The Orlando Magic easily handled a Phoenix Suns team playing without point guard Steve Nash in a 105-89 win on Thursday.
Jameer Nelson had 15 points and a season-high 12 assists, Dwight Howard added 20 points and 12 rebounds and every starter scored in double digits for the Magic, who built a 32-point lead and blew past the Suns from the opening tip.
Orlando has won three straight.
With Nash sidelined because of a sore groin, backup point guard Goran Dragic had 10 points, four assists and four rebounds.
Grant Hill scored 21 points in the lone bright spot for the Suns, who lost on consecutive nights in Florida by a combined 43 points.
TRAIL BLAZERS 86, NUGGETS 83
In Portland, Portland rallied in the second half to edge Denver.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points and Wesley Matthews added 20 for the Blazers, who trailed by as many as nine points after halftime, but outscored Denver 17-12 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.
Aldridge hit 9 of 20 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds during a 41-minute performance. Matthews, starting his second consecutive game in place of injured Brandon Roy, hit three consecutive 3-pointers during the second quarter.
PACERS 107, CLIPPERS 80
In Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 22 points as an undermanned Indiana overwhelmed the lowly Los Angeles Clippers.
Roy Hibbert had 18 points and eight rebounds, while Brandon Rush and A.J. Price each added 14 points for the Pacers, who shot 51 percent from the field to make up for the absence of starters Darren Collison and Mike Dunleavy. Collison sat out with a sprained ankle, while Dunleavy missed the game because his wife was in labor.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
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