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Chris Bosh Leads Miami Past New Orleans In OT, 94-88

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MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – Chris Bosh collected a double-double of 30 points and 10 rebounds and the Miami Heat defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 94-88 in overtime in their NBA Christmas Day clash here at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Click Here For Box score

“Christmas Day against one of the best in the league,” Bosh said. “I’m going to rise to the occasion.”

Bosh shot 11 of 25 from the floor and dished out four assists for the Heat with Dwyane Wade adding 19 points, six rebounds and four assists in the win for Miami (17-11) which survived some nervous moments down the stretch to secure the victory.

“Just an ugly game by both teams, but in this league you’ve got to win the pretty ones and the ugly ones,” said Wade.

“It wasn’t going right for us – Chris had it going to keep us afloat – but at the end I think it just came down to getting some great stops and we got some timely buckets.”

Anthony Davis had 29 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks to lead the Pelicans (9-20) who shot 40-percent from the field.

“That’s why I get paid the big bucks, to win games for us down the stretch,” Davis said.

“I was actually missing shots in the fourth and the team actually did a good job of carrying me.”

Eric Gordon added 16 points for New Orleans, which had won its previous two games.

Hassan Whiteside finished with a game-high 17 rebounds and four blocks for the Heat, who improved to 10-2 on Christmas Day.

Friday’s game finished 78-78 after four quarters, which led to the overtime play.

Next time out for Miami is a date on the road against the Orlando Magic.

New Orleans will play their next game at home against the Houston Rockets.

Team Stats Summary
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
New Orleans 88 40.0 6-20 10-11 19 45 3 10 19
Miami 94 39.8 6-26 18-27 19 57 5 10 18

Golden State v Pelicans Game 1: Box Score, Video Highlights

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Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry of Warriors: NBA.com Linked

OAKLAND, Calif. (Sporting Alert, Box Score, Video Highlights) — Stephen Curry scored 34 points in a 106-99 win for the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of their Western Conference clash with the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. Photo Gallery

Curry shot 13-of-25 from the field, but went just 4-of-13 from 3-point range for the Warriors (1-0), which got off to a fast start and then build a big lead as the game progressed at ORACLE Arena.

Klay Thompson added 21 points, Draymond Green supported with 15 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks in an all-round performance for Golden State, which held New Orleans to just 13 first quarter points.

Andrew Bogut finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and five assists and Harrison Barnes connected on 4-of-8 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from three-pointers, for 12 points to go along with his eight rebounds for the top-seeded Warriors, who won 19 straight at home.

Anthony Davis collected 35 points, seven boards and four blocks in his first-ever NBA playoff game to lead the way for the eighth-seeded Pelicans.

Davis, who started slowly, came alive in the fourth quarter, on his way to scoring 20 of his tallied points during that last stanza, to help cut the commanding 25 point lead the Warriors built late in the third.

Quincy Pondexter supported well with 20 points on 50-percent shooting from the floor. He also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out six helpers for New Orleans (0-1), which beat-out the Oklahoma City Thunder for the last playoffs spot in the West.

Eric Gordon scored 16 points and buried 4-of-7 three-pointers for the visitors, but shot just 5-of-14 from the floor overall.

Golden State led by 15 in the first quarter and build that lead to 25 approaching the end of the third, before finishing with a somewhat quiet fourth quarter in which they missed a number of free throws and allowed the Pelicans to close the gap.

“Obviously the first three were a lot better than the fourth,” Kerr told reporters. “It was good for us to feel that

“… We missed a lot of free throws that made it closer than it needed to be.”

Game 2 of the series is on Monday night, again here in Oakland, where Steve Kerr team went 39-2 at home during the regular season, and Curry and the Warriors will try to take a 2-0 lead on the road,

At the same time, Anthony and the traveling Pelicans, who shot 42.2 percent in Game 1, will seek to pull a game back before heading home for Game 3 of the game series.

Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans had to leave the game with a left knee injury. He didn’t return and is now listed as day-to-day.

FINAL GAME INFO

Final Score: Golden State 106, New Orleans 99
3:30 PM ET, April 18, 2015
Game Was Broadcast Live on ABC and ESPN3
ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
Officials: Jason Phillips, Tony Brothers, Sean Corbin
Attendance: 19,596
Time of Game: 2:39

Watch Golden State vs New Orleans Live on ESPN3

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NBA Playoffs
NBA Playoffs Begins with battling Game 1 matchups

HOUSTON (Sporting Alert) — NBA playoff gets underway on Saturday, as action in the Eastern and Western Conference starts with respective first round Game 1 battles.

All four playoff games on Saturday will be streamed live on WatchESPN | Watch (1) Golden State Warriors vs. (8) New Orleans Pelicans Live on ESPN3

Kicking things off on Saturday, live on ESPN and the WatchESPN network at 11:30 AM CT, is the clash between the fourth-seeded Raptors and the No. 5 seeded Washington Wizards in Toronto, with three other games to follow.

The Golden Hunt Begins

No. 1 overall seed and Western Conference regular season top side Golden State Warriors start the hunt for its first NBA championship title since 1974-75 with a first round tie against the No. 8 seeded New Orleans Pelicans in Oakland.

The Warriors finished the season with a remarkable 67-15 record, the best in the league and it makes them the favourites among the bookies to go all the way.

Their impressive regular season performances and landmarks have opened the eyes of everyone, but the players believe it would be a failure if they don’t win the title after laying down such a fantastic foundation.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” said Stephen Curry, who is one of the leading candidates to win this year’s MVP title as well.

“Everything we’ve gone through to this point will hopefully prepare us for this journey of winning 16 games.”

Curry added in an interview with Yahoo Sports: “For the players, no one will be happy for anything less (than the NBA title).

“If we don’t win our last game this season it’s going to be a disappointing feeling, one where we felt like we fell short.”

His teammate Andrew Bogut is also heading to the Oracle Arena thinking the same.

“They (the fans) don’t care that we won 67 games,” Bogut said. “We don’t get an extra pat on the back before the series starts or anything like that.

“We get home court and that’s about it.”

At the other end, New Orleans, which edged out Oklahoma City for the eighth and final slot in the Western Conference, comes into this series with lesser expectations and star forward Anthony Davis believes it’s better this way.

The Pelicans (45-37), who defeated defending champions San Antonio Spurs on the last day of the regular season, are making their first postseason appearance since 2011.

“We love matchups like this,” said Davis, who is averaging career-bests 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.

“We’ve been in this situation the whole year. We’ve made it this far. We’re not looking to go home just yet.”

Raptors Look To Keep To Run

The Raptors (49-33) are in good form heading into the playoffs – winning four of the last five games overall.

They also held the advantage over the Wizards in the regular season, after dominating the series 3-0.

Toronto went out in the first round in the last game of seven to the Brooklyn Nets last season, but the players are confident about this term.

“This is the ultimate goal, to get to this point and build from here on out,” said Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan on Friday.

“Last year we got a chance to play against a great veteran team and learn. This time it’s time to keep making steps forward.

“We can’t make steps back, we’ve got to keep going forward and continue to get better.”

New recruited guard Lou Williams, who was not a member of the Raptors team in the last campaign is also backing the club to make a run in this year’s playoffs.

“There’s been a lot of talk about a deep playoff run and how guys felt about the ending in Game 7 last year,” Williams, who averaged 15.5 points per game during the regular season, said.

“It’s definitely something that’s been talked about and guys are prepared.”

The Wizards (46-36), meanwhile, ended the regular season with two overtime defeats, but star guards John Wall and Bradley Beal are confident the club will be ready for the playoffs.

“With the playoffs here, (regular season results) don’t matter,” said Beal heading into the knock-out round.

“It’s a totally different style of basketball. Totally different mentalities, totally different intensity level, totally different atmosphere.”

Wall comes into the match averaging a double-double of 17.6 and 10 assists per game in the regular season, while Beal is scoring 15.3 per outings in the regular season.

Washington dominated the Chicago Bulls in their first round clash last season before losing 4-2 to the Indiana Pacers in the conference semi-finals.

Meanwhile, there are two other games on the schedule for Saturday.

Rockets and Mavericks Battle In Texas

In the battle of the Texas giants, the second-seeded Houston Rockets will meet 7th-seed Dallas Mavericks in a Western Conference first round Game 1 matchup.

Another MVP leading candidate James Harden will lead the Rockets, but the supporting cast, which also includes Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza and Josh Smith, are well placed to do some damage in this series.

The Mavericks have had a quiet season by their standard, but the supporters are hoping the likes of Rajon Rondo and Monta Ellis can start combining better, while Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler must show up in this series if Dallas is going to have any chance of upsetting the No. 2 seed.

