Dirk Nowitzki paced the Dallas Mavericks to a 122-117 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, the German’s 34 points allowing the visitors to strengthen their position in the race for the final playoff spot in the West.
Nowitzki had 15 points in a decisive third quarter to help give the Mavs (39-25) a five-game advantage over the Suns, who lost their fifth in a row.
The power forward also had 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots, while Jason Terry added 25 points from the bench.
The win snapped a five-game road losing streak for the Mavericks, who beat a Western Conference contender on the road for the first time since Dec. 25.
“The guys had a big-game mentality,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. “They came in here to fight and find a way. And that’s what they did.”
Guard Jason Kidd added 12 points and eight rebounds.
“Now we’re the ones chasing,” he told reporters. “We’re looking up, not behind us. We want to get as high as we can.”
Playmaker Steve Nash led the Suns with 23 points and 13 assists, while Shaquille O’Neal and Matt Barnes each scored 21 points.
Phoenix (34-30) led 62-58 at halftime behind O’Neal’s 13 points and Nash’s 12, but the Mavericks scored nine consecutive points in a run that started three minutes into the third to grab a three-point lead.
“Coach always talks about how he’s not a motivator, but he came in here at halftime and really tore into us,” Dallas’ Terry told reporters.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen him do that. He said: ‘You guys are better than that team, so play like it.’”
JAZZ 112, PACERS 100
At Indianapolis, Mehmet Okur scored 24 points as the Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers for their 12th straight victory.
Paul Millsap finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, Ronnie Brewer scored 18 points and Deron Williams had 12 assists for the Jazz, who moved closer to the franchise record of 15 consecutive victories.
Troy Murphy scored 23 points and tied a Pacers home record with seven 3-pointers. He also grabbed 13 rebounds, while Jarrett Jack and T.J Ford each added 21 points for Indiana.
CAVALIERS 87, CLIPPERS 83
At Los Angeles, LeBron James recorded his second straight triple-double with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, and Mo Williams hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds to play as Cleveland rallied from a 19-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
James, last season’s NBA scoring champ, recorded his 22nd career triple-double, scoring his final 10 points in the frenetic fourth quarter and recording his 800th career steal. The Cavaliers’ 11th victory in 13 games increased their lead over Boston in the Eastern Conference to 1.5 games.
Al Thornton and Zach Randolph each had 20 points for the Clippers.
SPURS 100, BOBCATS 86
At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 18 points and 11 rebounds as San Antonio stopped Charlotte’s franchise-record winning streak at six.
Tony Parker and Roger Mason added 21 points apiece for the Spurs, who couldn’t shake the Bobcats until late before ending Charlotte’s recent surge that pushed the Bobcats into the playoff picture.
Raja Bell and Emeka Okafor each had 16 points for the Bobcats, who are a game behind eighth-place Chicago in their bid to make the playoffs for the first time since joining the NBA in 2004-2005.
KNICKS 120, BUCKS 112
At Milwaukee, Nate Robinson scored 10 of his 32 points in the final five minutes to help New York beat Milwaukee for a rare road victory.
Larry Hughes added a season-high 39 for the Knicks, who have won only eight road games all season. With Tuesday’s victory, New York also managed to prevent Milwaukee from their first sweep of the season series since 1990-1991.
Charlie Villanueva scored 32 for the Bucks, who came into Tuesday’s game trying to cling to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference despite a season filled with significant injuries.
THUNDER 99, KINGS 98
At Sacramento, California, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook each scored 24 points as Oklahoma City held on to beat Sacramento for their fifth victory in six games.
Thabo Sefolosha had 17 points for the Thunder. Malik Rose scored 11 points and Nenad Krstic added nine points and 15 rebounds.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB