Stephen Curry got involved in a rare altercation before finishing with 22 points and 10 assists as the Golden State Warriors held off the Houston Rockets 126-113 on Wednesday night for their franchise-record 17th straight home win.
The typically mild-mannered Curry ran at Trevor Ariza after the Rockets forward bumped him on the way down court early in the third quarter. Curry had to be held back by teammates and officials called a technical foul on Ariza following a video review.
The Warriors had already grabbed control by outscoring Houston 30-13 in the second quarter. They led by 30 in the third before the Rockets’ reserves made the final margin closer.
Golden State swept the four-game season series against the Rockets for the first time since the 1973-to-1974 season.
James Harden had 33 points and six assists for Houston.
CAVALIERS 106, JAZZ 92
LeBron James scored 26 points and Kevin Love added 19 as the rejuvenated Cavaliers earned their fourth consecutive victory.
Shaking off a flu bug that forced him to miss practice on Tuesday and also slowed Kyrie Irving, James added nine assists and seven rebounds. The Cavs are 4-1 since the four-time MVP returned after missing eight games with a strained back and knee.
Irving added 18 points and Timofey Mozgov scored 16 for Cleveland, beginning to find their stride following a stretch of injuries and two major trades. J.R. Smith scored 15 as all five Cavs starters scored at least that many for the second straight game.
Enes Kanter had 24 points and 17 rebounds for Utah, who have dropped five of six. Gordon Hayward scored 14 points.
PELICANS 96, LAKERS 80
Anthony Davis scored 29 points and blocked four shots in his return from a sprained toe, leading the Pelicans to the win over Los Angeles.
Eric Gordon had 17 points and a season-high 10 assists for New Orleans. Tyreke Evans added 19 points and Quincy Pondexter finished with 12.
Los Angeles shot 37 percent from the field in its season-long sixth consecutive loss.
Lakers star Kobe Bryant returned after missing two games as part of coach Byron Scott’s plan to give the 36-year-old guard extra rest this season. He scored 14 points on six-of-14 shooting.
In other results, it was:
‧ Hawks 110, Pacers 91
‧ Thunder 105, Wizards 103, OT
‧ Pistons 128, Magic 118
‧ Suns 118, Trail Blazers 113
‧ Grizzlies 92, Raptors 86
‧ Nets 103, Kings 100
‧ Mavericks 98, Timberwolves 75
‧ Hornets 78, Heat 76
‧ Knicks 98, 76ers 91
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