Boston Forward Evan Turner’s running shot just before the final buzzer broke Atlanta hearts on Wednesday, lifting the lowly Celtics to an 89-88 NBA victory over the high-flying Hawks.
Turner’s stunner gave the Celtics their only lead of the game with two-tenths of a second to play, an astonishing turnaround for the hosts, who trailed by as many as 18 and connected on just 32 percent of their shots from the field.
Atlanta, playing their last game before the All-Star break, appeared on their way to becoming the fifth team in league history to win 44 games before the annual mid-season exhibition.
However, Boston rallied behind the 17 points and 15 rebounds of Jared Sullinger, rookie Marcus Smart’s seven fourth-quarter points and Turner’s game-winner.
Al Horford finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while fellow All-Star Jeff Teague added 10 points and eight assists for Atlanta.
The defeat saw Atlanta’s club record streak of 13 straight wins against Eastern Conference rivals end.
Western Conference leaders Golden State take the best record in the league into the All-Star break after a close-run 94-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Stephen Curry scored 25 points for the Warriors, despite connecting on just nine of his 23 shots from the field.
Curry handed out eight assists, Klay Thompson scored 14 points and Leandro Barbosa and Andrew Bogut scored 10 points apiece for Golden State.
Australia’s Bogut also pulled down 10 rebounds for the Warriors, who have won three straight to push their record to 42-9.
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