Andre Iguodala drained a three-pointer at the buzzer on Tuesday to lift the Philadelphia 76ers to a stunning 94-93 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Philadelphia erased a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit and Iguodala finished with 25 points.
His last-gasp heroics followed a three-pointer by Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant with 6.6 seconds to play that put Los Angeles up 93-91.
PHOTO: AP
But the crowd’s chants of “MVP” were soon silenced by Iguodala.
Bryant, the reigning league Most Valuable Player, was limited to 11 points in 32 minutes as he was hampered by foul trouble.
Bryant was called for his third foul with four minutes left in the second quarter. He scored just five points in the first half, but sat for much of one quarter.
Bryant picked up his fourth foul with 6:52 left in the third quarter, signaling another spell on the bench.
The victory launched a five-game Western road trip for the 76ers, who notched their fourth straight victory and improved to 34-31.
Sixers forward Thaddeus Young continued his strong play, going 5 for 8 in the first half for 12 points and five rebounds. He finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Pau Gasol scored 25 points with eight rebounds and six assists, the Spaniard’s fourth straight game of 20-plus points for the Lakers.
Trevor Ariza added 16 points and Lamar Odom scored 14 for the Western Conferece-leading Lakers, who slipped behind Cleveland for the best record in the NBA.
CAVALIERS 97, MAGIC 93
At Cleveland, LeBron James made a long 3-pointer with 47.4 seconds left and added two free throws with 8.7 seconds to go as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
With Cleveland trailing 93-92 in a game soaked in playoff intensity, James, wearing green and white Nikes to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, pulled up in front of Orlando’s bench and coldly knocked down his three. Magic center Dwight Howard was called for a 3-second violation on Orlando’s next trip, giving the ball back to Cleveland.
James was then fouled while shooting and made his two free throws as the crowd serenaded him with chants of “MVP.”
Rashard Lewis missed a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left for the Magic, who came in with the Eastern Conference’s best road record.
MAVERICKS 103, PISTONS 101
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks finally took advantage of an injury-depleted team, leading the Detroit Pistons from start to finish. The Mavs won their eighth straight at home.
Richard Hamilton was a late scratch for Detroit because of an aggravated groin problem. With Rasheed Wallace (calf) and Allen Iverson (back) also out, the Pistons were missing a combined average of 48.5 points per game, and were out of whack from the start.
Nowitzki scored 30 points, Jason Terry had 18 and Dampier tied his season high with 16 points, and had 13 rebounds.
Also on Tuesday it was:
• Hawks 119, Kings 97
• Spurs 93, Timberwolves 86
• Jazz 103, Wizards 88
• Bulls 127, Celtics 121
• Warriors 127, Clippers 120
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