Indianapolis moved within one win of clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 102-97 in Sunday’s clash of divisional leaders.
The Pacers lead two-time defending champions the Miami Heat by half a game and have one game to play, while the Heat have two. Indiana hold the tiebreaker based on their conference record, so they will finish top if they win their final game, regardless of Miami’s results.
Elsewhere, the Portland Trail Blazers edged the Golden State Warriors in overtime to secure at least fifth place in the Western Conference standings, the New York Knicks dealt a blow to the Chicago Bulls’ post-season ambitions and the Toronto Raptors matched a franchise record for wins in a season by beating the Detroit Pistons.
Photo: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA Today
Indianapolis’ David West scored 21 points and Lance Stephenson had his league-best fifth triple-double of the season.
Kevin Durant finished with 38 points for Oklahoma City, who missed a chance to lock up the second seed in the Western Conference.
The Thunder rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, tying the score with 2 minutes, 46 seconds to go, but Paul George hit a three-pointer and Stephenson made one with 34.2 seconds to go to effectively seal it.
Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points, including the go-ahead jumper in overtime, as the Trail Blazers beat the Warriors 119-117.
With the victory, Portland (53-28) were assured of at least the fifth seed in the playoffs. The Blazers close out the season tomorrow against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Aldridge’s jumper with 39.9 seconds to go gave the Blazers a 118-117 lead. Damian Lillard added a free throw for Portland, before Andre Iguodala missed a three-pointer with 2.9 seconds left and Wesley Matthews grabbed the rebound for the Blazers.
Matthews added 24 points for Portland, who have won four straight and eight of their past nine games.
The Warriors lost despite a season-high 47 points from Stephen Curry.
New York responded well to being eliminated from playoff contention, firing up for a 100-89 win over Chicago.
Tim Hardaway Jr scored 20 points, while Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith both had 17 for the Knicks.
Chicago’s seven-game winning streak was ended and the result dropped them back into a tie with Toronto for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with two games to play.
Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to guide the Raptors to a 116-107 win over the Pistons.
Kyle Lowry fouled out late after scoring 28 points for the Raptors, who reached the 47-win mark for the third time in their history, finishing on that total in 2000-2001 and 2006-2007.
Andre Drummond had 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons in the final home game of their dismal season.
The Memphis Grizzlies moved a game ahead of the idle Phoenix Suns in the race for the final Western Conference playoff berth by pulling away in the third quarter and winning 102-90 at the Los Angeles Lakers, with Mike Conley scoring 24 points.
Sacramento’s Ray McCallum hit back-to-back three-pointers in a pivotal stretch midway through the fourth quarter, steering the Kings to a 106-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Brooklyn’s Mirza Teletovic scored a team-high 20 points as the Nets downed the Orlando Magic 97-88.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set