The San Antonio Spurs clinched the Southwest Division title with a 105-91 romp over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday that kept them on the heels of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Western Conference lead.
Tim Duncan equaled Phoenix’s first quarter production, scoring 13 of his 19 points as San Antonio (42-16) galloped to a 35-13 lead.
He also had 11 rebounds in three quarters of playing time.
The balanced Spurs had 13 players score in the game, giving Duncan and other starters valuable rest time.
“We were able to jump on them pretty quickly and we sustained it through the game,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. “Sometimes it’s your worst nightmare to jump to a big lead at the beginning of an NBA game. I thought [the players] focused pretty well and did a good job.”
Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker both had 14 points for San Antonio.
Sebastian Telfair came off the bench to score 21 points for -Phoenix, who dropped 1-1/2 games behind Houston and Denver in the race for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.
All-Star guard Steve Nash played the first six minutes of the game, then did not return.
“He was not feeling well, and we’re not going to risk one game of putting him back in there and then him missing the rest of the season,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “I didn’t think it merited him going back into the game.”
CLIPPERS 112, WARRIORS 104
In Los Angeles, Chris Paul had 28 points and 13 assists to lead Los Angeles past Golden State, moving the Clippers to within a game of the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead.
Blake Griffin added 20 points in the Clippers’ third straight win.
Nate Robinson led injury--riddled Golden State with 28 points.
THUNDER 115, TIMBERWOLVES 110
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kevin Durant scored 43 points and Russell Westbrook had 35 and eight assists in Oklahoma City’s win over Minnesota.
Durant scored 16 in the final seven minutes for the Thunder to seal the win.
Anthony Randolph had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who lost their ninth straight game and 25th in a row in April dating to 2009.
The Wolves were playing without All-Star Kevin Love, out with a concussion.
PACERS 105, BUCKS 99
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roy Hibbert had 23 points and 14 rebounds, including six free throws in the final 74 seconds, to lead Indiana to their fourth straight win, beating Milwaukee.
Danny Granger scored 21 points for the Pacers, who held on despite missing their final nine shots.
Monta Ellis had 20 points for the Bucks, who fell 2-1/2 games behind New York and Philadelphia for one of the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
GRIZZLIES 103, JAZZ 98
In Memphis, Tennessee, O.J. Mayo scored 17 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to rally Memphis past Utah.
The Jazz held a four-point lead early in the final period, but Mayo scored 10-straight points for Memphis to erase the advantage. His three-pointer with 46 seconds left gave the Grizzlies enough of an advantage to win for the seventh straight time at home.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 26 points, 18 in the second half, and 12 rebounds.
Al Jefferson and Devin Harris scored 20 points apiece for Utah.
CELTICS 94, NETS 82
In Newark, New Jersey, Avery Bradley hit three straight three-pointers and scored 11 of his 18 points in a game-deciding third quarter as surging Boston beat New Jersey.
Kevin Garnett had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Celtics, who have taken over first place in the Atlantic Division.
Gerald Green had 15 points to lead New Jersey, which scored only 34 points in the second half.
CAVALIERS 98, WIZARDS 89
In Washington, Luke Harangody had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Cleveland past Washington.
Anthony Parker scored 15 points for the Cavaliers.
John Wall scored 19 points to lead the Wizards, one night after missing 10 of 12 shots in a hammering at New York.
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
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