The Allen Iverson-led Detroit Pistons cooled off their second hot NBA team in less than a week, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-89 on Wednesday.
After inflicting the Los Angeles Lakers’ first loss of the season on Friday, the Pistons proved too good for a Cleveland team that came into the game having won eight straight.
Iverson had 23 points, leading a fourth-quarter surge that sealed the game and moved Detroit within half a game of the Cavaliers, who lead the Central Division.
PHOTO: AP
NUGGETS 91, SPURS 81
In San Antonio, Chauncey Billups scored 22 points, leading Denver’s victory over injury-riddled San Antonio.
Carmelo Anthony added 21 for the Nuggets, who have a 7-1 record since Billups arrived in the trade that sent Iverson to Detroit.
The result maintained Denver’s co-leadership of the Northwest Division, and snapped the Spurs’ three-game winning streak.
JAZZ 105, BUCKS 94
In Salt Lake City, Utah stayed undefeated at home and extended their mastery of Milwaukee to eight straight games.
C.J. Miles scored a season-high 25 points for the Jazz. Carlos Boozer added 20 points and 11 rebounds before leaving because of a strained quadriceps.
Utah kept pace with Denver as leaders of the Northwest.
RAPTORS 101, HEAT 95
In Miami, Toronto gave up most of a big lead, but held on to beat a Miami team led by a stellar Dwyane Wade performance.
Andrea Bargnani scored a season-high 25 points and Jermaine O’Neal added 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Raptors.
Wade finished with season highs of 40 points and 11 assists, and added a career-best five blocks. Since blocks became an official stat, the only other player to have a 40-10-5 effort was Alvan Adams of Phoenix in 1977, Elias Sports Bureau figures show.
Toronto squandered much of a 17-point, late-third-quarter lead, but ultimately scrambled to beat Miami for the second time in four days.
TRAIL BLAZERS 116, BULLS 74
In Portland, Oregon, the hosts built a 30-point lead in the first half and went on to trounce Chicago.
Greg Oden had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in his home debut. Oden, sidelined all of last season by a knee injury after being the top draft pick, entered the game to a standing ovation in the first quarter and dunked seconds later.
MAVERICKS 96, ROCKETS 86
In Houston, Dallas notched its third straight win over its Texas rival Houston.
Jason Terry scored 31 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks.
KINGS 105, HORNETS 96
In New Orleans, John Salmons scored 29 points to lead Sacramento over New Orleans. Bobby Jackson had all eight of his points in the final 5:10 for the Kings.
HAWKS 91, WIZARDS 87
In Atlanta, Marvin Williams hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 26 seconds left as Atlanta snapped a four-game losing streak by downing Washington.
TIMBERWOLVES 102, 76ERS 96
In Minneapolis, Minnesota ended an eight-game losing skid by defeating Philadelphia.
Al Jefferson scored six of his 25 points in the final three-and-a-half minutes to shore up victory for the Timberwolves, who won for the first time since their opening game of the season.
CLIPPERS 108, THUNDER 88
In Oklahoma City, Los Angeles put together a 23-4 run during the third quarter to overwhelm struggling Oklahoma City.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
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TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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