Lamar Odom scored 19 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 102-91 on Wednesday night despite Kobe Bryant's lowest-scoring game of the season.
Bryant sat out the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points for the Lakers, who put the game out of reach by outscoring Toronto 31-18 in the third quarter.
Luke Walton added a season-high 13 points and six rebounds for the Lakers, who have won three games in a row.
Los Angeles won at Milwaukee on Tuesday night and didn't get to its hotel until 3am. But the Lakers outrebounded Toronto 48-33 and shot 54 percent, compared to 41 for Toronto.
Chris Bosh had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who fell to 3-17.
Bucks 88, 76ers 85
At Philadelphia, Andrew Bogut's go-ahead putback with 10.7 seconds left capped a frantic fourth-quarter rally and helped Milwaukee beat Philadelphia for the third time this season.
Michael Redd scored 24 points, and Maurice Williams sank two clutch free throws in the final minute and scored 16 for the Bucks, who blew an 18-point first-half lead before completing an impressive comeback of their own.
Allen Iverson scored 23 points and Dalembert had 13 points and 12 rebounds, but the Sixers lost their fourth consecutive game.
Nets 97, Bobcats 84
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Vince Carter overcame a sore ankle and knee to score 23 points and lead New Jersey over Charlotte.
The win was the 1,000th in franchise history for the Nets and improved them to 5-0 against the Bobcats. Charlotte, meanwhile, has dropped five straight.
Richard Jefferson finished with 21 points for the Nets. Nenad Krstic had 17 and Jason Kidd finished with 11 points and 11 assists.
Brevin Knight led Charlotte with 23 points. Primoz Brezec had 11 points and Gerald Wallace finished with 10.
Bulls 102, Magic 93
At Orlando, Florida, Jannero Pargo scored a season-high 23 points and Luol Deng had 22 to help Chicago beat Orlando to snap a two-game losing streak. Filling in for injured teammate Kirk Hinrich, who sustained a concussion when he took an elbow to the face from Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki on Monday night, Pargo was 9-of-13, including 5-of-8 on 3-point attempts.
Dwight Howard had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Magic, who have lost five straight.
Steve Francis returned after missing three games because of a bruised chest and scored 16 points, but also had six of Orlando's 23 turnovers before fouling out with 1:36 left.
Spurs 98, Heat 84
At San Antonio, Tim Duncan scored 28 points and Manu Ginobili added 27 as San Antonio dominated in the paint to beat Miami.
Dwyane Wade scored 31 points but got little help from the rest of the Heat, who shot 36 percent from the field and had no answer for Duncan. Shaquille O'Neal, who sprained his ankle Nov. 3 in the Heat's home opener against Indiana, remained on the team's inactive list.
Celtics 101, Hornets 87
At Oklahoma City, Paul Pierce scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Ricky Davis added 26 points, and Boston never trailed in a victory over New Orleans.
Mark Blount tied a season high with 19 points off the bench and fellow reserve Al Jefferson had 16 points, his highest output of the season.
David West led New Orleans with 29 points and Chris Paul added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
New Orleans trailed by at least six points for the final three quarters and lost its third in a row. The Hornets also had a three-game home winning streak snapped.
Jazz 95, Hawks 83
At Salt Lake City, Andrei Kirilenko scored 14 points and matched his career high with 10 assists, and Utah ended a four-game home losing streak by beating woeful Atlanta.
Matt Harpring added a season-high 30 points and reserve Milt Palacio had 10 points and nine assists for the Jazz, who had a 37-29 rebounding advantage and forced 21 turnovers.
Utah hasn't lost five straight at home since 1982 and had the right team in town to prevent that from changing. At 2-16, the Hawks are off to the worst start in team history -- even worse than their 3-15 record after 18 games a year ago.
Atlanta has lost seven straight, going 0-3 on a swing through Phoenix, Denver and Utah. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 19 points and Salim Stoudamire added 15.
Clippers 84, Knicks 79
At Los Angeles, Elton Brand had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Cuttino Mobley scored eight of his 24 points in the final 2 minutes, and the Los Angeles Clippers erased an 11-point halftime deficit to beat New York.
Eddy Curry had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost all seven games they have played against the Clippers at Staples Center, after winning their final five visits to the LA Sports Arena.
The Knicks shot 36.5 percent for the game and did not make a field goal over the final 3:40. Stephon Marbury, the only player to start all 18 games for New York, had 12 points and two assists in 42 minutes and was 3-for-16 from the field.
Timberwolves 84, Trail Blazers 74
At Portland, Oregon, Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Minnesota erased a 14-point second-half deficit to beat Portland.
Wally Szczerbiak scored 19 points and made a key 3-pointer late in the game as the Timberwolves won their fourth straight, sweeping a four-game road trip.
Zach Randolph had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have lost six straight, including Tuesday night's 130-85 loss in Phoenix. Portland has lost eight of its last nine games.
Bulls 102, Magic 93
At Orlando, Florida, Jannero Pargo scored a season-high 23 points and Luol Deng had 22 to help Chicago beat Orlando to snap a two-game losing streak.
Filling in for injured teammate Kirk Hinrich, who sustained a concussion when he took an elbow to the face from Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki on Monday night, Pargo was 9-of-13, including 5-of-8 on 3-point attempts.
Dwight Howard had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Magic, who have lost five straight.
Steve Francis returned after missing three games because of a bruised chest and scored 16 points, but also had six of Orlando's 23 turnovers before fouling out with 1:36 left.
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