Leonard, Raptors withstand Durant’s 51, beat Warriors in OT
Not even a dominant Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors could slow down the red-hot Toronto Raptors.
Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 37 points, Pascal Siakam added a career-high 26 and the Raptors overcame a 51-point performance from Durant to beat the Warriors 131128 in overtime on Thursday night, extending their winning streak to seven, The Associated Press reported.
‘’We were able to make shots, we were able to get some stops in overtime,’’ Leonard said. ‘’It’s a building block for us, and I’m happy we got the win.’’
Kyle Lowry had 10 points and 12 assists, Serge Ibaka scored 20 points and Danny Green had 13 as the Raptors snapped an eightgame losing streak against Golden State and won a contest billed as a potential NBA Finals preview.
‘’What a game,’’ Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. ‘’An incredible basketball game for the fans to watch. We came up just short.’’
Toronto improved league-leading record 19-4.
Durant scored 40 or more in three straight for the first time, finishing with his highest total of the season. He also had 11 rebounds and six assists.
‘’Tonight we were down early, we were down big and I just tried to be aggressive and go get a bucket,’’ Durant said.
Klay Thompson scored 23 points and Jonas Jerebko had 16 of his 20 in the fourth quarter and overtime, but Golden State had its three-game winning streak snapped and lost to Toronto for the first time since March 2014.
Lakers 104 Pacers 96
Lebron James scored 12 of his 38 points in the final five minutes, and Los Angeles rebounded from its first back-to-back losses in a month with a victory over Indiana.
Brandon Ingram scored 14 points and Josh Hart added 13 for the Lakers, who blew an early 24-point lead before James carried them down the stretch to their 10th win in 14 games.
Indiana trimmed Los Angeles’ lead to 89-88 on Domantas Sabonis’ jumper with 4:59 left, but James had a three-pointer and a three-point play on consecutive possessions in a 10-0 Lakers run before adding a 22-foot jumper with 2:21 to play.
Sabonis had 20 points and 15 rebounds as the Pacers lost for the first time in three stops on their four-game West Coast trip. Olympic boxing hopefuls have been left in limbo less than two years before the Tokyo 2020 Games after planning for the tournament was frozen on Friday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it has put plans on hold for the boxing competition after launching an investigation into the sport’s governing body the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the Guardian reported.
The IOC said in a statement it had taken the decision after AIBA had submitted a progress report to the Olympic body, detailing its current situation regarding governance, financial management and sporting integrity.
AIBA has been in turmoil for several years and the IOC has warned previously that the organization must sort out its finances and governance problems, as well as antidoping issues in the sport, or risk missing out on the Tokyo 2020 Games. While the IOC has stressed boxing’s participation at Tokyo 2020 would not be in danger, there would be huge logistical difficulties in organizing an Olympic boxing tournament outside of the auspices of AIBA should the IOC withdraw its support of the governing body.
Boxing has featured in all but one of the Summer Olympics since 1904 with Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor among those to have won gold medals and gone on to claim professional world titles.