Damian Lillard scored a career-high 43 points, including 16 after regulation, as the Portland Trail Blazers handed the San Antonio Spurs their second straight defeat in triple overtime by rallying for a 129-119 victory on Friday night.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 32 points and 16 rebounds, and Wesley Matthews added 16 points as Portland (21-6) extended their winning streak to four games. Lillard scored the first nine points in the third overtime.
Tim Duncan had 32 points and 10 rebounds, while Danny Green added 27 points for San Antonio.
The Spurs dropped their two previous home games by a combined three points, including a 117-116 loss in triple overtime to Memphis on Wednesday.
It was the first time a team have played consecutive triple-overtime games since the Baltimore Bullets did so in December 1951.
CAVALIERS 95, NETS 91
In Cleveland, Ohio, LeBron James scored 22 points and Mike Miller, making his first start of the season, added 21 on seven three-pointers to lead Cleveland over Brooklyn.
James, who moved into 23rd place on the career scoring list, scored eight points in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers bounced back from their biggest loss of the season on Wednesday against Atlanta.
Joe Johnson led the Nets with 26 points. Brooklyn guard Deron Williams limped off the court in the second quarter with a strained right calf and did not return.
Brooklyn cut an eight-point lead to 94-91 on Johnson’s three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining. The Cavaliers committed a turnover, but Kevin Garnett missed a contested three-pointer and James split two free throws with 1.3 seconds left.
BULLS 103, GRIZZLIES 97
In Memphis, Tennessee, Jimmy Butler scored 31 points, Nikola Mirotic added a season-best 27 as Chicago snapped Memphis’ six-game winning streak.
Butler went 11 of 21 from the field and Mirotic connected on all six of his shots beyond the arc, setting a season standard for three-pointers. Aaron Brooks scored 17 points and Joakim Noah finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Butler also had 10 rebounds as the Bulls outrebounded the Grizzlies 51-45.
Mike Conley led Memphis with 21 points. Beno Udrih had 15 before leaving with a hand injury in the fourth quarter.
The Grizzlies shot 39 percent.
THUNDER 104, LAKERS 103
In Los Angeles, Russell Westbrook scored 31 points and hit a key jumper with 38 seconds left as Oklahoma City overcame the absence of NBA MVP Kevin Durant against Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant missed a 17-foot jumper right before the buzzer for the Lakers, who had won three of four. Bryant had nine points on three-of-15 shooting, but added eight rebounds and eight assists.
Reggie Jackson scored 25 points and hit the go-ahead free throws with 1:05 left for the Thunder, who persevered down the stretch for their eighth victory in nine games.
Durant sat out after spraining his right ankle in the first half of the Thunder’s loss at Golden State on Thursday night.
Ed Davis had a season-high 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers.
NUGGETS 109, CLIPPERS 106
In Denver, Colorado, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari hit successive three-pointers late in the fourth quarter as Denver regrouped after blowing a 16-point halftime lead to beat Los Angeles.
Nate Robinson scored 20 points off the bench to lead the Nuggets, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Blake Griffin had his second 30-point performance in a row, finishing with 32 for the Clippers, who have dropped their last three games on the road.
Jamal Crawford added 20 points and Chris Paul had 17 points and 15 assists.
Chandler and Gallinari hit back-to-back 3s for a 105-98 lead with 2:02 left.
Los Angeles got off three desperate shots from three-point range in the final seconds, but they all missed.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Wizards 105, Heat 103
‧ Raptors 110, Pistons 100
‧ Celtics 114, Timberwolves 98
‧ Hornets 109, 76ers 91
‧ Jazz 101, Magic 94
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