Chris Paul had 25 points and seven assists as the Los Angeles Clippers extended their winning streak to eight games with a 97-83 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.
DeAndre Jordan, making a push for his first career All-Star selection, had 19 rebounds. It was the 11th straight game in double digits for the franchise’s career rebounding leader. He led the NBA in rebounding the previous two seasons.
J.J. Redick added 17 points for the Clippers. The winning streak is their fourth of eight or more games in the past four seasons. They had an 11-game run in 2013-2014, a nine-game stretch last season and won a franchise-record 17 straight in 2012-2013 — including a 16-0 December.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY
Jeremy Lin had 26 points for the Hornets. They have lost a season-worst six in a row and seven straight on the road.
PISTONS 103, NETS 89
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Andre Drummond had 23 points and 11 rebounds as Detroit pulled away at the beginning of the fourth quarter to beat Brooklyn for their third straight victory.
Photo: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY
Reggie Jackson had 23 points and eight assists for Detroit, and Ersan Ilyasova added 19 points and 13 rebounds. The Pistons played without forward Marcus Morris, who sat out with left knee tendinitis.
Brook Lopez had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Nets, who have lost four straight.
RAPTORS 108, 76ERS 95
In Philadelphia, Kyle Lowry scored 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and DeMar DeRozan added 19 to lead Toronto over Philadelphia.
Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points for the Atlantic Division leaders, who are to go for their fourth straight win when they wrap up a six-game road trip against Orlando on Thursday in London.
Ish Smith scored a career-high 28 points and rookie Jahlil Okafor had 19 for Philadelphia, who dropped to 4-35. The 76ers have lost 11 straight games to Toronto.
HAWKS 120, BULLS 105
In Atlanta, Georgia, Al Horford scored a season-high 33 points and had 10 rebounds and Paul Millsap added 18 points as Atlanta overpowered Chicago.
Jimmy Butler scored 14 of his 27 points in the third quarter for Chicago, and Nikola Mirotic had 24 points. The Bulls had won six straight.
Atlanta have won two straight after dropping three of four.
WARRIORS 128, KINGS 116
In Sacramento, California, Stephen Curry made eight three-pointers and scored 38 points and Draymond Green added 25 as Golden State defeated Sacramento for their sixth consecutive victory.
The Warriors (35-2) broke loose for 36 points in the third quarter and built a 12-point lead. Curry had 14 points in the fourth to hold off the Kings.
Golden State swept the four-game season series and have beaten Sacramento 12 straight times.
Green hit five three-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds. The Warriors shot 19 of 37 on three-pointers, hitting 12 in the opening half — the most the Kings have allowed in a half all season.
DeMarcus Cousins had 21 of his 33 points in the first half and added 10 rebounds for the Kings. Rudy Gay scored 23.
In other results, it was:
‧ Wizards 105, Magic 99
‧ Jazz 98, Heat 83
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