James Harden scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter as Oklahoma City rallied for a 103-97 victory on Saturday to sweep the defending NBA champions Dallas Mavericks out of the playoffs.
The Thunder trailed by 13 points with 9:44 left before Harden scored seven in a row, and nine in a 12-0 run over the next three minutes.
Oklahoma City finally took the lead, and kept it, after Russell Westbrook stole the ball from Dirk Nowitzki and passed to Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam that made it 92-91 with 5:17 left.
Photo: EPA
Dallas are the second defending champions in five years to be swept in the first round. After beating the Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals, Miami lost in four games to Chicago the following year.
Kevin Durant had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, who will get a break before playing the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. Nowitzki had 34 points.
CLIPPERS 87, GRIZZLIES 86
In Los Angeles, Chris Paul had 24 points and 11 assists and high-flying Blake Griffin added 17 points for Los Angeles, who beat Memphis only after Rudy Gay missed a jumper just before the buzzer.
The Clippers won their first home playoff game in six seasons to take a 2-1 series lead.
Paul hit a fadeaway jumper with 2:02 left in the fourth quarter for an 82-80 lead. On the next possession, he had a no-look bounce pass to Griffin coming in off the baseline for a monster slam.
Trailing 86-80 after two free throws by Paul, Gay hit a three-pointer with 12.9 seconds left, Memphis’ first field goal since 7:10 of the quarter. After Los Angeles missed three of four free throws, Gay hit another three-pointer with 8.9 seconds.
Gay finished with 24 points.
PACERS 101, MAGIC 99, OT
In Orlando, George Hill hit a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds left in overtime as Indiana beat Orlando to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series.
The Pacers won after squandering a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter. Orlando had a final chance to tie it in the closing seconds, but Glen Davis’ fadeaway jumper bounced off the side of the rim.
David West scored 26 points, including 12 in the third quarter and four in overtime, for Indiana. Danny Granger added 21 points. Jason Richardson led Orlando with 25 points and Davis had 24 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pacers won their third straight game and will try to close out the series tomorrow night at home in Indianapolis.
SPURS 102, JAZZ 90
In Salt Lake City, Tony Parker scored 27 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter as San Antonio beat Utah to take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference series.
No NBA team have ever overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. The Spurs can close it out tonight in Salt Lake City.
Al Jefferson and Devin Harris scored 21 apiece for Utah, while Derrick Favors added 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in his most extensive action of the series.
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