National Basketball Association (NBA) scoring leader Kevin Durant netted 36 points and Reggie Jackson added 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter on Wednesday as Oklahoma City beat San Antonio 111-105.
The victory, Oklahoma City’s fifth in a row, lifted the Thunder to the best record in the Western Conference at 33-10, moving past the hosts Spurs, who fell to 32-10 and 0-3 against the Thunder this season.
“We’re just trying to get better in every game we play,” Durant said. “We’re trying to play hard every time we step on the court. We got stops when we needed to. We got a good win.”
Durant added seven rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, in addition to topping 30 points for his ninth game in a row.
Jackson scored 11 consecutive Oklahoma City points at one stretch in the fourth quarter to help the visitors seize a 94-89 lead.
Durant, who missed four of his first five shots in the fourth quarter, sank an alley-oop layup followed by a three-pointer, while Spain’s Serge Ibaka followed with a steal and slam dunk to give Oklahoma City a 105-96 edge.
Frenchman Tony Parker sank two baskets and Argentina’s Manu Ginobili hit a three-pointer to pull the Spurs within 108-103. However, San Antonio came no closer.
Ibaka scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Thunder.
Parker led the Spurs with 37 points, while Tim Duncan and French reserve Boris Diaw added 14 points each, Italy’s Marco Belinelli added 13 and Ginobili had 10. Duncan grabbed 13 rebounds.
BULLS 98, CAVALIERS 87
In Cleveland, Ohio, D.J. Augustin scored 27 points in a start for Kirk Hinrich, while Taj Gibson matched a career high with 26 filling in for Carlos Boozer, as the Chicago Bulls improved to 7-2 since trading Luol Deng with a 98-87 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Augustin and Mike Dunleavy hit three-pointers down the stretch to pace the Bulls, who at 21-20 moved over .500 for the first time since Nov. 22 last year.
Deng went just two of 11 from the field in his first game against Chicago. The Bulls dealt the two-time All-Star forward to Cleveland on Jan. 6 for future draft picks.
Kyrie Irving scored 26 to lead Cleveland, who have dropped the first two games of a five-game home stand.
SUNS 124, PACERS 100
In Phoenix, Arizona, Gerald Green scored 23 points against his former team, leading six Phoenix players in double figures, and the Suns snapped Indiana’s five-game winning streak by handing the Pacers their most one-sided loss of the season.
Indiana, owner of the NBA’s best record (33-8) and the league leader in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, gave up the most points they have all season.
Goran Dragic scored 21, Markieff Morris 20, P.J. Tucker 13, Miles Plumlee 11 and Channing Frye 10 for the Suns.
Paul George scored 26, George Hill 16 and David West 13 for Indiana.
HAWKS 112, MAGIC 109
In Orlando, Florida, Paul Millsap had 24 points, Jeff Teague added 23 and the Hawks hung on to beat the Magic.
Atlanta opened a 19-point lead in the third quarter, but lost it in the fourth before coming back to hit six free-throws in the final 40 seconds for the win.
Victor Oladipo led Orlando with 24 points. Tobias Harris had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson finished with 17 points.
The Magic have lost 12 of 13, and fell to 1-14 this season without starting center Nik Vucevic, who continues to recover from a concussion.
RAPTORS 93, MAVERICKS 85
In Toronto, Ontario, DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 40 points, Greivis Vasquez had 17 and the Raptors snapped a two-game skid by beating the Mavericks.
Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who overcame a 21-point first-quarter deficit.
Monta Ellis had 21 points, and Jose Calderon and Brandan Wright each had 13 for Dallas, but the Mavericks hurt themselves with 21 turnovers, including nine in the fourth quarter.
Dallas played without forward Dirk Nowitzki, who got the night off to rest as the Mavericks played for the 11th time in 18 days.
In other play, it was:
‧ Bobcats 95, Clippers 91
‧ Celtics 113, Wizards 111, OT
‧ 76ers 110, Knicks 106
‧ Rockets 119, Kings 98
‧ Bucks 104, Pistons 101
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite