Carmelo Anthony had 27 points and 10 rebounds, hitting a pair of vital baskets in front of a crowd that cheered his every move as New York beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-108 on Wednesday in his Knicks debut.
Anthony made only 10 of 25 shots, but was at his best in the closing minutes, helping New York hold on after fellow superstar Amare Stoudemire fouled out. He matched the third-highest scoring game in a Knicks debut since 1964, just two points shy of Keith Van Horn’s 29 on Oct. 29, 2003.
Chauncey Billups, who came with Anthony from Denver in Tuesday’s blockbuster trade, finished with 21 points and eight assists as the Knicks won their third straight. Toney Douglas scored 23 points and Stoudemire had 19.
Photo: AFP
John Salmons scored 27 points for the Bucks.
MAVERICKS 118, JAZZ 99
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points as the Dallas Mavericks cruised past Utah, a few hours after the Jazz traded away leading scorer Deron Williams to New Jersey.
Photo: Reuters
Peja Stojakovic hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points, and Shawn Marion contributed 16 points for the Mavericks, who had seven double-figure scorers in their fourth straight victory. Dallas has won 14 of its last 15 overall.
Al Jefferson scored 30 points, Paul Millsap had 18 and Andrei Kirilenko 17 for the Jazz, who have lost five straight.
SPURS 109, THUNDER 105
In San Antonio, Texas, Tony Parker scored the last of his 20 points with a shot from 5m with 26.1 seconds left, and Gary Neal added 19 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to victory.
The Spurs improved to 47-10, moving within three wins of their total from last season.
Kevin Durant led the Oklahoma City Thunder with 30 points, and Russell Westbrook had 25.
KINGS 111, MAGIC 105
In Orlando, Florida, Jermaine Taylor had 21 points and Beno Udrih added 18 as the Sacramento Kings snapped a five-game losing streak against Orlando.
Samuel Dalembert and Jason Thompson had 17 points apiece for Sacramento, which won for just the third time in its last 11 games.
Dwight Howard had 31 points and 17 rebounds for Orlando. Hedo Turkoglu added 19 and Jameer Nelson 15.
SUNS 105, HAWKS 97
In Phoenix, Arizona, Channing Frye scored six of his 20 points in the final four minutes as Phoenix pulled away from the short-handed Atlanta Hawks.
Jared Dudley went four for five from 3-point range and finished with 17 points for Phoenix. Steve Nash scored all 13 of his points in the second half and had 10 assists.
Josh Smith scored 26 for the Hawks. Jamal Crawford had 19 points and Al Horford added 17.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Hornets 98, Clippers 87
‧ 76ers 117, Wizards 94
‧ Raptors 118, Bulls 113
‧ Pacers 102, Pistons 101
‧ Rockets 124, Cavaliers 119
‧ Grizzlies 104, T’wolves 95
‧ Lakers 106, Trail Blazers 101, OT
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