Brandon Roy scored 28 points to lead Portland to a 112-101 victory over New Orleans on Saturday that eliminated the Hornets from the NBA playoff race.
Roy hit 11 of his first 12 shots and finished 12-of-14 from the field. LaMarcus Aldridge added 24 points, and Nicolas Batum chipped in 13 for Portland.
The Blazers won for the 10th time in 12 games to strengthen their grip on the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
They moved within percentage points of San Antonio for seventh.
Darren Collison had 22 points for New Orleans on perfect 10-of-10 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the foul line.
David West added 18 points for the Hornets, who lost their second straight and their eighth in 10 games.
Emeka Okafor scored 14 for the Hornets, while Chris Paul had 10 assists. But Marcus Thornton failed to score in double digits for the first time in 21 games, managing only eight points.
Portland put the game out of reach early, taking an 81-59 lead with four minutes left in the third quarter.
The Trail Blazers shot nearly 63 percent through three quarters, after which coach Nate McMillan sent in his reserves.
The Hornets never trimmed the deficit to single digits in the second half, trailing by as many as 26 points.
LAKERS 109, ROCKETS 101
At Houston, Pau Gasol scored 30 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the short-handed Houston Rockets, getting back on track a night after a terrible outing in Oklahoma City.
The Lakers used a 20-0 run in the last six minutes of the second quarter to take a commanding lead and didn’t trail after that en route to their eighth win in nine games.
Kobe Bryant, who went to the bench with five minutes left, came up one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Luis Scola led Houston with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
JAZZ 103, WIZARDS 87
At Washington, Mehmet Okur had 22 points and 11 rebounds as Utah beat Washington, extending the Wizards’ team-record losing streak to 15 games.
Deron Williams had 20 points and 12 assists for the Jazz, and Carlos Boozer added 22 points — hitting all eight of his second-half shots — and 10 rebounds.
Andray Blatche led Washington with 20 points, and Nick Young had 16. The Wizards haven’t won since Feb. 28.
BULLS 106, NETS 83
At Chicago, Jannero Pargo scored a season-high 27 points, and Taj Gibson had a career-high 22 points and added 13 rebounds for Chicago.
Terrence Williams led New Jersey with 16 points. The NBA-worst Nets were coming off consecutive victories.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two