Mike Conley scored 19 points and Jeff Green added 17 as the Memphis Grizzlies led from start to finish for a 112-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph added 16 points apiece, while Courtney Lee contributed 13. Conley and Gasol both connected on seven of 11 shots, while Randolph missed only one of his eight attempts as Memphis shot close to 60 percent for the game before finishing at 56 percent.
Kobe Bryant, playing in only the first and third quarters, scored 19 for the Lakers, with 14 in the opening quarter. Larry Nance Jr had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordan Clarkson scored 12 points and D’Angelo Russell finished with 10.
Photo: AP
Memphis snapped a two-game skid, while the Lakers lost their third straight and fifth in the past six.
THUNDER 122, NUGGETS 112
Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds as Oklahoma City rallied from an 11-point, second-half deficit to beat Denver.
Kevin Durant recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 assists for the Thunder, who have won 10 of their past 12 games, but were coming off a Christmas Day loss at home to the Chicago Bulls.
Oklahoma City shot a season-best 57.8 percent from the field. The Thunder trailed as late as the 8 minute, 13 second mark of the fourth quarter before taking control with an 11-2 run that included seven of Enes Kanter’s 21 points.
Kenneth Faried had 25 points and 11 points for the Nuggets, who have lost five of their past six games. Denver have lost six straight trips to Oklahoma City.
CELTICS 100, KNICKS 91
Isaiah Thomas had a pair of key baskets and finished with 21 points, while Evan Turner scored 19 as Boston won their fourth straight.
Jae Crowder scored 18 points, while Kelly Olynyk added 11 points and nine rebounds for Boston. Thomas added eight rebounds and six assists.
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 29 points, despite shooting just 11 of 26. Kristaps Porzingis had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The Knicks, who shot just 37.1 percent, lost their fourth straight.
The Celtics opened an 88-78 lead on Turner’s driving basket with 6 minutes, 11 seconds to play, but the Knicks cut it to 90-85 before Thomas had consecutive driving baskets to push the lead back to nine.
TRAIL BLAZERS 98, KINGS 94
C.J. McCollum had 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead Portland over Sacramento.
The Blazers outscored Sacramento 18-14 in the fourth quarter to claim their second straight victory.
DeMarcus Cousins had 36 points and six rebounds for the Kings. Omri Casspi had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Rajon Rondo finished with nine points and 15 assists.
Kings coach George Karl was denied his 1,155th victory, which would have tied him with Phil Jackson for fifth place on the career list.
Meyers Leonard made four three-pointers, and had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers. Maurice Harkness added 13 points.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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