Boris Diaw had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in one of the best playoff performances of his National Basketball Association career, as the Phoenix Suns stayed alive with a 105-86 rout of the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Raja Bell scored 21 of his 27 points in a dominant first half to help Phoenix bring a one-sided end to the defending NBA champions’ nine-game playoff winning streak. The Suns were 11-0 in the regular season when Bell scored at least 20.
Phoenix still trails the first-round series 3-1, with Game 5 tonight in San Antonio. No NBA team has come back from 0-3 to win a series.
PHOTO :AFP
Tony Parker led San Antonio with 18 points and Manu Ginobili scored 10.
Hornets 97, Mavericks 84
In Dallas, David West let out his pent-up frustration over a poor Game 3 with a determined effort in Game 4, scoring 10 of his 24 points in a quick stretch early in the second half to help New Orleans pull away and take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series over Dallas.
The Hornets hadn’t won in Dallas over 14 tries since January 1998. This victory means they might not have to come back until next season. They can eliminate the Mavericks by winning Game 5 tonight in New Orleans.
Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Jason Terry scored 20 points, but they didn’t get much help. Josh Howard was three-for-16 and Jason Kidd had only three points, three assists and four rebounds before getting ejected with 7 minutes, 16 seconds left for a flagrant foul on Jannero Pargo. Thousands of fans bailed out soon after, then a guy down the row from team owner Mark Cuban got tossed, too.
Cavaliers 100, Wizards 97
In Washington, LeBron James had 34 points and 12 rebounds, and passed to Delonte West for a tiebreaking three-pointer with 5.4 seconds left on Sunday, helping Cleveland beat Washington to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series.
Cleveland led by 15 in the third quarter, but Gilbert Arenas led Washington’s rally.
He made two free throws with 57 seconds left to get Washington within two points, and after James missed a jumper, Arenas’ 8-foot fadeaway with 28 seconds remaining tied the game 97-97. James dribbled out the clock before finding West, whose career playoff-high 21 points included five of Cleveland’s 13 three-pointers.
The series moves to Cleveland tomorrow for Game 5 in the best-of-seven series.
Pistons 93, 76ers 84
In Philadelphia, Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and made all but one shot from the field, and Detroit played with a purpose and dominated the second half to even the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series at 2-2.
The Pistons erased a 14-point, first-half deficit against the upstart 76ers and will host Game 5 tonight.
Rasheed Wallace finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Richard Hamilton bounced back from a 1-for-10 first half to finish with 18 points. Chauncey Billups also scored 18 points.
Andre Iguodala missed 10 of his final 11 shots and scored 12 points. Samuel Dalembert had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, while Andre Miller and Willie Green each scored 13 points.
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s second-youngest race winner with a composed drive to victory for Mercedes in an eventful Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole position starter and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the start, but retook it soon after and was in control after that. “We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team on the radio amid laughs and whoops. It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Lewis Hamilton was
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