Ron Artest scored a game-high 27 points as the Houston Rockets crushed the Portland Trail Blazers 92-76 on Thursday to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.
Chinese All-Star center Yao Ming chipped in with 17 points and 10 rebounds to help Houston wrap up their best-of-seven series 4-2. The Rockets face the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.
“This is a big step for me,” Yao told reporters. “It felt great when the clock was running down, I still can’t believe it. We know we have to keep moving forward.”
PHOTO: AFP
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and Brandon Roy had 22 for Portland.
Artest said just advancing wasn’t enough.
GOAL
“The fans were just so happy to get out of the first round and I’m like ‘I’m just not happy to just be out of the first round,’” he said. “That’s just not our goal here. That’s not LA’s goal, that’s not Boston’s goal, that is not Cleveland’s goal. That is not our goal.”
In the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic overcame the absence of suspended center Dwight Howard and injured guard Courtney Lee to close out their first-round series against Philadelphia 4-2 with a 114-89 victory.
Top-scorer Rashard Lewis scored 29 points among seven Orlando players to reach double figures, including Rafer Alston with 21.
Andre Miller scored a team-high 24 points and Andre Iguodala shot 20 for the 76ers, who trailed by 11 points after the first quarter and never mounted a charge.
SURGERY
Lee had surgery on his broken sinus on Thursday and could miss the rest of the playoffs.
He was hurt when he took an accidental elbow to the head from teammate Dwight Howard in game five on Tuesday.
The recovery time is at least a week depending on the outcome of the operation.
Orlando await the winner of the first-round series between Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, the latter forcing a deciding seventh game after prevailing in a triple overtime thriller in game six on Thursday.
A steal, a slam-dunk and a free throw by Bulls’ center Joakim Noah with 35 seconds left sealed a 128-127 victory over Boston to keep the series alive.
“We just didn’t want to lose. We’ll go back to Boston and see what happens,” Bulls Rookie-of-the-Year Derrick Rose told reporters after finishing with 28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and a final-second block in the third overtime.
Chicago had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and needed two clutch goals from Brad Miller to pull level with 30 seconds left in regulation.
John Salmons top scored for the Bulls with 35 points.
Boston guard Ray Allen’s made a playoff career-high 51 points, including a 25-foot three-pointer to level the score with seven seconds left in the second overtime.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS