Sports

AMMAN — The stage is set for sport’s biggest night of the year — The Black Iris Sports Awards — taking place on Monday night 

The cream of Jordan’s sporting community will congregate at the Kempinski Hotel for a royal gala event held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal, president of the Jordan Olympic Committee which organises the awards.

Created in 2005 to encourage and recognise sporting excellence among Jordan’s elite athletes, the 2015 Black Iris Sports Awards winners will be revealed following a voting process that engaged almost 500,000 fans.

There are five categories, and the winners will be revealed at the ceremony which will be streamed live through the Internet. Details will be posted Monday on the Jordan Olympic Committee’s official Facebook and Twitter pages so fans can watch the awards night as it happens.

Shortlist:

Best Sportsman

Hussein Ishish (Boxing): Bronze at Asian Championships and ranked five in the world

Ahmad Abu Goush (Taekwondo): Silvers at Open Kazakhstan Championships and Open Russian Championships

Udai Abu Hasswah (Kickboxing): Asian Gold Medallist in India; Gold at Arab Championships; and Silver at World Championships

Lawrence Fanous (Triathlon): Ninth at Europe Professionals Championships and pushing for Olympic qualification

Malik Al Hariri (Jujitsu): Seven gold, five silver and four bronze in 2015

Best Sportswoman

Lama Qubbaj (Jujitsu): Gold in World Jujitsu Championships, Top ranked in Asia and four in the world

Lena Mazahreh (Badminton): Silver in International Morocco Championships; Two bronze medals in Egypt Championships for doubles and mixed doubles

Sewar Abu Yaman (Table Tennis): Gold at Arab Women’s Cup

Best Young Achiever (Male), in association with Backaldrin

Nabeel Al Shweiki (Karate): Bronze in World U21 Championships; Bronze in Asian Championships

Khader Baqleh (Swimming): Two silver, two bronze at Arab Championships; Gold, two silver, two bronze at International Dubai Championships. First Jordanian to make Olympic qualification time (B) in 200m freestyle, three silvers at 8th Asian Age Championship

Shergo Al Kurdi (Golf): Second at Arab Juniors Championships and holder of a number of titles in the UK where he lives and plays

Mohammad Al Goul (Jujitsu): Gold at World Junior Championships

Ahmad Al Khateeb (Chess): Gold at Arab Olympic Chess, obtained Grand Master and International Master levels

Best Young Achiever (Female), in association with Peak 

Aysha Al Sedah (Taekwondo): Silver at World Cadet Championships

Taleen Al Humaidi (Taekwondo): Bronze at Asian Juniors Championships, Silver at Kazakhstan Championships

Leen Al Btoush (Football): Player-of-the-tournament at the West Asian Championships

Balqees Al Qudah (Fencing): Gold at Arab Championships

Domo’ Amro (Badminton): Four golds at International Egypt  Championships for team, individual, doubles and mixed doubles 

Best Paralympic Athlete

Khitam Abu Awad (Table Tennis): Silver at Rio qualifications and Gold at Slovenia International Championships

Mohammad Abu Arrar (Powerlifting): Gold at International Fazza’ Championships

Fatin Elymat (Table Tennis): Silver at Slovenia International Championships; Silver at Al Nadi Championships; Bronze at Asian Championships.

TORONTO — Toronto overcame a huge game by Portland’s Damian Lillard and beat the Trail Blazers 117-115 in a thrilling contest on Friday, extending the Raptors’ home winning streak to 12 games.

The Atlantic Division-leading Raptors stayed two games behind Cleveland for the overall best record in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, with the Cavaliers maintaining that buffer by cruising past Washington.

The Cavs extended their lead in the Central Division to 12 games ahead of Indiana, which lost at Charlotte in a clash of contenders for the lower play-off positions, while Memphis shored up their postseason ambitions with victory over Utah.

Portland’s Lillard scored 50 points, one shy of his career high set last month against Golden State but it was still not enough for the Trail Blazers. He and C.J. McCollum were the only players in double figures for the visitors.

DeMar DeRozan had 38 points and Kyle Lowry added 28 for Toronto. DeRozan went 24 for 25 from the free-throw line, both career highs.