Rose, Bulls Ready To Dominate Bucks

The fourth playoff game on Saturday will see Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls (50-32) taking on the Milwaukee Bucks (41-41) in the Eastern Conference.

Chicago starts as the hot favourites to eased through this series after winning three of the four in the regular season series fixture with the Bucks.

The Bulls won the first three games before losing 95-91 at Milwaukee at the top of the month

But Tom Thibodeau men have won five of the last seven, including four in a row.

NBA PLAYOFFS FULL GAME 1 SCHEDULE ON APRIL 18 (CT)

(4) Toronto Raptors vs. (5) Washington Wizards

Game 1 – Sat. April 18, Washington at Toronto, 11:30 PM, ESPN

(1) Golden State Warriors vs. (8) New Orleans Pelicans

Game 1 – Sat. April 18, New Orleans at Golden State, 2:30 PM, ABC/ESPN3

(3) Chicago Bulls vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks

Game 1 – Sat. April 18, Milwaukee at Chicago, 7:00 PM, ESPN

(2) Houston Rockets vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks

Game 1 – Sat. April 18, Dallas at Houston, 8:30 PM, ESPN

Anthony Davis Pours In 32pts, Pelicans Beat Sixers, 99-74

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Anthony Davis of New Orleans in action: Photo Linked

NEW ORLEANS (Sporting Alert) — Anthony Davis scored 32 points and finished with another double-double in guiding the New Orleans Pelicans to a 99-74 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at Smoothie King Center on Monday night.

Davis, who recently returned to the court after missing three-games with a toe problem, went 12-of-19 in shooting from the field, while pulling down 10 rebounds, had four block shots, three steals and three assists in 31 minutes of action.

The former Kentucky star forward, who finished with five dunks, was grabbing his third successive double-double and his seventh since the start of the new year. He was also securing his 12th 30-point game of the season.

Ryan Anderson added 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals off the bench and Eric Gordon ended with 13 points and five assists for New Orleans, which picked up its fourth win in a row.

The Pelicans (24-21) led 52-43 at halftime and then blew the game wide open in the third quarter with an 18-6 run on their way to outscoring the Sixers 33-19 in the quarter.

K.J. McDaniels scored 16 points off the bench for the 76ers, with Luc Mbah a Moute and Henry Sims each adding 14 points in the defeat.

Philadelphia, which played without star guard Michael Carter-Williams, who missed out with an upper respiratory infection, were losing their sixth straight game.

The win on Monday night, meanwhile, saw New Orleans staying close to the Phoenix Suns in the race for the eighth slot in the Western Conference standings. They moved to a game and a half behind the Suns for the final playoff seed in the West.

But defeat meant Philadelphia joined New York on the same 8-37 record in the Eastern Conference bottom of the table battle.

The Pelicans were 39-of-86 for 45.3 percent shooting from the floor, while holding the 76ers to 34.6 percent and just 2-of-15 from three-pointers.

Spurs Start Title Defense With Win; NBA Opening Night Recap

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SAN ANTONIO (Sporting Alert) — The San Antonio Spurs began the defense of their NBA title with an exciting 101-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at the AT&T Center on Tuesday night.

San Antonio, who shot 52.9 percent from the field on 37 of 70, was recording its fourth one-point victory on opening night, which is the second most of any NBA team, Elias Sports reported.

Point guard Tony Parker, who delivered the acceptance speech, following the raising of the team’s title-winning banner and handing out of the rings, capped off the night by hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to lift the Spurs to victory.

Parker finished the game with 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting, and tied his career high for 3s in a game with 4 for 4. Manu Ginobili added 20 points and six assists in another impressive display off the bench.

“It was a close game, anything could’ve happened,” Ginobili told reporters after the win.

Marco Belinelli scored 15 points, Tim Duncan collected his 14th double-double in a season opener, following his 14 points and 13 rebounds performance, while Danny Green chipped in with 13 points.

Monta Ellis led the Mavericks with 26 points and six assists, Dirk Nowitzki had 18 points and six rebounds and Devin Harris finished with 17 points in the defeat.

“It was a great basketball game, you can’t kick off the season with a better game than this for the fans, there’s no way,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.

“Unfortunately, the slim margins of winning and losing are all that anybody remembers.”

Also on opening night at the Smoothie King Center, rising superstar Anthony Davis scored 26 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and nine block — matching a career high for rejects — and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Orlando Magic 101-84.

Omer Asik also supported well, especially on the boards — as he finished with 17 rebounds, 14 points and five blocks for New Orleans.

“We just know that we’re a load in that paint — him with his great body and me able to move around, just try to follow the ball and get rebounds,” said Davis, who according to Elias Sports, became the youngest player since 1973-74, to record such figures.

Playing off the bench, Ryan Anderson had 22 points and nine rebounds and Tyreke Evans supported with 12 points, nine boards and six assists in the win.

Tobias Harris scored 25 points and eight rebounds and Nikola Vucevic added 15 points and 23 rebounds for the Orlando Magic, which trailed 48-41 at half-time.

Evan Fournier finished with 11 points in the defeat.

In the third game on Tuesday night’s season openers, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers went-down 108-90 to the Houston Rockets at STAPLES Center.

James Harden scored a game-high 32 points and dished out six helpers to lead the way for the Rockets in the rout.

Terrence Jones had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Trevor Ariza added 16 points and hit 5 of 8 from long-range and ex-Lakers center Dwight Howard finished with 13 points and 11 boards on the night for Houston.

The LA Lakers, which had rookie forward Julius Randle carted off on a stretcher in the fourth quarter with a broken right tibia, were led by Bryant, who scored 19 points.

Carlos Boozer finished with 17 points and seven rebounds and Ed Davis added 11 points off the bench, but no other Los Angeles player contributed anything significant in the opening night in-house defeat.

Tuesday, October 28 – RESULTS
New Orleans 101, Orlando 84
San Antonio 101, Dallas 100
Houston 108, LA Lakers 90

Anderson, Evans, Pelicans, hand Knicks 9th straight defeat

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NEW YORK (Sporting Alert) — Ryan Anderson and Tyreke Evans combined to score 55 points and the New Orleans Pelicans handed the New York Knicks their ninth successive defeat with a 103-99 win at Madison Square Garden Sunday night.

Anderson, who drilled seven of his 11 3-point attempts, scored a 31 points and pulled down six rebounds in a reserve role, while also coming off the bench, Evans had 24 points, seven assists and four steals in the victory for the Pelicans, which played most of the contest without the injured forward/center Anthony Davis.

Davis suffered a non-placed fracture in his left hand and played just 10-minutes. He scored seven points and had four rebounds.

Carmelo Anthony was the leading contributor for the struggling New York Knicks (3-13) with a 23 points and 10 boards outing.

Rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 21 points, while Andrea Bargnani supported with 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocks in the home loss.

The Knicks have now fell to 1-7 at home, with their only win at Madison Square Garden this season coming in their opening schedule on Oct. 30 against Milwaukee Bucks.

Top Performers
New Orleans: R. Anderson 31 Pts, 6 Reb
New York: C. Anthony 23 Pts, 10 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 St

Preseason Live: Oklahoma City Thunder v New Orleans Pelicans

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TULSA, OK (Sporting Alert) — The Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans will meet in what is expected to be an exciting preseason contest at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday night.

Watch Live on FS OKLAHOMA HD | Live GameCast

8:00 PM ET, October 17, 2013
BOK Center, Tulsa, OK

Kevin Durant currently leads the Thunder in scoring and is coming off a 36 points performance in a 109-81 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. He is averaging 27 points from three preseason games.

Oklahoma City are 3-0 in exhibition thus far.

Anthony Davis has also been in good preseason form for the undefeated New Orleans Pelicans, which have won all four of their opening preseason games, including a dominating 105-73 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Davis averages 24.5 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the preseason games thus far.

Against the Orlando Magic, second year pro scored 29 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals on Oct. 9.

Preseason Leaders

Points Rebounds Assists
NO Davis 24.5 Davis 7.0 Holiday 6.0
OKC Durant 27.0 Ibaka 8.7 Durant 6.3

New Orleans Pelicans beat Dallas Mavericks, 94-92 in preseason

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DALLAS (Sporting Alert) — Anthony Davis top scored with 25 points and Brian Roberts added 17 – all coming in the fourth quarter – and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Dallas Mavericks 94-92 in a preseason game Monday night.

The win was the second in preseason for the Pelicans, after edging Dwight Howard’s Houston Rockets 116-115 in the opener at the weekend.

Reserve guard Roberts, who went 2 of 2 from three point range in his 5 for 11 from the field, hit the go ahead jumper with 0:21 seconds left to give his team a 93-92 lead and then hit one of his two free throws in the closing seconds in the win.

