LeBron James scored 30 points with seven rebounds and seven assists on Saturday in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 97-84 win over the Detroit Pistons, who had their winning streak stopped at nine and lost for just the fourth time this season.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 points, Larry Hughes 16 and Drew Gooden 12 with 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who posted their most impressive victory and improved to 13-3 at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Pistons, who came in on pace to win a record 73 regular-season games, shot a season-low 36 percent (29-of-81) from the floor and dropped to 24-4 -- still one of the best starts in NBA history.
Tayshaun Prince, who came in averaging 15.1 points, had just four on 2-of-12 shooting. Chauncey Billups was only 2-for-11 from the field and had 14.
Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton had 21 points apiece to lead the Pistons and Ben Wallace added 11 with 18 rebounds.
Mavericks 95, Hornets 90
At Oklahoma City, Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points to help Dallas beat New Orleans.
Jason Terry and Josh Howard scored 20 apiece for the Mavericks, who beat the Hornets for the 16th straight game dating to November 1999. David West led the Hornets with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Speedy Claxton came off the bench to score 17, and Chris Paul had 16 points and 10 assists.
Nowitzki averaged 30 points and shot 54 percent in the first two games against the Hornets this season. After a sluggish first half, he scored 14 in the third quarter in helping the Mavericks open a 10-point lead. They began the period by making eight of their first 10 shots, and closed it by holding the Hornets scoreless over the final 3:14.
Suns 107, Bulls 98, OT
At Chicago, Shawn Marion scored eight of his 28 points in overtime and Eddie House hit a key 3-pointer to lead Phoenix over slumping Chicago.
Tied at 92 after regulation, Marion scored the Suns' first six points in overtime. His spinning layup on the right block made it 98-94 and sent the Bulls into a timeout with 2:17 left.
House then made a 3-pointer to make it a seven-point game. And after a layup by Chicago's Ben Gordon, House threw a perfect bounce pass to Marion for a one-handed dunk that made it 103-96 with 43.5 seconds left.
Kirk Hinrich scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to prevent the sixth straight loss for the Bulls.
Warriors 94, Rockets 89
At Houston, Baron Davis scored 23 points and Jason Richardson added 22 to help Golden State hold off Houston.
Davis also had seven assists and five rebounds and Richardson added six rebounds and five assists for the Warriors, who have won three straight games. Together, the backcourt duo went 6-for-15 from 3-point range.
Tracy McGrady capped an eventful week with 32 points and 10 rebounds. On Tuesday, his fiancee gave birth to their second child and on Wednesday he scored a season-high 38 in a loss to the New Orleans Hornets.
He scored 25 in the second half on Saturday and nearly led the Rockets back from a late 13-point deficit.
Jazz 108, 76ers 102
At Salt Lake City, Andrei Kirilenko converted a three-point play with 18.9 seconds remaining and Utah rallied to win.
The Jazz blew a 15-point lead and needed to rally from a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter, scoring the final seven points of the game and spoiling Allen Iverson's 37-point night for Philadelphia.
Mehmet Okur finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, pulling down a miss by Iverson and getting fouled with 11.5 seconds left in the game. Okur hit both free throws and Kirilenko added two more with 1 second remaining.
Kirilenko finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks.
Chris Webber scored 21 and Andre Iguodala finished with 18 points for the Sixers, who fell to 1-3 on a seven-game road trip.
Spurs 98, Nuggets 88
At Denver, Tim Duncan scored 25 points and Manu Ginobili added 20 off the bench in San Antonio's win over Denver.
With Ginobili still working his way back from a foot injury, the defending NBA champs now sport the league's best bench. Ginobili played 24 minutes and had his best performance since returning from an eight-game absence on Monday.
Reserve Robert Horry added 10 points, including critical 3-pointers that helped decide it in the third quarter. Michael Finley, who started for Ginobili, added 14 points.
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points for the Nuggets, who have lost four of their last five at the Pepsi Center.
Grizzlies 100, SuperSonics 96
At Seattle, Dahntay Jones made a one-handed 4.3m shot with 6.6 seconds left, and Memphis held off Seattle.
Jones scored after Bobby Jackson appeared to travel. Jackson drove the lane and missed an underhanded layup badly. He grabbed the ball out of the air and passed to Jones, who leaned in and hit the shot to put Memphis ahead 98-94.
Officials said Jackson's shot had been partially blocked, but on television replays, the shot appeared to be untouched.
Rashard Lewis made two free throws with 3.3 left, but Jackson made a pair with 2.9 left for the final margin.
Pau Gasol led six Grizzlies in double figures with 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Ray Allen led Seattle with 28 points and Lewis added 19.
Celtics 111, Clippers 92
At Los Angeles, Ricky Davis scored 20 points, Paul Pierce added 19 and Boston downed the Los Angeles Clippers to snap a six-game road losing streak.
Cuttino Mobley scored 27 points and Sam Cassell had 24 for the Clippers, who lost for the seventh time in nine games. They have dropped 10 of their last 12 against Boston, including a double-overtime defeat last season at Staples Center.
The Celtics, who overcame a 20-point deficit to beat the Clippers the last time they faced each other last February in Boston, enjoyed a 20-point lead in the second quarter. Los Angeles rallied as both Cassell and Mobley had 12 points in the third quarter to pull the Clippers within 89-76.
Mobley's 3-pointer cut Boston's lead to 91-81 with 9 minutes to play, but the Clippers got no closer.
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