Rangers and Djokovic retains Lightning excel Indian Wells title

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 15 18 Australia, India brace for verbal onslaught Page 17

LOS ANGELES: Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan (center) grabs a against ’ Alexis Ajinca (left) of France, and Dante Cunningham during the second half of an NBA game. — AP Clippers win, Thunder cool Heat

LOS ANGELES: scored 23 points, Chris Paul had reserve Manu Ginobili nursing a sprained right ankle, con- Reggie Jackson added 17 points, 11 assists and nine ignite a big rally for Denver. 23 points and 11 assists, and the Los Angeles Clippers put a tested nearly every Hawks shot and pass, but no Atlanta rebounds for the Pistons, who won for the third time in four Gallinari made 12 of 21 shots, including six 3-pointers, crimp in the New Orleans Pelicans’ playoff hopes with a 107- player looked more flustered than 12th-year guard Kyle games after a 10-game losing streak. for the Nuggets, who broke a three-game losing streak. 100 victory on Sunday. JJ Redick scored 20 points and Korver. Evan Turner had 23 points and Jae Crowder 19 for Boston, Nelson finished with 15 points, 13 during a 43-12 run over a DeAndre Jordan finished with 16 rebounds and 12 points, which lost its third straight. The Celtics are in a tight race for 10-minute span of the first half which gave the Nuggets a helping the Clippers win their fourth in a row. They convert- RAPTORS 106, KNICKS 89 the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. 63-37 lead. ed 18 Pelicans turnovers into 30 points and had a 25-6 DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, Detroit snapped an eight-game road losing streak, send- Victor Oladipo led the Magic with 21 points and Nik advantage on second chance points. added a season-high 18 and the Toronto Raptors won for the ing Boston to just its second home loss in its last 11 games. Vucevic scored 20. Elfrid Payton, who on Friday night Anthony Davis led New Orleans with 26 points and third time in four games. The Pistons wiped out a deficit late in regulation, then became the first NBA rookie in 18 years to record two 12 rebounds in 39 minutes after missing two games Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Lou scored on their first two possessions of overtime and straight triple-doubles, finished with six points, eight with a sprained left ankle. was sidelined Williams scored 13 and Greivis Vasquez had 12. Lance opened with a 7-0 run. rebounds, eight assists and five turnovers. The Nuggets because of the same injury and was replaced in the Thomas scored 24 points and former Raptor Andrea broke an 11-game losing streak against Eastern Conference starting lineup by Norris Cole, who had 12 points before Bargnani had 16 for the Knicks, who dropped their third SUNS 98, MAVERICKS 92 opponents on the road. fouling out in the final minutes. straight and lost for the 10th time in 12 games. Archie Goodwin sank the go-ahead 3-pointer, Markieff KINGS 109, WIZARDS 86 Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry, who dressed but did not Morris added a critical jumper in the final 30 seconds and Rudy Gay scored 26 points and Sacramento led most of THUNDER 93, HEAT 75 play in Friday’s loss at Chicago, was inactive because of a sore Phoenix beat Dallas. the way in beating Washington for its second straight victo- Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 17 back suffered in a fall against Minnesota last Wednesday. Dallas rallied from a 17-point, third-quarter deficit and ry. DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points, seven rebounds and assists for his 10th triple-double of the season to lead Vasquez made his second straight start in Lowry’s place. was up 86-80 with 5 minutes to play. But the Mavericks five assists despite foul trouble. He had missed the previous Oklahoma City. New York guard Alexey Shved, who came in averaging went four minutes without scoring while the Suns climbed two games with a strained right calf. Enes Kanter had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the 22.0 points in his previous three games, suffered bruised ribs back into the lead. Sacramento stretched its lead to 20 points in the third Thunder, who have won three in a row. Rookie Mitch McGary in a collision with Toronto’s James Johnson in the first half Eric Bledsoe had 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds quarter and was never threatened from there in winning scored 14 points, and Anthony Morrow had 12. and was unable to return. Shane Larkin replaced Shved to for the Suns. Morris added 19 points and 13 rebounds. back-to-back games for the first time since late November. Kanter was expected to miss his second straight game start the third quarter. Shved finished with nine points in 17 Chandler Parsons scored 19 points and Amare Stoudemire Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards, but