Dwight Howard had 24 points and 15 rebounds and Rashard Lewis scored 19 to lift the Orlando Magic to a second straight impressive victory, 95-88 over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday.
Coming one night after Orlando handed the Boston Celtics their first loss of the season, the Magic's fifth-straight victory snapped the Hornets' five-game winning streak.
It was a loss for New Orleans on multiple levels. Already playing without Chris Paul, who missed his second game with a sprained right ankle, the Hornets lost Tyson Chandler in the second quarter when the starting center hyperextended his right knee. Hornets officials said Chandler was day to day pending further evaluation.
PHOTO: AP
Peja Stojakovic scored 21 to lead New Orleans, which fell to 9-3 after its best start in franchise history.
Bobcats 101, Trail Blazers 92
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Gerald Wallace scored 27 points for the third consecutive game, and Charlotte improved to 6-4, the best record through 10 games in the team's four-year history.
PHOTO: AP
Raymond Felton had 24 points and 10 assists and Jason Richardson scored 24 points for Charlotte. Wallace hit 10-of-19 shots, including a key dunk, steal and layup in the Bobcats' decisive run midway through the fourth quarter to drop the Trail Blazers to 0-7 on the road.
Jarrett Jack scored 18 points, Brandon Roy had 17 and Martell Webster 15 for Portland, but the Trail Blazers had 19 turnovers.
Grizzlies 125, Supersonics 108
At Memphis, Tennessee, Stromile Swift scored a season-high 24 points, and Mike Miller added 19 points and seven assists for Memphis, which beat Seattle to stop a three-game skid.
Damon Stoudamire had 16 points and seven assists and Hakim Warrick added 16 for the Grizzlies.
Pau Gasol had 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and seven blocks, one short of his career-high for rejections.
Delonte West led Seattle with 17 points, Chris Wilcox added 16, and Jeff Green had 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Jazz 102, Nets 75
At Salt Lake City, Deron Williams rebounded from two subpar games to score 20 points and lead Utah over the reeling New Jersey.
Williams made 8 of 11 shots and had six assists and Carlos Boozer scored 17 points to help the Jazz improve to 5-1 at home. Mehmet Okur and Ronnie Brewer added 14 points each for Utah.
Richard Jefferson scored 22 points and Bostjan Nachbar had 16 for the Nets.
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