The Orlando Magic blew away the slumping Houston Rockets in the third quarter en route to a 110-95 win and their eighth consecutive victory on Friday.
The Rockets kept pace early to trail 53-50 at halftime, but the Magic racked up 17 unanswered points in the third quarter to take command and send the Rockets crashing to their fourth successive loss.
Brandon Bass and Jason Richardson scored 18 points each to lead the Magic, while Ryan Anderson scored 16 off the bench.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Dwight Howard was limited to just under 27 minutes due to foul trouble but contributed a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“I thought he [Howard] was huge in the third quarter because he draws so much attention and that opened up a lot of other people,” Magic head coach Stan van Gundy said. “A lot of what Brandon [Bass] and Ryan [Anderson] got tonight was because of the way people play on Dwight.”
Rockets guard Kevin Martin led all scorers with 27 points, but scored just eight in the second half while the Rockets offense fell apart.
Luis Scola scored 14 points and Patrick Patterson added 12 off the bench for Houston.
“We just fell apart in the third quarter,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “We struggled offensively and we just gave in on the other end.”
LAKERS 101, HORNETS 97
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant had 25 points to move into ninth place on the NBA’s career scoring list, as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Hornets.
Pau Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the two-time defending champions, who have rebounded from a prolonged holiday skid and stories of minor team discord with five wins in six days.
Bryant followed up his milestone basket in the third quarter with two key buckets in the final two minutes.
David West had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets.
SPURS 90, PACERS 87
In Indianapolis, San Antonio got back on the winning track by edging Indiana.
Having lost successive games, the league-leading Spurs were again less than convincing, but 25 points from Manu Ginobili helped secure the win.
Tim Duncan had 15 points and 15 rebounds for San Antonio, which overcame a 15-point deficit to become the first team in the league to win 30 games.
Tyler Hansbrough had career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds in his first start of the season for the Pacers, who have lost five of six.
Indiana shot 1-for-15 in the fourth but still had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, however Roy Hibbert’s hook shot fell short.
HEAT 101, BUCKS 95, OT
In Milwaukee, surging Miami beat Milwaukee in overtime to extend its road-winning streak to 12 games.
Miami has won 20 of its last 21 but this was by far one of the grittiest games the Heat have played as they inch closer to the 1971-1972 Lakers’ record streak of 16 consecutive road wins.
Chris Bosh had 16 points and 12 rebounds, including 10 of his 16 in the fourth quarter and overtime, while LeBron James added 26 points and 10 rebounds.
Andrew Bogut had a career-high 27 rebounds for the Bucks.
CELTICS 122, RAPTORS 102
In Boston, a victory over Toronto secured Boston’s 3,000th win.
Rookie Luke Harangody had career highs with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He had never played more than 16 minutes in a game and had only four career points, but got in early for the undermanned Celtics.
Paul Pierce scored 20 for Boston, which tied a season high for points in a half with 67 in the first and never let the Raptors get closer than 12 in the second half.
DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 20 points.
KNICKS 121, SUNS 96
In Phoenix, New York buried Phoenix under a barrage of 17 three-pointers.
Amar’e Stoudemire scored 23 points in his first trip back to Phoenix since leaving for New York, while Raymond Felton had his first career triple-double with 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds as New York handed Phoenix their second-heaviest home loss in 11 years.
Stoudemire, given a rousing ovation when he was introduced, had 19 by halftime. However, it was the Knicks’ sharpshooters, looking much like the high-flying Suns of old, who turned the game into a blowout with a 38-point third quarter.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Grizzlies 110, Jazz 99
‧ 76ers 105, Bulls 99
‧ Trail Blazers 108, T’wolves 98
‧ Warriors 116, Cavaliers 98
‧ Wizards 97, Nets 77
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
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
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
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two