Dallas and San Antonio reached the brink of advancing to the second round of the National Basketball Association playoffs with tension-packed triumphs on Monday.
Germany's Dirk Nowitzki contributed 23 points and 13 rebounds to spark the Dallas Mavericks past Houston 103-100 to grab a 3-2 edge in their best-of-seven series. Chinese center Yao Ming scored a game-high 30 points in a losing cause.
"Whew, what a game," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "At this point, it doesn't matter how you win: good, bad, ugly, fast, slow, whatever. We made some plays down the stretch that you just can't coach."
Tim Duncan produced 39 points and 14 rebounds while French guard Tony Parker scored 11 of his 29 points in overtime to lead San Antonio past host Denver 126-115, giving the Spurs a 3-1 lead in their series.
"I was aggressive," Duncan said. "I got a little confidence early and it just went from there."
In the night's only other game, Washington's Juan Dixon came off the bench to score a career-high 35 points after a 1-for-10 shooting performance in game three to spark the Wizards past Chicago 106-99, evening their series at 2-2.
The Mavericks could advance to a second-round matchup for the fourth time in five years, with regular-season champion Phoenix waiting if Dallas should win game six on Thursday at Houston.
Dallas led the entire second half but never comfortably, nearly squandering an 11-point lead in the final four-and-a-half minutes but holding on with the aid of five missed Yao free throws and a controversial call.
"It's hard to swallow," Houston star Tracy McGrady said. "This is great basketball. Every game is going down to the wire. Hate to lose but love this series."
Two Jerry Stackhouse free throws boosted the Mavericks' edge to 99-94 and Yao sandwiched a dunk and two free throws around a Nowitzki basket to bring the Rockets within 101-98 with 17 seconds to play.
The Mavericks inbounded to Michael Finley, who was trapped in the corner by two defenders. Neither touched Finley but the Rockets were whistled for a foul and Finley made a free throw.
McGrady made a layup with 7.4 seconds to play, making it 102-100. Jason Terry missed 1-of-2 free throws with 4.8 seconds remaining, giving the Rockets a chance to force overtime.
McGrady was fouled in the backcourt by Stackhouse and missed the first free throw, then deliberately missed the second, grabbed the rebound, dribbled beyond the 3-point arc and fired a jumper that clanged off the rim at the buzzer.
"I have no complaints with our effort," said Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy, fined US$100,000 on Monday for saying referees called more penalties on Yao.
"Our effort was good. We didn't play well enough to come away with a road win. We're going to need to play better and that's what we are planning to do," he said.
The Spurs could advance to the second round with a home victory today.
Duncan was dominant inside but fouled out with 2:55 remaining in overtime after Carmelo Anthony slipped and fell after Duncan had touched him. But the Spurs, ignited by Parker, ended the game with a 13-8 run for the victory.
"Tony was awesome," Duncan said. "These guys were great in overtime. They kept attacking and played great."
Earl Boykins came off the bench to lead Denver with 32 points while Anthony added 28 for the Nuggets. Argentina's Manu Ginobili added 24 points for the Spurs.
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