LeBron James and Chris Bosh each scored 28 points as the Miami Heat beat the Milwaukee Bucks 107-94 on Friday for their 21st straight win.
The Heat now trail just the 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers (33) and the 2007-2008 Houston Rockets (22) for longest winning streaks in the NBA.
Miami led by as much as 17 in the third quarter, then withstood a push by the Bucks to remain unbeaten since a loss at Indiana on Feb. 1.
Photo: AFP
The Los Angeles Lakers found a way to win without injured star Kobe Bryant, holding off the Indiana Pacers 99-93.
Bryant, who hurt his ankle two nights ago against the Atlanta Hawks, was 0 for 4 in the first quarter before going to the bench. He did not return and was held scoreless for only the 15th time in his NBA career.
James Harden scored 37 points and Jeremy Lin had 24 as the Houston Rockets rallied from 20 points down in the third quarter to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-100.
Harden also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out eight assists for the Rockets, who stayed two games ahead of the Lakers in the No. 7 spot in the NBA Western Conference.
The Timberwolves led 59-39 after halftime, but only managed 16 field goals the rest of the way.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Russell Westbrook added 23 to help the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117-104 home win over Orlando.
The Thunder scored a season-high 73 points in the first half. Oklahoma City led by 27 in the second quarter before Orlando pulled to 73-56 at the break.
In Atlanta, Josh Smith made a strong return to the Hawks’ lineup after injury with 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in a 107-94 victory over Phoenix.
The Chicago Bulls whipped Golden State 113-95, with Luol Deng scoring 23 points and Carlos Boozer 21 points and nine rebounds.
Kosta Koufos scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, helping the Denver Nuggets rally to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 87-80.
At Dallas, Rodrigue Beaubois scored 18 points off the bench and keyed a fourth-quarter run to lead the Mavericks past the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-86.
In other games, the Washington Wizards beat the New Orleans Hornets 96-87 and the Toronto Raptors defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 92-78.
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