Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 points and Deron Williams had 31 points and 16 assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 132-120 overtime win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Nowitzki and Williams capped season-high scoring efforts with the first 11 points in overtime. Williams made a tiebreaking three-pointer before Nowitzki scored eight straight points.
The Mavericks’ victory moved them within half a game of the Trail Blazers for the sixth playoff position in the Western Conference. Dallas have 12 games to play, and Portland 11.
Photo: AP
The Mavericks (35-35) also gained a tiebreaker by winning the first two of three games in the season series against the Trail Blazers (36-35). The teams play again in Portland tomorrow.
Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 26 points. Allen Crabbe scored 24 points, and C.J. McCollum had 22. Miles Plumlee had 14 points and 19 rebounds.
RAPTORS 105, MAGIC 100
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points to lead Toronto to the win.
Luis Scola had 20 points as the Raptors moved within one game of idle Cleveland for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Evan Fournier and Victor Oladipo each had 21 points for Orlando, who lost their seventh straight game in Toronto and have now lost 13 of their past 14 meetings with the Raptors.
A three-pointer from Fournier with 1 minute, 11 seconds remaining trimmed Toronto’s lead to 97-96, but DeRozan responded with a floating jumper with 53.9 seconds left and added the free throw after being fouled by Ersan Ilyasova.
PELICANS 109, CLIPPERS 105
In New Orleans, Jrue Holiday scored 22 points to help the injury-riddled Pelicans to the victory.
Omer Asik scored a season-high 15 points and tied his season best with 14 rebounds for New Orleans, while Dante Cunningham scored a season-high 19 points. Reserve guard Tim Frazier added a season-high 17 points.
Chris Paul and J.J. Redick each scored 24 points, and Paul also had 13 assists for the Clippers, who lost in Memphis on Saturday night and were playing their second game in less than 24 hours.
Los Angeles missed 19 three-point attempts and 13 free throws.
The Pelicans tipped off shortly after announcing All-Star forward Anthony Davis, who hurt his left knee on Friday night, would miss the rest of the season to treat that injury as well as a torn labrum in his left shoulder that he played with for much of the season.
In other results, it was:
‧ Kings 88, Knicks 80
‧ Celtics 120, 76ers 105
‧ Jazz 94, Bucks 85
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take