Cleveland star LeBron James was on track for a triple-double before sitting out the fourth quarter, and his efforts helped the Cavaliers beat Washington 108-83.

The Cavs were blown out at Washington on Sunday, when James watched from the bench and the Wizards built a 30-point lead. But with James energised after not playing since Monday, and Cleveland using a “small” line-up as forward Kevin Love got the night off, the Cavs snapped Washington’s four-game winning streak.

James finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Timofey Mozgov scored 14 points, 12 on dunks, for Cleveland.

John Wall scored 17 for the Wizards.

Charlotte’s Kemba Walker scored 33 points and had 10 assists to guide the Hornets past Indiana 108-101.

Walker shot 9 of 17 from the field and made all 11 free throws for his 10th 30-point game of the season, while Nicolas Batum added 31 points for the Hornets, who swept the three-game series with the Pacers for the first time in franchise history. Walker has averaged 29.6 points during Charlotte’s current three-game win streak.

Charlotte, which shot 48.1 per cent for the game to improve to 21-9 at home.

Paul George scored 35 points to lead the Pacers.

Memphis’ Zach Randolph scored 25 points and grabbed four rebounds in the final minute to secure a 94-88 win for the Grizzlies against Utah.

Randolph, who finished with eight rebounds, was 9 of 18 from the field. Lance Stephenson, acquired by the Grizzlies at the trade deadline, had 16 points on 8-for-11 shooting.

Gordon Hayward’s 18 points led the Jazz, who are sliding from playoff contention after five straight losses.

Boston only just extended its home winning streak to 13 games by edging New York 105-104.

Boston trailed by eight points in the fourth quarter but used a series of mini-runs to eventually take the lead for good on the driving layup by Avery Bradley with 17.7 seconds left.

Isaiah Thomas had 32 points and Evan Turner had 21 for the Celtics.

New York’s Carmelo Anthony had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds but badly missed a 3-pointer off the backboard as time expired. Anthony had 30 points for the game.

Atlanta had six players in double figure in their 106-77 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers, completing their first sweep of that season series for 42 years and sending the Lakers to their 10th loss in 11 games.

Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton scored 32 points, becoming the first Bucks player to sink eight 3-pointers in a game for five years, as the hosts downed Minnesota 116-101.

Miami’s Hassan Whiteside had 19 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Heat past Philadelphia 112-102, inflicting an 11th successive defeat on the 76ers.

Phoenix ended a run of 17 consecutive road losses by winning 102-84 at Orlando, led by a career-high 31 points and 15 rebounds from Alex Len.

Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez tipped in a basket with four tenths of a second left in overtime to give the Nets a 121 win against Denver.

AMMAN  — Jordan remained 82nd when FIFA World Rankings were issued on the weekend.

The Kingdom is now 9th in Asia trailing Iran (44), Japan (56), South Korea (57), Saudi Arabia (50), the UAE (64), Australia (67), Uzbekistan (74) and Qatar (80). Belgium still leads the World top 10 ahead of Argentina, Spain, Germany, Chile, Brazil, Portugal, Columbia, England and Austria. 

Jordan will soon restart 2018 World Cup qualifiers doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup. The Kingdom will play the last two qualifiers against Bangladesh at home on March 24 and Australia in an away match on March 29.

The national team is now second in Group B behind Australia after losing 1-0 to Kyrgyzstan, beating Australia 2-0 and Tajikistan 3-0. In the first leg, Jordan was held to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan, beat Tajikistan 3-1 and Bangladesh 4-0. 

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + one slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup. 

Jordan beat Egypt 1-0 in a friendly last month under newly assigned interim coach Abdullah Abu Zam’eh although Egypt did not employ its senior squad and Jordan played without most pros while some were on the injury list.

It has been an inconsistent year for Jordan’s squad who have seen three coaches leading the vital qualifying process. The line-up was led by Briton Ray Wilkins under whom the team failed to advance past the quarters of the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in 2015 before Ahmad Abdul Qader took over in the transitional phase under whom the team played the first qualifier. Belgian Paul Put took over in July and his contract was suspended as he in the midst of a court case over match fixing in the Belgian league. 

