Klay Thompson notched up his 5,000th point and knocked down two late three-pointers in a 1 minute, 9 second span to lead the Golden State Warriors past the Detroit Pistons 105-98 for their fifth straight win.
Thompson finished with 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting in the Warriors’ 51st victory — matching their total from last season — and their eighth straight against Detroit.
Andre Drummond had a career-high 27 rebounds — 17 offensive — to go with 22 points in the Pistons’ eighth straight loss.
Thompson’s two 3s came during a decisive 18-2 run, including one with 5:37 left to put Golden State ahead by 10 as Detroit could not fight back.
NUGGETS 115, HAWKS 102
Danilo Gallinari scored 23 points and Will Barton added 16 as Denver beat Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta for their eighth straight home win over the Hawks.
By the end of the third quarter, Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer had seen enough and inserted his bench players, who went on a 24-1 run midway through the fourth quarter to make the score respectable after trailing by 32 with 7:32 remaining.
The Hawks have not won in the Mile High City since Dec. 6, 2006.
Kyle Korver scored 18 points to lead Atlanta, hitting five three-pointers.
HEAT 104, NETS 98
Dwyane Wade had 28 points and nine assists, while Chris Andersen equaled a career high with 18 points and set a season high with 14 rebounds as Miami finished off a season sweep of Brooklyn.
Goran Dragic added 17 points in his return to the Miami lineup.
The Heat went 7-0 against New York’s two teams this season — 4-0 against the Nets and 3-0 against the Knicks — and moved back into the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race, helped by Sacramento beating Charlotte earlier on Wednesday night.
The Heat were without center Hassan Whiteside, serving a one-game suspension for elbowing Boston’s Kelly Olynyk on Monday night.
Deron Williams and Jarrett Jack each scored 18 points for the Nets. Brook Lopez finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
CELTICS 95, GRIZZLIES 92
Marcus Smart converted a go-ahead, three-point play with 52 seconds left, while Avery Bradley added a vital jump shot with 8 seconds remaining as Boston ended a five-game losing streak against Memphis.
Bradley scored 17 points to help the Celtics win their second in a row as they chase a playoff spot.
Smart put Boston ahead 91-90 with the last of 14 lead changes in the game, which ended when Mike Conley missed a deep three-pointer for Memphis just before the buzzer.
Conley led Memphis with 20 points after missing time in the second half with a leg injury.
Tony Allen added 16 points, while Zach Randolph had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
BULLS 104, 76ERS 95, OT
Aaron Brooks scored seven of his season-high 31 points in overtime to help short-handed Chicago beat Philadelphia.
Pau Gasol had 27 points and 16 rebounds, while Nikola Mirotic finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls. They snapped a three-game skid without four regulars and three of their top five scorers.
The Bulls dressed only 10 players and were without Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah.
Rose had knee surgery on Feb. 27, but said on Monday that he hopes to return this season, targeting four to six weeks for a comeback from yet another knee injury. Butler (elbow) missed his sixth straight game, while Gibson (ankle) sat out his seventh in a row. Noah (knee) was a late scratch.
Ish Smith led Philadelphia with a career-high 23 points.
TRAIL BLAZERS 105, ROCKETS 100
LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 14 rebounds as Portland held off Houston.
The Trail Blazers limited James Harden to 18 points and tied the Rockets for third place in the Western Conference.
Harden was averaging just over 27 points to rank second in the league.
Corey Brewer scored 23 points for Houston, including 17 in the fourth quarter.
Robin Lopez finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Blazers, who have won a Western Conference-best 27 games at home this season.
SUNS 106, TIMBERWOLVES 97
Markieff Morris scored 24 points and Eric Bledsoe had 18 points and nine assists as Phoenix beat Minnesota.
Rookie T.J. Warren added a career-high 17 points, while Marcus Thornton hit back-to-back three-pointers early in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points.
Warren’s dunk with 3:20 left punctuated the win. He was fouled on the basket and made the free throw to give the Suns a 12-point lead.
Kevin Martin scored 16 points for Minnesota.
KINGS 113, HORNETS 106
Ben McLemore scored 27 points and Rudy Gay added 26 as Sacramento beat Charlotte to end a four-game losing streak.
DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Kings.
Charlotte’s Kemba Walker scored six points in 16 minutes off the bench after missing 18 games following knee surgery, but the Hornets lost center Al Jefferson to a strained right calf late in the third quarter.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led Charlotte with 23 points.
BUCKS 97, MAGIC 91
Khris Middleton scored a season-high 30 points for the second time in three games to lead Milwaukee past the Orlando Magic.
Middleton, who also scored 30 points on Saturday night against Washington, was 12 of 17 from the floor.
Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Orlando.
The Bucks have won 10 of their past 12 home games, while the Magic have lost nine a row on the road.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set