The New Orleans Hornets beat Southwest Division rival the San Antonio Spurs 99-90 on Saturday to improve to 3-0 on the young NBA season.
The Hornets, who had built a 78-60 lead early in the fourth quarter, had to weather a furious rally by the Spurs that reduced the deficit to just three points with a little more than two minutes remaining before the Hornets scored the final six points.
“It is gratifying to come in here and get a win,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “Any road win is big.”
Chris Paul led the Hornets with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Manu Ginobili was the top scorer for San Antonio with 23 points and Richard Jefferson added 18 points including 10 in the fourth-quarter rally.
David West added 18 points for the Hornets and Marcus Thornton scored 17 points in more than 30 minutes off the bench.
New Orleans rallied from a seven-point first-quarter deficit to take a one-point lead at halftime and added to the lead with a dominant third quarter when they outscored the Spurs 33-18.
San Antonio shot just 39 percent from the field and were six-for-26 from three-point range.
BULLS 101, PISTONS 91
In Chicago, Derrick Rose matched a career high with 39 points as the Chicago Bulls staged a big rally to beat the Detroit Pistons.
Chicago trailed by 21 early in the third quarter and was still down 86-73 about three minutes into the fourth when it went on a 19-2 run to pull out a dramatic win in the home opener.
Joakim Noah had 15 points and 17 rebounds, while Taj Gibson scored 11.
James Johnson wound up with eight points and nine rebounds as the Bulls delivered in the end after coming up short down the stretch in the opener against Oklahoma City.
Chicago overcame a spectacular first half by former Bulls star Ben Gordon, who scored all of his 21 points before intermission.
BUCKS 98, BOBCATS 88
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Brandon Jennings had his first career triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the Bucks’ victory in their home opener.
Andrew Bogut added 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Milwaukee.
With Bogut back manning the middle, the 21-year-old Jennings was free to roam and make plays for Milwaukee’s first win in the matchup of 0-2 Eastern Conference playoff teams from last season.
D.J. Augustin scored 26 points and Stephen Jackson had 23 for the Bobcats.
HAWKS 99, WIZARDS 95
In Atlanta, Georgia, Joe Johnson scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as Atlanta remained unbeaten, winning its home opener.
After opening with wins at Memphis and Philadelphia, Atlanta gave the home fans their first look at a team that features largely the same roster as last year’s playoff team, but a new motion offense under rookie coach Larry Drew.
Rookie John Wall led the Wizards with 28 points, while Thornton added 24. However, the Wizards still lost their 10th in a row to the Hawks.
Al Horford had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta.
NUGGETS 107, ROCKETS 94
In Houston, Texas, Al Harrington scored 28 points and Carmelo Anthony had 24 to help Denver ruin Houston’s first home game.
Chauncey Billups scored 13 points, Nene had 12 points and 12 rebounds as the Nuggets won in Houston for only the fifth time in the last 18 games there.
Luis Scola scored 28 and Kevin Martin added 21 for the Rockets, who are 0-3 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
Yao Ming scored 14 points, pulled down six rebounds and blocked two shots in 23 minutes. Houston continues to limit his playing time as he comes back from foot surgery that sidelined him all last season.
Saturday’s other results:
‧ Trail Blazers 100, Knicks 95
‧ Grizzlies 109, T’wolves 89
‧ Kings 107, Cavaliers 104
‧ Pacers 99, 76ers 86
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB