Vince Carter scored 32 points and Richard Jefferson added 21 to lead the New Jersey Nets to a 101-86 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday in a matchup of the top teams in the weak Atlantic Division.
Jason Kidd added 10 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds just hours after filing for divorce from his wife of 10 years, accusing her of "extreme cruelty" throughout their marriage.
Mikki Moore added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Nets, who shot 50 percent from the field and limited the Raptors to 38 second-half points.
Top draft pick Andrea Bargnani scored 22 points to lead the Raptors, but only six came in the second half. Toronto got most of its scoring from the bench, with Jose Calderon adding 16 and Morris Peterson 15.
Pistons 98, 76ers 89
At Philadelphia, Tayshaun Prince scored a career-high 33 points and Richard Hamilton had 22 to lead Detroit past Philadelphia.
Flip Murray had a career-high 12 assists for the Pistons. Rasheed Wallace did not start the game because of a coach's decision, played only 29 minutes and scored eight points.
Pacers 91, Hawks 72
At Indianapolis, Al Harrington scored 18 points and sparked a second-half run as Indiana beat Atlanta.
Harrington, who spent two seasons with Atlanta before returning to the Pacers, scored 14 points in the second half after shooting 1-for-8 from the field in the first half.
Danny Granger had 15 points, Stephen Jackson scored 12 and Jermaine O'Neal added 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Pacers (19-16), who held Atlanta to 32 percent shooting.
Suns 113, SuperSonics 102
At Phoenix, Shawn Marion had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Steve Nash added 27 points and 11 assists, and Phoenix beat fading Seattle for its seventh consecutive victory.
The Suns overcame career bests of 29 points and 21 rebounds by Seattle's Nick Collison to hand the Sonics their fifth loss in a row and 12th straight defeat on the road, two shy of the franchise record.
Grizzlies 128, Lakers 118
At Memphis, Tennessee, Pau Gasol had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Mike Miller scored 14 of his 25 points in Memphis' franchise-record 46-point third quarter.
Memphis, which had seven players in double figures, outscored the Lakers 46-22 in the period, including 13 unanswered points over a three-minute span.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 25 points. Maurice Evans scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, when Los Angeles trailed by as many as 25 points.
Damon Stoudamire had 16 points for Memphis.
In other games, it was: Spurs 98, Trail Blazers 84; Mavericks 108, Jazz 105; Cavaliers 108, Kings 98.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was