The Los Angeles Clippers picked up where they left off in their budding rivalry with the Memphis Grizzlies, claiming a 101-92 home triumph in the season-opener for both teams on Wednesday.
Facing a Grizzlies side they edged out over seven games in the Western Conference first-round playoffs last season, the Clippers prevailed in a scrappy contest, courtesy of a strong fourth quarter.
Chris Paul had a quiet night before emerging with six straight points late in the game to turn a one-point Clippers lead into a 93-88 advantage.
Photo: AFP
Off-season acquisition Jamal Crawford then brought the victory home in the last three minutes with a laser-like three-pointer and a driving layup that put the Clippers 98-90 ahead.
Crawford wasted little time endearing himself with the home fans on his Clippers debut by recording a game-high 29 points, including 12 in the pivotal fourth.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 25 points and Marc Gasol added 20 in a game that witnessed more bad blood between the teams.
Physical big men Blake Griffin of Los Angeles and the Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph locked horns throughout the playoff series and the pair again engaged in a series of bruising encounters before each drew technical fouls in the fourth.
Trail Blazers 116, Lakers 106
Dwight Howard’s 33 points and 14 rebounds were not enough for the Lakers in a loss to the inspired Trail Blazers.
Nicolas Batum had 26 points and the Blazers led by as many as 19 in handing the Lakers their second straight loss to open the season. Damian Lillard, the sixth overall pick in the June draft, had 22 points and 11 assists in his NBA debut for Portland.
The Lakers’ troubles were compounded by the loss of guard Steve Nash to what appeared to be a left-knee injury late in the first half.
Nash, acquired by the Lakers this summer, collided with Lillard and limped to the locker room.
Pacers 90, Raptors 88
George Hill scored the go-ahead basket with two seconds left, completing the Pacers’ rally for a season-opening win over the Raptors.
David West scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and Paul George had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Pacers, who trailed 84-74 with just under six minutes left. Roy Hibbert added 14 points for Indiana.
Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 21 points, and Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 10 rebounds in his NBA debut. Andrea Bargnani had 16 points and Jose Calderon added 15 for the Raptors.
Spurs 99, Hornets 95
Tim Duncan scored 24 points, Tony Parker hit a huge 3-pointer and the Spurs opened the season with a victory over the Hornets in the debut for top draft pick Anthony Davis.
Davis scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, a promising start for the player who spent only one year at Kentucky, leading the Wildcats to the national title.
However, the wily Spurs showed the rebuilding Hornets a thing or two.
After Davis made two free throws with 1:08 minutes remaining to give New Orleans its final lead, 95-94, the Spurs closed strong. Parker connected from beyond the arc with 49.6 seconds left, finishing with 23 points.
After Greivis Vasquez missed an open 3, Duncan padded the lead with two fouls shots.
In other NBA play, it was:
‧ Rockets 105, Pistons 96
‧ Bulls 93, Kings 87
‧ 76ers 84, Nuggets 75
‧ Jazz 113, Mavericks 94
‧ Warriors 87, Suns 85
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set