LeBron James scored 17 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Milwaukee Bucks 91-84 in the NBA on Wednesday.
James added 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his sixth career triple double.
"LeBron continues to amaze me," first-year coach Mike Brown said. "He got a triple-double tonight which was awesome. It's easy to take him for granted when he does because it just seems so natural for him."
PHOTO: AP
Donyell Marshall scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds off the bench to help the Cavaliers snap a seven-game losing streak in Milwaukee.
Michael Redd led the Bucks with 28 points and Bobby Simmons added 18. Jamaal Magloire had 13 points and 12 rebounds. However, the Bucks bench went scoreless.
The last time the Bucks' bench was scoreless was Nov. 27, 1970 against the New York Knicks.
Raptors 121, Magic 97
At Toronto, Charlie Villanueva scored 24 points and Toronto shot a franchise record 63 percent from the field in a rout of Orlando.
The Raptors (10-22) own the third-worst record in the NBA, but tied a season-high in points and outrebounded the Magic 34-21.
Mike James added 17 points and seven assists for the Raptors, who have won four in a row for the first time since Dec. 2-9, 2003.
Jameer Nelson had a career-high 31 points for the Magic, who placed forward Grant Hill on the inactive list before game because of a strained groin.
Celtics 109, Bobcats 106
At Boston, Paul Pierce had 31 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds and Ricky Davis added 23 points to help Boston beat Charlotte.
Orien Greene's driving layup with 57.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter broke a 102-102 tie and gave the Celtics the lead for good. Bernard Robinson missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Boston shot 57 percent from the field to win for just the second time in six games following a 1-4 road road trip. The Celtics have won three straight at home.
Primoz Brezec had 19 points and Brevin Knight added 18 points and 12 assists for the Bobcats, who scored 35 points off turnovers.
Hornets 107, Heat 92
At Oklahoma City, Desmond Mason scored 24 points and New Orleans overcame Dwyane Wade's second career triple-double for a win against Miami.
David West scored 20 and Paul had 15 points and nine assists for New Orleans. Kirk Snyder, making his second straight start in place of benched J.R. Smith, added a season-high 13 points.
Wade, who had a triple-double on Dec. 30, 2004 against Detroit, had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to become the first Heat player to accomplish the feat twice.
Timberwolves 91, Mavericks 78
At Minneapolis, Marko Jaric scored 22 points to spark struggling Minnesota past Dallas.
The Timberwolves, who won for only the third time in their last 11 games, were paced by Kevin Garnett's 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Wally Szczerbiak contributed his usual 20 points, but Jaric and defensive stalwart Trenton Hassell (14 points) were the catalysts for a team that has been starving for scoring beyond the big two. Garnett and Szczerbiak are the only ones averaging better than 11 points per game.
Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points, and Marquis Daniels chipped in 16 points for the Mavericks, who were held to a season-low in scoring and shot only 37.2 percent (29-for-78) from the floor.
Spurs 106, Trail Blazers 75
At San Antonio, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each scored 18 points and San Antonio held Portland to three field goals in the fourth quarter.
San Antonio limited Portland to 9-for-32 (28 percent) shooting in the second half and the Spurs had 57 rebounds, including 20 on the offensive end. The Spurs outscored the Blazers 28-11 in the final quarter.
Led by Duncan, San Antonio's defense limited Zach Randolph, Portland's top scorer at 18.5 points, to just five on 1-for-14 shooting.
Manu Ginobili added 15 points and Rasho Nesterovic matched his season high with 12.
Jarrett Jack's 15 points led Portland, which shot 26-for-70 (37 percent) as a team. Juan Dixon scored 12 and Ruben Patterson 11.
Nuggets 106, Pacers 86
At Denver, Earl Boykins and Carmelo Anthony each scored 23 points in Denver's victory over Indiana.
Boykins scored 12 points in a 13-2 run that gave the Nuggets a 47-34 lead in the second quarter. His best play, though, came on an alley-oop to fellow guard Earl Watson for a jam that put Denver ahead 86-70 in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets used a four-guard lineup to outrun the Pacers.
Indiana sorely missed Jermaine O'Neal (pneumonia) in the paint. Stephen Jackson led the Pacers with 21 points but was 6-of-17 from the field. Fred Jones and Danny Granger each scored 12.
Suns 105, 76ers 85
At Phoenix, Steve Nash scored 24 points and sat out the fourth quarter while Phoenix completed a rout of Philadelphia for its fifth victory in six games.
Reserves James Jones and Eddie House scored 19 and 18 points, respectively. Each was 4-for-7 on 3-pointers.
Samuel Dalembert scored 14 and grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds for Philadelphia. Allen Iverson scored 16 on 7-for-23 shooting and left the game for good with 1:34 left in the third quarter.
Philadelphia was without Chris Webber for the first time this season. He sat out with a lower back strain.
SuperSonics 101, Bulls 97
At Chicago, Rashard Lewis scored 21 points and Luke Ridnour hit two free throws with three seconds left to lead Seattle to a victory over Chicago in Bob Hill's debut as the SuperSonics head coach.
Ben Gordon hit a 3-pointer with 33.4 seconds left to pull the Bulls to within 99-97. After a jump ball, Gordon stepped out of bounds near the Bulls bench, giving Seattle possession.
Ridnour (15 points) then hit the free throws, sending the Bulls to their eighth straight loss.
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