Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left as the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto.
Bryant, who scored 27 points, took an inbound pass from Metta World Peace and shot over the outstretched arms of James Johnson to deny the Raptors, who battled back after trailing by as many as 18.
Bryant made one of two from the line to put the Lakers up by two with 3.7 seconds left. Jose Calderon, who scored a career-high 30 points, inbounded to DeMar DeRozan for the final possession, but he airballed his potential tying shot at the buzzer.
Photo: Reuters
CELTICS 95, BULLS 91
In Boston, Rajon Rondo recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Boston over Chicago, who were without their star guard Derrick Rose.
Kevin Garnett added 13 points and 12 rebounds, reserve JaJuan Johnson had 12 points and Ray Allen 11 for the Celtics, who snapped a two-game skid. Rondo had season highs in both points and assists.
Photo: Reuters
C.J. Watson, who started in Rose’s spot, scored 22 points for the Bulls, whose win streak ended at five in the finale of a 6-3 road trip. Carlos Boozer also scored 22 and pulled down seven rebounds.
WIZARDS 98, PISTONS 77
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, JaVale McGee had 22 points and eight rebounds and John Wall dished out 15 assists as Washington routed Detroit.
Detroit entered on a season-best four-game winning streak, but saw it end when the Wizards went on a 22-2 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters.
Nick Young added 22 points for the Wizards. Greg Monroe had a game-high 27 for Detroit.
HEAT 107, HAWKS 87
In Atlanta, LeBron James scored 23 points and Dwyane Wade added 21 as Miami blew out Atlanta after racing to a 22-point lead at halftime.
The Heat made a big statement in the Southeast Division against the second-place Hawks, leading by as many as 32 in what turned into nothing more than a showcase for Miami’s Big Three.
By halftime, Wade already had 21 points, James was rolling along with 14 points and nine rebounds and Chris Bosh put a double-double in the books with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Bosh finished with 14 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. James grabbed 13 rebounds and doled out six assists. Wade had a couple of steals and blocked a shot.
WARRIORS 106, ROCKETS 97
In Oakland, California, Monta Ellis had 33 points and seven assists and David Lee added 15 points and 13 rebounds as Golden State beat Houston for their second straight victory over a Western Conference playoff contender.
Rookie reserve Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry had 14 points apiece and each made some big shots late to help the Warriors upset another top team. Golden State also won in Denver on Thursday night.
Kevin Martin started to break out of a recent shooting slump with 28 points and Luis Scola had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, whose three-game winning streak ended.
JAZZ 98, GRIZZLIES 88
In Memphis, Al Jefferson had 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds and Gordon Hayward added 23 points as Utah snapped a three-game losing streak.
Hayward shot eight-for-12 from the field, part of a 51 percent shooting performance by the Jazz on the night. Paul Millsap finished with 16 for Utah, shooting 7 of 11. Raja Bell had 10 points.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 22 points, while Mike Conley (six assists) and Marc Gasol scored 17 apiece.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was