Kobe Bryant had 26 points and five assists as the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves 98-86 on Sunday.
Pau Gasol had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Andrew Bynum added 14 points and nine rebounds and Trevor Ariza scored 14 points for the Lakers.
The win was the 13th in the last 15 games for the Lakers, whose 20-3 record is the second-best in the NBA behind Boston’s 22-2 mark, but it wasn’t very impressive. The Lakers won despite being outrebounded 53-46. They forced 17 turnovers while committing 10 themselves and shot 44.7 percent to Minnesota’s 36.1 percent.
Al Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Minnesota. The Timberwolves (4-19) lost their ninth straight game and fourth in a row since Kevin McHale took over as coach last Monday.
HORNETS 99, RAPTORS 91
At Toronto, David West scored 29 points and James Posey made six three-pointers and had 20 points as New Orleans beat Toronto for its eighth win in 10 games.
Rasual Butler added 16 points, and Chris Paul had 12 points and 12 assists for the Hornets, 12-of-33 from three-point range. Chris Bosh had 25 points for Toronto.
SPURS 109, THUNDER 104
At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 22 points and Tim Duncan had 20 points and 12 rebounds in San Antonio’s sixth straight victory. Matt Bonner added 17 points.
In Sunday’s other game, it was:
• Grizzlies 102, Heat 86
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