Jordan had the most memorable World Cup qualifying journey in 2013 when they lost a possible chance to play at the World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie for a place in the 2014 World Cup. They lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in the qualifiers as Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986.

In the Asian Cup, Jordan reached the Championship three times since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA ranking of 37th in August 2004. In 2011 and 2015, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Detroit Pistons 97-81 on Wednesday night to clinch their 19th straight play-off berth.

San Antonio (51-9) won their 29th straight home game to open the season in their first game following a month-long road trip brought on by the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.

San Antonio joins Golden State as the only teams to clinch spots in the postseason.

Leonard and Aldridge excelled against a Detroit team thinned by injuries to forwards Anthony Tolliver and Stanley Johnson. Aldridge added 10 rebounds and Leonard had six rebounds and five assists for San Antonio, which have won six straight.

Detroit centre Andre Drummond had nine points and 14 rebounds, ending his career-high and the league’s season-high of consecutive double-doubles at 13 straight.

In Los Angeles, the Oklahoma City Thunder took the court hours after the death of part-owner Aubrey McClendon and squandered a 22-point lead to lose to the Los Angeles Clippers 103-98.

The Clippers ended the game with a stunning 26-5 run after trailing by 16 points with 7:30 left. The Thunder had only one field goal during that stretch, a 17-foot jumper by Durant. It was the largest comeback win of the season for the Clippers.

Kevin Durant scored 30 points and Russell Westbrook had 24 points and 12 assists for Oklahoma City.

D.J. Augustin scored 22 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead six Denver players in double figures as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 117-107 in Kobe Bryant’s final game at the Pepsi Centre.

Emmanuel Mudiay added 22 points and the Nuggets used a 10-0 run midway through the final quarter to gain some separation.

Bryant finished with five points and didn’t play in the second half because of a sore right shoulder. Fans kept chanting “We want Kobe” as he sat on the bench with a wrap on his shoulder.

The Nuggets honoured Bryant with a video tribute during a timeout in the first quarter.

In Houston, James Harden had 39 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to help the Rockets overcome miserable shooting in a 100-95 victory over New Orleans.

Houston went 3 of 34 on 3-point attempts and committed 21 turnovers but were able to rally past New Orleans thanks to an off night from Pelicans star Anthony Davis.

With their horrendous shooting performance, Houston became the first team in NBA history to make fewer than four 3s on 30 or more attempts.

Toronto’s Kyle Lowry scored 32 points and DeMar DeRozan added 31 as the Raptors beat Utah 104-94 for a club-record 11th straight home win.

Lowry, who had a career-high 43 points in a victory over Cleveland on Friday night before being rested Sunday in a loss at Detroit, added five assists and four rebounds. Toronto (40-19) led the entire second half on the way to their fifth win in six games.

The Jazz (28-32) were led by Gordon Hayward, who had 26 points, six assists and three rebounds. Derrick Favours added 15 points and seven rebounds for Utah, which have lost four straight and 7 of 11.

There were 11 lead changes and nine ties in the first half before the Raptors took control.

In Orlando, Nikola Vucevic scored 24 points and rookie Mario Hezonja added a career-high 21 as the Magic beat Chicago 102-89.

Derrick Rose led Chicago with 16 points, all in the first half. Pau Gasol had 12 points and Doug McDermott was the only other Bulls player in double figures with 11.

Both teams were on the second game of back-to-back and it looked it. Orlando hit only 40.2 per cent, while Chicago shot just 38.4 per cent from the field.

Washington’s Bradley Beal scored 26 points and Alan Anderson added 18 to earn the Wizards a fourth straight victory with a 104-98 defeat of Minnesota.

Ricky Rubio had 22 points and six rebounds, Zach LaVine scored 21 and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for the Timberwolves. Minnesota made 29 free throws to just nine for Washington, but 19 turnovers did in the young Wolves.

In Boston, Isaiah Thomas had 30 points to lead the Celtics to a fourth straight win in a resounding 116-93 defeat of Portland.

Avery Bradley added 17 points as the Celtics won their 12th straight at home. The streak ties Boston’s longest since they won 13 straight at the Garden during the 2008-09 season.

