Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and Chauncey Billups added 24 to help the Denver Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers 111-93 on Tuesday for their best start in 24 years.
Anthony, who was averaging 38 points, shot just 6-for-17 from the field but made 11 of 14 free throws. Nene added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Nuggets (4-0), who are off to their best start since the 1985-86 season.
Former Denver guard Dahntay Jones led the Pacers with 20 points, and Danny Granger added 18 for Indiana (0-3).
CELTICS 105, 76ERS 74
At Philadelphia, Paul Pierce scored 21 points and Rasheed Wallace had 20 as Boston remained unbeaten with a victory over Philadelphia.
The Celtics are unbeaten in five games, even without the usual standout performances from Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Allen didn’t score his first field goal until the third quarter and had five points. Garnett made just one basket on seven shots and scored three points when he was yanked with the game out of hand.
Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 17 points. Philadelphia missed 15 of 16 3-point attempts.
CAVALIERS 102, WIZARDS 90
At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 27 points and Shaquille O’Neal added a season-high 21 while wearing out Washington’s big men as Cleveland beat Washington for its third straight win.
Mo Williams scored 15 and Daniel Gibson 14 for the Cavs, who made nine 3-pointers in the second half — four in the fourth quarter when James was out. Williams and Gibson were a combined 7-for-9 on 3s.
Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas scored 22 apiece to lead the Wizards.
PISTONS 85, MAGIC 80
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Ben Gordon scored 23 points and Rodney Stuckey added 20 as the short-handed Detroit handed Orlando its first loss of the season.
Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince saw his streak of 496 straight games played end as he was sidelined with a back injury.
The Pistons also got 20 from third guard Will Bynum, while Vince Carter led Orlando with 15. Dwight Howard had just eight points and five rebounds in 17 minutes before fouling out.
SUNS 104, HEAT 96
At Miami, Steve Nash scored 30 points and added eight assists as Phoenix used a dominant fourth quarter to beat Miami.
Amare Stoudemire finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix, which overcame its largest deficit of the season and used a 13-4 run over the middle portion of the fourth to pull away. Jason Richardson scored 10 of his 14 points in the final period for the Suns.
Miami got 23 points from Dwyane Wade and 18 from Quentin Richardson.
In other games it was:
• Mavericks 96, Jazz 85
• Lakers 101, Thunder 98, OT
• Bulls 83, Bucks 81
• Hawks 97, Trail Blazers 91
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