Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson scored 27 points each as the Golden State Warriors used a huge third quarter to roll to a 131-106 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.
The Warriors led by five at halftime and used a 38-point third quarter, with 15 points from Curry, to take a 22-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Dwight Howard, who missed the first two games against the Warriors, led Houston with 23 points and 10 rebounds on a night when the NBA’s leading scorer James Harden scored just 11.
Photo: EPA
The Rockets got five straight points from Kostas Papanikolaou to cut the lead to 110-94 with 7 minutes left, but Golden State scored nine quick points after that, led by Curry’s five, to make it 119-94 and cruise to its NBA-leading 24th double-digit victory.
Harden made just two of his first 12 shots and got his fourth foul on a charge with 1:44 left in the third. He was four of 15, including 0 of 4 on threes, to finish well below his average of 27 points a game.
HAWKS 107, BULLS 99
Kyle Korver made a season-high seven three-pointers on his way to 24 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls 107-99 for its 12th straight victory.
Al Horford added 22 points and nine rebounds as the Hawks matched the second-longest win streak in franchise history. Paul Millsap scored 16 and Jeff Teague had 17 points and 11 assists.
The Hawks have won 26 of 28 since a 7-6 start, surging to the top of the Eastern Conference with one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses and a stingy defense.
Derrick Rose had 23 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Chicago, who have dropped five of seven. Pau Gasol had 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Jimmy Butler scored 15.
GRIZZLIES 102, TRAIL BLAZERS 98
Zach Randolph had 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Beno Udrih added 17 points, including two key buckets in the final minute as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 102-98.
Memphis won their fourth straight and led by as many as 20 in the second half.
However, they saw the lead dwindle to 95-93 when Damian Lillard connected on a three-pointer with 1:06 left. Udrih’s 20-footer as the shot clock expired on the next possession helped Memphis maintain the lead.
Lillard connected on another three-pointer with 27 seconds left, but Udrih made a 22-footer with 8.7 seconds left for the win.
Jeff Green and Courtney Lee matched Udrih’s 17 points, while Marc Gasol finished with 15.
LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 32 points.
CLIPPERS 117, KINGS 108
Blake Griffin scored 18 of his 30 points in the second half, while Matt Barnes added 26 points as the Los Angeles Clippers pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings 117-108.
Chris Paul added 12 points and nine assists, J.J. Redick scored 18 points and Jamal Crawford scored 13 off the bench for the Clippers, who bounced back from a sluggish first half to win for the fourth straight time at Sacramento.
Griffin scored 13 points in the third quarter and then scored five over the final 3 1/2 minutes of the game to help Los Angeles to their fourth win in six games.
Jason Thompson had 23 points and a career-high 22 rebounds for the Kings.
In other results:
‧ Pistons 107, 76ers 89
‧ Hornets 80, Pacers 71
‧ Wizards 99, Nets 90
‧ T’wolves 113, Nuggets 105
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
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
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
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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