The Los Angeles Lakers brushed aside NBA leaders San Antonio 99-83 to record their seventh consecutive win on Sunday and bring the Spurs’ hot home streak to a halt.
The Pacific-division leading Lakers still trail the Spurs by six-and-a-half games in the Western Conference, but ended San Antonio’s record home winning streak at 22 games.
Los Angeles closed out the final 8 minutes, 30 seconds of the first quarter on a 26-5 run and padded their lead in the second, going in 65-37 up at halftime.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 26 points and Pau Gasol scored 21. Tony Parker was the only Spurs starter to score in double digits with 14 points.
“We’re playing well and it’s kind of important to keep that going,” Bryant said. “Today was a good test to see how much we’ve improved since the All-Star break. We passed today.”
The Spurs shot a lowly 36 percent from the field and the starters scored just 29 points combined.
“That was an easy win for them. There was no game,” said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who scored just six points in more than 23 minutes of action.
“Nobody expects to be losing by more than 20 in the first quarter. They were making every shot and they played more angry. We were waiting to see what was going to happen, and they came to get it,” Ginobili added.
Despite a large lead, Lakers head coach Phil Jackson sent his starters back into the game in the fourth quarter to display his displeasure with the lack of focus displayed by his reserves.
“I didn’t like the way our bench was playing. They just didn’t have a rhythm out there and they were settling for outside shots. They were just out of focus a little bit,” Jackson said. “They understand. It [the lead] got under 20 points and the foul situation was in their favor. You just have to be careful in this game. It’s a game of extremes.”
Hornets 96, Cavaliers 81
In Cleveland, Ohio, Chris Paul left the court on a stretcher and suffered a concussion in the New Orleans Hornets’ victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The four-time All-Star lost the ball in the third quarter driving into the lane as he was defended by Ramon Sessions and Samardo Samuels. As Paul tried to retrieve the ball, he hit his forehead on Sessions’ right shoulder and immediately fell to the court. Paul stayed on the floor as trainers from both teams attended to him.
Paul, who was moving his legs and feet, was placed on a flat board and a brace was put on his neck. Players from both teams surrounded him. He was wheeled to the locker room and gave a thumbs up to the crowd as he left the court. He was taken to Cleveland Clinic for precautionary tests, then rejoined the team for their flight to Chicago. He was to miss yesterday’s game.
David West scored 23 points, while Paul had 13 points and 11 assists in 26 minutes.
Bulls 87, Heat 86
In Miami, Derrick Rose scored 27 points and Luol Deng capped an 18-point effort with two free throws that put Chicago ahead for good, as the Bulls handed Miami their fourth straight loss.
Carlos Boozer scored 12, while Joakim Noah added 11 for the Bulls, who moved a game ahead of Miami into outright possession of second place in the Eastern -Conference and beat the Heat for the third time this season.
LeBron James scored 26 points, Chris Bosh added 23 and Dwyane Wade had 20 for the Heat. James and Wade both missed shots that would have won the game for Miami in the final eight seconds.
In other NBA play, it was:
‧ Celtics 89, Bucks 83
‧ Grizzlies 104, Mavericks 103
‧ Knicks 92, Hawks 79
‧ Thunder 122, Suns 118, OT
‧ 76ers 125, Warriors 117, OT
‧ Pistons 113, Wizards 102
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS