The Philadelphia 76ers were brought back from their locker room to watch Devin Brown sink two free throws with 0.2 seconds left for the Cleveland Cavaliers to win 91-90 in the NBA on Monday.
The Sixers appeared to have won after Lou Williams hit a fadeaway jumper with 5.1 seconds left. Instead, Brown was fouled by Samuel Dalembert with only a couple of ticks left.
The Sixers thought the game was over and ran off the court, while the refs huddled at midcourt to look at the replay.
The Cavaliers stayed on the bench, with some peeking over and hoping to hear the decision.
After the play was reviewed for a few minutes, Dalembert was hit with his sixth foul.
The Sixers had to come back and watch Brown stun them for the controversial win.
Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks argued with the refs and guard Andre Miller punted the ball in frustration.
LeBron James scored 27 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 and the Cavaliers clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against Washington.
Wizards 117, Pacers 110
At Washington, the home team’s reserves easily eliminated Indiana from the playoff race.
Roger Mason was the top scorer with a total of 31 points for Washington, whose reserves outscored the starters 70-47.
Indiana’s defeat gave the idle Atlanta Hawks the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, their first time in the playoffs since 1999.
Celtics 99, Knicks 93
At New York, Rajon Rondo had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Boston in the absence of his three All-Star teammates Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, who were rested.
Sam Cassell added 22 points for the Celtics, who learned during the game they will face Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs.
Nate Robinson scored 26 points for New York, which fell to 23-58 and needs a win in its season finale at Indiana to avoid tying the franchise record for losses, last matched two years ago.
Raptors 91, Heat 75
At Toronto, Rasho Nesterovic scored 20 points, and Chris Bosh 15 as Toronto locked up the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round matchup with Orlando.
Nesterovic was 10-for-19 from the field, scoring double figures for the 17th consecutive game, and grabbed seven rebounds.
Daequan Cook had 22 points for Miami, which must beat Atlanta at home on Wednesday to avoid the worst record in franchise history.
Jazz 105, Rockets 96
At Salt Lake City, Carlos Boozer scored 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, pulling Utah even with Houston in the muddled Western Conference standings with one game to go in the regular season.
Both teams are 54-27, but by winning two of three against the Rockets, the Jazz would hold home-court advantage if they still have identical records after today’s games and meet in the opening round of the playoffs. Utah finished its home schedule 37-4.
Tracy McGrady and Luis Scola scored 22 each for Houston.
Bulls 151, Bucks 135
At Milwaukee, Luol Deng scored 32 points on 15-of-20 shooting and Ben Gordon added 29 points as Chicago fell five points short of a franchise record for points set in 1990.
The Bulls also got 22 points and 15 assists from Chris Duhon, and three other players finished in double digits. The Bulls shot 67 percent from the field, the highest ever allowed by Milwaukee, which lost its seventh straight.
The lone bright spot for the Bucks was rookie Ramon Sessions, who set a franchise record with 24 assists, three more than Guy Rodgers had in Milwaukee’s sixth game as a franchise on Oct. 31, 1968.
Suns 122, Warriors 116
At Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and Phoenix recovered after blowing a 17-point lead, eliminating the Warriors from playoff contention.
The Warriors’ loss clinched the final playoff spot in the West for Denver.
Steve Nash nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds as the Suns remained in the midst of a scramble for playoff positioning and a possible home-court advantage in the first round.
Spurs 101, Kings 98
At Sacramento, California, Tony Parker tied his season high with 32 points and added 11 assists as San Antonio downed Sacramento.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Chess great Magnus Carlsen on Friday quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York after governing body FIDE barred the Norwegian from participating in a round at the tournament for wearing jeans. FIDE said in a statement that its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.” It issued Carlsen a US$200 fine and gave him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the world No. 1 rejected, it said. Carlsen said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. “I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like
RSS