The Utah Jazz put the brakes on Boston’s bid for a fifth successive win on Monday with a 110-97 victory over the Atlantic division leaders.
The Jazz were hammered 105-86 by the Celtics on Nov. 11, but turned the tables on the back of 22 points and 11 assists from Deron Williams and 23 points from C.J. Miles.
“Boston gave us a lesson in defense over there [in November],” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan told reporters. “I thought everybody was focused to try and play the game together tonight.”
PHOTO: AFP
The Jazz (46-25) trailed by five at halftime, but started the third quarter with a 16-4 run. Mehmet Okur, who sat out a game due to illness, grabbed 15 rebounds and 11 of his 14 points in the third.
“They started that third quarter pretty electric,” Boston forward Kevin Garnett said. “As many times as I’ve played here they have always been able to come back out. They came out with some energy, made shots and executed.”
Ray Allen’s 15 points led the Celtics (45-25), who could not overcome poor shooting from their key players. Paul Pierce had 11 points.
The Celtics seemed to unravel in the second half and coach Doc Rivers was ejected after receiving two technical fouls in the final minutes.
HEAT 99, NETS 89
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Dwyane Wade had 27 points and 12 assists as the Miami Heat scored a 99-89 victory over the free-falling New Jersey Nets on Monday night.
Jermaine O’Neal added 25 points as the Heat improved to eight wins and three losses in a span in which they’ve climbed to sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Brook Lopez had 26 points, but the Nets (7-63) lost their eighth straight as they possibly head toward the worst record in NBA history. New Jersey has to win two of its final 12 to avoid breaking the Philadelphia 76ers’ mark for futility (9-73), set in 1972 to 1973.
The Nets played without interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe, whose mother is gravely ill in California. Assistant John Loyer replaced him.
HORNETS 115, MAVERICKS 99
At New Orleans, Chris Paul played for the first time in 25 games, while Marcus Thornton scored 28 points to help New Orleans beat Dallas.
Returning from a left knee injury, Paul started but was limited to 21 minutes and had 11 points. He helped New Orleans pull away in the fourth quarter, but rookie Darren Collison ran the floor when the Hornets had a remarkable run of 23 straight points from late in the second quarter until early in the third.
David West had 25 points and 10 assists, Morris Peterson had a season-high 20 points and Collison scored 16 for the Hornets.
Jason Terry scored 24 for Dallas, which squandered a 16-point first-quarter lead.
MAGIC 109, 76ERS 93
At Philadelphia, Rashard Lewis scored 24 points and Dwight Howard added 23 points and 15 rebounds as Orlando notched its third straight 50-win season.
Vince Carter contributed 17 points and Matt Barnes had 14 for the Southeast Division-leading Magic (50-21), who won 50 games in three straight seasons for the first time since 1993 to1996. The Magic have won three straight and 10 of 11.
Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand led the Sixers with 23 points apiece, while Samuel Dalembert had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
SPURS 99, THUNDER 96
At Oklahoma City, George Hill scored a career-high 27 points, and San Antonio overcame Kevin Durant’s 45 to beat the hosts and forge a share for sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
Serge Ibaka swatted away Tim Duncan’s layup attempt to give the Thunder a chance with 8.8 seconds left, but Thabo Sefolosha missed a three-pointer from the left wing with 5 seconds remaining after he was left open because of a double-team against Durant.
Manu Ginobili then hit one of two free throws with 2.3 seconds left, and Russell Westbrook couldn’t connect on a half court shot at the buzzer for the Thunder.
In other NBA action, it was:
• Bulls 98, Rockets 88
• Bucks 98, Hawks 95
• Raptors 106, Timberwolves 100
• Grizzlies 102, Kings 85
• Suns 133, Warriors 131
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with