Pau Gasol scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds in his Chicago debut to help the Bulls spoil Derek Fisher’s first game as an NBA coach by beating the New York Knicks 104-80 on Wednesday.
Reserve Taj Gibson finished with 22 points to lead the Bulls and Derrick Rose scored 13 points after missing most of the last two seasons.
Rose, the former Most Valuable Player, took only seven shots and had five assists in 21 minutes in a game Chicago led by as much as 35.
Rose missed the 2012-13 season after tearing his left ACL in the 2012 playoffs. He returned last season and hit the go-ahead shot to beat the Knicks on Halloween in Chicago’s home opener, but was lost again for the season when he tore cartilage in the other knee in November.
Miami’s Chris Bosh had 26 points and 15 rebounds and Norris Cole scored a career-high 23 points after winning Miami’s starting point-guard job as the Heat beat the Washington Wizards 107-95 to open the post-LeBron James era.
Dwyane Wade added 21 points for Miami, 12 of those down the stretch after he briefly departed with a leg injury. Luol Deng, part of the class assembled this summer after James departed, scored 12 points.
At Boston, Rajon Rondo returned from a broken hand and had 13 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in the season opener to help the Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets 121-105.
Kelly Olynyk had 19 points and Jeff Green added 17 for Boston, which opened a 29-point lead at the end of the third quarter and coasted to the win.
Mirza Teletovic had 20 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench for the Nets. Joe Johnson scored 19 points for Brooklyn, and Deron Williams had 19 points and eight assists.
The Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-99 despite Kobe Bryant’s 31 points after Isaiah Thomas scored 23 points in his Phoenix debut and Marcus Morris matched his career high with five 3-pointers.
Goran Dragic scored 12 of his 18 points in the third quarter, when the Suns outscored the Lakers 39-24 and led by as many as 29. Phoenix’s Eric Bledsoe had 16 points and nine assists before he drew his second technical foul and was ejected with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
Bryant, 11 of 25 from the field, did not play in the fourth quarter. Ed Davis scored 14 points and Wayne Ellington 13 for Los Angeles.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry had 24 points and 10 rebounds as an undermanned Warriors downed the Los Angeles Kings 95-77, while LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points as the Portland Trail Blazers rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Oklahoma City 106-89.
In other games, Kemba Walker made a 21-footer from the top of the key with five seconds left in overtime to lift the Charlotte Hornets past the Milwaukee Bucks 108-106, the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-101 and the Houston Rockets downed the Utah Jazz 104-93.
The Indiana Pacers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 103-91, the Toronto Raptors beat the Atlanta Hawks 109-102 and the Denver Nuggets were 89-79 winners over the Detroit Pistons.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB