Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and Chauncey Billups added 24 to help the Denver Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers 111-93 on Tuesday for their best start in 24 years.
Anthony, who was averaging 38 points, shot just 6-for-17 from the field but made 11 of 14 free throws. Nene added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Nuggets (4-0), who are off to their best start since the 1985-86 season.
Former Denver guard Dahntay Jones led the Pacers with 20 points, and Danny Granger added 18 for Indiana (0-3).
CELTICS 105, 76ERS 74
At Philadelphia, Paul Pierce scored 21 points and Rasheed Wallace had 20 as Boston remained unbeaten with a victory over Philadelphia.
The Celtics are unbeaten in five games, even without the usual standout performances from Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Allen didn’t score his first field goal until the third quarter and had five points. Garnett made just one basket on seven shots and scored three points when he was yanked with the game out of hand.
Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 17 points. Philadelphia missed 15 of 16 3-point attempts.
CAVALIERS 102, WIZARDS 90
At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 27 points and Shaquille O’Neal added a season-high 21 while wearing out Washington’s big men as Cleveland beat Washington for its third straight win.
Mo Williams scored 15 and Daniel Gibson 14 for the Cavs, who made nine 3-pointers in the second half — four in the fourth quarter when James was out. Williams and Gibson were a combined 7-for-9 on 3s.
Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas scored 22 apiece to lead the Wizards.
PISTONS 85, MAGIC 80
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Ben Gordon scored 23 points and Rodney Stuckey added 20 as the short-handed Detroit handed Orlando its first loss of the season.
Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince saw his streak of 496 straight games played end as he was sidelined with a back injury.
The Pistons also got 20 from third guard Will Bynum, while Vince Carter led Orlando with 15. Dwight Howard had just eight points and five rebounds in 17 minutes before fouling out.
SUNS 104, HEAT 96
At Miami, Steve Nash scored 30 points and added eight assists as Phoenix used a dominant fourth quarter to beat Miami.
Amare Stoudemire finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix, which overcame its largest deficit of the season and used a 13-4 run over the middle portion of the fourth to pull away. Jason Richardson scored 10 of his 14 points in the final period for the Suns.
Miami got 23 points from Dwyane Wade and 18 from Quentin Richardson.
In other games it was:
• Mavericks 96, Jazz 85
• Lakers 101, Thunder 98, OT
• Bulls 83, Bucks 81
• Hawks 97, Trail Blazers 91
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
Two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed, setting up a semi-final against 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the California desert. In the men’s singles, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz put on a show with his acrobatic shotmaking under the lights to close out the day’s action, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the women’s doubles. Swiatek, one of the gold medal favorites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
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