Gilbert Arenas scored with just 24 seconds left to put the Wizards ahead, then stole an inbounds pass and converted it into a breakaway dunk, highlighting a thrilling final minute in Washington's 104-100 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
The lead changed hands four times in the final 70 seconds, with the Trail Blazers nearly pulling off the win after coming back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit. Arenas' put the Wizards ahead for good in the final seconds, and his dunk made the score 101-98.
Arenas finished with 26 points, and Larry Hughes had 26 points, nine assists and six steals to help Washington complete a perfect five-game homestand. The Wizards improved to 20-13, putting them seven games over .500 for the first time since they were 27-20 after a Jan. 30, 1985, victory over Chicago.
Raptors 104, Celtics 93
In Toronto, Morris Peterson made seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 37 points to lead Toronto past Boston.
Peterson, 7-for-14 from 3-point range, topped his previous career high of 33 points set April 15, 2003, against Miami. Chris Bosh added a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, 6-6 since trading Vince Carter to New Jersey on Dec 17.
Paul Pierce had 23 points for the Celtics, who have lost seven straight road games.
Pistons 90, Hornets 76
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Ben Wallace had a season-high 19 rebounds and added 11 points to help Detroit snap New Orleans' two-game winning streak.
Chauncey Billups scored 25 points for Detroit, and Richard Hamilton had 20 points and a season-high 10 assists. Baron Davis and Lee Nailon each had 16 points for the Hornets (4-30), coming off victories over Sacramento and New York.
Magic 87, Timberwolves 80
In Minneapolis, Hedo Turkoglu scored 26 points, and Grant Hill added 20 to help Orlando beat Minnesota and snap a seven-game road losing streak.
Kevin Garnett matched his career high with 25 rebounds and had 19 points for Minnesota. The Timberwolves have lost three straight and 11 of their last 15.
Bulls 110, 76ers 78
In Chicago, rookie Ben Gordon matched a career high with 31 points, and Eddy Curry added 24 in the surging Chicago's fifth straight victory.
With two five-game winning streaks in the last month, the Bulls have won 11 of their last 14 to move within three games of .500 after an 0-9 start.
Philadelphia's Allen Iverson scored 21 points on 8-of-21 shooting.
Spurs 94, Bucks 79
In San Antonio, Tim Duncan scored 21 points, and Tony Parker had 20 to lead San Antonio past Milwaukee for its fourth victory in five games.
Michael Redd led Milwaukee with 24 points.
Rockets 124, Mavericks 114
In Dallas, Tracy McGrady hurt a toe early, so he stayed outside and scored most of his 30 points on 3-pointers and matched his season high with 11 assists, helping Houston end Dallas' six-game winning streak.
McGrady, who scored 48 points in his last game in Dallas, was 6-of-8 from 3-point range. Juwan Howard added 29 points on 14-of-19 shooting, David Wesley had 21, and Yao Ming scored 20 points, half from the foul line.
Nuggets 95, Lakers 83
In Denver, Carmelo Anthony had his best shooting night in weeks, scoring 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting to help Denver defeat the Los Angeles Lakers and snap a five-game losing streak.
Kobe Bryant, playing in Colorado for the first time since sexual assault charges against him were dropped, had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Jazz 115, Suns 108
In Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur had 21 points and 17 rebounds in Utah's second straight victory over Phoenix, one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
On Monday night, Utah beat San Antonio on Okur's last-second shot. Raja Bell added 19 points for the Jazz after missing five games because of a knee injury.
Other results: Clippers 103, SuperSonics 92; Heat 98, Warriors 91.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite