Dwyane Wade scored 29 points and made three key blocks in the closing minutes as the Miami Heat overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the New Jersey Nets 101-96 in overtime in the NBA on Saturday.
Wade did it all in the Heat’s biggest comeback victory of the season.
The superstar went up high for two blocks on seven-footer Brook Lopez, including one in overtime, and swatted a jumper by Vince Carter into the stands in the final minute of regulation. Wade’s 3-point play with 37.2 seconds left in overtime stretched Miami’s lead to 96-88.
Trailing by 16 points in the first quarter, the Heat rode a season-high 19 points from Yakhouba Diawara and 17 points from Michael Beasley. Miami’s biggest previous comeback was from 15 down against Indiana on Dec. 22.
Keyon Dooling had 23 points, and Carter had 20 for the Nets.
HAWKS 103, ROCKETS 100
At Atlanta, Mike Bibby made a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining, and Josh Smith scored a season-high 29 points for Atlanta.
Joe Johnson had a season-high 14 assists, the last when he drove from the perimeter and into the left side of the lane before passing to Bibby for the winner.
The Hawks won their sixth straight at home, improving to 15-2 this season at Philips Arena.
Reserve Carl Landry scored 18 points, and Yao Ming had 16 points and 15 rebounds for Houston, which has dropped two straight and five of seven.
PACERS 122, KINGS 117
At Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter in Indiana’s second straight victory.
Kevin Martin led Sacramento with a season-high 45 points, making 13 of 24 shots and a career-high seven 3-pointers. The Kings are 1-8 in their last nine games.
In other games, it was:
• Bobcats 102, Bucks 92
• Spurs 108, 76ers 106
• Timberwolves 102, Bulls 92
• Nuggets 105, Hornets 100
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set