Steve Francis scored 22 points on Wednesday as the Orlando Magic rode an early double-figures lead to a 109-103 victory over the Miami Heat in the preseason finale.
Cuttino Mobley, Francis' backcourt partner, had 17 points, and forwards Dwight Howard and Grant Hill 14 each. Howard added 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the preseason.
PHOTO: AP
Miami's Shaquille O'Neal, returning to the arena that was home court for his first four seasons in the NBA, had 24 points and eight rebounds. Dwyane Wade scored 18 points despite shooting 5-for-19 -- including 10 straight misses to open the game.
Celtics 96, Pistons 84
In Boston, Jiri Welsch started at point guard in place of injured Gary Payton and scored 16 points to lead Boston over Detroit.
Tom Gugliotta added 12 points for the Celtics, 2-6 after snapping a six-game preseason losing streak.
Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince had 15 points each for NBA champion Detroit (3-4).
Ricky Davis added 12 points and Paul Pierce 11 for Boston.
Bobcats 93, Hawks 89
In Fayetteville, North Carolina, rookie Emeka Okafor scored 15 points and Primoz Brezec added 14 to lead Charlotte over Atlanta.
Okafor, the No. 2 pick in the draft, hit 6-of-8 shots in leading the Bobcats to their second straight win.
Antoine Walker had 31 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks. Al Harrington added 17 points and seven rebounds.
The Hawks rallied from a 12-point third quarter deficit to tie it on Josh Smith's dunk with nine minutes left.
Pacers 91, Bulls 71
In Indianapolis, Stephen Jackson had 18 points as Indiana downed Chicago.
Eddy Curry had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bulls, who trailed throughout and played the fourth quarter without forward Tyson Chandler after a nasty fall.
Randy Holcomb had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers.
Luol Deng had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Ben Gordon added 14 points and five rebounds for Chicago.
Other results: Bucks 76, Timberwolves 75; Spurs 79, Rockets 69; Trail Blazers 97, Raptors 95; Warriors 82, Clippers 78
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