Andre Iguodala scored 25 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers won their seventh straight on Saturday night with a 100-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers, who have lost eight in a row.
Danny Granger and Troy Murphy each scored 18 points, while Mike Dunleavy and Ike Diogu added 17 apiece for the undermanned Pacers, who have their longest losing streak since the 1988-1989 season.
Point guard Jamaal Tinsley was suspended for the game for conduct detrimental to the team. Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana's leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker, sat out with a sprained left knee and Marquis Daniels, a key reserve, sat out with a sore left knee.
Spurs 93, Nets 77
At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 19 points to lead a balanced effort, and San Antonio beat slumping New Jersey for its 12th straight victory.
Tim Duncan added 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Manu Ginobili had 12 points.
Vince Carter had 17 for the Nets, who have lost five straight. Mikki Moore added 14 points and Josh Boone scored 11, but Jason Kidd had only seven before he was ejected in the third quarter after picking up a pair of technical fouls.
Nets coach Lawrence Frank was also ejected.
Knicks 90, Wizards 89
At Washington, Steve Francis swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer to complete a late comeback and lift New York over Washington, moving the Knicks into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Francis, who finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, dribbled behind his back to get space away from defender Antonio Daniels and released the ball with about a second on the clock.
Cavaliers 94, Bucks 92
At Milwaukee, LeBron James had 32 points and nine assists, the last one to Anderson Varejao for the winning layup, and Cleveland rallied to beat Milwaukee.
Michael Redd scored 29 points, but failed to force overtime when his short jumper missed. The Bucks lost their 12th straight game against Central Division teams since beating the Detroit Pistons in the season opener for both teams on Nov. 1.
The Cavaliers (37-25) won their fourth straight, pulling within two games of Detroit for first place in the Central Division and Eastern Conference. It was James' sixth consecutive game with 32 or more points.
In other games on Saturday it was: Jazz 96, Hornets 86; Hawks 99, Timberwolves 93; Grizzlies 115, Bobcats 107.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when