Rasheed Wallace scored 22 points in 26 minutes to lead six Detroit players in double figures, and the Pistons embarrassed Shaquille O'Neal and the Phoenix Suns 116-86 in the NBA on Sunday.
Chauncey Billups had 14 points and 11 assists, and Antonio McDyess 12 points and 13 rebounds as Detroit easily ended the Suns' 11-game winning streak against Eastern Conference foes.
Phoenix lost to a team from the East for only the third time in 25 tries.
O'Neal, who turns 36 in two weeks, had seven points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes and was 1-for-8 from the foul line. Amare Stoudemire scored 31 and Leandro Barbosa 18 for Phoenix.
Rockets 110, Bulls 97
At Houston, Tracy McGrady had 24 points and eight assists and Houston extended their winning streak to 12 games.
The Rockets' streak is their longest since their championship season of 1993-94.
Celtics 112, Trail Blazers 102
At Portland, Oregon, Paul Pierce scored 30 points and Boston rebounded from a slow start to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Celtics trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, but gained control in the second when Portland struggled without guard Brandon Roy, last season's rookie of the year, who aggravated a right ankle sprain.
Cavaliers 109, Grizzlies 89
At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 25 points and had 11 assists to lead the home team to an easy win.
Ben Wallace, who started at power forward, scored 12 points, tying his season high, and had 10 rebounds.
Magic 112, Kings 93
At Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Orlando got a huge fourth-quarter effort from their reserves.
Brian Cook and Keyon Dooling combined for 20 points in a 22-8 run to start the final period, which Orlando entered ahead 74-68. No Magic starter scored in the fourth quarter until Howard hit two free throws with 4:28 remaining. By then the game was already in hand.
Raptors 115, Knicks 92
At Toronto, Andrea Bargnani had 25 points and Chris Bosh added 17 as Toronto rebounded from a loss to New York two days earlier.
Toronto gave coach Sam Mitchell a victory in his 300th game. Mitchell is 137-163 as coach of the Raptors.
Mavericks 99, Timberwolves 83
At Minneapolis, Jason Kidd tied his season high with 17 assists in his third game with Dallas and Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points as the Mavericks sent last-place Minnesota to their seventh loss in eight games.
Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 22 points.
Lakers 111, SuperSonics 91
At Seattle, Kobe Bryant scored 21 points in just 26 minutes, handed out 10 assists, and picked up his first ejection of the season in Los Angeles' season-high eighth-straight win.
The Lakers never trailed while extending their longest streak since late in the 2003-2004 season.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two