Joe Johnson scored a season-high 34 points and Josh Smith had a career-best 29 to lead the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks to a 111-102 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
Atlanta (4-1) moved three games over .500 for the first time in 7 1/2 years. The Hawks have had seven consecutive losing seasons and never recovered after starting last season 0-9.
But Johnson is off to one of the best starts in the NBA right now. He also had eight rebounds, five assists and finished 12-for-20 in the game against Toronto.
Chris Bosh had 19 points and 17 rebounds for the Raptors.
Nuggets 108, 76ers 101
At Philadelphia, Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, Andre Miller added 18 and Marcus Camby had 10 points and 11 rebounds to lift Denver past Philadelphia for its first victory. The Nuggets (1-3) had been the NBA's only winless team.
Wizards 116, Bucks 111
At Washington, Gilbert Arenas scored 13 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, and Washington overcame an 11-point deficit in the final period. Arenas also had 11 assists and scored the last six points for the Wizards.
SuperSonics 99, Bobcats 85
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Ray Allen scored 26 points and Rashard Lewis added 19 of his 21 in the second half to lead Seattle over Charlotte, spoiling Adam Morrison's first NBA start. Lewis scored 11 points in the third quarter, when the Sonics outscored the Bobcats 35-19 to erase a four-point deficit.
Pacers 93, Magic 83
At Indianapolis, Al Harrington tied a season high with 32 points to lead Indiana over Orlando. Danny Granger scored 18 points and Jermaine O'Neal added nine points and 11 rebounds.
Jazz 107, Celtics 100
At Boston, Deron Williams had 26 points and 14 assists, Carlos Boozer added 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Utah beat Boston for the first time in nearly three years. Mehmet Okur added 23 points for the Jazz, who snapped a four-game losing streak to the Celtics.
Heat 113, Nets 106
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Dwyane Wade scored 34 points, Udonis Haslem added a career-high 28 and Miami pulled away from New Jersey in the fourth quarter.
Rockets 103, Knicks 94
At Houston, Yao Ming scored 35 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and matched a career high with seven blocks as the Rockets beat New York for the fourth straight time.
Trail Blazers 92, Hornets 91
At Portland, Oregon, Zach Randolph had 31 points, including the go-ahead free throw with 2.4 seconds left, and Portland rallied from a 27-point deficit to shock New Orleans.
Pistons 97, Lakers 83
At Los Angeles, Tayshaun Prince tied a career high with 31 points, Chauncey Billups added 21 and Detroit led virtually the entire game in beating the Lakers. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 19 points.
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
Two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed, setting up a semi-final against 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the California desert. In the men’s singles, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz put on a show with his acrobatic shotmaking under the lights to close out the day’s action, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the women’s doubles. Swiatek, one of the gold medal favorites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the
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