Kyle Lowry on Sunday scored 21 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 20 as the Toronto Raptors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-94 for their season-high eighth straight win.
DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross both added 18 points each for the Raptors. Ross shot five for seven on three-pointers and at least 10 points off the bench for the fourth straight game.
Chris Paul had 23 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, and DeAndre Jordan had 15 and 13 rebounds. J.J. Redick scored 17 points for Los Angeles.
Photo: AP
The Raptors beat the Clippers for the fourth straight time, completing a second straight season sweep. It also marked the first time in franchise history the Raptors swept both Los Angeles teams in the same season, having beaten the Lakers in both meetings already.
The Raptors’ winning streak is the second-longest in franchise history, one short of the team record set in the 2001-2002 season.
NETS 116, THUNDER 106
Photo: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY
In New York, Brook Lopez scored a season-high 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Brooklyn snapped Oklahoma City’s seven-game winning streak.
Kevin Durant had 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but Oklahoma City never led in the game that was delayed four hours by the blizzard that dumped more than 60cm of snow on New York on Saturday.
Russell Westbrook finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Thunder lost for just the fifth time in 27 games.
Taking advantage of a Thunder team missing starting center Steven Adams, Lopez shot 11 for 19 from the field in bouncing back from one of his worst performances of the season. He had been limited to just eight points Friday in a loss to Utah.
CELTICS 112, 76ERS 92
In Philadelphia, Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas scored 20 points each as Boston cruised past Philadelphia.
Avery Bradley had 19 points and Marcus Smart added 16 off the bench for the Celtics, who have won five of seven.
Robert Covington scored 25 points to lead Philadelphia.
The game originally was scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed due to Winter Storm Jonas. With Philadelphia’s airport closed on Saturday, the Celtics instead practiced in Boston and arrived in Philadelphia on Sunday morning.
ROCKETS 115, MAVERICKS 104
In Houston, Texas, James Harden had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists and Trevor Ariza scored a season-high 29 as Houston rallied past Dallas.
The Rockets trailed by one entering the fourth quarter, but they used a 14-4 run, highlighted by consecutive three-pointers by Ariza, Jason Terry and Josh Smith, to take a 98-89 lead with about nine minutes left.
Chandler Parsons made a layup for the Mavericks before Houston scored five straight points to push the lead to 103-91.
Terry started that stretch with a three-pointer and Smith juked Dirk Nowitzki to get open for a hook shot, and the Mavericks did not threaten again.
Parsons had a season-high 31 points for the Mavericks, who dropped their second straight game.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and