James Harden had 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, while Dwight Howard added 26 points and 10 boards as the Houston Rockets remained unbeaten with a 108-91 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
Trevor Ariza added 19 points for the Rockets (5-0), who used a 13-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Chris Bosh scored 21 points for Miami (3-1). Dwyane Wade added 19, and Shawne Williams and Mario Chalmers each scored 12.
Photo: AFP
Portland’s Damian Lillard snapped out of a shooting slump with 27 points as the Trail Blazers held Cleveland star LeBron James to just 11 in a 101-82 win over the Cavaliers.
Lillard was nursing an abdominal strain, but had 15 points by halftime. He averaged just 13.7 points on 11-for-41 shooting in the first three games.
Wesley Matthews finished with 21 points as the Blazers (2-2) snapped a two-game losing streak.
In Los Angeles, Gerald Green scored 26 points off the bench and Markieff Morris had 23 points and 10 rebounds, as Phoenix overcame Kobe Bryant’s 39-point performance to beat the Lakers 112-106 and keep Los Angeles winless.
Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points in a reserve role for the Suns, who survived a fourth-quarter surge led by Bryant to beat the Lakers for the second time in seven days.
Bryant went 14 for 37 for the Lakers, who are off to their first 0-5 start since the 1957-1958 Minneapolis Lakers lost their first seven games.
The Toronto Raptors defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-88 after DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points and Patrick Patterson had 14.
Lou Williams scored nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and Tyler Hansbrough got eight of his 12 at the free-throw line as the Raptors improved to 3-1.
Serge Ibaka had 25 points and 11 rebounds for a short-handed Oklahoma City.
In other games, Pau Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls beat the winless Orlando Magic 98-90, the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers 87-81, the Washington Wizards downed the New York Knicks 98-83 and the New Orleans Pelicans were 100-91 winners over the Charlotte Hornets.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
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Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care