The New York Knicks earned their 12th straight win on Sunday as Carmelo Anthony had 36 points and 12 rebounds, while J.R. Smith hit a pair of shot-clock beaters in the final two minutes of a 125-120 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Smith connected on a 23-foot jump shot from the right wing as the 24-second clock expired to put New York up 117-113 with 1 minute, 30 seconds to play, then swished a three-pointer from beyond the three-point line with 56.8 seconds left that all but sealed New York’s 50th win of the season.
It is the first time the Knicks have reached the landmark in 13 years.
Photo: Reuters
Russell Westbrook had 37 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Oklahoma City.
The playoff-bound Clippers beat Los Angeles rivals the Lakers 109-95 to clinch their first Pacific Division title in the club’s history against a team that has long overshadowed them.
Blake Griffin had 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Chris Paul added 24 points and 12 assists to help the Clippers sweep the Lakers 4-0 for the first time since Donald Sterling bought the team in 1981.
The 1974-1975 team, known as the Buffalo Braves, had the franchise’s only other sweep of the Lakers.
Jamal Crawford had 20 points off the bench, DeAndre Jordan had 13 rebounds and Caron Butler scored 14 points.
Dwight Howard scored 25 points, including nine of 13 free throws, for the Lakers, who played without injured starters Steve Nash and Metta World Peace. Kobe Bryant added 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Pau Gasol had 12 points and 13 rebounds as the Lakers’ three-game winning streak ended.
Utah’s Mo Williams scored 25 points, while Al Jefferson added 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Jazz regained the Western Conference’s final playoff position by holding off the Golden State Warriors 97-90.
Williams made a three-pointer with 13.4 seconds remaining to put Utah ahead by six points and spoil Golden State’s shot to clinch a playoff berth in front of a sellout crowd of 19,596. The Jazz moved half a game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the eighth seed.
In Boston, Brandon Bass scored 20 points as the Celtics, helped by the return of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, beat the Washington Wizards 107-96.
Bass missed his season high by just two points and led the Boston Celtics with eight points in the third period.
Garnett had 12 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes after missing eight games with an inflamed left ankle.
The Detroit Pistons downed the Bulls 99-85 to end an 18-game losing streak against Chicago, while Mike Conley scored 25 points, making the go-ahead basket with 30 seconds left to lead the Memphis Grizzlies over the Sacramento Kings 89-87.
In other games, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 96-91, the New Orleans Hornets edged the Phoenix Suns 95-92 and the Cleveland Cavaliers downed the Orlando Magic 91-85.
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
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
RSS