The Los Angeles Clippers trounced the Portland Trail Blazers 93-77 on Tuesday for their sixth straight victory, on a night that saw the Celtics-Indiana Pacers game in Boston canceled in the wake of Monday’s deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon.
Caron Butler scored 18 of his 22 points in the third quarter, Blake Griffin added 16 points and DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Pacific Division champion Clippers, who finished their home schedule with a 32-9 record. They were to end the regular season yesterday in Sacramento, and another win would ensure the Clippers have home-court advantage to start the playoffs.
Will Barton scored 17 points and Joel Freeland added 13 points for the Blazers, who never led while losing their 12th in a row.
The Toronto Raptors downed the playoff-bound Atlanta Hawks 113-96 after DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points and Rudy Gay added 22.
The Raptors made two-thirds of their shots in the first half, sprinting to a 68-51 lead as DeRozan scored 19 points and Gay chipped in with 17. Atlanta went mostly with backups, showing no sense of urgency to claim the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta fell into a share of fifth spot with Chicago. The teams finish the regular season Wednesday, with the Hawks traveling to New York to face the Knicks, while the Bulls are home against lowly Washington. Chicago holds the tiebreaker.
Kyle Korver led the Hawks with 13 points, extending his three-point streak to 73 consecutive games.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and