Tony Parker scored 23 points, while Tim Duncan added 21 points and 13 rebounds to spark the San Antonio Spurs to a 116-107 victory against Dallas on Thursday.
Danny Green went five-for-five from three-point range and finished with 22 points off the bench for the Spurs, while Brazilian Tiago Splitter added 12 points and Parker’s French compatriot Boris Diaw contributed 10 for the Spurs, the Southwest division leaders, who improved to 23-7.
German star Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 25 points in a losing cause, while Monta Ellis finished with 23 points and six assists for Dallas.
Photo: AFP
Vince Carter scored 20 points, including 11-of-11 from the free-throw line, and DeJuan Blair had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who lost for the third time in their past four games, falling to 16-13.
San Antonio led 100-85 after a Parker jump shot with 5 minutes, 43 seconds remaining before the Mavericks scored the next 12 points, including nine by Ellis and a Nowitzki three-pointer to pull Dallas within three points.
However, the Spurs answered with a Green three-pointer and a free throw by Argentina’s Manu Ginobili.
Samuel Dalembert pulled the Mavericks up to trail by only three points, 107-110, with 51 seconds remaining, but the Spurs netted the final six points to secure the triumph.
HAWKS 127, CAVALIERS 125
Jeff Teague scored a career-high 34 points, including a tiebreaking 20-foot jumper at the buzzer in the second overtime, leading the Atlanta Hawks to a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
Teague’s fall-away jumper over Tristan Thompson bounced off the rim five times before falling through the net. Teague, who also had 14 assists, fell to the floor after shooting the ball and was mobbed by his teammates.
Teague’s three-pointer with 4.9 seconds left in the first overtime tied it at 108-108.
Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 40 points, including 12 in the second overtime. Thompson had 22, and Dion Waiters scored 20 points in 41 minutes after missing three games because of tendinitis in his right wrist.
Hawks center Al Horford, who scored two baskets late in regulation to tie the game, departed with an apparent shoulder injury during the first overtime.
ROCKETS 100, GRIZZLIES 92
James Harden scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, helping Houston rally for the victory.
Harden struggled from the field, going two-of-nine, but was 22-of-25 from the free-throw line.
He made nine-of-11 foul shots in the final quarter.
Jeremy Lin had 14 of his 18 points in the fourth as Houston won for the third time in four games.
The Rockets were coming off an impressive 111-98 victory at San Antonio on Christmas Day.
Houston center Dwight Howard battled foul trouble for most of the game and was held to two points and six rebounds.
He was whistled for his fifth foul with 7 minutes, 52 seconds left in the third and never returned to the action.
Zach Randolph led Memphis with 23 points and 17 rebounds. The Grizzlies had won two in a row.
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday said that she hoped she would be able to play tennis under the Belarusian flag after the International Olympic Committee lifted its ban on the country’s athletes competing in the Olympics. World No. 1 Sabalenka has had to compete under a neutral banner as a consequence of her country’s support for Russia following its ally’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The IOC earlier on Thursday lifted its ban on Belarusian athletes competing in the Olympics, although restrictions on Russian athletes remain in place. Asked whether the women’s tour would drop the ban on her representing her country, Sabalenka said:
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying
Real Madrid announced on Friday they had fined Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde 500,000 euros (US$588,000) each after a training ground clash that saw Valverde transported for medical care. The club did not impose any sporting sanctions on the two players, saying in a statement that the fine “thereby concludes the internal procedures” launched against them. Valverde is going to miss today’s Clasico against Barcelona as a result of the head injury he suffered during the altercation. The club said he would be out for up to two weeks. Tchouameni took part in training on Friday and could feature at Camp
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