The Detroit Pistons showed the Miami Heat that their many moves might not make a difference.
Chauncey Billups scored 30 and Richard Hamilton had 25 points and a season-high nine assists Thursday night leading Detroit past the Heat 106-101 in a rematch of the last season's Eastern Conference finals.
In their first matchup since the Pistons won at Miami in Game 7 of the series, Detroit used clutch shots and key defensive plays in the final minutes to pull away in the close game.
Detroit has won a season-high nine straight games. The Pistons are an NBA-best 24-3, with a 27-game record that trails just two teams in NBA history.
Dwyane Wade had 33 points, Shaquille O'Neal scored 26 and Jason Williams chipped in with 20 points for the Heat, who had won seven of nine games.
Miami added players through free agency and trades in the offseason, and Pat Riley replaced Stan Van Gundy as coach earlier this month.
The Pistons have had the same starting five for nearly two years, a span that includes one NBA title and falling just short of a repeat. Detroit's Rasheed Wallace scored 21 points and Tayshaun Prince added 13.
Spurs 111, Hornets 84
In San Antonio, Michael Finley scored 18 points -- including making all four of his 3-point shots -- and San Antonio shut down New Orleans' offense after the opening minutes.
The Spurs, who lost to New Orleans earlier this month in Oklahoma City, were 11-for-15 on 3s and their lead grew to as many as 32 points in the fourth quarter.
Tim Duncan added 17 points for San Antonio, while Tony Parker had 16 and Manu Ginobili 14.
David West was the only Hornets player in double figures with 18 points. Chris Paul, the team's leading scorer with a 16.7 point per game average, finished with six on 3-for-12 shooting.
SuperSonics 112, Nuggets 105
At Denver, Ray Allen scored a season-high 39 points and Rashard Lewis added 27 in Seattle's victory over short-handed Denver.
The Nuggets got 32 points from Carmelo Anthony, but Seattle held him to just two free throws in the final 18 minutes. He ended his frustrating night with a missed layup with 19 seconds left.
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