Dwyane Wade had 24 points and eight assists, Antoine Walker scored all of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, and the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to seven with a 103-96 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
Shaquille O'Neal added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, who outscored the Celtics 56-32 in the paint.
Wade, the Eastern Conference player of the month for last month, shot 7-of-15 from the field and was 10-of-16 from the free throw line. He also had five rebounds for the Heat, who have won 12 of 14 and improved to 26-10 since Pat Riley took over for Stan Van Gundy as coach Dec. 12.
PHOTO: AP
Paul Pierce, who set a Celtics record by averaging 33.5 points per game in February, scored 38 points. Delonte West had 20 and Wally Szczerbiak added 12 for the Celtics.
Pacers 99, Wizards 93
At Washington, Stephen Jackson scored 26 points, David Harrison scored 10 fourth-quarter points on a gimpy ankle, and Indiana beat Washington to snap the Wizards' nine-game home winning streak.
Harrison, who sprained his left ankle in the first half, finished with 12 points and limped down court after his biggest basket of the night -- a follow of Fred Jones' missed layup just before the shot clock expired with 47 seconds remaining. It gave the Pacers a 97-91 lead.
Gilbert Arenas had 28 points, seven assists and four steals, and Antawn Jamison had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards.
Washington went 19-for-31 from the line, while Indiana was 26-for-26.
Kings 97, Cavaliers 90
At Cleveland, Kenny Thomas scored 22 points, Mike Bibby added 16 and Sacramento handed Cleveland its fifth straight loss.
The Kings have won eight of their last 11 and are 9-6 since Ron Artest was acquired from Indiana.
Artest again caused problems for LeBron James, who shot 7-for-21 and was held to 19 points, well under his 30.8 average. James also had 12 assists and seven rebounds.
Artest held James to 19 points on 6-of-20 shooting the last time they faced each other Nov. 24 in Indiana's 98-76 victory over Cleveland.
Hawks 113, Raptors 111, OT
At Toronto, Joe Johnson and Al Harrington each scored 26 points, and Atlanta recovered from blowing a late lead to beat Toronto for its third overtime win in its last four games.
The Hawks blew a six-point advantage in the final 34 seconds of overtime.
Chris Bosh had 27 points and Charlie Villanueva added 25 for the Raptors, who have lost five straight. New president and general manager Bryan Colangelo received an ovation when he was shown on the video board. The Raptors hired the former Suns executive on Tuesday.
Timberwolves 100, Nets 90
At Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 16 rebounds, rookie Rashad McCants scored a season-high 21 points, and struggling Minnesota beat New Jersey.
McCants had a season high for the second straight game after scoring 18 points Tuesday at Chicago. Ricky Davis added 20 points as Minnesota won for just the third time in 10 games but beat the Nets for the fourth straight time.
Bobcats 104, Jazz 89
At Salt Lake City, Brevin Knight had 19 points and 10 assists, and Charlotte beat Utah for just its sixth road-win this season.
Gerald Wallace also had 19 points and Primoz Brezec added 16 as all five Charlotte starters scored in double figures. The Bobcats were 36-for-69 (52 percent) from the field and improved to 2-0 all-time at Utah.
The Jazz were without Andrei Kirilenko (back spasms).
Matt Harpring led the Jazz with 22 points. Milt Palacio scored 17 off the bench and Deron Williams finished with 15 points.
Suns 123, Bucks 110
At Phoenix, Steve Nash scored 23 points and had 13 assists to lead Phoenix over Milwaukee.
Shawn Marion added 29 points for the Suns, who shot 57 percent from the floor and extended the NBA's longest active win streak to eight games.
Michael Redd led Milwaukee with 37 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the floor.
The Suns beat the Bucks for the 18th straight time in Phoenix and are 13-0 against Milwaukee in US Airways Center, formerly known as America West Arena.
Grizzlies 101, Knicks 99
At Memphis, Tennessee, Pau Gasol hit 5m baseline jumper with 2.7 seconds remaining to lift Memphis to a victory over New York.
Steve Francis' 7m shot from the top of the key as time ran out bounced off the rim, and New York lost its fifth straight and for the 21st time in the last 23 games.
Stephon Marbury had 25 points and 13 assists for New York, and Francis had his best game since the Feb. 22 trade from Orlando to the Knicks. He finished with 19 points.
Gasol scored 23 and Eddie Jones had 12 of his 20 points in the final quarter.
Nuggets 98, Pistons 87
At Denver, Kenyon Martin had 28 points and 12 rebounds and Carmelo Anthony added 25 points to help Denver hand Detroit a rare road loss.
Marcus Camby grabbed 20 rebounds to go along with 12 points for the Nuggets, who dominated the boards, 59-35. Denver had been outrebounded in 13 of its previous 14 games.
Denver native Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 27 points. Richard Hamilton had 19 points for Detroit, which had its six-game winning streak snapped. The NBA's best road team lost for just the eighth time in 29 games away from home.
76ers 106, Rockets 101
At Houston, Allen Iverson scored 40 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and Philadelphia rallied to beat Houston.
A day after it was reported that Iverson was not among the players invited to US national team training camp, he had his 12th game of 40 or more points this season.
Chris Webber had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Kyle Korver added 14 points, including three 3-pointers in the final period.
Clippers 89, Hornets 67
At Los Angeles, Elton Brand scored 25 points, and Los Angeles held New Orleans to one field goal over the final 20 minutes.
Desmond Mason scored 20 points for the Hornets, who missed 21 consecutive field goal attempts at one point and finished at 36.5 percent while setting an NBA record with only 16 points in the second half. They were 0-for-9 from 3-point range.
Sam Cassell had 15 points and Cuttino Mobley added 14 for the Clippers, who have won three straight after losing a season-worst five in a row. Center Chris Kaman missed his second straight game with a sprained left ankle, and Quinton Ross sat out his seventh in a row due to a sore lower back.
Trail Blazers 99, Lakers 93
At Portland, Oregon, Zach Randolph had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Portland snapped a six-game losing streak with a 99-93 victory over Los Angeles.
Darius Miles stripped the ball from Smush Parker and went in for a dunk with 10 seconds left to seal it for the Blazers, who led by as many as 16 points.
Kobe Bryant scored 35 points for the Lakers, who have lost three of four as they jockey for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Warriors 98, Magic 94
At Oakland, California, Jason Richardson scored 11 of his 25 points in the final 1:49 to lift Golden State over Orlando, ending a four-game losing streak.
Troy Murphy matched his season high with 20 rebounds and added 14 points as the Warriors won in their first meeting of the season with the Magic.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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