Dwyane Wade had 30 points and nine assists to lead the Miami Heat to their fifth consecutive victory, beating Boston 91-79 on Wednesday and sending the Celtics to a franchise-record 16th consecutive loss.
Boston led by as many as 12 in the first quarter before the Heat went on a 19-2 run to take the lead for good. Wade had six points and an assist during a 13-4 Miami spurt at the beginning of the third that made it 57-44.
The Heat then started the fourth with a 14-3 run to blow it open.
PHOTO: AP
Shaquille O'Neal scored nine points in 25 minutes as he recovers from knee surgery for the defending champions, who pulled within a game of .500 for the first time since they were 3-3.
Ryan Gomes scored 15 points to lead Boston, which hasn't won since beating Memphis on Jan. 5.
Nets 87, Hawks 85
At Atlanta, Vince Carter made the go-ahead layup with 7.6 seconds remaining, grabbed a critical rebound on Atlanta's final possession, and New Jersey stopped a four-game losing streak.
Carter led the Nets with 22 points and nine boards, while Mikki Moore added 19 points.
After missing a long three-point attempt that ended an overtime loss at Philadelphia two nights before, Carter beat Joe Johnson to the basket and avoided pressure from Josh Childress and Jeremy Richardson to give New Jersey an 86-85 lead in the closing seconds. Richardson, a rookie signed to his second 10-day contract earlier in the day, missed 20-footer that Carter grabbed to preserve the victory with 0.1 seconds left.
Josh Smith led Atlanta with 20 points, but fouled out midway through the fourth.
Hornets 114, Nuggets 112, OT
At Denver, Desmond Mason scored 23 points, including a putback at the overtime buzzer to give New Orleans a wild victory over Denver.
J.R. Smith, who shot only 3-of-13 against his former team, had tied it at 112 with a three-pointer with 17 seconds left.
The Hornets ruined Allen Iverson's return from a four-game absence and won for the 13th time in their last 15 road games. David West and Devin Brown added 17 points apiece.
Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points, Iverson added 22 and Nene 18 for the Nuggets, who blew a 10-point lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and lost for the seventh time in eight games.
Raptors 113, Magic 103
At Toronto, Chris Bosh scored a career-high 41 points and outplayed Dwight Howard in a matchup of All-Star big men as Toronto won beat Orlando for a season-high fourth straight win.
Bosh also had eight rebounds for the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, who have won nine of 11. Toronto entered the day with a three-and-a-half-game lead over New Jersey. Howard had 32 points on 13-for-14 shooting for the Magic, who have lost 11 of 14 to fall to .500 (25-25) for the first time since early November.
SuperSonics 103, Pacers 102
At Indianapolis, Ray Allen scored 33 points and rookie Andre Brown made the go-ahead basket with 23 seconds remaining as Seattle edged Indiana to snap a 15-game road losing streak.
Spurs 110, Wizards 83
At Washington, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan scored 20 points apiece, and San Antonio downed Washington to pull even on its rodeo road trip.
76ers 92, Bobcats 83
At Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala scored 27 points, and Andre Miller had 13 to lead suddenly surging Philadelphia over Charlotte.
Cavaliers 94, Clippers 77
Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 16 points with a season-high 16 rebounds, Larry Hughes scored 15 points and Cleveland hardly needed LeBron James in an easy victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Timberwolves 121, Warriors 93
At Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 17 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Golden State with its biggest margin of victory this season.
Mavericks 113, Grizzlies 97
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 of his 38 points in a flawless first quarter, and Dallas beat Memphis to match a franchise record with its 16th consecutive home victory.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
RSS