Tracy McGrady scored 34 points, Juwan Howard made two late jumpers and the Houston Rockets got their second straight quality road win on Thursday, 90-81 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
McGrady surpassed 30 points for the fourth straight game as the Rockets, who have been hit by injuries all season, followed up a win at Washington by handing the Cavaliers just their fourth loss in 17 home games.
LeBron James had 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Cleveland, but the Cavs fell to 1-1 since learning that guard Larry Hughes, the club's second-leading scorer, could miss two months with a broken finger.
PHOTO: AP
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 17 points for the Cavs, who didn't help themselves by going just 8-of-18 on free throws and 7-of-29 on 3-pointers.
Pacers 99, Warriors 89
At Oakland, California, Stephen Jackson had 27 points, five rebounds and three assists and Indiana jumped to a quick lead it nearly relinquished in the waning moments of a victory over Golden State.
Derek Fisher made two free throws with 1:46 left to get Golden State within 91-89, before Jackson scored and was fouled on the other end but missed a free throw.
Austin Croshere added 17 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Pacers, who bounced back from a 106-86 loss at Denver a night earlier that started their four-game West Coast swing.
Fred Jones added 11 points for the Pacers before fouling out with 4:11 left.
Baron Davis had 16 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and rookie Ike Diogu added 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double. Mike Dunleavy had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists for Golden State, while Jason Richardson had 17 points.
A trade lull has settled in during the three weeks since the Indiana Pacers said they would honor Ron Artest's spontaneous request to be dealt. While Artest remains on the inactive list, the Pacer executives Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird have been narrowing their potential trade partners to a handful of teams in the Western Conference.
"If I heard a good deal right now, I'd do it now," Walsh, the Pacers' chief executive officer, said on Thursday in a telephone interview. "We're ready to do a deal, but we're not going to do a deal that hurts us in the future or one that doesn't make us better right now."
The Minnesota Timberwolves have said they contacted the Pacers, and the Denver Nuggets were also interested in acquiring Artest. The Seattle SuperSonics, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are potential trading partners.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
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