Shorn of its franchise-record winning streak, a drained Boston Celtics team gave up a 14-point lead to lose to the struggling Golden State Warriors 99-89 on Friday.
A day after their 19-game streak was ended by the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics lost to more modest California opposition.
Stephen Jackson scored eight straight points during the fourth-quarter to finish with 28 as the Warriors stormed over the top of the defending champions.
PHOTO: AP
It was Boston’s first back-to-back losses this season.
HORNETS 88, ROCKETS 79
In New Orleans, Chris Paul had 26 points and 10 assists to lead New Orleans to a start-to-finish win over Houston. David West added 23 points for New Orleans while Yao Ming was Houston’s best with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
JAZZ 97, MAVERICKS 88
In Salt Lake City, an undermanned Utah was still too strong for Dallas.
Rookie Kosta Koufos scored a career-high 18 points and Deron Williams added 17 points and 13 assists for the Jazz who won despite missing Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur — their top three scorers and rebounders.
A weary Mavericks team saw their three-game winning streak ended.
NUGGETS 105, 76ERS 101
In Denver, Kenyon Martin sank the go-ahead dunk with nine seconds left to lift Denver over Philadelphia.
The 76ers got called for traveling on the next possession and the Nuggets added three points from the free-throw line to seal Philly’s third straight loss.
HEAT 90, BULLS 77
In Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 28 points to lead Miami over Chicago.
Daequan Cook hit a trio of threes in the fourth quarter as Miami pulled away to win a fourth straight. The Heat has now already eclipsed last season’s meager win total.
BOBCATS 95, NETS 87
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Raymond Felton scored 22 points to top Charlotte’s win over New Jersey.
Emeka Okafor added 21 for the new-look Bobcats, who held on after seeing a 15-point third-quarter lead dwindle to two points in the waning minutes.
GRIZZLIES 108, PACERS 105
In Memphis, Tennessee, O.J. Mayo hit two key free throws with a second left as Memphis overcame an early 17-point deficit to beat Indiana. Memphis took the lead with seven unanswered points late in the game and then held on.
PISTONS 90, THUNDER 88
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Allen Iverson’s off-balance running shot with 0.2 seconds left gave Detroit victory over Oklahoma City.
After Iverson’s shot, the Thunder’s Jeff Green nearly tipped in a halfcourt alley-oop, but the ball bounced twice off the rim before falling harmlessly away.
RAPTORS 107, KINGS 101
In Sacramento, California, Toronto ended a 10-game losing streak in Sacramento.
Jermaine O’Neal scored 36 points in his highest-scoring game in two seasons as the Raptors won at the Kings for the first time since 1997.
TIMBERWOLVES 120, KNICKS 107
In New York, Minnesota snapped a 13-game losing streak and won for the first time under replacement coach Kevin McHale.
The Timberwolves got a season-best 23 points from Rashad McCants and rode some sizzling 3-point shooting to win for the first time in December. They had dropped their first eight games under McHale.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
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
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
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