The Miami Heat warmed up for a Christmas Day blockbuster by beating the Utah Jazz 105-89 on Saturday, with LeBron James scoring 30 points.
The Heat’s next game is tomorrow against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a reprise of last year’s NBA finals series.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the Memphis Grizzlies were convincingly beaten by the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers edged the Golden State Warriors in overtime and the Atlanta Hawks were too good for the Chicago Bulls in a clash of Eastern Conference heavyweights.
Photo: EPA
Miami’s James has scored at least 20 points in all 24 Heat games this season, matching the longest run of 20-or-more efforts to start a campaign since Karl Malone did it for Utah in 1989-1990.
Dwyane Wade added 21 points and seven assists as the Heat rode the strength of a big third quarter to beat Utah, going on a 22-6 run to open the second half.
Marvin Williams scored 16 for Utah, who played the second half without Mo Williams, who appeared to hurt his right thumb.
The Lakers came from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime and beat the Warriors 118-115.
Kobe Bryant had 34 points and 10 rebounds, while Steve Nash finished with 12 points and nine assists in his first game in almost two months.
The 38-year-old Nash came back from 24 games out with a small fracture in his lower left leg and made only his second appearance for the Lakers. He converted a step-back shot for the final points in overtime to lift Los Angeles to their fourth straight victory.
Jarrett Jack scored 29 points in a disappointing collapse for Golden State, which had won 11 of 14 games to get off to their best start in 20 years.
Atlanta had a surprisingly comfortable 92-75 home win over Central Division-leading Chicago, moving further clear of the Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings.
Al Horford had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and every Atlanta starter scored in double figures. Hawks starters outscored Chicago’s starters 72-39 in coach Larry Drew’s 100th victory.
Luol Deng paced Chicago with 11 points, but the Bulls could not build on a victory over the Knicks in New York on Friday.
The Portland Trail Blazers notched a fifth-straight win for the first time in two seasons by beating the Phoenix Suns 96-93.
Portland’s J.J. Hickson had 19 points and 15 rebounds for his seventh straight double-double, while rookie Damian Lillard had 25 points, including 18 in the second half.
The Suns led by 12 points in the first half, but saw their run of four straight wins ended.
The Denver Nuggets inflicted a 15th successive loss on Charlotte, beating the Bobcats 110-88.
Kosta Koufos scored a season-high 16 points, and Kenneth Faried and Andre Iguodala added 15 points apiece as the Nuggets won at home for the sixth straight time.
The Indiana Pacers overcame a 22-point deficit to down New Orleans 81-75, handing the Hornets an 11th successive defeat. It is the team’s longest losing skid in 18 years.
David West scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half while Paul George had 20 for Indiana, who have won seven of eight.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were one team capable of ending a downward spiral, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 94-82 after losing their previous six. The Cavs had also lost nine in a row against Milwaukee.
Dion Waiters scored 18 points to help Cleveland offset the continued absence of injured center Anderson Varejao.
In Saturday’s other game, the Detroit Pistons defeated the Washington Wizards 96-87.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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