The resurgent Clippers held off the Lakers to win 102-91 on Wednesday, snapping a nine-game losing streak in the NBA’s battle of Los Angeles.
Baron Davis scored 25 points and Chris Kaman added 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Clippers, who beat the defending NBA champions for the first time since 2006-07.
The Clippers have won five straight at home for the first time since a six-game winning streak in that same season.
Kobe Bryant scored 33 points as the Lakers’ four-game winning streak ended.
SUNS 118, ROCKETS 110
In Phoenix, the hosts were 16 points up, then 16 points down, before coming back to down Houston.
Steve Nash scored 26 points and had 12 assists and Amare Stoudemire added 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns.
It was a furious game marked by a series of remarkable runs. It was the second time this season the Suns had rallied from a 16-point deficit in back-to-back games.
Aaron Brooks topped Houston with a career-high 34 points.
RAPTORS 108, MAGIC 103
In Orlando, Florida, Toronto almost blew an 18-point fourth quarter lead before holding on to beat Orlando, further slicing the Magic’s lead in the NBA Southeast Division.
Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh had 18 points apiece as Toronto won for the seventh time in eight games, getting back to a squared 18-18 record.
Toronto’s lead was trimeed to two with 43 seconds remaining, but J.J. Redick missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds that could have tied the score.
Redick finished with 22 points for the Magic, who have lost three straight for the first time this season.
CELTICS 112, HEAT 106, OT
In Miami, Boston came from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game in a frantic finish to regulation, then beat Miami in overtime.
Dwayne Wade had his best game of the season for the Heat and seemingly gave them victory with a steal and dunk with 0.6 seconds left. But Boston’s Rajon Rondo sank a buzzer-beating layup after catching Paul Pierce’s lob.
Rondo scored 25 points, and Ray Allen 22 points for Boston, which maintains a fractional advantage over Cleveland in the scrap over the Eastern Conference lead.
In other games it was:
• Cavaliers 121, Wizards 98
• Jazz 117, Grizzlies 94
• Spurs 112, Pistons 92
• Hornets 97, Thunder 92
• Hawks 119, Nets 89
• Warriors 107, Timberwolves 100
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
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