Jarrett Jack scored a season-high 31 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers won 106-100 in the NBA on Sunday to end the eight-game winning streak of the New York Knicks.
The Knicks wasted a chance to pull within two games of the Atlanta Hawks for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Hours after Atlanta blew a fourth-quarter lead in Toronto, the Knicks responded with an inept final period of their own after they led by 17 points in the first half.
Photo: USA TODAY
They could not stop Jack and could not get a basket from Carmelo Anthony, who missed all five shots in the final period and finished with 32 points.
Jack scored 23 in the second half and finished with 10 assists for the Cavaliers, who ended a four-game losing streak.
NUGGETS 105, WIZARDS 102
In Denver, Kenneth Faried had 20 points and Aaron Brooks hit four straight free throws in the final 12 seconds, helping injury-riddled Denver hold off Washington.
Randy Foye added 17 for a Nuggets team that was missing J.J. Hickson, who suffered a torn ligament in his right knee Friday. Wilson Chandler also did not play (strained left hip) and Jan Vesely did not return after bruising his rib cage late in the third quarter.
Bradley Beal scored 21 points as the Wizards wrapped up a four-game Western road swing with a 1-3 record. Trevor Ariza scored 15 of his 18 points in the first quarter and John Wall added 15, but also had eight turnovers.
Hickson was the latest player to be lost by the Nuggets. They were already without Danilo Gallinari (left ACL), JaVale McGee (broken tibia) and Nate Robinson (left ACL), who all have undergone season-ending operations.
RAPTORS 96, HAWKS 86
In Toronto, Kyle Lowry scored 25 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and 13 rebounds as Toronto beat Atlanta.
DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, Greivis Vasquez had 12 and Terrence Ross 10 as the Raptors avoided their first three-game home losing streak since dropping games against Brooklyn, Miami and Denver between Nov. 26 and Dec. 1 last year.
Toronto fell in double-overtime to Oklahoma City on Friday and lost to Phoenix on Sunday last week.
Lowry, who had 13 points as Toronto erased an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter, has scored 19 points or more in a career-high nine consecutive games.
DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap each scored 17 as the Hawks lost their second straight following a five-game winning streak.
Atlanta failed to win a third straight road game after losing their previous 10 away from home.
SUNS 127, TIMBERWOLVES 120
In Minneapolis, Markieff Morris scored 25 points off the bench to lead Phoenix to their biggest comeback of the season.
Phoenix trailed by 22 in the first half, but shot a season-high 57 percent from the floor to overcome Kevin Love’s 36 points and 14 rebounds.
Love fell an assist short of a triple-double and committed a crucial turnover in the final minute.
With the game tied at 118, Love lost the ball in the paint and Eric Bledsoe made a fast-break layup.
Gerald Green, Bledsoe and P.J. Tucker each hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to help the Suns pull within a half-game of Memphis and Dallas for one of the last two playoff spots in the tight Western Conference.
The Suns tied a season high by allowing 41 points in the first quarter and trailed 103-93 heading in the final period, but they outscored the Wolves 34-17 in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Minnesota blew their largest lead of the season.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Kings 124, Bucks 107
‧ Nets 107, Mavericks 104, Ot
‧ Lakers 103, Magic 94
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
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was