Ish Smith scored a career-high 15 points, matched his NBA career best of seven rebounds and triggered a 17-point second-quarter run that propelled the Phoenix Suns past the weary San Antonio Spurs 106-85 on Friday night.
Markieff Morris scored 21 points and Channing Frye 17 for Phoenix. Gerald Green and Marcus Morris added 13 apiece.
Danny Green had 15 points and Tim Duncan 13 for the Spurs, who finished a nine-game road trip, the team’s annual sojourn while a rodeo is held back home. The Spurs went 7-2 on the swing.
The Suns, 3-0 since the All-Star break, broke San Antonio’s four-game winning streak and climbed to a season-high 12 games above .500.
The Suns outscored San Antonio 28-12 in the second quarter to lead 47-35 at the break, the Spurs’ lowest scoring half of the season.
With a lineup of mostly bench players, the Suns scored 19 unanswered points to go up 38-25 with 5 minutes, 59 seconds left in the half.
San Antonio got the first basket of the second quarter, then did not score again until Duncan’s three-point play with 5:11 to play in the period. Frye responded with a three-pointer, then Smith scored twice inside, the second on a nifty underhanded layup in traffic, and Phoenix had their biggest lead of the half, 45-28, with 3:06 to play.
Smith, getting added court time because Leandro Barbosa was out with a sprained left big toe, was five-for-five shooting in the second quarter for 10 points with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
For the Spurs, Australian Patty Mills was two-of-14 from the field and Marco Belinelli one-for-eight. San Antonio was two-of-21 from three-point range.
The 21-point loss was the second-worst of the season for San Antonio. The Spurs lost by 23 at the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 16.
Zach Randolph had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Marc Gasol added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies held on for a 102-96 victory over the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Clippers.
James Johnson added 15 for Memphis, and Mike Miller finished with 13, hitting five of eight from the field.
Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 28 points and 13 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford had 23 points. Chris Paul added 18 points and 14 assists for the Clippers, who lost their second straight game.
D.J. Augustin had 22 points and eight assists as the Chicago Bulls routed the Denver Nuggets 117-89 for their fifth consecutive victory.
Rookie Tony Snell added a career-high 20 points as the Bulls put seven players in double figures. Taj Gibson had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Joakim Noah finished with 14 points, 11 boards and five assists.
Randy Foye scored 23 points for Denver, who have lost six of seven.
In Toronto, Terrence Ross scored 20 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 18 as the Toronto Raptors broke the Cleveland Cavaliers’ six-game winning streak with a 98-91 victory.
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan each had 14 points as the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors won for the fourth time in five games.
The Dallas Mavericks downed the Philadelphia 76ers 124-122, the Charlotte Bobcats edged the New Orleans Pelicans 90-87 and the Orlando Magic came from behind to beat the New York Knicks 129-121 in double overtime.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and