Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant strengthened his claim to the MVP crown by leading the Thunder to an 86-77 win over Memphis on Monday, extending their home winning streak to seven games.
The Thunder also boosted their lead in the Northwest Division to four games as nearest rivals Portland lost at Washington.
Among other games, Denver beat the Los Angeles Clippers thanks to a Randy Foye three-pointer on the buzzer, while San Antonio rallied from a big deficit and overran New Orleans.
Durant had 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, starting off this month in the same kind of form he showed during a remarkable past month in which he averaged 35.9 points per game.
Serge Ibaka had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma City, who lost to the Grizzlies in the playoffs last season.
Zach Randolph had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Memphis, who had won their previous six games.
WASHINGTON
Washington beat Portland 100-90 to improve to 24-23, boasting more wins than losses for the first time in four years.
John Wall scored 22 points and Trevor Ariza added 20 for the Wizards, who committed six turnovers as opposed to 16 by Portland.
Damian Lillard scored 25 points for the Trail Blazers, who have lost four straight road games.
Denver’s Foye hit a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to give the Nuggets a 116-115 win over the Clippers.
Kenneth Faried had a career-high 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Blake Griffin came out on the losing end despite scoring 36 points. The Clippers are 0-11 when trailing after three quarters in road games.
San Antonio’s Tony Parker scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half to lead the Spurs’ comeback and a 102-95 win over New Orleans.
Tim Duncan scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half to aid the fightback, with San Antonio winning the last quarter 38-19.
Anthony Davis had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks for the Pelicans.
NOWITZKI
Dallas handed Cleveland a fifth successive defeat, winning 124-107 thanks chiefly to 23 points from Dirk Nowitzki.
Nowitzki was on the bench for most of a key third-quarter stretch as the Mavericks restored a double-digit advantage, led by Devin Harris, who finished with a season-high 16 points.
Kyrie Irving had 27 to lead the Cavaliers.
Miami’s LeBron James came within two rebounds of his first triple-double this season, as he led the Heat to a 102-96 victory over Detroit.
James had 24 points and 11 assists, while Dwyane Wade scored 30 points for Miami, who have won five of six.
Wade had one of his best performances in an injury-hampered season, shooting 13 for 19, and adding 10 rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes.
INDIANA
Indiana retained the NBA’s best record ahead of surging Oklahoma City by beating Orlando 98-79, with Danny Granger scoring 16 points.
Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points to help the Raptors defeat Utah 94-79.
Sacramento ended a seven-game skid by cruising past a disappointing Chicago 99-70, with DeMarcus Cousins having 25 points and 16 rebounds.
Brooklyn’s Paul Pierce scored 25 points as the Nets beat Philadelphia 108-102 to win a third straight.
Milwaukee ended a run of six consecutive defeats by beating New York 101-98, with Brandon Knight making a three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set