Six Boston players reached double figures and the Celtics also outscored Portland 60-34 in the paint, while committing just five turnovers.

Mike Conley scored 24 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to lead Memphis to a 104-98 home victory over Sacramento.

Conley, who also had five assists, shot 9 of 12, including all three attempts from 3-point range as the Grizzlies won their second straight and sixth in the last eight.

Zach Randolph finished with 19 points and eight rebounds for Memphis, while JaMychal Green and Mario Chalmers scored 15 apiece. Chris Andersen added 10 points, including the final two free throws with 17 seconds left to seal the victory.

DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with 18 points and 16 rebounds, but was 7 of 18 from the field. Darren Collison finished with 17 points.

In Milwaukee, Jordan Hill had 19 points and Indiana survived a last-minute rally to defeat the Bucks 104-99 and end a three-game losing streak.

Paul George and Rodney Stuckey added 15 each for Indiana.

Khris Middleton had 23 points to pace the Bucks, who have lost three of four. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 22 and Jabari Parker 18 for Milwaukee.

Charlotte’s Kemba Walker scored 30 points and Cody Zeller had 15 as the Hornets won comfortably at Philadelphia, 119-99.

The Hornets became the latest team to top 100 points against the 76ers, reaching that mark with 5:26 left. The Sixers have allowed 100-plus in nine straight games and more than 120 points four times during that span.

AMMAN — The final stage of the Jordan Basketball League starts on Friday when the top two teams start the best-of-seven playoffs for the title.

Orthodoxi play Riyadi at 5:30pm on Friday in the start of the final stretch for the title with holders Orthodoxi 2-0 down in the series. Riyadi ended Round 2 atop the standings after an unbeaten record in the two legs of the event. They beat Orthodoxi twice 73-65 and 81-73 and now need two more wins to snatch the title.

Riyadi had finished Round 1 in third place after Hurrieh and Orthodoxi. The team also lost the Jordan Cup at the onset of the season. However, they rebounded and reversed their Round 1 form and are now two wins away from the title. 

Despite the injury of centre Wisam Sous, who is out for the season, Riyadi beat Awdeh 86-61, Round 1 unbeaten team Hurrieh 73-67 and Orthodoxi 73-65. In Leg 2 they beat Awdeh 85-74 and Hurrieh 80-77. 

Orthodoxi hosted the West Asian Basketball Championship and failed to qualify. They fortunes remained the same in Leg 2 of the competition and they now need four wins to retain the title. Orthodoxi beat Hurrieh 78-58 and Awdeh 86-82 in Leg 1 and repeated them in Leg 2 beating Awdeh 74-67 and Hurrieh 67-52. 

Hurrieh and Awdeh will play the best-of-five play-off for third place. In Round 2 Awdeh beat Hurrieh 65-60 and in Leg 2 Hurrieh won 71-65.

Hurrieh had finished Round 1 with an unbeaten record, while Orthodoxi were second after they beat Riyadi. With teams like Applied Science University, Ittihad, Wihdat pulling out of the competition, Awdeh joined the top four. 

At the other end of the standings, Kufr Youba and Jalil held on to their spots pushing Ghazzet Hashem and Nashama to be relegated to Division 1.

The season started with Orthodoxi winning the Jordan Cup and aiming to retain the league title which they won for the record 23rd time last year.

Apart from Riyadi and Orthodoxi, leading clubs abandoning the game this season leading to major changes in the league. After winning the league four times, the last being in 2013 and 2014, both ASU and Ittihad disbanded their teams over differences with the Jordan Basketball Federation. Players were dispersed over the rest of clubs and new clubs with no fan base entered the competition in what has led to a sharp decline in the game locally and Jordan’s regional competitive chances.

ZURICH — New FIFA President Gianni Infantino wants players to become more involved in the running of the sport and has recommended a cautious approach to the use of technology.

Infantino, elected on Friday to replace Sepp Blatter, also suggested that football directors should behave “more like fans and less like politicians” and said his proposed 40-team World Cup would have little impact on the football calendar.

“It’s important that the players are involved because they are the stars of football,” he said in an interview on FIFA’s website, one day after taking charge of world football’s ruling body.

