Kobe Bryant scored 22 points before sitting out the fourth quarter, and Pau Gasol added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Los Angeles Lakers routed the San Antonio Spurs 99-85 on Sunday.
The win was the fourth straight and 14th in 17 games for the Lakers (35-8), whose .814 winning percentage is the best in the NBA although the defending champion Boston Celtics (37-9) lead them by a half-game in the overall standings by virtue of their 124-100 victory over Dallas earlier Sunday.
Tony Parker had 19 points and six assists and Tim Duncan added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Spurs (29-14), who lost for just the fourth time in their past 18 games.
PHOTO: AP
CELTICS 124, MAVERICKS 100
At Boston, Ray Allen scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half when the Celtics opened a 27-point lead, and Eddie House added seven 3-pointers to help Boston beat Dallas and give the defending NBA champion its eighth straight victory.
House scored 23 — making 7-of-11 from 3-point range — Kevin Garnett scored 23, and Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 14 assists for Boston. After a 2-7 slump that was the worst of the new Big Three era, the Celtics have won eight in a row by an average of 16 points, and six straight in double digits.
Jason Terry scored 27 for the Mavericks, who have won just three of their last nine games.
SUNS 104, HAWKS 99
At Atlanta, Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points, and Shaquille O’Neal had 19 points and 11 rebounds to help Phoenix down Atlanta and snap a three-game losing streak.
Steve Nash, who finished with 14 points and 13 assists, used a give-and-go with Stoudemire to make it 102-99 with 26.2 seconds remaining.
The Hawks had won three straight, but made just one field goal, a short jumper by Solomon Jones, after Jones gave Atlanta its last lead, 95-94, at the 6:06 mark.
O’Neal hit two free throws to put Phoenix ahead 96-95 for the game’s 19th and final lead change.
Leandro Barbosa had 20 points for the Suns, who were coming off a season-worst 22-point loss at Charlotte.
In other NBA games it was:
• Raptors 113, Kings 97
• Rockets 108, Pistons 105
• Timberwolves 109, Bulls 108, OT
• Pacers 98, Bobcats 93
• Nuggets 117, Jazz 97
• Warriors 107, Clippers 92
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite