Nazr Mohammed had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons to an 84-64 victory over Miami on Tuesday night as the Heat's Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade watched most of the exhibition game from the bench.
The two came out of the game with the defending NBA champions leading 13-12 in the first quarter, and the Pistons quickly took a lead they never relinquished in the preseason opener for both teams.
Reserve guard Carlos Delfino added 15 points for Detroit.
Jason Kapono led the Heat with 12 points, while Dorrell Wright added 11.
The Pistons, who lost to the Heat in six games in last season's Eastern Conference finals, took the court for the first time since losing Ben Wallace, who signed in the offseason as a free agent with the Chicago Bulls.
O'Neal and Wade returned to the lineup at the start of the second half, with the Pistons leading 42-32. But Detroit opened the third quarter with a 13-6 run, taking a 55-38 lead on a three-point play by Mohammed after he was fouled by O'Neal.
Heat coach Pat Riley pulled O'Neal and Wade midway through the third quarter, and they spent the rest of the game sitting together on the bench.
O'Neal, who has complained about the feel of the new microfiber composite basketballs that replaced the old leather models, had four turnovers in 17 minutes. He finished with seven rebounds and four points.
The Philadelphia 76ers rallied from a 22-point deficit midway into the third quarter to beat the Phoenix Suns 103-100 as part of their NBA preseason European tour.
Rick Brunson, who did not play in the first three quarters, made a decisive assist, grabbed a rebound and made one of two free throws to secure the victory for the 76ers, who improved to 1-1 in preseason play.
Iverson finished with 29 points and Weber had 17, while Korver finished with 20. Andre Igoudala had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later