Chris Paul had 33 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds to lead the New Orleans Hornets to a 109-100 win over the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in their playoff opener on Sunday.
Carl Landry scored 17 points and Jarrett Jack had 15 for the Hornets, who are seeded seventh in the Western Conference.
New Orleans overcame Los Angeles’ major size advantage with a phenomenal game from Paul, who scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and led a late 8-0 run.
Photo: Reuters
Kobe Bryant scored 34 points for the Lakers, who opened the postseason with the same halfhearted effort they displayed at times during the regular season after three straight exhausting trips to the NBA finals.
“Our defense, I thought, was late,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “I think we were late on everything. They were the aggressors, and they stayed aggressive.”
He said he didn’t think his players overlooked the underdog Hornets.
Photo: AFP
“I just don’t think they were keyed in on what they have to do,” Jackson said.
The Lakers swept the four-game regular-season series with New Orleans. They had also won their last six playoff series openers since Houston beat them in the Western Conference semi-finals in 2009 on the way to Bryant’s fourth championship.
GRIZZLIES 101, SPURS 98
Photo: Reuters
In San Antonio, Zach Randolph had 25 points and 14 rebounds and Shane Battier hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 23.9 seconds remaining to help Memphis win its first-ever playoff game.
Randolph scored nine points in the fourth quarter and punished San Antonio repeatedly under the basket.
The top-seeded Spurs had a chance to force overtime, but Richard Jefferson missed an open 3-pointer as time expired.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 20 points, but they sorely missed All-Star player Manu Ginobili of Argentina, who continued to rest his sprained right elbow.
The eighth-seeded Grizzlies entered the NBA in 1995 as an expansion team in Vancouver, but didn’t make it to the playoffs until 2004. They were then swept in the first round for three consecutive years.
CELTICS 85, KNICKS 84
In Boston, Ray Allen hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 12 seconds left as the Celtics rallied to beat New York in their playoff opener.
New York led 85-84 before Carmelo Anthony was called for an offensive foul for pushing Paul Pierce with 21 seconds remaining. Allen, who led the Celtics with 24 points, then sank the decisive basket from beyond the left arc.
The Knicks had one more chance to win it, but Anthony missed a long three-point attempt with 2 seconds left. The star forward went 1-for-11 from the field in the second half.
Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 rebounds for New York and Anthony finished with 15.
Pierce scored 18 points and Kevin Garnett added 15 points and 13 rebounds for Boston.
The Celtics, who won their NBA-high 17th championship in 2008, are aiming to return to the finals after losing in seven games last year to the LA Lakers.
The Knicks are in the playoffs for the first time in seven years.
THUNDER 107, NUGGETS 103
In Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 41 points and Russell Westbrook added 31 as the Thunder pulled out a victory in Game 1 of its first-round playoff series.
Oklahoma City leaned heavily on its two All-Stars, who both scored their most points in the postseason.
Westbrook scored the go-ahead jumper from the right side with 1:06 left. Kenyon Martin then missed a jumper from the left wing before Westbrook struck again to make it 104-101 with 22.4 seconds left.
Raymond Felton missed a three-pointer with 12 seconds left and Oklahoma City closed it out at the foul line.
Nene led Denver with 22 points and eight rebounds and Danilo Gallinari scored 18.
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