The Boston Celtics came perilously close to seeing their remarkable winning streak ended, just hanging on to beat the Atlanta Hawks 88-85 on Wednesday and make it 16 straight NBA victories.
Atlanta’s Joe Johnson missed a late free throw that would have tied the game with 2.7 seconds left. Instead the Celtics landed two free throws of their own with less than a second on the clock.
Boston has a franchise-record 24-2 record, and is now only two wins off the Celtics’ longest-ever winning streak of 18 set in 1982.
PHOTO: AFP
Kevin Garnett scored 10 of his 18 points in the final quarter to help Boston stave off Atlanta.
HORNETS 90, SPURS 83
In New Orleans, Chris Paul set an NBA record with a steal in his 106th straight regular-season game and had 19 points and 12 assists as New Orleans beat San Antonio.
Paul broke Alvin Robertson’s NBA mark — which stood since 1986 — when he deflected and quickly corralled a pass late in the second quarter.
New Orleans erased a seven-point deficit in the last five minutes.
JAZZ 103, NETS 92
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Utah overcame a dismal seven points in the first quarter to beat New Jersey.
Deron Williams had 17 points and 11 assists for the Jazz.
Utah lost coach Jerry Sloan after he picked up two technical fouls early in the fourth quarter.
CAVALIERS 93, TIMBERWOLVES 70
In Minneapolis, LeBron James scored 32 points on 14-of-20 shooting as Cleveland sent Minnesota to its 11th straight loss.
The Cavaliers were coming off a loss in Atlanta on Saturday that ended their winning streak at 11.
MAVERICKS 96, RAPTORS 86
In Toronto, Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Dallas over Toronto.
Jason Terry also scored 27 points for Dallas.
76ERS 93, BUCKS 88
In Philadelphia, Lou Williams matched his career high with 25 points to spark Philadelphia’s win over Milwaukee.
BULLS 115, CLIPPERS 109, OT
In Chicago, Derrick Rose converted a decisive three-point play in overtime as Chicago edged Los Angeles.
Chicago’s Ben Gordon had a four-point play with 20.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, when they scored the final nine points.
PISTONS 88, WIZARDS 74
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Detroit notched a third successive win by downing Washington.
Allen Iverson scored 28 points, and Rodney Stuckey added 18 points and matched his career high with 11 assists for the Pistons.
PACERS 127, WARRIORS 120
In Indianapolis, Danny Granger almost single-handedly hauled the Indiana Pacers over Golden State.
The 2.06m Granger scored 17 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, made all 17 of his free throws and had 11 rebounds and six assists.
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
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