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 rebounds, Jamal Murray had 14 points and Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 11 assists.
Photo: AP
Denver outscored the Lakers 70-39 in the second half to run away with the contest, giving Michael Malone his team-record 443 coaching victory with the Nuggets.
“The biggest thing is we won,” Malone said. “I loved how we came out in that third quarter. We got stops. We got out and ran. And then the players — I’m not the coach I am without the guys like Nikola, Jamal ... and everybody that has come through that door.”
In Chicago, Pippen — the son of former Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen — scored 30 points and added 10 assists to lead Memphis over the Bulls.
Photo: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images / USA Today
“It’s a dream come true. It’s crazy to say I put up 30 and 10 in the gym where my dad had played,” he said after scoring 26 points in the first three quarters to help Memphis win its second straight game. “It means everything to me and my family. I talked to my dad tonight about coming in here and playing. He just told me to go out there and kill it, so that’s what I tried to do.”
Elsewhere, the Milwaukee Bucks survived the Charlotte Hornets 125-119 to stretch their win streak to four games, while French star Victor Wembanyama had 25 points, seven rebounds and nine assists to lead the San Antonio Spurs over Western Conference leaders the Golden State Warriors 104-94.
Finland’s Lauri Markkanen scored 34 points to lead the Utah Jazz over the visiting New York Knicks 121-106, while the Orlando Magic overcame the Detroit Pistons 111-100 and the Portland Trail Blazers brought down the Houston Rockets 104-98.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS