Lamar Odom made a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left in overtime to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 110-109 victory over Boston on Thursday and snap the Celtics’ 12-game NBA winning streak.
In a contest between last year’s NBA finals combatants and likely title contenders for this season, Kobe Bryant scored 26 points with 10 rebounds and Pau Gasol had 24 and 14 for the Lakers.
It is the second time this season that Los Angeles has stopped a Boston winning streak, after its win on Christmas Day stopped a 19-game run by the Celtics.
PHOTO: AP
Paul Pierce scored 21 points for Boston and All-Star Ray Allen had 22, but he missed a desperation, off-balance shot at the buzzer while Boston fans screamed for a foul call.
Bryant, who scored 61 and 36 points in his previous two games, hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, the last with 1:30 left in regulation to make it 101-100 — the Lakers’ first lead of the half. But after Pierce made one of two free throws with 30 seconds left, Bryant’s attempted game winner banged off the rim.
After a timeout with 7.7 seconds left, Pierce dribbled the clock down before Bryant poked the ball away. Eddie House got it and put up a sideways, one-handed 3-point attempt at the buzzer that wasn’t close.
Bryant missed his last five shots of the game.
Gasol made one of two free throws to give the Lakers a 108-107 lead with 1:11 left in overtime, then Boston’s Glen Davis made a jumper — his only basket of the game after six misses. Bryant then Davis both missed before Davis fouled Odom for the winning free throws.
Pierce and Allen had half-chances in the dying seconds for Boston but could not find the winner.
JAZZ 115, MAVERICKS 87
In Salt Lake City, Utah, Deron Williams shook off a deep thigh bruise and scored 34 points and handed out 12 assists to lead Utah to a rout of Dallas.
Kyle Korver scored a season-high 20 points in his first start of the season, Ronnie Brewer scored 17 and Mehmet Okur added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz.
Josh Howard led Dallas with 18 points and Dirk Nowitzki scored 14 — needing 20 attempts to get there — but the Mavericks saw their four-game winning streak end. It was Dallas’ first loss since coach Rick Carlisle put Jason Kidd in charge of calling plays.
76ERS 99, PACERS 94
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Samuel Dalembert had 18 points and 20 rebounds, and Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala also had double-doubles to lead Philadelphia over Indiana.
The Sixers won only hours after they learned power forward Elton Brand needed season-ending surgery on his right shoulder. The Sixers improved to 11-8 this season without Brand, an encouraging sign their playoff push will continue without their US$80 million man.
Miller had 13 points and 12 assists, while Iguodala had 20 points and 11 assists.
Indiana dropped its third straight.
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