Rasheed Wallace scored 24 points and Richard Hamilton added 22 to lead Detroit to an 84-72 victory over Cleveland on Monday night, the Pistons' sixth straight victory and second in two days against the Cavaliers.
Wallace made four 3-pointers, a night after he split open Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas' head with an elbow during Detroit's 90-78 home win. Wallace was fined US$5,000 by the NBA on Monday for the flagrant foul.
LeBron James led Cleveland with 26 points and Ilgauskas, playing with five stitches in his head, had 18 points. The Cavaliers have lost four straight.
PHOTO: EPA
Chauncey Billups added 15 points and 12 assists for Detroit.
Heat 101, Raptors 94
At Miami, Dwyane Wade was 15-for-19 from the field and scored 32 points, helping the Heat extend their season-best winning streak to six games.
PHOTO: AP
Shaquille O'Neal added 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who shot a season-high 60 percent. They were only 10-for-25 from the line, including 5-for-15 by O'Neal. Mike James scored 26 points for Toronto.
The Raptors lost their fourth game in a row, and the latest defeat came with Toronto on the verge of hiring Bryan Colangelo as president and general manager. He resigned on Monday as president and general manager of the Phoenix Suns, and a news conference was scheduled for yesterday in Toronto to announce his hiring.
Hawks 104, Nets 102, OT
PHOTO: AP
At Atlanta, Al Harrington scored 22 points, and Josh Smith and Joe Johnson added 19 points each for the Hawks.
New Jersey's Vince Carter attempted a long 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime, but it rimmed out and Nenad Krstic also missed a follow attempt. Carter also missed a 3-point attempt at the end of regulation.
Carter and Richard Jefferson scored 22 points apiece for New Jersey.
Grizzlies 108, Wizards 98
At Memphis, Tennessee, Pau Gasol scored a career-high 39 points and the Grizzlies shot 70.9 percent from the field in the second half and 58.8 percent overall.
Gilbert Arenas led Washington with 37 points -- his 27th 30-point game of the season -- and Antawn Jamison had 35. The Wizards had won three straight.
Gasol, who also had 10 rebounds, bettered his previous career high of 37 points.
Eddie Jones added 18 points for Memphis, 16 in the second half.
Mavericks 104, 76ers 92
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 32 points and 13 rebounds despite missing most of the third quarter with a sprained ankle to help the Mavericks win for the 19th time in their last 20 games.
Jason Terry added 24 points, and Dallas extend its club-record home winning streak to 15 games. Allen Iverson scored 29 points for Philadelphia.
Suns 111, Rockets 94
At Houston, Shawn Marion scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half and also had 18 rebounds to lead Phoenix to its seventh straight victory.
Marion has scored 30 points or more in all three games since the All-Star break.
It was the Suns' first game since learning that president and general manager Bryan Colangelo had resigned and was expected to join the Toronto Raptors as president and general manager yesterday.
Spurs 121, Knicks 93
At San Antonio, Michael Finley scored 22 points in 22 minutes, making all eight of his attempts from the field -- including a season-high five 3-pointers for the Spurs.
Tony Parker added 20 points and 12 assists, and the Spurs shot a season-best 62.5 percent. Quentin Richardson led New York with 14 points.
Bucks 110, Nuggets 89
At Denver, Michael Redd had 24 points and nine rebounds, and Charlie Bell added 17 points for Milwaukee.
Andrew Bogut and Jamaal Magloire scored 16 points apiece for the Bucks, who ended a six-game losing streak against the Nuggets dating to Jan. 25, 2003.
Carmelo Anthony had 19 points for Denver, but only four in the second half.
Clippers 95, Bobcats 87
At Los Angeles, Elton Brand had 35 points and 10 rebounds, and Sam Cassell added 18 points and 11 assists for the Clippers.
The Clippers won their second straight after a five-game losing streak. Vladimir Radmanovic started for the third time in five games since being acquired from Seattle on Feb. 14 and had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Kings 115, Trail Blazers 91
At Sacramento, California, Kevin Martin matched his season high with 25 points, and Brad Miller had 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the Kings' 10th straight home victory.
Mike Bibby added 16 points and seven assists, and Ron Artest had 12 points and eight assists. Brian Skinner scored a season-high 17 points for Portland, which lost its sixth straight and is 1-10 in its last 11.
Jazz 117, Warriors 108, OT
At Oakland, California, Matt Harpring scored five of his 28 points in overtime for Utah after hitting a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in regulation to tie it.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care