Von Wafer hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left to give Houston the lead as the Rockets beat the slumping Boston Celtics 89-85 in the NBA on Wednesday.
It was the sixth loss in eight games for the defending NBA champions, but their first at home since a Nov. 14 defeat to Denver sent them on a 19-game winning streak.
Yao Ming (姚明) had 26 points and eight rebounds, scoring on a putback with 12.9 seconds left to help the Rockets snap a three-game losing streak.
CAVALIERS 111, BOBCATS 81
At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 21 points before grabbing an early seat on the bench as Cleveland warmed up for their highly anticipated matchup with Boston.
Mo Williams added 15 points to help the Cavaliers improve to 18-0 at home.
Today, the Celtics will arrive for a game between the Eastern Conference’s premier powers, a rematch of last season’s heated seven-game conference semi-final and a possible tease of what could come this spring.
Boston hold a 1-0 edge this season after beating Cleveland 90-85 at home in their opener.
NUGGETS 108, HEAT 97
At Denver, Chauncey Billups, Linas Kleiza and J.R. Smith scored 21 points apiece to help Denver down Miami for their fifth straight win.
Denver played without scoring leader Carmelo Anthony, out at least three weeks after fracturing a finger on his right hand on Monday.
LAKERS 114, WARRIORS 106
At Oakland, California, Pau Gasol had 33 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Kobe Bryant added 21 points and Los Angeles beat Golden State for their seventh win in eight games.
PACERS 113, SUNS 100
At Phoenix, Danny Granger hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer and finished with a career-high 37 points as Indiana downed Phoenix.
Granger scored at least 35 points for the third straight game. He had 35 and 36 in his previous two games.
RAPTORS 99, WIZARDS 93
At Washington, Andrea Bargnani scored 25 points and Chris Bosh added 18 for Toronto, down to nine players after trading Hassan Adams to the Los Angeles Clippers in a money-saving move.
Bargnani went 4-for-5 on threes, and 4-for-4 on other field-goal attempts. Bosh scored half his points in the fourth quarter and had eight rebounds and six assists.
MAGIC 106, HAWKS 102
At Atlanta, Dwight Howard had 23 points and 19 rebounds for Orlando in a matchup of the top two teams in the Southeast Division.
Orlando nearly squandered a 21-point advantage, catching a huge break when Mike Bibby missed a breakaway layup that should have pulled Atlanta within two points with just under a minute-and-a-half remaining.
NETS 100, GRIZZLIES 89
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Vince Carter had 25 points as New Jersey won.
TIMBERWOLVES 129, THUNDER 87
At Minneapolis, Randy Foye matched his career high with 32 points in just three quarters and Minnesota downed Oklahoma.
76ERS 110, BUCKS 105
At Milwaukee, Andre Miller hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left and finished wih 28 points and nine rebounds as Philadelphia beat Milwaukee.
JAZZ 116, HORNETS 90
At Salt Lake City, Paul Millsap had 27 points and 14 rebounds for Utah to extend his NBA-leading double-double streak to 19 games.
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but