Antawn Jamison scored in the final 6.8 seconds of second overtime Thursday to lead the Washington Wizards over the expansion Bobcats 126-125, spoiling Charlotte's return to the NBA.
Jarvis Hayes scored 31 points and Jamison had 20 for the Wizards, who dropped their first two preseason games. Anthony Peeler scored 19.
PHOTO: AP
Gerald Wallace had 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bobcats, the league's 30th franchise. Primoz Brezec had 26 points and 11 rebounds, while rookie Emeka Okafor -- the No. 2 pick in this year's draft -- had 18 points.
Jason Hart, who had 19 points, hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Charlotte to send the game to a second overtime. Hart missed a potential game-winning jumper after Jamison's go-ahead basket.
The game was played less than two years after the Hornets left for New Orleans, ending a 14-year run in Charlotte. That stint ended acrimoniously, but 9,948 fans attended the Bobcats' preseason opener.
Rockets 88, Kings 86
In Shanghai, China, Yao Ming was the star in the NBA's first China game, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds to lead Houston past Sacramento.
There was a capacity crowd on hand at Shanghai's city gymnasium to cheer the 2.26m center, whose return has dominated headlines in his hometown.
Brad Miller led the Kings with 19 points, but the game was clearly a showcase for Yao.
Chris Webber scored 14 points for Sacramento, including a half-court buzzer beater that gave the Kings a 72-67 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
McGrady had 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Houston.
Sacramento led by as many as nine points in the final quarter before the Rockets came back. With the crowd chanting "Yao Ming! Yao Ming!" Houston clinched the win with two free throws by Tyronn Lue.
Knicks 92, Nets 84
In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Jamal Crawford had 19 points, and New York scored the first 21 of the fourth quarter to defeat New Jersey.
Making his Knicks debut after being acquired from the Chicago Bulls in an offseason trade, Crawford hit two 3-pointers in the game's opening moments and another in the fourth quarter as New York turned a 74-63 deficit after three periods into a 85-74 lead with 3:11 left.
Vin Baker and Michael Sweetney keyed the run for the Knicks. Baker scored seven points, including a layup with 7:30 left that gave the Knicks a 76-74 lead. Sweetney made five of six free throws and found an open Baker to assist on the go-ahead basket.
Grizzlies 102, Cavaliers 94
In Memphis, Tennessee, Lorenzen Wright and Dahntay Jones had 15 points each to lead Memphis to a victory over Cleveland.
LeBron James had 25 points and Drew Gooden added 13 more and 12 rebounds for Cleveland.
The Grizzlies held a 49-42 advantage at the half, but Cleveland came back to take the lead at 60-59 on a fast-break dunk by James with 5:48 left in the third period. James stole the ball under the Memphis basket and sprinted down the floor alone for the stuff.
Timberwolves 99, Hawks 96
In Birmingham, Alabama, Kevin Garnett scored 26 points to lead Minnesota over Atlanta. Latrell Sprewell scored 10 points for Minnesota, but was sidelined for the second half with a tender ankle.
Antoine Walker had 22 points and Jon Barry added 16 for the Hawks, who trailed by as many as 14 points in the third quarter before cutting the deficit to one late in the fourth quarter.
Nuggets 97, Bucks 91
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, Carmelo Anthony had 19 points before sitting out most of the second half, and Earl Boykins added 18 points and six assists.
Warriors 90, Trail Blazers 71
In Oakland, California, Troy Murphy had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead Golden State past Portland in a preview of the teams' season opener.
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
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Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier