Dwyane Wade scored 27 points and Shaquille O'Neal had his best scoring performance since returning from knee surgery to lead the Miami Heat to a 113-93 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.
O'Neal, who missed 32 games, hit his first four shots and scored 19 first-half points on 9-of-10 shooting. He finished with 22 points and was one of six players in double figures.
The Heat played without point guard Gary Payton, suspended by the league following his ejection for arguing with officials during Saturday's win at Milwaukee. Rookie Chris Quinn made his first career start and finished with 14 points.
PHOTO: AP
Raymond Felton scored 20 points, and Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace each scored 19 for the Bobcats.
Suns 113, Nuggets 108
At Denver, Amare Stoudemire scored 36 points and Phoenix withstood Carmelo Anthony's first career triple-double and the loss of Steve Nash to beat ailing Denver.
Leandro Barbosa added 20 points for the Suns, who had lost two of three after winning 17 straight. Shawn Marion (19 points) and Raja Bell (18) each sank two free throws in the final 12 seconds.
Warriors 113, Pacers 98
At Indianapolis, Stephen Jackson scored a season-high 36 points against his former team and Golden State beat Indiana.
Jackson was a key part of the eight-player trade between the teams on Jan. 17 and this was the first meeting between the teams since.
76ers 100, Nets 98, OT
At Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala had 23 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds to lead Philadelphia over New Jersey, the Nets' second overtime loss in two days.
Samuel Dalembert scored 14 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, and Andre Miller had 18 points to give the Sixers their fifth win in eight games.
Wizards 118, SuperSonics 108
At Washington, Caron Butler scored a career-high 38 points to help Washington overcome Gilbert Arenas' mediocre night and beat Seattle, the SuperSonics' franchise-record 15th consecutive road loss.
Arenas was held to 16 points on 4-for-14 shooting. But Brendan Haywood added a season-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, second-year forward Andray Blatche contributed a career-high 14 points and DeShawn Stevenson added 15 points.
Ray Allen led Seattle with 29 points, but he shot only 3-for-14 after halftime. Chris Wilcox had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the SuperSonics, who have lost five in a row overall.
Lakers 90, Hawks 83
At Atlanta, Kobe Bryant, mostly quiet through three quarters, scored nine straight fourth-quarter points to lead Los Angeles.
Bryant scored 27 points, including 11 in the final period, as the Lakers swept the Hawks for the first time in seven years. The Lakers improved to 3-2 on their eight-game road trip with their second straight win.
Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 27 points but made only 10 of 26 shots. Josh Smith scored 20 points and Zaza Pachulia added 14.
Rockets 105, Timberwolves 77
At Houston, Tracy McGrady scored 16 of his 32 points in the third quarter to lead Houston.
Luther Head went 5-for-7 from 3-point range and had 20 points, and Juwan Howard had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who've won nine of 13 games since an overtime loss to the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Jan. 7.
Jazz 100, Bulls 95
At Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur scored 12 of Utah's final 14 points and the Jazz swept the Bulls for the first time in five years.
Okur finished with 20 points, scoring 12 straight despite playing with five fouls through most of the fourth quarter.
Kings 105, Hornets 99
At Sacramento, California, Ron Artest scored 20 points and tied a career high with nine assists to help the Kings win their third straight game.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB