Gilbert Arenas set a franchise record with 60 points, 16 of them in overtime, to lead the Washington Wizards to a 147-141 victory over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
In a Kobe-like performance, Arenas outscored the Lakers' Bryant by 15 points.
The Wizards' guard went 17-of-32 from the floor, including 5-of-12 from 3-point range. He made 21 of his 27 free throws and also had eight assists and eight rebounds.
He scored 14 points in a row for Washington, including a pair of 3-pointers, in one stretch of the 5-minute overtime.
Bryant, coming off a 53-point performance his previous game, had 45 points on 15-of-24 shooting, but had just four points in overtime.
Antawn Jamison had 25 points and 13 rebounds for Washington, and Caron Butler scored 27. Vladimir Radmanovic, starting in place of the injured Lamar Odom for the Lakers, had 27 points, and Luke Walton had 15 points and a career-high 11 assists.
Rockets 108, Clippers 103
Earlier in Los Angeles, Yao Ming had 32 points and 10 rebounds, Rafer Alston added 24 points and eight assists, and Houston snapped a three-game losing streak without Tracy McGrady.
McGrady missed his fourth straight game because of back spasms.
Shaun Livingston led Los Angeles with 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Chris Kaman had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Elton Brand had 19 points and nine rebounds.
Jazz 104, Pacers 94
In Indianapolis, Carlos Boozer had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Mehmet Okur added 17 points to help Utah open a five-game trip with a victory.
The Pacers, who had beaten Utah seven straight times over the course of the last four years, rallied from 21 points down in the third quarter and pulled to 100-94 on a basket by Jamaal Tinsley with 24 seconds remaining. Rookie Dee Brown then hit four of six free throws in the closing seconds to finish the scoring for the Jazz.
Jermaine O'Neal led Indiana with 31 points.
Raptors 120, Warriors 115
In Toronto, Morris Peterson had 23 points, and T.J. Ford added 21 points and 14 assists to lead the Raptors to their third straight victory without Chris Bosh.
Raptors point guard Jose Calderon was removed from the court on a stretcher and placed in a neck brace after injuring his lower back on a rebound with 32 seconds left. Tests revealed he sustained just a bruise to his left lower back.
Andrea Bargnani had 18 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks for the Raptors, 3-2 without Bosh, their leading scorer, who has an injured left knee.
Monta Ellis scored 28 points for the Warriors.
Pistons 97, SuperSonics 93
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Jason Maxiell hit a baseline jumper with 6.8 seconds left for Detroit, and finished with career highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 24 points, and Chauncey Billups had 21. Rashard Lewis led Seattle with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Penalties expected
The NBA was likely to rule yesterday on penalties resulting from the brawl between the Nuggets and Knicks.
All 10 players on the court, including league scoring leader Carmelo Anthony, were ejected after the melee on Saturday night at New York's Madison Square Garden. The mayhem began when Mardy Collins fouled J.R. Smith.
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
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