LeBron James scored 43 points — 25 in a bewildering first-quarter shooting display — and Chris Bosh added 21, leading the Miami Heat to a 100-96 win on Tuesday over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played their first game without injured All-Star guard Kyrie Irving.
James added two crucial blocks and made six free throws in the final two minutes, while Bosh added a key rejection to lead the Heat to just their third win in eight games.
Miami’s Dwyane Wade sat out resting his knees, but the Heat’s two other megastars put away the Cavs.
Jarrett Jack scored 22 and Dion Waiters added 17 and 11 assists for Cleveland, who were also without forward Luol Deng (sprained ankle). Irving is expected to miss two weeks with a strained biceps tendon, an injury that further damages the Cavs’ fading playoff hopes.
WARRIORS 103, MAGIC 89
In Oakland, California, Stephen Curry had 23 points and five assists, while Klay Thompson scored 20 points as the undermanned Warriors overwhelmed the Magic.
The backcourt duo sparked an 18-4 run at the start of the second half that put the Warriors ahead by 24 points. They became the first pair of teammates in NBA history to combine for at least 400 three-pointers in consecutive seasons.
David Lee added 20 points and 10 rebounds to help the Warriors offset the absences of Andre Iguodala (right knee tendinitis), Andrew Bogut (left ankle inflammation) and Jermaine O’Neal (undisclosed reasons).
Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points and Tobias Harris added 14 points and six rebounds for the overmatched Magic, who lost their sixth straight game.
HAWKS 118, RAPTORS 113, OT
In Atlanta, Jeff Teague equaled his career best with 34 points and Paul Millsap had the first triple-double of his career as the Hawks extended their longest winning streak of the season to five in a row, beating the Raptors.
Millsap had 19 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Hawks, who have bounced back after losing 14 of 15 to strengthen their hold on the final playoff spot in the East.
The Hawks overcame an early 13-point deficit in a game that went back and forth in the final quarter. Millsap missed a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but Teague knocked down four free throws in the closing seconds to clinch it for Atlanta.
TRAIL BLAZERS 120, BUCKS 115, OT
In Portland, Oregon, Wesley Matthews had 26 points, including a key three-pointer in overtime, as the Trail Blazers overcame the tenacious Bucks.
Robin Lopez added 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Blazers, who had been in a funk with losses in five of their past six games. Portland (44-24) has also struggled with the absence of injured forward LaMarcus Aldridge.
Brandon Knight had 24 points and Ramon Sessions added a season-high 23 for Milwaukee, who lost their fifth straight. The Bucks (13-55) are just 2-24 against the Western Conference.
Despite the worst record in the NBA, the Bucks gave the Blazers trouble for most of the game. There were 23 lead changes in regulation, and neither team was able to pull ahead by double digits.
KINGS 117, WIZARDS 111, OT
In Sacramento, California, Isaiah Thomas had his first career triple double with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to help the Kings beat the Wizards.
DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay each added 24 points for the Kings, who rallied in the fourth to send the game into overtime and snapped a two-game losing streak.
It was a rare loss for the Wizards, who had won 10 of 13 games before falling to the Kings for the fourth straight time at Sleep Train Arena.
Bradley Beal had 19 points and Marcin Gortat had 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Wizards. They had won six of their previous seven road games. Drew Gooden scored 18 points and John Wall had 14 before fouling out in overtime.
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