Tiago Splitter became the 12th different player to lead the San Antonio Spurs in scoring this season, recording a game-high 14 points in a comfortable 89-69 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
The Spurs (26-16) have won eight straight games against Utah (14-27) in San Antonio since a last home loss to the Jazz in January 2010.
Guard Danny Green scored 13 points for the Spurs, all in the fourth quarter, when he made three three-pointers.
Photo: AFP
Reserve center Rudy Gobert led Utah with 13 points, a career-best 18 rebounds and four blocks. Forward Gordon Hayward scored 10.
Spurs guard Patty Mills, who missed the first 31 games of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, has found his form of late and added two three-pointers off the bench.
Thunder 127, Magic 99
Photo: USA TODAY
Kevin Durant had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in just 27 minutes, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to victory over the Orlando Magic in Florida.
The Thunder (20-20) built a 38-point lead in the first half, then coasted through the second, giving them an easier-than-expected start to a five-game Eastern Conference road trip.
Russell Westbrook had 17 points and six assists in 24 minutes. The Thunder starters were replaced late in the third quarter and never returned.
The Magic (15-29) were led by guard Victor Oladipo with 23 points.
Pelicans 95, Raptors 93
Tyreke Evans made the winning hook shot with 1.6 seconds left and scored 26 points as the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the struggling Toronto Raptors.
Alexis Ajinca added 22 points for the Pelicans (20-10), who led by 16 points early in the second half, and trailed by 12 in the fourth quarter.
DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points to lead the Raptors (26-14), who have lost seven of their past nine games and finished a six-game home stand at 2-4.
New Orleans managed to win without injured standouts Anthony Davis (sprained left toe) and Jrue Holiday (right ankle inflammation).
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