Steve Nash had 35 points and 12 assists and Amare Stoudemire added a season-high 31 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 108-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
Nash took advantage of point guard Chauncey Billups' absence to help hand Detroit its third straight loss. Billups is expected to miss two weeks after straining a calf muscle at the end of Friday's one-point loss to Indiana.
After the Pistons erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, Nash hit consecutive jumpers to put Phoenix back ahead 95-91 with 4:10 to play.
The Pistons got within 101-99 on Carlos Delfino's layup with 1:39 left, but he missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer on the next possession, and Nash's three-point play put the game away.
Spurs 95, Hawks 81
At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 27 points and Tim Duncan added 17 despite playing with the stomach flu that has pestered the San Antonio roster for a week.
It was Parker's third straight game with more than 20 points.
Manu Ginobili, who missed a game this week because of stomach flu, scored 18 for San Antonio, which opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run for a 77-61 lead.
Joe Johnson scored 23 points for the Hawks (9-20), who have lost seven straight and 11 of 12. Atlanta has lost nine straight in San Antonio dating to Feb. 15, 1997.
Lakers 104, 76ers 94
At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant had 35 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Los Angeles overcame another injury to starting center Kwame Brown.
The Lakers were leading 56-48 early in the third quarter when Brown was helped to the dressing room because of a severely sprained left ankle.
Kyle Korver had a season-high 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the 76ers, who have lost 19 of their last 23 games and 14 of 16 on the road.
Clippers 90, Knicks 80
At Los Angeles, Elton Brand scored 32 points and tied his career high with eight blocked shots to lead Los Angeles.
Chris Kaman had 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who have won four of their last five games following a six-game losing streak.
SuperSonics 101, Celtics 95
At Seattle, Chris Wilcox scored a season-high 24 points and Damien Wilkins added 20 for the Sonics.
Ray Allen, Seattle's leading scorer, was 7-of-20 from the floor for just 15 points after having a season-low 14 on Friday night in a loss to Minnesota. Tony Allen had 23 points for the Celtics in their sixth straight loss.
Rockets 111, Grizzlies 109
At Houston, Tracy McGrady scored a season-high 38 points and had nine rebounds to help Houston hand Memphis interim coach Tony Barone his first loss.
Juwan Howard added a season-high 22 points and Luther Head had 18 in the Rockets' third straight victory.
Mike Miller matched a season high with seven 3-pointers and scored 32 points for Memphis in its 12th loss in 14 games.
Mavericks 89, Nuggets 85
At Denver, Josh Howard had 28 points and 17 rebounds and Jason Terry added 21 points to lead Dallas to its 10th straight victory.
Dallas played without Dirk Nowitzki, who was sidelined by a sinus infection.
Allen Iverson had 28 points and eight assists for Denver and Earl Boykins added 20 points.
Marcus Camby had 13 points and 13 rebounds in his first game back after missing four games because of a broken finger.
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