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.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
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Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
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