All-star forward Paul Millsap scored 21 points as the Atlanta Hawks won their 18th consecutive contest with a 105-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
Millsap had plenty of help from his fellow all-stars Al Horford and Jeff Teague, who finished with 17 and 13 points respectively.
Teague scored six of his points in the final quarter. The Hawks — who lead the Eastern Conference — have not lost since a game in Milwaukee on Dec. 26 last year. And at 39-8, they have eclipsed their win total for last season (38-44).
Atlanta could post a perfect 17-0 month with a win on Saturday against Philadelphia, who are to end a seven-game home stretch.
Kyle Korver scored 16 points, while Kent Bazemore came off the bench to tally 12 points in 40 minutes as the Hawks won without injured forward DeMarre Carroll, who sat out with a left Achilles strain.
He was replaced in the lineup by Thabo Sefolosha, who played just 2 minutes, 21 seconds before he went out with a calf strain.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 37 points for Portland a day after he was named to the Western Conference All-Star team.
Wesley Matthews posted 16 points, while Damian Lillard finished with 13 points and 11 assists for the Blazers, who have lost seven of their past nine.
Millsap, Horford and Teague were all named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Thursday, the first time since 1980 that three Hawks have made the game.
Atlanta’s Mike Budenholzer is to coach the East team in the Feb. 15 game at Madison Square Garden in New York.
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