Tony Parker had 26 points and seven assists to lead four starters in double figures as the San Antonio Spurs posted a 92-83 win over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.
Tim Duncan collected 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks and Manu Ginobili added 16 points and four steals for San Antonio, which has won three straight National Basketball Association games.
JR Smith returned after serving a 10-game suspension for his involvement in the brawl against New York on Dec. 16.
"It was fun. It was good to have him back," Denver guard Allen Iverson said. "He played well. You could tell he's been working while he's been out. It was just good to have him back. Another piece to our puzzle."
Smith looked a bit rusty, finishing with 12 points and two steals in 32 minutes off the bench. He made 5-of-13 shots.
"It felt good to get out there and play with my teammates," Smith said. "It felt real good. Instead of playing the same guys every day at practice, we finally get to go up against somebody else."
Iverson scored 33 points for the Nuggets. It was just his third game with at least 30 points since Dec. 22.
Late in the fourth quarter, Ginobili drained a jumper off the glass, then stole a pass and found Parker streaking for an easy fast-break layup 1:31 remaining as the Spurs built an 88-80 edge.
Iverson converted a three-point play with 40 seconds to go, making it 88-85. But Ginobili and Parker scored on consecutive layups in the final moments to seal the win.
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
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