Dirk Nowitzki banked in a jumper with 5.9 seconds left and scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks past the Orlando Magic 100-98 on Friday night.
Jameer Nelson scored 24 points to lead the Magic. Ryan Anderson added 21, while Dwight Howard finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
The Mavericks trailed by 15 points in the third quarter before rallying in the final period, aided by a plethora of turnovers by the Magic. Jason Terry had 10 points in the quarter and 17 in the game. Delonte West and Shawn Marion each added 15.
Photo: AFP
Orlando had 16 turnovers, which led to 20 points for the Mavericks. The Magic lost to Dallas for the sixth straight time at home.
HEAT 113, RAPTORS 101
In Toronto, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh scored 30 points each as the Miami Heat beat Toronto, marking their seventh straight win over the Raptors.
Wade scored a game high 30 points, but said he played with a “heavy heart” after learning his adult nephew had been one of six men shot during a shooting spree in Chicago’s South side on Thursday.
LeBron James had 26 points and nine assists, while Mario Chalmers added 14 points as the Heat won for the second time in two nights after beating Dallas at home on Thursday.
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and Andrea Bargnani had 27 for Toronto. Amir Johnson had 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Jose Calderon had 16 assists, one shy of his season high, but the Raptors lost for the sixth time in eight games.
Miami came in having lost six of eight away from home, but improved to 16-11 away from American Airlines Arena.
CLIPPERS 98, TRAIL BLAZERS 97
In Los Angeles, Chris Paul made a driving layup with 5 seconds to go, lifting Los Angeles past Portland for their season high-tying fourth straight victory.
The Clippers trailed by two when Paul got the ball to Randy Foye, who hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds left to put the Clippers ahead 96-95. Jamal Crawford responded with a 22-footer and Portland led by one with 13 seconds left.
Paul dribbled around before driving to the basket for the winner. Wesley Matthews missed a jumper in the waning seconds for the visitors.
Paul, Blake Griffin and Randy Foye led six Clippers in double figures with 20 points each.
J.J. Hickson led the Blazers with a season-high 29 points and 13 rebounds.
WIZARDS 97, 76ERS 76
In Washington, Cartier Martin tied a career-high with 20 points in his second game under a 10-day contract, as Washington built a big lead and held on to it for a change, breaking a five-game losing streak.
The loss knocked Philadelphia out of first place in the Atlantic Division, putting them one game behind Boston. The 76ers began the day tied with the Celtics, who beat Minnesota.
The Wizards had blown double-digit leads in their past three home games, but this time they did not let up.
Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young scored 14 apiece for the 76ers, who have lost six of nine.
CELTICS 100, TIMBERWOLVES 79
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kevin Garnett had 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in his return to Target Center as Boston outmuscled Kevin Love and Minnesota.
Paul Pierce had 21 points and nine rebounds, while Rajon Rondo had 17 assists for the Celtics, who have won four in a row and six of their past seven.
Love had 22 points and 11 rebounds, but succumbed to Garnett’s physical defense in a battle between the face of the Timberwolves past and present.
Luke Ridnour had 15 points and eight assists, but the Wolves turned the ball over 21 times to see their playoff hopes take a hit. They entered two-and-a-half games out of the eighth spot in the West.
In other games, it was:
‧ Bucks 121, Cavaliers 84
‧ Nuggets 99, Bobcats 88
‧ Rockets 98, Grizzlies 89
‧ Bulls 83, Pistons 71
‧ Kings 104, Jazz 103
‧ Nets 102, Warriors 100
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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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
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