The second edition of Yao versus Yi didn't live up to its billing, as Yao Ming's Houston Rockets beat Yi Jianlian's Milwaukee Bucks 91-83 in the NBA on Saturday.
Both of China's biggest basketball exports had quiet nights.
Yao scored 12 points and added 12 rebounds for Houston, sitting out much of the first half after getting in early foul trouble and injuring his ankle just before halftime.
PHOTO: AFP
Yi scored six points, below the rookie's average of 9.7 per game.
Jazz 110, Grizzlies 91
In Memphis, Tennessee, Utah extended their winning streak to eight games by beating a diminished Memphis.
Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Deron Williams had 16 points and 11 assists for the Jazz, who have won 12 of their past 13 to sit atop the Northwest Division.
Memphis lost their third consecutive game, and got a glimpse of what the rest of the season might be like without team leader Pau Gasol, who was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
Cavaliers 98, Clippers 84
In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 28 points after missing a game with a sprained ankle, leading Cleveland over Los Angeles.
The Cavaliers are 0-6 without James this season and 26-14 with him.
The Clippers played their fourth straight game without leading scorers Corey Maggette and Chris Kaman, who were out with illness.
Nuggets 117, Bobcats 101
In Denver, Carmelo Anthony returned from an ankle injury to score 25 points and Denver beat Charlotte.
Allen Iverson added 24 points and 13 assists for the Nuggets, who won their eighth straight home game to remain just a game behind Utah in the Central Division.
Magic 121, Pacers 115
In Indianapolis, Orlando beat Indiana for their fourth-straight win.
Dwight Howard had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, which is now five games clear atop the Southeast Division.
The slumping Pacers dropped their sixth consecutive game.
Hawks 104, Nets 92
In Atlanta, the home team ended a three-game losing streak by beating New Jersey.
Marvin Williams scored 24 points, while Josh Smith and Josh Childress each had 23 for the Hawks, who had dropped seven of eight.
The Hawks used a quick transition game to outscore the Nets 16-7 on fast-break points in the second half.
New Jersey dropped to 2-10 since Jan. 11.
SuperSonics 86, Knicks 85
In Seattle, Kevin Durant shook off another poor shooting night to score 21 points, including a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left, and Seattle beat New York.
It was the third consecutive victory for the SuperSonics.
Seattle native Nate Robinson missed a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining that would have won it for the Knicks, who lost all five games on their road trip.
They blew second-half leads in four of those defeats, including this one.
Robinson missed all nine of his shots and finished with five points, two assists and three turnovers in 32 minutes.
New York (14-33) sank to a season-low 19 games under .500.
Kings 105, Bulls 101
In Sacramento, California, Ron Artest scored 28 points to help Sacramento beat Chicago.
Kevin Martin had 26 for the Kings, who have won four straight and are the closest they've been to .500 since 10 games into the season.
The Bulls had just one field goal in the final 4:57 of the game and that came on a meaningless layup at the buzzer. They have lost nine-straight road games.
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