“They have to be involved in the decision-making process. We need to listen to the players, we need to listen to their voices, to their experience, to involve them in the activities we do.”

Infantino has inherited an organisation which has been plagued by scandals over the last year.

Several dozen football officials, including a number who held high-ranking FIFA positions at the time, have been indicted in the United States and Blatter himself has been banned for six years for ethics violations.

Infantino said the sport could not close its eyes to using technology to help referees, but had to be careful about interrupting matches too much.

Football’s rule-making body IFAB, at which FIFA holds four of the eight votes, will discuss on Saturday whether to authorise trials of video technology to help referees make decisions over questionable goals, penalties, red cards and cases of mistaken identity.

“It’s crucial to see what impact technology will have on the flow of the game,” he said.

“Football is a special game, it’s the most beautiful and most important sport in the world and we don’t have to kill football.

“If the flow of the game is guaranteed, then I think we need to see how technology can help the game, we have to start with tests sooner rather than later.”

Infantino also remembered the days in which he went to football matches in his oldest clothes, rather than a suit.

“Of course, when I used to go to a football match, I wore jeans and my worst shirts and now when I go to a football match I have to wear a tie and jacket,” he said.

“I think we need to change this and become, on our side as the leaders of the game, a bit more like fans and a bit less like politicians.”

The idea that football directors should be less formal was previously suggested by Jerome Champagne, a candidate in last week’s FIFA presidential election, during his campaign.

Infantino has proposed increasing the World Cup from 32 teams to 40.

“We give eight more countries the possibility of participating but many more teams the possibility of dreaming that they can qualify,” he said.

“I think it will have no impact on the calendar, but we need to discuss this and move forward from there.”

AMMAN — It’s Wihdat versus Faisali on Friday — the most anticipated match of the season — in the upcoming 16th week of the 64th Jordan Professional League kicking off on Thursday.

Wihdat are still in the lead, one point ahead of Faisali. The titleholders beat Hussein 2-1 to maintain their lead while Faisali beat Shabab Urdun 2-1 and jumped to second. 

Faisali and Wihdat both played the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup last week when Faisali were held 0-0 with Turkmenistan’s Istiklol Dushanbe in Group B while Wihdat started off with a 2-0 win over Bahrain’s Hidd in Group A, following their elimination from the Asian Champions League where they lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad Jeddah. 

Ahli are now third after they beat Jazira 2-1 and next play Kufrsoum while Shabab Urdun play Sarih. Asala scored their second win 1-0 over Sarih and next play That Ras, who were held 0-0 by Ramtha, who are now 5th and next play 6th placed Jazira.

Ahli are the surprise team of the league this season. After relegation to Division 1 in 2004 for the first time in their history, they were back among the Pro League clubs in 2014, and finished 5th in 2015. They have now made it to the Jordan Cup final against Shabab
Urdun on May 5.

So far this season, Jordan Cup titleholders Faisali beat league titleholders Wihdat 1-0 to win the 33rd Super Cup. Apart from conceding the Super Cup and elimination from the Jordan Cup, Wihdat now have the league title left for grabs. The team has been league champ for the past two consecutive years while Faisali finished at a disappointing 7th place as runner-up and third places went to Jazira and Ramtha.

Standings
(Previous position in parenthesis) 

MIAMI — The victory celebration over, new FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s first major decision in charge of the troubled world football organisation will be to appoint a secretary general, effectively a chief executive, to run day-to-day operations.

Since FIFA was founded in 1904, it has had 10 secretaries general, all from Europe, the game’s strongest continent.

At an event in London during his campaign for Friday’s presidential election, Infantino said: “I am convinced the general secretary of FIFA should not be a European. Why not an African?”

A source close to Infantino said on Monday that this “did not necessarily mean that an African would be chosen, more than he had not ruled out an African”.

That said, there would be a strong African contender in the shape of the Moroccan Hicham El Amrani.

The Paris-educated 36-year old became general secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on an interim basis in 2010 and was confirmed in the role in September 2011.

He had previously been deputy general secretary at CAF and worked for the Asian Football Confederation in competitions marketing. He graduated in 2004 from the FIFA Masters course, which was created to train future football administrators from around the world.

