Josh Smith scored 31 points and Al Horford added 22 as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons 126-119 in double overtime on Wednesday after blowing a 22-point fourth-quarter lead.
Detroit reserves Will Bynum and Charlie Villanueva scored a combined 26 points in the final period of regulation to spark the Pistons’ comeback and force overtime.
Atlanta have won two straight and eight of 12, while Detroit have lost seven of nine.
Bynum finished with 31 points and assisted on the last two baskets of regulation, when Andre Drummond’s dunk cut the lead to two and Austin Daye’s three-pointer gave the Pistons a 101-100 lead with four seconds remaining.
Horford followed by making just one of two free throws for the Hawks, sending the game to the first overtime.
Jeff Teague hit a three-pointer with two minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the second overtime to put Atlanta ahead for good.
The Miami Heat avoided a letdown a night after an emotional win over Oklahoma City, beating the lowly Charlotte Bobcats 105-92.
LeBron James had 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and Dwyane Wade added 29 points and nine rebounds as the Heat handed the Bobcats their 16th straight loss.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra hinted before the game he was worried about how much energy Miami expended in its close win over the Thunder on Tuesday and whether they would play hard against a team that had lost 15 straight.
The Denver Nuggets overcame a 40-point effort by Kobe Bryant to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 126-114 for their seventh straight win at home.
Corey Brewer matched his career high with 27 points, Kenneth Faried had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Danilo Gallinari added 19 points for Denver.
Bryant has scored at least 30 in 10 straight games, but it was not enough to keep the Lakers’ five-game winning streak from being broken. Pau Gasol added 19 points for the Lakers and Steve Nash had 15 points.
The Houston Rockets rallied for their fifth straight win, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 87-84.
James Harden scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including a drive to the basket that gave Houston an 85-84 lead with 39 seconds left.
J.J. Barea had 18 for Minnesota and Russian rookie Alexey Shved added 16. Kevin Love had 12 rebounds, but scored just seven points on 3 of 14 shooting.
San Antonio ended Toronto’s five-game winning streak, using a balanced attack to beat the Raptors 100-80.
The Spurs had five players in double figures, led by Tim Duncan with 15 points and Manu Ginobili with 14. Duncan had six rebounds and was 6 for 11 from the field in only 20 minutes.
San Antonio’s starters outscored their Toronto counterparts 54-25.
The depleted New York Knicks edged the Phoenix Suns 99-97 when J.R. Smith sank a baseline 21-footer at the buzzer after a Phoenix turnover with a second to play.
Smith made a tough jumper from 15 feet to tie the game at 97 with 10.6 seconds left. Then, after the turnover, Jason Kidd inbounded to Smith, who got the shot off as he sailed out of bounds. Smith scored 27 and Kidd 23.
In Milwaukee, the Bucks beat the short-handed Brooklyn Nets for the 13th straight time, 108-93. Brandon Jennings scored 25 points and Monta Ellis added 20 points and six steals to lead the Bucks.
Brook Lopez had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who were without starting guard Deron Williams, out with an injured wrist.
Led by Dorell Wright’s season-high 28 points, the Philadelphia 76ers ended a six-game road losing streak with a 99-89 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, while Golden State enjoyed a 94-83 win over the Utah Jazz on the road.
The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Sacramento Kings 109-91 and Tristan Thompson’s three-point play with 24.4 seconds remaining clinched the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 87-84 win over the Washington Wizards.
The New Orleans Hornets edged the Orlando Magic 97-94 to end an 11-game losing streak, while the Chicago Bulls-Indiana Pacers game was postponed due to a winter storm in the Midwest.
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