Anthony Davis scored 23 points as the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Los Angeles Lakers 104-87 on Sunday.
Jrue Holiday had 22 points and eight assists, helping the Pelicans end a four-game losing streak on the road that included a 27-point drubbing by the Warriors on Thursday and a 20-point loss to the Clippers on Saturday night.
Bryant had 14 points in 31 minutes for the Lakers (5-16). Bryant and Davis entered Sunday 1-2 in the NBA in terms of scoring averages at 25.8 points and 25.3 respectively.
Photo: EPA
Elsewhere in the league, Jon Leuer scored a season-high 20 points for Memphis and matched his career-best with 12 rebounds, to help lead the Grizzlies over the Miami Heat 103-87.
Mike Conley added 18 points for Memphis, connecting on all eight of his shots, while Zach Randolph and Courtney Lee finished with 17 points apiece.
Memphis went eight-for-13 from three-point range and shot 59 percent from the field overall.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points in Miami’s fourth consecutive loss, while Josh McRoberts added 14 for the Heat.
In Atlanta, Georgia, Paul Millsap scored 23 points and Kyle Korver had 15 as the Hawks downed the Denver Nuggets 96-84 for their sixth straight win.
Al Horford and DeMarre Carroll each had 11 points, combining for 17 Atlanta rebounds.
Wilson Chandler finished with a season-high 29 points for the Nuggets.
Also on Sunday, the Boston Celtics defeated the Washington Wizards 101-93 after Jeff Green scored 25 points and reserve Marcus Thornton added 21.
Rajon Rondo scored a triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for the Celtics, who won their third straight game after a season-high five-game losing streak.
In Dallas, Texas, Chandler Parsons scored 28 points to help the Mavericks roll to a 125-102 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Mavericks built a big lead with a 12-0 run in the first quarter and did not trail again in their second victory in five days over the Bucks. Parsons had nine in the opening period.
Dirk Nowitzki, who was rested for the game at Milwaukee on Wednesday and scored a season-low 10 points in Friday’s game, bounced back with 21, while Monta Ellis added 19.
Meanwhile, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points as the Trail Blazers regrouped after blowing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, while Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 28 points, and Russell Westbrook added 22 points and 11 rebounds in the Thunder’s 96-84 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but