The Atlanta Hawks reclaimed a share of the lead in the NBA standings with a 105-90 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
Joe Johnson made it two straight 30-point games and Josh Smith dominated during a decisive first-half run as Atlanta won their sixth in a row.
Johnson scored 30 points on the heels of a 35-point effort against Portland on Monday. Smith was all over the stat sheet: 16 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and two steals.
Michael Beasley led the Heat with 21 points.
MAVERICKS 99, SPURS 94
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his season-high 41 points in overtime as Dallas held on to beat San Antonio.
Drew Gooden added 17 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter to help Dallas extend their winning streak to four games.
Tim Duncan had 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs, winless in four road games this season. San Antonio were without starting guard Tony Parker (ankle) and lost guard Manu Ginobili (groin) in the first quarter of the game.
MAGIC 108, THUNDER 94
In Orlando, Florida, Rashard Lewis fell one assist shy of his first triple-double, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds in Orlando’s victory over Oklahoma City.
Lewis, who was suspended for the first 10 games of the season for violating the league’s drug policy, didn’t play in the fourth quarter, which the Magic started with an 88-58 lead.
Vince Carter shot 18 points for the Magic.
TRAIL BLAZERS 87, PISTONS 81
In Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge each scored 20 points as Portland held off tired but tenacious Detroit.
Rodney Stuckey had 21 points for the Pistons.
CELTICS 109, WARRIORS 95
In Boston, Rajon Rondo scored 12 of his season high-tying 18 points in the third quarter as Boston downed Golden State.
Paul Pierce, who missed a day of practice with a sore left knee, scored 19 on seven-of-12 shooting. Pierce made a key three-pointer after the Celtics went on a 12-0 third-quarter run to take control.
Wednesday’s other results:
• Wizards 108, Cavaliers 91
• Jazz 104, Raptors 91
• Rockets 97, Timberwolves 84
• 76ers 86, Bobcats 84
• Knicks 110, Pacers 103
• Grizzlies 106, Clippers 91
• Bucks 99, Nets 85
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier