Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points and 11 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks pulled away in the closing minutes for an 84-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers in the NBA on Tuesday.
The Pacers, playing their first game at home after a five-game trip out west, cut a 14-point Dallas lead to 75-71 with under 4 minutes remaining.
But Adrian Griffin, Nowitzki and Marquis Daniels hit consecutive baskets for the Mavericks, and after a basket by Indiana's Ron Artest, Nowitzki put the game out of reach with a 3-pointer with 58 seconds remaining. Sarunas Jasikevicius finished the scoring for the Pacers with a pair of free throws.
Devin Harris added 15 points and Keith Van Horn had 11 for Dallas. Jermaine O'Neal led Indiana with 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Artest added 15 points and five steals.
Wizards 119, Raptors 111, OT
At Washington, Jarvis Hayes broke out of a shooting slump with a season-high 21 points, including six in overtime, and Gilbert Arenas scored 16 of his 37 in the final 12 minutes to lead Washington over Toronto.
Hayes didn't score in the Wizards' loss to Milwaukee on Friday, and he had gone 7-for-24 from the field in his last five games. He finished 8-for-15 with a season-high eight rebounds and made two key defensive plays in overtime, including a steal with 37 seconds remaining when the Raptors were trying to set up a game-tying shot.
Arenas went 13-for-24 from the field and had 10 assists. Antawn Jamison added 26 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Wizards, and Jared Jeffries had 14 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Chris Bosh scored 27 points, and Morris Peterson had 21 for the Raptors, who were trying to build a three-game road winning streak for the first time since February 2004. After a 1-15 November, Toronto opened December with wins at Atlanta and New Jersey. Jose Calderon had eight points, nine rebounds and a season-high 13 assists.
Lakers 111, Bucks 92
At Milwaukee, Kobe Bryant scored 33 points to lift Los Angeles to its ninth straight win over Milwaukee.
Lamar Odom added 24 points, Smush Parker had 20, and Chris Mihm scored 13 as the Lakers beat the Bucks for the 18th time in the last 20 meetings.
Bryant went 14-of-24 from the field, a game after shooting just 9-of-30 in a sluggish win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday. The Lakers shot 48 percent (43-of-89).
Michael Redd scored 21 points for Milwaukee, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Grizzlies 89, Hornets 73
At Memphis, Tennessee, Pau Gasol scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as Memphis beat New Orleans for its sixth straight victory.
Gasol shot 7-of-13 from the field and also hit 15-of-19 free throws, tying a franchise mark for most attempts. He added three blocks.
Reserve guard Bobby Jackson scored 21 points and Eddie Jones added 11 for Memphis, which held a 21-point lead in the second half.
New Orleans shot 39 percent from the floor. P.J. Brown, leading scorer Chris Paul and reserve guard Speedy Claxton missed a combined 22 of 26 shots.
Desmond Mason and David West led New Orleans with 15 points apiece, while J.R. Smith and Kirk Snyder each scored 10.
Suns 130, Trail Blazers 85
At Phoenix, James Jones scored 22 points, Raja Bell added 21 and Phoenix extended its winning streak to an NBA-best seven straight by beating Portland.
Shawn Marion added 21 points for the Suns. Steve Nash had 14 points and 12 assists, Kurt Thomas added 12 points and 13 rebounds, Boris Diaw finished with a career-best 13 assists, and Pat Burke had a season-high 12.
Zach Randolph's 15 points led the beleaguered Trail Blazers, who lost their fifth straight and seventh in eight games.
Rockets 91, Celtics 73
At Houston, Tracy McGrady tied his season high with 35 points, leading Houston over Boston for its second win in its last 10 games.
Pierce scored 20 for the Celtics.
Houston center Yao Ming had 12 points and nine rebounds, despite being cut over his right eye in a fourth-quarter collision with Boston forward Brian Scalabrine.
McGrady also had seven rebounds and five assists, showing no signs of the back injury that sidelined him for eight of Houston's first 14 games.
Nuggets 125, Hawks 116
At Denver, Andre Miller had 21 points and 14 assists, and Marcus Camby blocked two key shots in the final 90 seconds to help Denver to a tougher-than-expected victory over Atlanta.
Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points, Camby had 24 points and 12 rebounds and Earl Boykins had 20 points in Denver's highest-scoring game of the season.
Al Harrington had a season-high 35 points for Atlanta. Tyronn Lue finished with 16 points and eight assists and made a pair of 3-pointers late in the third to keep the Hawks within striking range. Royal Ivey played scrappy ball and finished with 14 points.
Cavaliers 102, Kings 97
At Sacramento, California, LeBron James scored 11 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, adding six rebounds and six assists as he carried Cleveland through the tense final minutes of a victory over Sacramento.
Larry Hughes scored 24 points for the Cavaliers, who snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Kings with their first victory in seven trips to Arco Arena since March 19, 1998.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 25 points for the Kings, who lost their fourth straight.
Bonzi Wells had 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Kings.
Knicks 104, SuperSonics 101
At Seattle, Jamal Crawford scored all of his season-high 31 points in the second half, and New York rallied to beat Seattle.
Crawford was 8-of-11 from the field and made 11 of 12 free throws in the second half, as the Knicks won the opener of a three-game West Coast road trip.
Rookie Channing Frye added 18 points and Stephon Marbury had 16. Nate Robinson, also a Seattle native, added 10.
Ray Allen led Seattle with 23 points.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
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Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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