A spectacular half and a late surge by Tony Parker couldn’t save the San Antonio Spurs from the brink of elimination as the Dallas Mavericks won 99-90 for a 3-1 lead in their NBA playoffs series on Saturday.
Josh Howard scored 28 points, seven in an early second-half spurt that put the Mavericks ahead to stay.
Parker had 31 of his 43 points by halftime, matching George Gervin’s team playoff record for points in a half.
PHOTO: AP
Without an incredible comeback tomorrow in San Antonio, the Spurs will be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2000.
HORNETS 95, NUGGETS 93
At New Orleans, Chris Paul played as hard and long as required to give New Orleans a desperately needed victory.
Paul had 32 points and 12 assists in 46 minutes, helping to cut Denver’s lead in the first-round series to 2-1.
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points for Denver, but missed a jumper that could have put the Nuggets in the lead with less than 5 seconds left. James Posey, playing with a sprained knee, corralled the rebound. Game four is today.
New Orleans’ David West had 19 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the final minute. Rasual Butler scored 17 points and Posey had 13 points and nine rebounds, none bigger than his last with 3.2 seconds left.
In other NBA action it was:
• Heat 107, Hawks 78
• Lakers 108, Jazz 94
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