Stephen Curry had 28 points and 12 assists, while David Lee added 21 points and 17 rebounds to help the Golden State Warriors beat the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans 104-93 on Tuesday night in Andre Iguodala’s long-awaited return.
Iguodala finished with two points and two assists in 17 minutes after missing the previous 12 games with a right hamstring injury. The Warriors led by 10 points in the first quarter, 18 at halftime and 26 late in the third quarter.
The Pelicans played without injured starters Anthony Davis (broken left hand) and Tyreke Evans (sprained left ankle). Ryan Anderson had 21 points and six rebounds, and Jason Smith scored 12 for New Orleans, who have lost their first two games of a five-game trip.
Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY
The Warriors outshot the Pelicans 45.1 to 37.5 percent and outrebounded them 58 to 44 to control the game — for the most part — from start to finish. New Orleans made a brief run in the fourth quarter against Golden State’s backups before the starters returned and restored order.
TRAIL BLAZERS 119, CAVALIERS 116
In Cleveland, Damian Lillard made a tiebreaking three-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining, lifting Portland to the road win.
Lillard had a career-high eight three-pointers while scoring 36 points. This year’s National Basketball Association (NBA) Rookie of the Year also had a fadeaway jumper as time expired to give Portland a 111-109 overtime victory over Detroit on Sunday.
Portland (22-4) have the best record in the NBA and are 11-0 against the Eastern Conference. The Blazers have won five straight and are 12-2 on the road.
Kyrie Irving’s bid for a tying three-pointer bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer. Irving and Dion Waiters scored 25 points apiece for Cleveland.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 15 rebounds for Portland.
THUNDER 105, NUGGETS 93
In Denver, Kevin Durant scored 30 points, powering the Thunder to their seventh consecutive victory.
Durant had 30 or more points in a game for the 12th time this season, most in the NBA. He is averaging a league-high 28.6 points.
Russell Westbrook had 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder. Serge Ibaka added 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Denver had won 10 of 13. J.J. Hickson had 20 points and 14 rebounds, but the Nuggets dropped to 0-2 this season against Oklahoma City. Ty Lawson added 17 points and 13 assists.
LAKERS 96, GRIZZLIES 92
In Memphis, Kobe Bryant scored 21 points in his sixth game of the season and the Lakers closed out a four-game road trip with a victory.
Pau Gasol added 21 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who were coming off a 114-100 loss at Atlanta on Monday night. Nick Young had 18 points and Jodie Meeks finished with 13.
Zach Randolph had 18 points and a season-high 16 rebounds for Memphis. The Grizzlies played without Mike Conley, who sat out after bruising his left thigh in Sunday’s loss to Minnesota.
The Grizzlies led 69-67 in the fourth quarter before the Lakers went on a 17-4 run.
Bryant played for 32 minutes, matching his most action since returning from his torn left Achilles’ tendon. He was nine-for-18 from the field, both season highs, despite running the offense most of the night.
BOBCATS 95, KINGS 87
In Charlotte, Kemba Walker scored 24 points, helping Charlotte snap a three-game losing streak.
Gerald Henderson added 20 points and reserve Ramon Sessions scored 16 for the Bobcats, who went eight-for-17 from three-point range. Walker also had five assists in his 10th game, with at least 20 points.
DeMarcus Cousins had 30 points and 17 rebounds for Sacramento, who shot 37.5 percent from the field. The Kings have dropped three of four.
Kings forward Rudy Gay scored four points on one-of-six shooting in his worst game since he was acquired on Dec. 9.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but