Mason Plumlee continued his impressive play with a team-high 22 points, while Joe Johnson and Jarret Jack both scored 16 as the Brooklyn Nets held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 107-99 on Monday night.
Rudy Gay had 25 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost 13 of their past 17 games.
Brook Lopez came off the bench and chipped in with 11 points for the Nets, who bounced back from a 25-point loss to Indiana on Saturday night at the Barclays Center and won for the fourth time in their past five games.
Photo: EPA
The Nets led 93-83 with 5 minutes, 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter after a layup by Deron Williams, but Gay then scored five straight points in a 26-second span, including a three-pointer, which cut the lead to 93-88 with 5 minutes, 12 seconds to play.
CLIPPERS 101, JAZZ 97
Blake Griffin scored 24 points as Los Angeles beat Utah for their 12th straight victory over the Jazz, breaking the franchise record for consecutive wins against one club.
Chris Paul finished with 20 points and eight assists.
DeAndre Jordan had 19 rebounds for the two-time defending Pacific Division champions. The Clippers blocked 12 shots and never trailed in the fourth quarter despite leading by no more than five points at any point.
The previous franchise record for wins by the Clippers against one team was set against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Clippers are 10-6 this month with one game left.
Gordon Hayward scored 22 points for the Jazz, while Rudy Gobert added 13 rebounds and 11 points off the bench. Shooting guard Alec Burks missed his second straight game because of chronic soreness in his left shoulder. He also sat out two games early this month for the same reason.
MAGIC 102, HEAT 101
Nikola Vucevic scored 26 points, while Victor Oladipo scored seven of his 22 in the final minutes as Orlando beat Miami.
Oladipo had a layup to tie it, then a free throw to put the Magic ahead to stay and give them their first win against Miami in 11 tries.
Tobias Harris scored 18 for the Magic, who got 13 from Channing Frye.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for Miami, who have lost 12 of 18 at home. Danny Granger had 21 points and Chris Bosh scored 20 in his return after missing eight games with a strained left calf.
Granger was 6 for 7 from three-point range, including one that put Miami up 101-97 with 1 minute, 38 seconds left. The Heat did not score again.
There were nine lead changes and four ties in the fourth quarter, with the Magic knotting the game at 101-all when Oladipo drove by Wade and scored with 45 seconds left.
BUCKS 104, HORNETS 94, OT
Brandon Knight scored 18 points, including a layup to force overtime, as Milwaukee pulled away to beat Charlotte.
Jared Dudley scored 17 points, Giannis Antetokounm had 16, Zaza Pachulia had 15, O.J. Mayo had 13 and John Henson added 11 for the Bucks (16-16), who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Hornets dating back to the 2011-2012 season.
Kemba Walker scored 28 points, Gerald Henderson added 19 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 10 for the Hornets (10-22), who fought back from a 21-point deficit in the first half.
Walker’s layup with 54.5 seconds remaining gave Charlotte an 83-81 lead, but Knight followed up his own blocked shot for a layup with 16 seconds left to tie the score and force overtime.
Milwaukee then pulled ahead for good on Henson’s three-point play with 3 minutes, 51 seconds left in overtime. The Bucks led by 13 points in the extra period.
BULLS 92, PACERS 90
Jimmy Butler had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead Chicago to a victory over Indiana.
Pau Gasol had 20 points and Derrick Rose added 17 for the Bulls (22-9), who have won seven straight.
Chris Copeland scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, and George Hill and C.J. Miles each added 11 points for the Pacers (11-21).
Butler scored a three-pointer with 1 minute, 7 seconds left to put the Bulls ahead for good 92-90.
WIZARDS 104, ROCKETS 103
Bradley Beal scored 33 points, while Paul Pierce added 21 as Washington survived a furious fourth-quarter charge by Houston to beat the Rockets.
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