Tim Duncan scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs beat Milwaukee 112-98 on Monday to end the Bucks’ three game winning streak.
Reserve Matt Bonner chipped in with 23 points, including six three-pointers, as the Spurs managed made it back to back wins to improve to 6-6 this season.
“We’re moving the ball really well. We have really good shooters and when we can get those guys open shots it’s best for us,” Duncan said. “We’re also getting a lot of good play from our bench and that’s what we’re going to need if we’re going to win games like this.”
Ersan Ilyasova was the top scorer for Milwaukee (8-4) with 20 points, while rookie Brandon Jennings added 12, well down on his 25.3 season average.
The Spurs trailed 50-49 at halftime but surged ahead with a 37-24 advantage in the third quarter, which featured 15 points from Duncan.
George Hill finished with 14 points off the bench for San Antonio.
GRIZZLIES 116, KINGS 105
At Memphis, Tennessee, Rudy Gay scored 24 points and O.J. Mayo added 20 as Memphis sent Sacramento to its fourth straight loss.
Marc Gasol finished with 18 points and four blocks for Memphis, who won for the fourth time in the last five games. Zach Randolph had 16 and Mike Conley added 11 points and seven assists.
Rookie Tyreke Evans led the Kings with 28 points, connecting on 10-of-18 from the field, and Sergio Rodriguez had 16 points and seven assists.
TRAIL BLAZERS 122, BULLS 98
At Portland, Oregon, Greg Oden tied a career high with 24 points and LaMarcus Aldridge also had 24 to help Portland beat Chicago.
Oden, the first pick of the 2007 NBA draft, missed one of his eight shots from the field and added 12 rebounds. Aldridge pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Blazers had five players score in double figures. Brandon Roy had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Andre Miller scored 16 and Rudy Fernandez 13.
Luol Deng scored 25 points and John Salmons added 22 for the Bulls.
CLIPPERS 91, TIMBERWOLVES 87
At Los Angeles, Al Thornton scored 31 points and Baron Davis made a clinching layup with 8.5 seconds remaining after missing his first nine shots to help the Los Angeles Clippers extend Minnesota’s losing streak to 13 games.
Davis’ streak of 468 consecutive regular-season games with at least one field goal was in jeopardy until he drove the lane for a layup after dribbling the ball for at least 10 seconds. He finished with two points and six assists in 23 minutes.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite