Kevin Durant scored 23 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched an NBA playoff spot with a 121-116 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
Jeff Green added 22 points, and Russell Westbrook and Nick Collison added 17 each to help the Thunder end a nine-game road losing streak against the Mavericks dating to when the team was based in Seattle. The Thunder are the NBA’s most improved team this season, more than doubling their 23 victories in 2008-2009.
Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points and 13 rebounds for Dallas, and Jason Kidd added 24 points in a matchup of possible playoff opponents.
Bucks 107, Suns 98
At Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings scored 23 points as Milwaukee beat Phoenix to end the Suns’ winning streak at 10 games.
Now the Bucks must wait to see if they’ll have to face life without Andrew Bogut after the standout center sustained an elbow injury.
Bogut, Milwaukee’s leading scorer and rebounder, was taken to the hospital for tests after hurting his right elbow during a dunk in the second quarter. Bogut hung on the rim then crashed to the floor, awkwardly twisting his arm.
Amare Stoudemire had 22 points for the Suns, and Leandro Barbosa added 21.
Hawks 91, Pistons 85
At Atlanta, Jamal Crawford scored 29 points, and Al Horford added 20 points and 14 rebounds as Atlanta beat Detroit for their 10th straight home victory.
The Hawks also handed Detroit their 11th straight loss, the Pistons’ worst run since dropping 13 in a row from December 15 of last year to January 11 this year.
Josh Smith finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds to help the Hawks improve to 13-6 overall since Feb. 28. Rodney Stuckey had 22 points for the Pistons.
Nuggets 98, Clippers 90
At Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points as Denver overcame a 21-point deficit to beat Los Angeles.
Nene added 18 points, and Chauncey Billups and Johan Petro had 14 points apiece in helping Denver win their second in a row since a 1-5 stretch. Denver improved to 50-27, the Nuggets’ third consecutive 50-win season.
With five games remaining in the regular season, the Nuggets pulled into a tie with Utah for first place in the Northwest Division, along with tying the Jazz, Dallas and Phoenix for the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Eric Gordon had 23 points for the Clippers.
Bulls 96, Bobcats 88
At Chicago, Derrick Rose scored 26 points and Kirk Hinrich added 24 as Chicago beat Charlotte to boost their playoff hopes.
They remained 1.5 games behind eighth-place Toronto in the Eastern Conference and pulled within three of Charlotte. Boris Diaw scored 18 points for the Bobcats.
Nets 115, Hornets 87
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, rookie Terrence Williams had 14 points and a career-high 14 assists to lead New Jersey to their biggest win of the season.
Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 17 points, and Kris Humphries added 10 points and a season-high-tying 12 rebounds for New Jersey (11-65).
David West had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists for New Orleans.
In other games it was:
• Heat 97, Timberwolves 84
• Raptors 128, Sixers 123, OT
• Trail Blazers 98, Kings 87
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