El Amrani won the Young Leader of the Year award in 2015 from the “Leaders in Sports” organisation partly in recognition of the way he handled the switch of the African Nations Cup to Equatorial Guinea after Morocco withdrew two months before the tournament because of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

“He is very, very capable,” said Swiss-based sports business consultant Joao Frigerio, who knows Amrani from the FIFA Masters Alumni Association. “There is no doubt in my mind that he can be a great general secretary.”

Amrani could not immediately be reached for comment.

Not rushing

Infantino said on Sunday that he would not rush into a decision about the secretary general, whose role takes on added importance in FIFA’s new, reformed structure.

Although some of FIFA’s reform documents refer to a “CEO”, a source within FIFA indicated that for “tradition reasons” the title of secretary general is likely to continue to be used.

Infantino might also look to North America, whose administrators played a key role in swinging votes to the Swiss at Friday’s FIFA Congress in Zurich.

US Football President Sunil Gulati is an economics professor at Columbia University and well connected politically in the United States.

This could be attractive to FIFA as it tries to improve relations with the US Department of Justice, which has charged dozens of football officials in the Americas with corruption, and is investigating allegations of bribery and corruption at FIFA itself.

A tweet from sports marketing executive Ricardo Fort suggesting Gulati would be a good choice sparked speculation in Zurich over the weekend.

Fort was until recently a senior vice president for sponsorship marketing with Visa Inc., one of FIFA’s global sponsors. Fort said his tweet reflected only his personal view, and Gulati was also not reachable for comment.

Although there is no obvious candidate for the role from Asian football, an Asian candidate might also appeal to Infantino as he seeks to build bridges with other confederations, especially after he beat Asian confederation President Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa to the FIFA presidency.

The earliest Infantino could present a nomination would be an executive committee meeting in Zurich on March 17, but he may decide to wait until closer to May’s FIFA Congress in Mexico City.

SACRAMENTO, California — Russell Westbrook had 20 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 131-116 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.

Kevin Durant finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as Oklahoma City bounced back from a difficult stretch. The Thunder had dropped four of five, including a heartbreaking overtime loss to Golden State on Saturday night.

Oklahoma City shot 57 per cent (47 for 82) from the field, including a 14-for-34 performance from 3-point range. Enes Kanter scored 23 points on 11-for-11 shooting.

Sacramento have lost three in a row heading into a four-game road trip. DeMarcus Cousins had 35 points and 12 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo finished with 11 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.

Clippers 105, Nets 95

Jamal Crawford scored 26 points, and the Clippers beat the Nets to win their second in a row after alternating wins and losses in their previous six games.

Chris Paul had 23 points and 12 assists for Los Angeles, and J.J. Redick scored 19 points.

Brook Lopez had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn, which were going for their first three-game winning streak of the season. Instead, the Nets lost their fifth straight to the Clippers at Staples Centre.

Cavaliers 100, Pacers 96

LeBron James scored 33 points after sitting out a game and Tristan Thompson made two huge plays in the final minute, leading Cleveland to the victory.

James was rested on Sunday by coach Tyronn Lue and the Cavs were lethargic in a 113-99 loss at Washington. But with James back on the floor, Cleveland played with much more energy and again looked like a team with NBA championship aspirations.

Matthew Dellavedova hit a tying 3-pointer for the Cavs with 1:13 left before Thompson made it 96-94 with a layup. Thompson then blocked a shot by Indiana’s George Hill with 18 seconds left.

Monta Ellis scored 28 points and Paul George had 23 for the Pacers, who lost their third straight but played much better than in a loss to Portland on Sunday.

Wizards 116, 76ers 108

John Wall scored 16 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Wizards rally for the win.

Wall and Marcin Gortat combined for 14 points during a 16-0 fourth-quarter run in Washington’s sixth victory in eight games since the All-Star break. Gortat finished with 18 points and a career-high 20 rebounds.

Markieff Morris added 16 points and 13 rebounds in his first double-double with Washington.

Philadelphia played without rookie centre Jahlil Okafor, who was sidelined by a right shin bruise. But the 76ers had six players score in double figures, led by Ish Smith’s 25 points.

