Dirk Nowitzki scored nine of his 35 points in the final 5 minutes -- including a three-point play with 17.9 seconds -- to lift the Dallas Mavericks past the Denver Nuggets 95-93 on Sunday.
The start of Nowitzki's late rally gave the Mavericks a five-point lead, but the Nuggets tied it at 91 on a 3-pointer by Earl Boykins with 1:03 left. A dunk by Kenyon Martin gave the Nuggets the lead with 27.5 seconds left.
In between, Nowitzki appeared to have put Dallas back ahead with a layup but was called for charging into Denver's Francisco Elson, who was forced into action after starting center Marcus Camby sprained his left ankle in the first quarter. Nowitzki went back at Elson after Martin's basket, hitting the tying layup and getting the foul call.
Martin, who grew up in Dallas, led Denver with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Andre Miller had 16 points and 10 assists and Carmelo Anthony, who missed the previous game with a sprained right ankle, had 14 points and five rebounds in 37 minutes.
Elson had 10 points and seven rebounds and Boykins had 11 points and six assists.
Raptors 103, Bobcats 92
In Toronto, Jalen Rose scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Toronto Raptors beat the Charlotte Bobcats.
Rose had 12 points during Toronto's pivotal 19-4 run in the fourth quarter. The Raptors outscored the Bobcats 26-12 in the final period.
Morris Peterson added 26 points and Chris Bosh had 21 for the Raptors, who have won five straight at home.
Primoz Brezec had 19 points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds for the Bobcats, who have lost eight straight.
Rose has played better since being removed from the Raptors' starting lineup 15 games ago. The disgruntled forward, who is rumored to be on the trading block, went 8-of-15 from the field.
Eric Williams, Toronto's new starting small forward, went 1-of-6 from the field for just two points.
Bucks 101, Knicks 96
In New York, Desmond Mason scored 22 points to lead six Milwaukee players in double figures, and the Bucks held off the free-falling Knicks, spoiling the debut of New York coach Herb Williams in a matchup of two of the Eastern Conference's worst teams.
It was the 10th loss in 11 games for New York, and came one day after Lenny Wilkens stepped down as coach. Williams, an assistant under Wilkens, assumed the job for the rest of the season. But on Sunday, at least, it was the same disappointing result for the Knicks.
Stephon Marbury had 33 points to lead New York, and Jamal Crawford added 20.
Heat 97, Hornets 68
In Miami, Dwyane Wade had 18 points and seven assists, and the Miami Heat built a 25-point first-quarter lead on the way to an easy victory over New Orleans.
Damon Jones had 13 points and five assists, and Shaquille O'Neal added 12 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes for the Eastern Conference-leading Heat (30-12), who won for the third time in seven games and improved to 9-9 against teams from the West.
Dan Dickau had 16 points for the Hornets, whose NBA-worst record fell to 7-33.
Nate Robinson scored 13 points and the 10th-ranked Washington Huskies moved into a tie for the Pac-10 lead with a 66-48 victory over Washington State Sunday.
Jamaal Williams and Joel Smith each added 10 points for the Huskies (16-2, 6-1 Pac-10), who won their 18th straight at home. The Huskies are tied for the conference lead with Arizona, which won Saturday.
Thomas Kelati had 12 points to lead Washington State (8-8, 3-4).
The Huskies shot 36 percent from the field and 3-for-13 from three-point range for the game.
Washington beat Washington State for the 11th straight time at home.
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