Davis, who also starred in the preseason opener added seven rebounds to his stats, while Jrue Holiday, who went three of four from behind the arc, finished with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds, while Ryan Anderson had 12 points and six boards and Anthony Morrow ended with 11 points.

Brandan Wright led the Dallas Mavericks with 14 points with Monta Ellis scoring 13 and dishing out seven assists and Jae Crowder, 10 points in the defeat.

Dirk Nowitzki played 22 points and scored six points.

Blake Griffin hurts knee, Anthony Davis recalled by Team USA

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Team USA basketball squad has been hit by an injury to Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin ahead of the London Olympic Games, which starts later this month.

Griffin, according to team reports, hurt his left knee in a scrimmage on Wednesday and has returned to Los Angeles for further examination by team doctors.

Team USA Basketball officials have requested for New Orleans Hornets rookie forward Anthony Davis to rejoin the training camp, this after the former Kentucky star was cut from the final roster last week.

Yahoo!Sports, in the meantime, is reporting that Davis will remain with the squad and will be available to play in Team USA’s exhibition against the Dominican Republic.

He, however, isn’t guaranteed an official roster spot if Griffin is out of the Olympics.

Meanwhile, it is believed that Griffin unfortunately twisted his knee in a USA scrimmage, during the the team prepares for the Olympics and is expected to have an MRI as early as possible – with reports even claiming that officials will push for one as early as today.

The former rookie of the year has been carrying the same knee injury since he picked it up in Game 5 of the Clippers’ NBA first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies.

USA team has already been hit by several injuries, included to Derrick Rose, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard.

Chris Paul is also said to be nursing a sprained thumb.

Kentucky holds off Kansas, wins national title 67-59

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FINAL SCORE: Kentucky, 67 Kansas, 59
Top Performers
Kansas: T. Robinson 18 Pts, 17 Reb, 1 Ast
Kentucky: D. Lamb 22 Pts, 2 Reb, 3 Ast

NEW ORLEANS (Sporting Alert) — Kentucky held its nerve down the stretch to hold off Kansas and win its eighth national basketball title, following a 67-59 victory at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Monday night.

Doron Lamb led the way for the champions with 22 points, while Player of the Year Anthony Davis added 16 rebounds, five assists, six blocks and six points.

Marquis Teague struggled in the second half, but still ended with 14 points and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist ended with 11 points and six boards for the Kentucky Wildcats, which shot 41-percent from the field and 42 from three-point range.

Meanwhile, Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson kept Kansas fighting with productive efforts – but the Jayhawks fell short in the end.

Junior Robinson, who many are tipping to enter the NBA draft, finished the game with 18 points and 17 rebounds, while Taylor had 19 points in the win. Elijah Johnson added 13 points in the defeat.

Kentucky and Kansas square off for national crown

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LAWRENCE (Sporting Alert) — Anthony Davis and Kentucky will start as likely favourites to lift the NCAA national title Monday night against Kansas, but many believe the contest will be closer than being predicted.

Player of the Year Davis has been one of the star performers for Kentucky (37-2) in the tournament so far and his last performance of 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in the Wildcats’ 69-61 victory over Louisville in the semifinals over the weekend, proves that he’s on top of his game.

However, despite admitting that the 6-foot-10 freshman is a “great player”, Kansas coach Bill Self believes he can be tamed come Monday night.

“Anthony Davis is a great player, but he’s not Superman,” Self said.

To Self he might not be, but his teammates and others around him at the moment think he’s pretty close to such a description.

Kentucky has not won a national title since 1998 and will be gunning for its eighth national championships crown.

There are quite a few players who could spoil the party for Kentucky, but coach John Calipari  made special mention about All-American Thomas Robinson.

“We know how good Thomas Robinson is,” Calipari said. “We all up here know.

“We went against him in New York. He is as good as they get. He’s a vicious competitor, great around a rim, expanded his game.”

Meanwhile, Self, who watched his team struggled in patches this season mainly due to the graduation and early departures, says he grew frustrated watching his Jayhawks side play sometimes.

“I was a little frustrated because I thought that we were underachieving, underperforming,” he said. “I thought we were a stale team.

“I thought we were slow. I thought we didn’t play with great energy. I thought the things we had to do to be successful, we weren’t committing to doing them.”