Gary Neal hit go-ahead three-pointers in regulation and overtime, while Tony Parker scored 30 points as the San Antonio Spurs held off the Los Angeles Clippers 103-100 on Saturday for their NBA-leading 10th consecutive victory.
Neal stole the ball and hit a three-pointer to even the score with 5.7 seconds left in regulation and his three with 25 seconds to go in overtime put the Spurs up 100-98.
Neal finished with 17 points. Matt Bonner added 13 points, while Tim Duncan had 11 points and 17 rebounds for the Spurs, who are 6-0 on their current nine-game road trip.
Photo: EPA
Blake Griffin had 22 points and 20 rebounds, while Chris Paul and Randy Foye each scored 21 points for the Clippers.
NETS 97, BULLS 85
In Chicago, Deron Williams scored 29 points, while Kris Humphries had 24 points and 18 rebounds as struggling New Jersey beat Chicago to end an eight-game losing streak.
Chicago’s Derrick Rose missed his fifth straight game because of back pain and the Nets took advantage, jumping out to a 22-3 lead while rolling to their first victory since Feb. 1.
Williams scored 21 points in the first half and hit five three-pointers in the game. He also had eight assists. Humphries narrowly missed season-highs for points (25) and rebounds (19).
Carlos Boozer and Mike James each scored 16 points for Chicago.
GRIZZLIES 104, WARRIORS 103
In Memphis, Tennessee, Tony Allen scored on a tip-in with 5.6 seconds left to lift the Grizzlies past Golden State for their fourth straight victory.
Allen scored after Rudy Gay missed a shot to the right of the lane. Memphis also won off a miss from Gay on Friday night, beating Denver 103-102 on Dante Cunningham’s tip.
The Warriors had one last shot after Allen’s tip-in, but David Lee was called for an offensive foul with less than a second left, sending the Warriors their third straight loss.
Gay scored 19 points, O.J. Mayo had 18, while Marc Gasol added 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 36 points, matching his season high.
In other action, it was:
‧ Trail Blazers 97, Hawks 77
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions’ outfielder Chen Chieh-hsien, who fractured his left index finger earlier during the World Baseball Classic (WBC), is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks. The Uni-Lions confirmed in a news statement on Friday that Chen had a distal fracture in his left index finger. The diagnosis followed X-ray and CT scans conducted at the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital earlier that day. According to the club, the injury would require four to six weeks to heal. During this period, Chen must wear a protective splint but is permitted to engage in light, sport-specific training. The team plans to
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