Ron Artest scored all of his 18 points in the second half as the Houston Rockets overcame the absence of giant Chinese center Yao Ming in a 95-84 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night.
Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks each scored 14 points, and Scola had 12 rebounds to help the Rockets end New Orleans’ five-game winning streak at home.
Chris Paul had 29 points and 11 assists, while David West had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Hornets.
Yao sat out with flu-like symptoms and Dikembe Mutombo started in his place.
THUNDER 78, SPURS 76
In Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Thabo Sefolosha added 12 as the Thunder spoiled Gregg Popovich’s 1,000th game as San Antonio’s coach.
The Thunder didn’t lead until midway through the fourth quarter, but kept San Antonio to their season low in scoring and escaped when Tony Parker missed a three-pointer from the left side in the closing seconds.
Parker scored 28 points to lead San Antonio, and Tim Duncan had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Matt Bonner added 10 points.
NUGGETS 121, NETS 96
In Denver, Colorado, J.R. Smith and Nene scored 19 points each and Chauncey Billups had 14 points and 10 assists as the Nuggets extended their winning streak to three.
The Nets played without injured point guard Devin Harris and forward Sean Williams, who was arrested on Monday at a mobile phone store in Denver on accusations he got into an argument and threw a PC monitor.
BOBCATS 112, RAPTORS 86
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Gerald Wallace scored 25 points and the Bobcats began an important week for their playoff hopes by beating the Raptors to snap a three-game losing streak.
D.J. Augustin added 15 points for the Bobcats, who moved within one game of Milwaukee and Chicago in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Chris Bosh had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who committed 24 turnovers and lost for the eighth time in nine games.
TRAIL BLAZERS 103, GRIZZLIES 92
In Memphis, Tennessee, LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and eight rebounds, and Brandon Roy finished with 20 points and nine assists to lead Portland.
Travis Outlaw added 18 points and Joel Przybilla had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
O.J. Mayo scored 21 points and handed out six assists to lead Memphis, who lost their 13th game in the last 15. Mike Conley had 20 points, and Rudy Gay scored 17 and grabbed 11 rebounds.
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