCarty's 3-pointer was waved off at the buzzer, the referees ruling it came too late as Boston lost to Milwaukee for its seventh successive defeat.
Michael Redd scored 26 points and Desmond Mason added 21 for Milwaukee, which won back-to-back road games for the second time this season. Boston has dropped 13 of 14.
After the Celtics took a 101-100 lead on a three-point play by Mark Blount, Milwaukee responded with baskets by Keith Van Horn, Damon Jones and Redd to take a 106-101 lead.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 21 points. Blount chipped in 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Wizards 76, Raptors 74
In Toronto, Gilbert Arenas scored all seven of his points in the final five minutes and Kwame Brown had 16 points as Washington beat Toronto to end a five-game losing streak.
Arenas, who had just one assist, scored seven straight points to give Washington a four-point lead with 3:25 left. After Toronto's Donyell Marshall made a hook shot to cut the lead to one with 58 seconds left, Brown missed a 7-foot jump shot.
Warriors 99, Grizzlies 92
In Memphis, Tennessee, Speedy Claxton scored a career-high 28 points and handed out seven assists as Golden State snapped Memphis' five-game winning streak.
It was a sloppy game with 29 turnovers and 62 fouls -- 31 on each team. Four players fouled out, and Memphis coach Hubie Brown was ejected for two of the seven technical fouls that were called.
The Warriors pulled away in the fourth, a period in which the Grizzlies have played well this season -- particularly at home.
James Posey led Memphis with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Pistons 107, Bulls 88
In Chicago, Richard Hamilton scored 21 points and Rasheed Wallace added 15 points and seven rebounds as Detroit downed Chicago.
Chauncey Billups had 14 points and Ben Wallace had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Pistons, who have beaten the Bulls eight straight times.
Detroit extended its lead on Rasheed Wallace's alley-oop dunk from Prince to make it 92-73 with 8:00 left in the game -- a play that sent Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who was in attendance, out of his suite.
Suns 113, Knicks 95
In Phoenix, Joe Johnson scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half as Phoenix beat New York to snap an eight-game losing streak and spoil Stephon Marbury's return.
Amare Stoudemire had 24 points and 14 rebounds as the Suns dominated the boards 58-26 and handed the New York Knicks their fourth straight loss.
The Suns' Shawn Marion made his first seven shots and was 9-for-12 for 18 points before being sidelined by a sprained left ankle with 6:01 left in the third quarter. New York's Tim Thomas left three minutes into the game with a hyperextended right elbow.
Lakers 112, Nuggets 111
In Denver, Kareem Rush hit a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left, lifting the Los Angeles Lakers to a controversial win over Denver.
Kobe Bryant had 35 points and 10 assists for the Lakers, who won their fifth straight game.
Carmelo Anthony had 35 points for Denver.
Denver's Andre Miller appeared to hit the rim with a shot that barely beat the shot clock and Anthony rebounded, but the whistle blew for a shot-clock violation. The officials huddled and ruled it was an inadvertent whistle, resulting in a jump ball. The Lakers got possession, and Rush hit his 3-pointer.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but