Dwyane Wade scored 33 points, including a game-saving layup with 4.3 seconds left, as the Miami Heat wasted most of a big lead before beating the short-handed Indiana Pacers 104-101 on Thursday night.
Jason Williams added 20 points and eight assists for the Heat, who led 91-75 with 8:05 left before the Pacers -- who had only 10 players in uniform -- got within two by going on a 23-9 run.
But Wade hit a pair of free throws with 24.5 seconds left, then drove the length of the court for the winning score.
PHOTO: AP
Danny Granger had a career-high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting for Indiana, but came up short on a potential, game-tying 3-point try as the final buzzer sounded.
The Heat were playing without Shaquille O'Neal for the 32nd straight game while he continues his recovery from knee surgery. He was not scheduled to play in Philadelphia yesterday, either, but his return is expected soon.
Marquis Daniels had a season-high 23 points for the Pacers.
Mavericks 114, Lakers 95
At Dallas, Josh Howard scored 29 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 27 as Dallas avenged its only loss over the past six weeks with a victory over Los Angeles.
Dallas has won 19 of 20 games and six in a row since a 101-98 loss in Los Angeles on Jan. 7 that ended a 13-game winning streak.
After the Mavericks started 0-4 for the first time in team history, the defending Western Conference champions reached the midpoint of the regular season with the NBA's best record (33-8).
Jason Terry had a season-high 13 assists, with one early in the second quarter coming when he missed underneath, got his own rebound and swiped the ball in one motion to Nowitzki at the top of the key for a 3-pointer. That basket put the Mavs up 32-30 and they never trailed again.
Kobe Bryant had 26 points for the Lakers, whose three-game winning streak included a 100-96 victory at San Antonio on Wednesday night. Even though Bryant scored 13 points in the third quarter, that was when Dallas took control.
Howard and Nowitzki led six players in double-figure scoring for Dallas, which got 14 from Devean George, 12 from Terry and 11 each from Jerry Stackhouse and Buckner.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS