A Chris Paul layup with 8.8 seconds left gave the Los Angeles Clippers a 100-98 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, keeping the Clippers in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Paul scored 31 points and got past Thunder defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha for the critical basket, squeezing the ball onto the rim to put the Clippers ahead.
The Thunder’s Kevin Durant missed a 3-point attempt that could have won it, hitting the back rim on a shot from the left wing.
Photo: Reuters
Durant led Oklahoma City with 22 points.
LAKERS 98, SPURS 84
In San Antonio, Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 30 rebounds — the most boards in an NBA game this season — as Los Angeles recorded a surprisingly comfortable win over San Antonio.
Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest) scored 26 points for the Lakers, who made light of missing Kobe Bryant for a third straight game and handed the Western Conference’s second-place team one of their most embarrassing losses.
Bynum’s dominating night surpassed the previous NBA season-high of 25 rebounds.
Danny Green led the Spurs with 22 points.
CELTICS 88, HAWKS 86, OT
In Boston, Paul Pierce overcame a miserable shooting game with a key jumper in overtime that gave Celtic victory over Atlanta.
Rajon Rondo finished with a triple-double with 20 assists, 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 21 points.
GRIZZLIES 104, SUNS 93
In Memphis, Rudy Gay scored a season-high 32 points as Memphis won their fourth straight game with a victory over Phoenix.
Memphis outscored the Suns 17-6 after the game was tied with 6:27 seconds left. Dante Cunningham had six of his 10 points during that run.
Marcin Gortat had 19 points for Phoenix on 9 of 12 from the floor.
JAZZ 103, ROCKETS 91
In Houston, Gordan Hayward scored a season-high 29 points as Utah boosted their fading playoff hopes with a victory over Houston.
Paul Millsap added 21 points for the Jazz, who held the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference standings coming into the game.
The Jazz shot 51 percent (40 of 78) and led by as many as 18, taking advantage of Houston’s 36 percent shooting from the field.
In Wednesday’s other games it was:
‧ Knicks 111, Bucks 107
‧ Nuggets 113, Timberwolves
107
‧ Pacers 104, Cavaliers 98, OT
‧ 76ers 93, Raptors 75
‧ Trail Blazers 118, Warriors110
‧ Hornets 105, Kings 96
A runner who stopped during a marathon in China to pose doing the splits and another who hoarded energy gels have been banned for two years, the local athletics association said yesterday. The incidents happened during Sunday’s marathon in Sichuan Province’s Chengdu and were widely shared online. Videos showed a female runner stopping suddenly and dropping to the ground in the splits position, holding up her arms in a heart shape as she apparently posed for a photograph. She “committed obstructive fouls during the race, affecting the safe participation of other runners,” the Sichuan Athletics Association said in a statement, which identified
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS