Kemba Walker scored 31 points as the Charlotte Bobcats won for the fourth time in five nights, defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 92-89 in the NBA on Saturday.
Charlotte is 4-0 since the All-Star break, marking its longest winning streak since March 2011.
The Bobcats used an 18-3 run in the fourth quarter to break open a tight game and then held on down the stretch with Walker making four free throws in the final 25 seconds to end Memphis’ four-game win streak.
The Bobcats won despite the Grizzlies holding Al Jefferson to just six points on two-of-13 shooting. Jefferson came in having scored 29 points or more in eight of his last 11 games and at least 20 points in 17 of the last 19.
The Grizzlies were led by Mike Conley, who had 16 points but missed two three-pointers on Memphis’ final possession that would have tied the game.
TIMBERWOLVES 121, JAZZ 104
In Salt Lake City, Kevin Love had 37 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double to help Minnesota cruise past Utah.
Minnesota was again playing without starters Nikola Pekovic (ankle) and Kevin Martin (finger), but Love filled the void, keeping one step ahead of the Jazz through the game.
Ricky Rubio had 15 points, and Corey Brewer and Chase Budinger scored 13 apiece as the Wolves won their third straight game.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Warriors 93, Nets 86
‧ Hawks 107, Knicks 98
‧ Wizards 94, Pelicans 93
‧ Pacers 110, Bucks 100
‧ Kings 105, Celtics 98
‧ Mavericks 113, Pistons 102
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
A soccer jersey carrying a national map including disputed Western Sahara has become a hot commodity in Morocco after a diplomatic dispute with Algeria. Retailers said RS Berkane jerseys have been flying off the shelves after a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup match against Algerian club USM Alger was canceled last month over the jerseys. “We are overwhelmed by the influx of messages and requests,” said Brahim Rabii, representative of the official RS Berkane jersey distributor. Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021, partly over the issue of Western Sahara. The former Spanish colony is largely controlled by Morocco, but claimed