Playing with a heavy heart a night after the wife of assistant coach Monty Williams died, Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma to a 121-95 victory over New Orleans on Thursday.
Ingrid Williams was involved in a car crash on Tuesday in Oklahoma City and died on Wednesday. A moment of silence was observed by both teams who had ties to the couple. Monty Williams coached the Pelicans last season before coming to Oklahoma City to help new coach Billy Donovan.
Westbrook had 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Kevin Durant scored 23 points, while Serge Ibaka added 18 for the Thunder.
They have won 14 of 16 heading into the All-Star break.
Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday each scored 23 points for the Pelicans.
Westbrook got his 10th assist on Ibaka’s three-pointer that gave the Thunder a 79-65 lead. Westbrook had his ninth rebound with just under three minutes to go in the third quarter, before heading to the bench for his usual rest and the Thunder ahead 86-68.
BUCKS 99, WIZARDS 92
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Khris Middleton scored 27 points, while Giannis Antetokounmpo had 17 points and 13 rebounds as Milwaukee held off Washington.
Middleton answered again, hitting a jumper in the lane on the next possession before setting up a drive-and-dish to Greg Monroe that gave the Bucks a 97-90 lead with 15 seconds left. Middleton tied a season high with nine assists.
Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite