James Harden had 33 points and short-handed Houston edged closer to clinching a playoff spot with a 116-98 victory over Portland on Friday.
Jeremy Lin added 22 points to help the Rockets to their fourth straight victory. Houston (43-33) remained in seventh place in the Western Conference — three games in front of the Los Angeles Lakers — for their first playoff appearance since 2008-2009.
LaMarcus Aldridge returned from an ankle injury with 32 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers (33-43), who matched their season-worst slide with a seventh straight loss.
In Indianapolis, Indiana, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant overcame a bruised left calf to score 34 points and lead the Thunder to a 97-75 win over the Indiana Pacers, moving the team level with San Antonio for top spot in the NBA’s Western Conference.
Russell Westbrook added 24 points for the Thunder, who beat the Spurs on Thursday, after arriving at the team hotel in Indianapolis at 4am, then went out and prevented the Pacers from clinching their first Central Division title in nine years.
The Pacers, who got 22 points from Roy Hibbert, could clinch the title with a win yesterday at Washington.
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Lakers held onto the last playoff position in the West by beating Memphis. Carmelo Anthony tied a franchise record as New York downed Milwaukee and won their 11th straight, while a depleted Miami had enough in hand to defeat Charlotte. Houston edged closer to the playoffs with a win over Portland, while Philadelphia had their highest-scoring quarter of the season in beating Atlanta.
Lakers star Kobe Bryant had 24 points and nine assists, while Pau Gasol added 19 in their 86-84 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, with Dwight Howard hitting the late winner.
THREE STRAIGHT
The Lakers have won three straight in the final weeks of their desperate push for a post-season spot. Los Angeles also avoided getting swept in their season series with the Grizzlies, whose four-game winning streak ended.
Memphis’ Mike Conley scored 21 points before missing a potential go-ahead jumper with 5 seconds left and added another layup before the buzzer for the playoff-bound Grizzlies, who fell one game behind Denver for the fourth seed in the West. The Grizzlies could not score in the final 2.5 minutes.
New York’s Anthony scored 41 points, tying a franchise record with this third straight 40-point game, as the Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 101-83.
Anthony, who had 50 points and 40 in his previous two games, equaled Bernard King’s 1984-1985 mark. New York matched the third-longest winning streak in franchise history.
J.R. Smith added 30 points for the Knicks, who used a 42-point third quarter to turn around the game after a lackluster first half.
Miami’s Mike Miller scored a season-high 26 points on seven three-pointers, as the injury-depleted Heat beat the Charlotte Bobcats 89-79.
The Heat won despite playing without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen, who were held out while recovering from injuries.
The 33-year-old Miller was seven-of-11 from beyond the three-point arc.
Chris Bosh chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds for Miami, who need three more victories to pass the franchise record of 61 wins in a regular season.
Rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Bobcats.
The Philadelphia 76ers piled on 40 points in the first quarter to set up a 101-90 win at the Atlanta Hawks.
Evan Turner had 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Spencer Hawes added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers, who made 16 of 22 shots in the opening term.
Josh Smith led Atlanta with 19 points.
CAREER HIGH
Golden State’s Stephen Curry matched his career high with 15 assists and sank two late free throws to seal the Warriors’ 111-107 win over Phoenix, inflicting a season-worst eighth-straight loss on the Suns.
Utah’s Gordon Hayward scored 23 points as the Jazz beat the New Orleans Hornets 95-83.
Dallas’ Shawn Marion had 25 points and 12 rebounds in the Mavericks’ 117-108 win at the Sacramento Kings.
Cleveland ended a 10-game losing skid with a 97-91 victory over the Boston Celtics, with Tristan Thompson having career highs with 29 points and 17 rebounds.
Chicago’s Nate Robinson scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to guide the Bulls to a tight 87-86 win over the Orlando Magic.
Toronto’s Rudy Gay had 26 points and five rebounds to lead Toronto to a rare road victory in the Western Conference, winning 95-93 at the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS