Amare Stoudemire dominated with 28 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes, and the Phoenix Suns downed the Toronto Raptors 115-98 to set a franchise-record 15th consecutive victory in the NBA on Tuesday.
The Suns tried to extend the NBA's longest winning streak in seven seasons against Denver yesterday.
Stoudemire was 11-for-14 from the field and sat out the final 15 minutes in arguably his most impressive outing since he returned after missing all but three games of last season following microfracture knee surgery.
Steve Nash had 10 points and 15 assists in three quarters for Phoenix, which hasn't lost since an overtime setback at Utah on Nov. 18. Six Suns reached double figures on Tuesday. Shawn Marion scored 17, Leandro Barbosa 14, Raja Bell 13 and Boris Diaw 12.
The Suns broke the franchise record of 14 straight set on Dec. 1-30, 1992. The 15-game streak is the longest in the NBA since the Los Angeles Lakers won 19 in a row from Feb. 4 to March 13, 2000.
T.J. Ford scored 19 for Toronto before leaving in the fourth quarter with a bruised lower back. Top draft pick Andrea Bargnani hit 18 for the Raptors.
Phoenix led by 27 in the third quarter, when coach Mike D'Antoni began to rest his regulars.
Bulls 94, Lakers 89
At Chicago, Luol Deng scored 23 points and tied a season-high with 12 rebounds, and Chicago won for the 12th time in 13 games.
Ben Gordon hit two free throws to close out the win with 10.9 seconds left, after Smush Parker cut the Bulls' lead to three with a foul shot and a dunk in the final 40 seconds. Deng hit 9-of-16 shots, and Gordon scored 22 as Chicago won its fifth straight.
Kobe Bryant was a non-factor for Los Angeles after scoring a combined 98 in the previous two games. He was content to defer and finished with 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Kwame Brown went right at Chicago's Ben Wallace, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, and Parker scored 16.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS