Shaquille O’Neal scored 33 points as the Phoenix Suns overcame a 49-point performance from Kobe Bryant to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 118-111 on Sunday.
Matt Barnes added 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Suns beat the Lakers for the first time in four tries this season.
Pau Gasol had 30 for the Lakers, back-to-back losers for only the third time this season.
PHOTO: EPA
After his 45-point game against Toronto on Friday night, O’Neal has consecutive 30-point games for the first time since March 5 to March 7, 2004.
JAZZ 112, WARRIORS 104
At Oakland, California, Mehmet Okur scored 23 points and Deron Williams had a season-high 20 assists as Utah beat Golden State for its eighth straight win.
Ronnie Brewer scored 21 points one night after getting a career-high 26 for the Jazz, who moved within two games of Northwest Division-leading Denver. Utah hasn’t lost since receiving a 20-point thrashing from the Warriors in Oakland three weeks ago.
Corey Maggette scored 27 points and rookie Anthony Randolph had a career-high 20 for the Warriors, who rested leading scorer Stephen Jackson. Golden State is also resting Monta Ellis’ surgically repaired left ankle.
MAVERICKS 109, RAPTORS 98
At Dallas, Jason Kidd handed out 15 assists to become the fourth player in NBA history with 10,000 for his career as Dallas beat Toronto.
Kidd reached the milestone with 1:04 left in the third quarter when he handed out his 13th of the night, passing to Brandon Bass for a 10-foot turnaround. He trails John Stockton (15,806), Mark Jackson (10,334) and Magic Johnson (10,141) on the NBA career list.
Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavs, while Josh Howard added 16 and Antoine Wright had 15.
Chris Bosh paced the Raptors with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Andrea Bargnani added 18.
PISTONS 105, CELTICS 95
At Boston, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince each scored three-pointers in the final 80 seconds to help Detroit beat Boston.
Hamilton had 25 points and nine assists.
In other games it was:
• Cavaliers 88, Hawks 87
• Hornets 99, Nets 96
• Rockets 105, Timberwolves 94
• Pacers 100, Nuggets 94
• Trail Blazers 102, Spurs 84
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
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
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