Paul George scored 27 points and led a comeback from an eight-point halftime deficit to help the Indiana Pacers improve on the best record in the Eastern Conference with a 97-82 win over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.
Trailing 50-42 at halftime, George had 22 points in the second half as Indiana outscored Boston 55-32 in the final quarters to improve to 11-1.
David West and Luis Scola had 17 points each for Indiana, who had lost their previous four games against Boston.
Jordan Crawford had a season-high 24 points, but just five in the second half, and Jeff Green added 20 for the Celtics, who lost their sixth straight to drop to 4-10 after winning four in a row.
The rebuilding Celtics played impressively in the first half. However, Boston had more turnovers, nine, than points in the third period. West outscored Boston’s entire team in the quarter with 10 points.
Indiana had won their first nine games before struggling as they began a three-game road trip. They lost to Chicago 110-94, then went to overtime before beating the New York Knicks 103-96 on Wednesday night.
In Philadelphia, Evan Turner scored 27 points, and Spencer Hawes scored 11 of his 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 115-107 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that ended a four-game losing streak.
In Minneapolis, Kevin Love had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four assists in just 28 minutes, and the Timberwolves beat Kevin Garnett for the first time since he left Minnesota in a 111-81 victory over the woeful Brooklyn Nets.
In other games, the New Orleans Pelicans erased a 12-point deficit in the final five minutes to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-100. The San Antonio Spurs pulled away for a 102-86 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons 96-89, the Dallas Mavericks accounted for the Utah Jazz 103-93 and the Phoenix Suns edged the Charlotte Bobcats 98-91.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
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