Steve Nash finished with 19 points and 11 assists, while Amare Stoudemire scored 22 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 112-106 win over Dallas on Thursday.
“We needed this win because we have been down,” Nash said. “In sports and in life when you have confidence you have got a chance.”
“We had an attitude and a spirit about us tonight. Our energy was fantastic,” he said.
Jason Richardson added 17 points for the Suns, who ended a two game losing streak and a three game skid against Dallas. Phoenix also got help from its bench as Goran Dragic scored 13 points and Louis Amundson finished with 12.
“We hung in there and we scrapped,” Nash said.
Stoudemire started quickly, scoring all his points in the first three quarters before spending the entire fourth quarter on the bench.
Jason Terry scored 21 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 19 points as all five Dallas’ starters finished in double figures.
Shawn Marion had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks who scored just 16 points in the final quarter and saw its two-game winning streak come to an end.
Nowitzki, who was named as an all-star game reserve earlier in the day, played in his 884th game to pass Brad Davis as Dallas’ franchise leader.
■MAGIC V CELTICS
REUTERS, ORLANDO, FLORIDA
Rashard Lewis made a driving lay-in with 1.3 seconds left on the clock to give the Orlando Magic a 96-94 win over Eastern Conference rival the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
Lewis scored a game-high 23 points and Boston’s Rasheed Wallace missed badly on a three-point attempt as time expired to complete an improbable come-from-behind win for the Magic (30-16).
Trailing by 14 early in the fourth quarter, Dwight Howard spearheaded a rally, with 11 of his 19 points coming in the final period to go, with 10 boards and four blocks.
Howard scored nine straight points for Orlando to spark a 12-4 Magic run that gave the home team an 84-83 lead with 4:52 to go, their first advantage of the contest.
Ray Allen made his first seven shots and finished with 20 points, while Wallace had 17 for the Celtics (29-14), who lost for the first time in three games since Kevin Garnett returned from a knee injury.
■RAPTORS V KNICKS
AP, ORLANDO, FLORIDA
In New York, the Toronto Rators won their fourth straight game as they edged out the New York Knicks, winning 106-104.
All-Star Chris Bosh had 27 points and 15 rebounds.
Hedo Turkoglu set season highs with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Jarrett Jack made one of two free throws in the final seconds and drew a charging call on Al Harrington on New York’s final possession.
New York was led by David Lee’s 29 points and 18 rebounds.
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take