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.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their