Ray Allen scored a season-high 37 points, Rashard Lewis added 21 and Vladimir Radmanovic 20 to lead the Seattle SuperSonics to their seventh straight victory, 103-95 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
The Sonics are off to their best start since opening 10-0 in 1993. They haven't lost since dropping their opener to the Los Angeles Clippers by 30 points after going 2-6 in exhibition games.
PHOTO: AFP
"Everybody stepped up and played their part," Allen said. "We had it working on all cylinders."
Iverson scored 26 points and Kyle Korver 14 for the Sixers, who had won three in a row.
Reserve Antonio Daniels had 19 points for Seattle, which got 41 points from its nonstarters.
"This team is playing the game the right way," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said.
"We are getting play from our first and second units. We're getting solid play from 10 guys."
Jazz 107, Bobcats 105
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Raja Bell made a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left and hit two clutch free throws to lead Utah. The Jazz, off to a 6-1 start, trailed by 22 points and needed a furious comeback to get back into the game.
Bell's 3-pointer cut Charlotte's lead to 105-104, then he gave Utah its first lead on two free throws with 15.5 seconds to go. After the clock failed to start twice, Gerald Wallace missed a jumper for Charlotte. Utah got the rebound, Carlos Boozer was fouled, and made a free throw to wrap it up.
Boozer led Utah with 34 points and 13 rebounds, and Bell scored 21. Keith Bogans led Charlotte with a career-high 28 points.
Hawks 88, Rockets 84
In Atlanta, Antoine Walker had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Atlanta rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final 6:11.
Yao Ming, who had 27 points and 11 rebounds, ended Houston's 0-for-10 skid from the field with a 5-footer with 18 seconds remaining, cutting Atlanta's lead to 86-84. But Jon Barry made two free throws to seal it for the Hawks.
Yao hit 13 of 15 shots, and Tracy McGrady scored 21 points, but the Rockets lost for the third time in four games.
Timberwolves 108, Heat 97
In Minneapolis, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett had 25 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists. He also surpassed 14,000 career points. Wally Szczerbiak added 21 points and Sam Cassell 19 for the Timberwolves.
Dwyane Wade, after missing the last two games with a sprained left ankle, scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half for Miami, which got 20 points and 15 rebounds from Shaquille O'Neal.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set