with an ankle injury. But he was cleared to play after morning minutes. The Knicks also lost rookie Travis Wear to a sore back 16 for Dallas, which has lost all three games against John Wall shot only 3 of 10 and had nine points and shootaround, and then got off to a fast start with 15 points in in the fourth. Phoenix this season. Monta Ellis was 4 for 22 from the field, eight assists. Washington has dropped 11 of 13 road the first quarter. including six straight misses down the stretch. games since beating the Lakers on Jan. 27. The Wizards The Heat had five players score in double figures. Hassan PISTONS 105, CELTICS 97 have lost two of three on a four-game trip that ends Whiteside had 13 points, all in the first half, and Goran Dragic, Andre Drummond had 18 points and 22 rebounds, NUGGETS 119, MAGIC 100 Monday against Golden State. Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers each scored 12. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored seven of his 27 points in Danilo Gallinari scored a career-high 40 points and for- overtime and Detroit beat Boston. mer Magic guard Jameer Nelson came off the bench to HORNETS 109, TIMBERWOLVES 98 CAVALIERS 108, BUCKS 90 Mo Williams scored 24 points, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and LeBron James scored 28 points and sparked a key second- Al Jefferson each added 18 and Charlotte moved into half run with an emphatic dunk to lead the Cavaliers. JR eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Smith added 23 points for Cleveland, which has won three in NBA results/standings Gerald Henderson added 17 points for the Hornets, who a row. Smith made three straight 3s to close out the Cavs’ Cleveland 108, Milwaukee 90; Oklahoma City 93, Miami 75; San Antonio 114, Atlanta 95; LA Clippers 107, New Orleans 100; Toronto 106, NY snapped a three-game skid. Gorgui Dieng led Minnesota decisive run that turned a six-point deficit into a 93-78 lead Knicks 89; Sacramento 109, Washington 86; Detroit 105, Boston 97 (OT); Denver 119, Orlando 100; Charlotte 109, Minnesota 98; Phoenix 98, with 16 points and Kevin Martin had 15 points and nine with 6:19 left in the game. Dallas 92; LA Lakers 101, Philadelphia 87. assists. His team down by 13 in the first half, Williams pro- Milwaukee has dropped six in a row. Giannis Eastern Conference WESTERN CONFERENCE vided a spark off the bench with his smooth shooting, just Antetokounmpo had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Atlantic Division NORTHWEST DIVISION as he did in many of his 41 games with the Timberwolves Bucks. The lanky forward muscled his way to the bucket W L PCT GB Portland 44 24 .647 - this season. Williams shot 10 for 16 from the floor in his first against James early in the game to help Milwaukee build an Toronto 42 28 .600 - Oklahoma City 40 30 .571 5 game at Target Center since the Wolves traded him to 11-point lead. Boston 30 39 .43511.5 Utah 31 38 .44913.5 Charlotte on Feb. 10. James had his way late. His dunk off an offensive rebound Brooklyn 29 39 .426 12 Denver 27 44 .38018.5 Philadelphia 17 53 .243 25 Minnesota 15 54 .21729.5 got the Cavs going. He finished 10 of 17 from the field and NY Knicks 14 56 .200 28 LAKERS 101, 76ERS 87 grabbed 10 boards. Jeremy Lin scored a season-high 29 points, and Los PACIFIC DIVISION CENTRAL DIVISION Angeles beat Philadelphia in the first meeting of the season SPURS 114, HAWKS 95 Cleveland 46 26 .639 - Golden State 56 13 .812 - between two of the NBA’s worst teams. LA Clippers 46 25 .648 11 Tiago Splitter scored a season-high 23 points, Kawhi Chicago 42 29 .592 3.5 Thomas Robinson had 14 points off the bench for the Phoenix 38 33 .535 19 Leonard added 20 points and the won Milwaukee 34 36 .486 11 76ers, who shot just 36 percent and were outrebounded Indiana 30 39 .43514.5 Sacramento 24 45 .348 32 their third straight game. Detroit 26 44 .371 19 LA Lakers 18 50 .26537.5 52-39. Paul Millsap finished with 22 points and Dennis Schroder The 76ers, coming off home victories over the had 18 points for Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta, which SOUTHEAST DIVISION SOUTHWEST DIVISION Pistons and Knicks, haven’t won three in a row since a dropped its third in a row. Atlanta 53 17 .757 - Memphis 49 21 .700 - four-game stretch that began with a road win over the Boris Diaw scored 15 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, Washington 40 30 .571 13 Houston 46 23 .667 2.5 Lakers on Dec. 29, 2013. Philadelphia took a 75-74 lead and added 15 for San Antonio, which never Miami 32 37 .46420.5 San Antonio 44 25 .638 4.5 into the fourth quarter but missed 12 of its next 13 Charlotte 30 38 .441 22 Dallas 44 27 .620 5.5 trailed and took its biggest lead at 26 early in the third. Orlando 22 50 .306 32 shots while Lin fueled a 20-4 run that gave the Lakers a The Spurs, playing their fourth straight game with key New Orleans 37 33 .529 12 94-79 cushion with 4:19 to play. — AP