Warr iors take down Heat
▶ Ends Williams’ bid for record- equaling 24th Grand Slam title with straight- set win
e nin st to pa eak se str ui n cr wi zz ru n Ja , rs pe lip
C
Stephen Curry sealed a stunning late fightback to help the Golden State Warriors to a 120- 112 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
Curry scored eight of the final 11 points, including a superb late three- pointer, to finish with a 25- point haul and complete a remarkable comeback at San Francisco’s Chase Center.
The Warriors had looked to be heading for a heavy defeat
after Miami surged into a 61- 46 halftime lead. Miami maintained that cushion for much of the second half, and led by a hefty 14- point margin at 99- 85 with just over six minutes remaining.
But after struggling to find their range throughout, the Warriors suddenly discovered their shooting touch and blitzed Miami 35- 13 over the remainder of the game.
Curry, who made only eight of 25 attempts from the field, was backed with 26 points from Kent Bazemore off the bench, while Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre each had 23 points.
“Everyone was missing shots from all over the court, even wide open ones,” Curry said.
“That’s just basketball for you. It humbles you. But if you put the work in, eventually they’ll fall. Thankfully they did.”
Bam Adebayo led the Miami scoring with 24 points while Jimmy Butler added a triple double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Elsewhere Wednesday, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert led the way as the Utah Jazz produced a devastating second- half scoring display to rout a depleted Los Angeles Clippers 114- 96 at the Staples Center.
Mitchell and French international Gobert combined for 47 points to give Utah a ninth straight victory and extend the team’s lead to 24- 5 at the top of the Western Conference.
The Clippers, missing the injured Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, had scraped their way into a 51- 46 lead at halftime, with 14 points from Lou Williams helping set up a five- point cushion.
But the Clippers’ hopes were snuffed out in a one- sided second half as Utah cut loose, outscoring the home team 68- 45 in the third and fourth quarters.
Mitchell finished with 24 points while Gobert had 23. Jordan Clarkson delivered another useful cameo off the bench with 18 points including four three- pointers.
In other NBA games on Wednesday, Jerami Grant posted a career- high 43 points but it wasn’t enough to stop the Detroit Pistons falling to a 105- 102 defeat against Chicago in a hastily rearranged fixture added to the schedule after a flurry of COVID- 19 postponements.
Grant made 15 of 25 from the field with four three- pointers, as well as perfect nine- from- fine from the free throw line.
The Bulls chalked up the win though courtesy of 37 points from Zach LaVine, while Wendell Carter Jr had 18 points and Patrick Williams 15 points.
In Washington, Davis Bertans scored 35 from the bench and Bradley Beal had 25 points as the Wizards upset the Denver Nuggets 130- 128.
Russell Westbrook bagged the seventh triple- double of his Wizards career with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.
Naomi Osaka emphatically ended Serena Williams’ latest bid for a record- equaling 24th Grand Slam crown with a straight- set demolition in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday.
The Japanese third seed swept past the American veteran 6- 3, 6- 4 on Rod Laver Arena in front of thousands of fans allowed back in after Melbourne lifted a snap five- day lockdown.
She will face American Jennifer Brady on Saturday for a fourth Slam title after her success at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and last year, and Melbourne in 2019.
The victory left Williams, who won her last major in Melbourne in 2017, stranded on 23 Grand Slam titles as she strives to match Margaret Court’s all- time record.
Since winning while pregnant in Australia four years ago, Williams has lost four Slam finals, including one to Osaka in a controversial and heated 2018 US Open decider which left both women in tears.
“I hit a lot of unforced errors in the first few games, I was just really nervous and scared,” said Osaka, who reeled off five games in a row in the opening set after going 2- 0 down.
While Osaka held a 2- 1 headto- head advantage going into the blockbuster clash, 39- year- old Williams had a huge edge on bigmatch experience.
Ahead of the showdown, she had won all eight of her previous semifinals at Melbourne Park stretching back 18 years to when she beat Kim Clijsters on her way to her first title in Australia.
Her first- ever Grand Slam semi, against Lindsay Davenport at 1999 US Open, was played when Osaka was just one. But the 23- year- old boasted a 100 percent win record in Slams when she got past the fourth round, and she kept it intact Thursday.
Williams worked hard on her fitness during the off- season and quickly asserted herself, breaking Osaka straight away with the Japanese sensation having issues with the sun and ball toss.
She consolidated by holding serve, with Osaka guilty of five unforced errors in the opening two games.
Osaka said before the match she still felt intimidated seeing
Williams on the other side of the net, but her early nerves soon settled. She saved a break point in the next game and got off the mark with an ace, then broke back to level the scores at 2- 2 when Williams sent a forehand long.
Now well and truly in her groove, with her forehand doing most of the damage, Osaka won five games in a row, and the set, to leave Williams stunned.
She broke again on Williams’ opening serve of the second set, with the American screaming, “Make a shot, make a shot!”
With the crowd roaring her on, Williams stayed in touch and Osaka’s eighth double fault gave her the American a break back.
But it was a shortlived reprieve with Osaka breaking again and calmly serving out for victory.