Hours after attending the funeral of his father in Illinois, coach Doc Rivers saw the new-look Celtics remain the NBA's only undefeated team and personally show the Nets they are the team to beat in the Atlantic Division with an impressive 112-101 win on Saturday.
The victory was the fifth straight for Boston, which is off to its best start since winning six in a row to start the 1987-1988 season. That was the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got to the Eastern Conference finals.
Paul Pierce had 13 of his 28 in the third period when Boston turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 21-point margin. Ray Allen added 27 points and Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Trail Blazers 91 Mavericks 82
At Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy scored a career-high 32 points and added seven assists and the Portland ended a 13-game losing streak to Dallas.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers (3-3), who extended their modest winning streak to three games after dropping the first three of the season.
Josh Howard had 20 points for Dallas (4-2), which had won its last three.
Dallas had won the previous 13 games against the Trail Blazers, a streak dating to the 2003-2004 season, including a six-game winning streak at the Rose Garden.
Kings 100, Timberwolves 93
At Sacramento, California, Kevin Martin had 29 points and Brad Miller added 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead Sacramento over winless Minnesota.
John Salmons had 19 points and three steals for the Kings who were playing at home for the second night in a row.
Al Jefferson had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Rashad McCants came off the bench to score 16 points for Minnesota in a game that was tied 21 times.
Suns 106, Magic 96
At Orlando, Florida, Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points and Phoenix withstood a 33-point, 18-rebound effort by Dwight Howard to beat Orlando.
Grant Hill had 14 points and eight rebounds in his Orlando return, but couldn't quiet a hostile crowd soured on him since he signed with Phoenix. Hill was booed all night, an unusual experience for the popular All-Star who spent seven years in Orlando but missed two-thirds of the games with several ankle injuries.
Led by Barbosa, all five Suns starters scored in double figures. Steve Nash had 19 points and 11 assists and Shawn Marion added 11 points and eight rebounds. Amare Stoudemire had 13 points and six rebounds in his second outing after missing three games with a sore knee.
In other games, it was: Jazz 118, Grizzlies 94; Nuggets 113, Pacers 106; Raptors 101, Bulls 71.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
As sporting celebrations go, it does not quite have the charm of Roger Milla’s hip-wiggling shimmy with a corner flag at the 1990 World Cup or the imperious swagger of Usain Bolt’s iconic lightning pose. However, a dance move inspired by US president-elect Donald Trump’s stilted on-stage boogieing has rapidly become the celebration of choice across the US sporting world. From the blood-soaked UFC to the hard-hitting NFL and the reliably decorous world of the LPGA Tour, athletes across North America have succumbed to the viral Trump dance craze in the past week. On Monday, US soccer star Christian Pulisic became the latest
RSS