Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 43 points as the Miami Heat beat the Phoenix Suns 107-92 on Friday night in the first match-up between the teams since the Shaquille O’Neal for Shawn Marion trade last February.
Neither O’Neal nor Marion was much of a factor in the game dominated by the unstoppable Wade. O’Neal scored 12 points in 28 minutes for the Suns and Marion had 10 for Miami.
Leandro Barbosa, playing on his 26th birthday, led the Suns with 20 points. Raja Bell had 16 and Amare Stoudemire 14 for Phoenix, who were without Steve Nash.
CAVALIERS 112, WARRIORS 97
In Cleveland, Ohio, LeBron James scored 23 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added a season-high 21 as Cleveland matched the best home start in franchise history by beating Golden State.
Cleveland (13-3) have won 12 of 13 and are a league-best 9-0 at home, equaling their top home start, first set in 1976-1977 and repeated in 1991-1992.
The Warriors (5-11) have lost five straight, including the first four on their current road trip. Golden State are 2-7 away from home.
SPURS 109, GRIZZLIES 98
In San Antonio, Texas, Tony Parker had 15 points and seven assists in his first game in three weeks, leading San Antonio over Memphis.
Manu Ginobili scored 14 points and Tim Duncan added 11. Ginobili was in his third game back for the Spurs, who have won four straight and have their three All-Stars healthy for the first time this season.
PISTONS 107, BUCKS 97
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Allen Iverson scored 17 points in his first game as a reserve this season, leading Detroit over Milwaukee.
Iverson was benched by Pistons coach Michael Curry, a punishment for missing a mandatory team practice on Thanksgiving. He apologized on Friday morning, then sat on the bench for almost 10 minutes as Rodney Stuckey started instead.
Richard Jefferson and Ramon Sessions each scored 21 points for the Bucks, who lost their third consecutive game and trailed by as many as 15 points. Milwaukee center Dan Gadzuric, starting in place of the injured Andrew Bogut, had 12 rebounds.
LAKERS 114, MAVERICKS 107
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 35 points as the Lakers used a 17-0 run in the second half to beat Dallas and improve the NBA’s best record to 13-1.
Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ sixth straight victory. Bryant was 14-for-26 from the field after going five-for-17 with 12 points in Wednesday’s 120-93 win over New Jersey.
Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki had 19 points and 12 rebounds in a match-up of the leagues’ last two MVPs.
TRAIL BLAZERS 101, HORNETS 86
In Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy had 25 points and 10 assists as Portland used a 17-point, second-half run to beat New Orleans.
The Blazers improved to 7-0 this season at the Rose Garden, their best start at home since they went 9-0 in the 1998-1999 season.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers (11-6), who are off to their best overall start since they opened the 2000-2001 season 12-6.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Hornets (9-6), who were led by Peja Stojakovic with 21 points.
Friday’s other NBA results:
• Jazz 120, Kings 94
• Bobcats 115, Pacers 108, OT
• Raptors 93, Hawks 88
• Celtics 102, 76ers 78
• Timberwolves 105, Thunder 103
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
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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