Martell Webster scored 19 points to help Portland extend their winning streak to 10 games with a 99-96 victory over Denver on Friday.
The TrailBlazers have the longest current winning streak in the NBA. Portland have not won as many consecutive games since the 2001-2002 season.
The Blazers were leading 97-94 when Allen Iverson's driving layup with 6.9 seconds left narrowed the deficit to one.
Jarrett Jack made a pair of free throws to extend the lead back to three before Linas Kleiza's three-point attempt was blocked.
Lakers 106, 76ers 101
In Philadelphia, on a night Julius Erving and Philadelphia's 1983 championship team were being honored, Andrew Bynum and the LA Lakers spoiled the celebration.
Bynum scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant took 10 of his 20 shots in the first quarter and finished with 19 points. He left his hometown with the Lakers' first regular season win in Philadelphia since 2000.
SuperSonics 123, Raptors 115
In Seattle, Washington, Kevin Durant scored 27 points and Seattle held off Toronto's late rally.
Durant scored 14 in the third quarter alone, keeping Seattle close long enough for his teammates to make a spirited run to pass and pull away from Toronto over the final 16 minutes.
Wally Szczerbiak came off the bench to score 23 points, making four three-pointers.
The Raptors dropped their second straight game on a seven-game Western Conference swing.
Celtics 107, Bulls 82
In Boston, Paul Pierce scored 15 of his 22 points in the third quarter and Boston won easily over Chicago.
Pierce went four-for-four from three-point range in the third before sitting out the fourth.
Recovering quickly from their only home loss of the season, Boston never trailed in the game and never gave up theirs double-digit lead after 10 consecutive points made it 40-22 with 7 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first half.
Mavericks 102, Clippers 89
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points to help Dallas win their fifth straight. Nowitzki has scored at least 30 in his past three games.
Dallas led by 12 at the half, but Los Angeles opened the third on a 15-6 run to briefly threaten.
Pistons 92, Grizzlies 67
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Tayshaun Prince scored 16 points to lead Detroit over Memphis and record a fourth straight victory.
Jazz 113, Magic 94
In Orlando, Florida, Paul Millsap scored a career-high 28 points to help Utah end a seven-game road losing streak by downing Orlando.
The Magic have now lost six of eight. They have not won a home game for a month.
Hawks 97, Wizards 92
In Washington, Joe Johnson scored half his 32 points in the final quarter and Atlanta moved past Washington and into second place in the Southeast Division.
Johnson scored 10 straight Hawks points in the fourth quarter. Then, with the game tied at 86-86 and a little more than a minute to go, he set up Josh Smith's three-pointer to give Atlanta the lead for good.
Bobcats 105, Knicks 95
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Gerald Wallace scored 27 points and Charlotte dominated New York.
The Bobcats led by 24 points during the second quarter.
While the Knicks made it respectable late, the game was never in doubt as Charlotte won successive games since Michael Jordan practiced with the team.
Timberwolves 131, Pacers 118
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, playing on an injured ankle, Antoine Walker scored 23 points to help Minnesota beat Indiana.
The Pacers led by 21 points in the first half before Walker ignited the Wolves.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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