The 76ers were outrebounded 53-32 in their ninth straight loss.

Bucks 128, Rockets 121

Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his second career triple-double with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Bucks outlasted the Rockets.

Jabari Parker scored a career-high 36 points for Milwaukee and Khris Middleton had 30 points.

The Bucks nearly blew a late 13-point lead after the Rockets put together a 9-0 run. After forcing a turnover, Houston’s Trevor Ariza was whistled for a five-second violation on inbounds pass with 20 seconds remaining.

Dwight Howard had 30 points and 13 rebounds for Houston, while Ariza had 20 points and 11 assists.

Grizzlies 103, Nuggets 96

Zach Randolph scored 22 points, leading Memphis to the road win.

Matt Barnes had 16 points for the Grizzlies, and Mario Chalmers finished with 15. Memphis won their fifth in a row against the Nuggets, including three meetings this season.

Kenneth Faried had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost five of six. Gary Harris added 15 points.

Newly signed JaKarr Sampson started in place of injured forward Danilo Gallinari, the Nuggets’ leading scorer who is sidelined indefinitely after severely spraining his right ankle Friday at Dallas. Sampson finished with seven points.

Celtics 100, Jazz 95

Jae Crowder had 22 points, and the Celtics extended their home win streak to 11.

Isaiah Thomas added 18 points and nine assists. Avery Bradley also finished with 18 points.

The Celtics went in front for good on a 3-pointer by Crowder with less than a minute to play.

Trey Lyles had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who have dropped three in a row.

Guard Damian Leonard scored a game-high 33 points Sunday night, and the Portland Trail Blazers used 3-point shooting as the catalyst in a 111-102 victory against the struggling Indiana Pacers in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Portland (32-28), which have won 13 of their last 15 and 18 of 25, made 14 of 24 shots from 3-point range to sweep the two-game series with Indiana (31-28), which have lost three of their last four home games.

Wizards 113, Cavaliers 99

Point guard John Wall had 21 points and 13 assists as the Washington Wizards took advantage of LeBron James resting to record a 113-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon.

James missed his second game of the season and the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers (41-17) missed their leading man. The Wizards (28-30) led after each quarter and by as many as 30 points in the second half en route to handing Cleveland their second straight loss and third in four games.

Hawks 87, Hornets 76

The Charlotte Hornets have been better on the road of late, but the Hawks still have their number in Atlanta.

Centre Al Horford had his 200th career double-double and the Hawks took advantage of Charlotte’s early shooting woes for an 87-76 victory Sunday.

Horford had 16 rebounds to go with 13 points and the Hawks (33-27) won the season series against Charlotte with their 16th victory in the past 18 games against the Hornets in Atlanta.

Pistons 114, Raptors 101

Reggie Jackson led a balanced attack with 19 points and eight assists and the streaking Detroit Pistons shot a season-high 57.7 per cent from the field to overwhelm the Toronto Raptors 114-101 on Sunday at The Palace.

Centre Andre Drummond recorded his NBA-high 51st double-double with 15 points and 18 rebounds as Detroit won their fourth straight.

Magic 130, 76ers 116

Centre Nikola Vucevic and guard Victor Oladipo each scored 28 points while leading the Orlando Magic to a 130-116 victory over the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night at the Amway Centre.

The Magic (26-23) led from start to finish in snapping a two-game losing streak. The Sixers (8-51) lost their eighth consecutive game. They never got close than eight points in the final period.

Mavericks 128, Timberwolves 101

The Dallas Mavericks understand that a big part of finishing among the top teams is taking care of the bottom-feeders.

The Minnesota Timberwolves qualify as the latter.

Small forward Chandler Parsons scored 29, and the Mavericks pulled away early and pounded the Wolves 128-101 Sunday night at American Airlines Centre.

Heat 98, Knicks 81

Heat guard Dwyane Wade continued his dominance over the New York Knicks, pouring in 26 points in Miami’s 98-81 win Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

It marked the 40th consecutive game in which Wade scored in double figures against New York — his longest streak against any team in the league.

Forward Joe Johnson made his debut for Miami, scoring 12 points. Johnson signed with the Heat on Saturday after the Brooklyn Nets waived him.