The Washington Wizards, whose National Basketball Association playoff hopes ended early in a disappointing season, gave a glimpse of what might have been in a 109-101 victory over Cleveland on Thursday.
With Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood finally both in the lineup after injury-marred seasons, the Wizards ended the Cavaliers’ franchise record winning streak at 13 games.
Cavaliers superstar LeBron James said he wasn’t surprised that the Wizards were more than ready for the showdown with the Eastern Conference leaders.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“Records never matter when we play the Wizards,” James said. “It’s always going to be like that, whenever we play them.”
Interim Wizards coach Ed Tapscott said that the game meant more than usual.
“We get prepared to play them like no one else,” he said.
Washington squandered a 14-point second-half lead but held on for the victory.
“We hope that this will give people a bit of a preview of what we will be next year,” Tapscott said. “It’s what we thought we would be this year.”
Arenas was playing his second game of the season as he bids to return from knee surgery. He scored 11 points with 10 assists and six rebounds.
Haywood, also playing his second game of the season after a serious wrist injury, chipped in 12 points with 10 rebounds.
Caron Butler added 25 points and Antawn Jamison 19 for Washington, who ended a three-game losing streak.
Cleveland’s James scored 22 of his 31 points in the second half and finished with six assists and nine rebounds.
Arenas said the victory was satisfying, even if the Wizards are out of the playoff hunt.
“For us, it’s a real win. Because they’re trying to be the best. He [James] is trying to win an MVP award, so they had everything to lose, and we had everything to gain,” Arenas said.
NUGGETS 114, JAZZ 104
At Denver, Colorado, J.R. Smith sank a career-high eight three-pointers in his 28 points as Denver downed Utah to reach 50 wins faster than any time in its NBA history.
Smith’s threes were one short of the franchise mark set by Michael Adams in 1991 and tied four years later by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.
Carmelo Anthony added 23 points for the Nuggets, who are seeking home-court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 1988.
Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin, who recently returned to full health after dealing with a bad back for a month, went to the locker room in the third quarter with what the team described as a cartilage strain in his left rib cage. X-rays didn’t show a major problem but he didn’t return to action.
C.J. Miles led six Jazz in double figures with 19 points.
76ERS 105, BUCKS 95
At Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala scored 20 and Lou Williams had 14 of his 21 in the second half as the home team rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to beat Milwaukee.
Andre Miller contributed 18 points and 11 assists for the Sixers (39-35), who won their second straight and vaulted past Miami into fifth place in the East.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
RSS