Luis Scola, Donald Sloan and Lance Stephenson accounted for all the points in a decisive 12-2 run, thwarting a late charge by the Chicago Bulls and helping the Indiana Pacers, the NBA’s last unbeaten team, to an 97-80 victory on Wednesday night.
The Pacers have won their opening five games for the first time since 1971-1972. Paul George had 21 points and six rebounds to lead Indiana, while David West had a season-high 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Luol Deng and Derrick Rose scored 17 points each to lead Chicago (1-3). Rose scored only three points in the second half.
THUNDER 107, MAVERICKS 93
In Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant had 23 points and 10 assists, while Russell Westbrook scored 22 points as Oklahoma City pulled away in the second half to beat Dallas.
Serge Ibaka added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder (3-1), who won their second straight game following Westbrook’s return from two off-season knee surgeries.
Jeremy Lamb added 13 points for Oklahoma City, who have won 11 straight games against the Mavericks, including the playoffs. The last loss for the Thunder against Dallas was on Jan. 2 last year.
Monta Ellis led the Mavericks (3-2), who were playing their second game in two nights, with 20 points. Jae Crowder and Shawn Marion added 17 each, while Dirk Nowitzki finished with 16.
SPURS 99, SUNS 96
In San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 15 of the Spurs’ final 16 points, helping San Antonio withstand a hectic finish to beat Phoenix.
Parker scored 20 overall, Danny Green had 19 points, Tim Duncan added 17 points and Boris Diaw 11 points for San Antonio (4-1).
Markieff Morris tied a career high with 23 points and also had 11 rebounds for Phoenix (3-2). Morris’ twin brother, Marcus, added 11 points, while Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee each had 15.
Plumlee’s reverse layup gave Phoenix a 96-95 lead with 1 minute remaining. The Suns had an opportunity to extend the lead following a miss by Duncan, but Manu Ginobili drew a charge on Danny Green.
Parker followed with a short jumper to give San Antonio the lead for good.
Gerald Green missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
CELTICS 97, JAZZ 87
In Boston, Brandon Bass scored 20 points and Jeff Green added 18 as the Celtics beat Utah for their first win of the season.
The game reunited new Celtics coach Brad Stevens with Gordon Hayward, the Butler star who took the Bulldogs to the NCAA championship game against Duke. Hayward had 28 points and nine rebounds for Utah (0-5), one of the last two winless teams in the NBA this season.
The attendance of 17,130 was about 1,500 fans short of a sellout, ending a streak of 289 games dating to the end of the 2006-2007 season.
Derrick Favors scored 10 points with 14 rebounds, while Enes Kanter scored 22 with eight boards for the Jazz, who open a season with five straight losses for the first time since 1974, when they were still in New Orleans.
Gerald Wallace had nine points and nine rebounds for Boston (1-4), who led by as many as 25 points in the third quarter, before Utah scored 17 of the first 20 in the fourth to cut a 22-point deficit to single digits.
WARRIORS 106, TIMBERWOLVES 93
In Minneapolis, Klay Thompson scored 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and Harrison Barnes scored 14 points in his season debut to help Golden State defeat Minnesota.
David Lee had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Andre Iguodala scored 20 points for the Warriors (4-1).
Kevin Love had 25 points, 16 rebounds and six assists for the Timberwolves, who have lost two straight after a 3-0 start. Kevin Martin added 23 points, but the Wolves’ bench was outscored 27-10.
Stephen Curry had just five points on two-for-eight shooting with seven assists in 24 minutes and sat out the fourth quarter with a bone bruise on his left foot.
MAGIC 98, CLIPPERS 90
In Orlando, Florida, Nik Vucevic had 30 points — including six free throws in the final 23 seconds — and 21 rebounds to help Orlando hold on to beat Los Angeles.
Orlando led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, before Los Angeles took their first lead with a 25-5 run.
Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Chris Paul added 18 points and 10 assists. Former Magic guard J.J. Redick also chipped in 17 points.
The loss ends a three-game win streak for the Clippers, whose three-game road trip continued yesterday in Miami.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Bobcats 92, Raptors 90
‧ Bucks 109, Cavaliers 104
‧ Wizards 116, 76ers 102
‧ Pelicans 99, Grizzlies 84
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
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