Manu Ginobili had 26 points as the San Antonio Spurs avoided their fourth overtime loss at home in a month, escaping with a 95-93 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
Ginobili had seven points in overtime, helping the Spurs (20-14) overcome an early six-point deficit in the extra period.
San Antonio star Tim Duncan had 16 points and 10 rebounds, tying Hall of Famer Karl Malone for fifth in career double-doubles with 814.
Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans (16-16). It was his 19th double-double of the season.
Ryan Anderson added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans, while Tyreke Evans had 15 points.
Jimmer Fredette finished with 14 points.
The Spurs played five overtime games last month, including consecutive triple-overtime losses to Memphis and Portland at home.
It appeared as if they were headed for a regulation loss when Davis followed Evans’ miss with an emphatic dunk, giving New Orleans an 84-82 lead with 0.7 seconds left, but Duncan sent the game to overtime, tipping in Boris Diaw’s inbounds pass at the rim that Pelicans center Omer Asik appeared to help tap in.
New Orleans are 7-10 in back-to-back games this season, including four losses in the second contest. The Pelicans’ reserves averaged 37.6 points in the previous 10 games, outscoring all but four of their counterparts during that stretch.
Jrue Holiday has played and started every game for the Pelicans this season, while Davis and Evans have each missed just one game.
After finishing with a league-best 62-20 record last season, San Antonio have already lost 14 games through 34.
The Spurs tied a franchise record for most games in December, finishing 8-10 last month.
The schedule included five straight games against teams with a .700 winning percentage, marking the first time a team has done so in league history.
San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard (bruised right hand) missed his 11th straight game and Tony Parker (strained left hamstring) missed his 12th.
Coach Gregg Popovich expects Parker to return before Leonard, who he said would be back “later rather than sooner.”
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