The Houston Rockets recovered from blowing a 16-point lead in the second half to beat the Utah Jazz in double overtime in the NBA on Saturday.
Ron Artest scored 10 of his 28 points in second overtime to clinch a win that moved Houston within half a game of Southwest Division leader San Antonio.
The Rockets led 59-43 early in the third quarter, then went 3-for-18 from the field in the fourth to fuel Utah’s comeback.
PHOTO: AP
The Jazz almost won despite playing without their top three scorers and rebounders — Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap — for the second straight game.
HAWKS 129, BULLS 117
In Atlanta, Georgia, Joe Johnson scored a season-high 41 points to lead Atlanta over Chicago.
PHOTO : AP
Johnson finished only a point off his career high, while Josh Smith also set a season high with 24, as the Hawks bettered their previous highest points tally this season by 10 points.
Chicago’s Ben Gordon scored 33 points and was 6-of-8 from 3-point range to pass Scottie Pippen and become the Bulls’ career leader in 3-pointers.
The Bulls matched their season high for points and shot 54 percent from the field, but still were not close at the end.
WIZARDS 104, THUNDER 95
In Washington, the home side downed Oklahoma City in a match of the two worst teams in the NBA.
Antawn Jamison scored 29 points for the Wizards, who broke an eight-game losing streak, their longest since 2001.
Elias Sports Bureau statistics show there had never before been an NBA game matching teams with lower winning percentages — .100 for Oklahoma City and .148 for Washington — with both having played at least 25 games.
PISTONS 87, BUCKS 76
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tayshaun Prince scored nine of his 19 points in the decisive third quarter as Detroit overcame Milwaukee.
Allen Iverson added 18 for the Pistons, who have won three straight.
SPURS 106, GRIZZLIES 103, 2OT
In San Antonio, Texas, Tony Parker scored 32 points, hitting two of San Antonio’s three baskets in the second overtime as the Spurs edged Memphis.
Michael Finley blocked Memphis’ last shot to secure the victory.
Parker’s two baskets put the Spurs up by four before Memphis got a 3-pointer with 71 seconds left. The Grizzlies had a chance to send the game into a third overtime, but Finley was able to swat the ball from behind as the Grizzlies were preparing to shoot.
TRAIL BLAZERS 102, RAPTORS 89
In Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy had 32 points and nine assists to spark Portland’s win over Toronto.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
MAGIC 118, TIMBERWOLVES 94
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Orlando notched its seventh straight win by downing Minnesota.
Hedo Turkoglu scored 11 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as the Magic slowly pulled away.
The Timberwolves have lost nine straight at home.
NETS 114, BOBCATS 103, OT
In Charlotte, North Carolina, New Jersey broke clear in overtime to down Charlotte.
Vince Carter scored 28 points for the Nets, who had lost at home against the Bobcats on Friday.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
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Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with