Jason Kidd made his season debut and assisted on Richard Jefferson's game-winning jumper from the lane with 7.1 seconds left as the New Jersey Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors 88-86 on Monday night.
After sitting out the first 16 games recovering from left knee surgery, Kidd had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes with the Nets restricting his playing time.
Jefferson had 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Nets, who began the night in last place in the Atlan-tic Division after winning only four of their first 16 games with Kidd sidelined.
Vince Carter had 22 points for Toronto, but he missed a driving layup just before the final buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime. Chris Bosh added 15 points.
Hawks 96, 76ers 92
In Atlanta, Josh Smith scored the tiebreaking basket off an offensive rebound with 17.6 seconds remaining, then blocked a shot to help Atlanta snap a nine-game losing streak.
One day after turning 19, the teenager was a major reason the Hawks won for only the third time in 17 games this season, overcoming a season-high 36 points by Allen Iverson.
Antoine Walker led the Hawks with 22 points and 12 rebounds, Al Harrington had 21 points and Peja Drobnjak chipped in with a season-best 20. Smith equaled his career high with 11 points, eight coming in the final quarter.
Kyle Korver scored 14 for Philadelphia, hitting four 3-pointers.
Spurs 91, Bulls 75
In Chicago, Tony Parker scored 17 points and Tim Duncan had his 16th double-double of the season to help San Antonio win its eighth straight.
Duncan finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Manu Ginobili and Devin Brown added 12 points each.
Though the victory improved the Spurs to an NBA-best 16-3, this certainly wasn't their best showing. They had 21 turnovers, two shy of their season high, and shot less than 41 percent. Duncan was just 4-of-12 from the floor. Fortunately for the Spurs they were playing the Bulls, who have beaten San Antonio just once in their last 13 meetings.
Tyson Chandler led Chicago with 17 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth double-double.
Pistons 101, Mavericks 85
In Dallas, Chauncey Billups tied his season high with 24 points and Richard Hamilton scored 13 of his 19 in the third quarter for Detroit.
The Pistons took a 10-point lead into halftime, then stretched it to 21 in the third. The Mavericks never got closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Dirk Nowitzki went just 6-of-24 from the field but managed 27 points after making 15 of 16 from the free throw line. Jerry Stackhouse added 13 for the Mavericks.
Dallas lost at home for the fourth time after losing only five home games last season.
Heat 100, Jazz 80
In Salt Lake City, Shaquille O'Neal pulled down his 10,000th career rebound and Dwyane Wade added 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead Miami past the slumping Jazz.
Entering the game, O'Neal needed eight rebounds to become the 31st player with 10,000 career boards. He finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, reaching the milestone in the third quarter when he pulled down a miss by Utah's Gordan Giricek during a 19-2 run for Miami.
Damon Jones had 21 points for the 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