Kevin Durant scored 19 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter as the Oklahoma City Thunder sent the undermanned Los Angeles Lakers to a record-setting seventh straight home loss with a 107-103 victory on Thursday.
The Thunder have a 1.5 game lead over the Indiana Pacers for the NBA’s best record.
Their 43-12 mark has equaled the best start in the franchise’s 47-year history.
Chris Kaman and Wesley Johnson scored 19 points apiece for Los Angeles, while Kendall Marshall added 14 points and 17 assists.
The Lakers have lost 22 of their past 27 games and are tied with Sacramento for last place in the Western Conference.
Oklahoma City are 20-7 without second-leading scorer Russell Westbrook, who has not played since getting a triple-double on Christmas Day at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Westbrook is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
BULLS 92, NETS 76
In Chicago, Taj Gibson scored 16 points and Carlos Boozer returned from an injury to add 15 in the Bulls’ victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Boozer missed the three previous games because of a strained left calf.
Joakim Noah had 14 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth straight double-double as the Bulls (27-25) moved two games above .500 for the first time since they were 6-4 on Nov. 21. They have won four of five.
Paul Pierce led Brooklyn with 15 points in the teams’ final game before the All-Star break.
The Nets are 24-27, going 14-6 since Jan. 1.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB