Third-string center Ian Mahinmi had 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds and fourth-stringer Alexis Ajinca provided quality minutes to help the Dallas Mavericks beat the Golden State Warriors 105-100 on Tuesday for their 10th straight victory.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Jason Terry had 20 and Caron Butler 19 — but that’s expected. The surprise was the performance by the backup big men, both from France. They were forced into duty because starter Tyson Chandler was home with a stomach ailment and fill-in starter Brendan Haywood got in early foul trouble.
Stephen Curry scored 21 points, David Lee had 20, Monta Ellis 18 and Dorrell Wright 17 for Golden State.
TRAIL BLAZERS 106, SUNS 99
In Portland, Oregon, Wesley Matthews scored 24 points, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 apiece and Portland snapped the Suns’ three-game winning streak.
Phoenix led by as many as nine points early in the fourth quarter but the Trail Blazers, known for late-game meltdowns of late, tied it at 89 on Nicolas Batum’s layup and went in front on Aldridge’s two free throws with 3:38 left. Matthews made two more foul shots to extend Portland’s lead.
Steve Nash had 24 points and 15 assists for Phoenix.
The Blazers made 32 of 33 free-throw attempts while playing without guard Andre Miller, who was serving a one-game suspension imposed by the league for making “excessive and unnecessary contact” with Blake Griffin in the fourth quarter of a 100-91 victory over the Clippers on Sunday.
By missing the game, Miller saw his NBA-leading streak of 632 consecutive games come to an end. The 34-year-old Miller had not missed a game since the 2002-2003 season.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher became the new active consecutive games played leader with 444. The all-time NBA record for most successive games played is 1,192 held by A.C. Green, who went from 1986 to 2001 without missing a contest.
BOBCATS 100, NUGGETS 98
In Charlotte, Stephen Jackson scored 23 points as Charlotte held off Denver to deny Nuggets coach George Karl his 1,000th NBA win.
Returning to North Carolina where he played in college and going up against his longtime friend and fellow former Tar Heel Larry Brown, Karl had hoped to become the seventh coach of the 1,000-win club in Charlotte.
Chauncey Billups scored 25 points and Carmelo Anthony added 22 points and seven rebounds for the Nuggets, who had won seven straight.
Gerald Wallace had 20 points and nine boards for Charlotte. Tyrus Thomas scored 16 before leaving left late in the fourth quarter with a tight left quadriceps.
LAKERS 115, WIZARDS 108
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 32 points and Lamar Odom added 24 points and seven rebounds as the Lakers beat Washington for the eighth straight time.
Pau Gasol had 21 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for the Lakers in their final home game before a seven-game, two-week trip that includes a rematch with Washington on Tuesday next week. Los Angeles struggled to put away the lively Wizards, but never trailed for the fourth time this season.
Nick Young hit a career-best six 3-pointers while scoring 30 points in his hometown for the Wizards, who closed the third quarter on a 16-1 run to make the two-time defending champions uncomfortable. John Wall backed Young with 22 points and 14 assists.
HAWKS 116, NETS 101
In Atlanta, Josh Smith scored a season-high 34 points to lead streaking Atlanta to another victory.
The Hawks are 4-1 since losing top scorer Joe Johnson for four to six weeks to a right elbow injury and have won seven of eight overall.
Jamal Crawford had a season-high 26 points and Al Horford added 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Atlanta.
Brook Lopez led New Jersey with 24 points. Devin Harris had 18 points and 13 assists.
76ERS 117, CAVALIERS 97
In Philadelphia, Thaddeus Young had a season-high 26 points as Philadelphia downed Cleveland to pick up its fourth win in five games.
Lou Williams scored 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter for Philadelphia, which placed seven players in double figures in its highest scoring output of the season. Jodie Meeks and Jrue Holiday had 16 points apiece, Andre Iguodala scored 13 and Elton Brand finished with 12.
J.J. Hickson had 18 points for Cleveland, which has lost five consecutive games by an average of 22.2 points. Daniel Gibson scored 16 and Mo Williams added 15.
ROCKETS 97, PISTONS 83
In Houston, Luis Scola had 35 points and 12 rebounds to help the Rockets spoil Tracy McGrady’s return to Houston.
McGrady hit a 3-pointer with about eight minutes left to get the Pistons within one, but Houston scored the next seven points to stretch the lead to 85-77 with six minutes remaining.
McGrady, who spent five-and-a-half seasons with the Rockets, finished with 11 points. Rodney Stuckey had 18 points and five assists for Detroit.
Kyle Lowry added 22 points and 12 assists for Houston, and Kevin Martin had 21 points.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
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