Quigley wins in Morocco
KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia, Feb 1, (AP): Six years after combining brilliantly for Europe in the Ryder Cup, Graeme McDowell and Victor Dubuisson will play together in the final group at the Saudi International on Sunday.
McDowell birdied four of his last seven holes – including the 18th – to shoot 4-under 66 in the third round and claim a one-stroke lead on 12-under 198 overall at Royal Greens Golf and ing forward to being with him tomorrow. It’s going to be tough to try and play tough against him, but we’re both competitors.”
Gavin Green of Malaysia was three strokes off the lead on 9 under overall after shooting even-par 70.
Also: MARRAKECH, Morocco:
Brett Quigley won the Morocco Champions in his second PGA Tour Champions start, saving par on the final two holes Saturday to hold off Stephen Ames by a stroke.
The 50-year-old Quigley got into the field for the senior tour’s first African event as one of the top 10 available players from the PGA Tour’s career money list. He had five runner-up finishes in 408 starts on the PGA Tour, earning more than $11 million. crash five days earlier.
Both teams stood on the court during a poignant pregame tribute to Bryant including songs, Kobe highlights and a stirring speech by LeBron James. Highlights of Bryant’s career played during every break, but Lillard put on a show between the whistles.
Lillard’s seven 3-pointers gave him 40 in his last five games, setting an NBA record. But even the Blazers star knew results were secondary this time.
Pelicans 139, Grizzlies 111 In New Orleans, Zion Williamson even surprised himself when he vaulted upward to snare an overthrown alley-oop lob with his left hand, switched the ball to his right hand and laid it in before tumbling across the baseline.
Williamson scored 24 points in a little less than 29 minutes, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Memphis Grizzlies 139-111in the first matchup this season between the NBA’s top two draft picks.
Newly selected All-Star Brandon Ingram scored 20 and Lonzo Ball hit five 3-pointers on seven attempts in his 19-point night for the Pelicans, who won their third straight while ending Memphis’ four-game winning streak.
Jrue Holiday added 18 points for New Orleans, which pulled to four games behind the Grizzlies for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot with 33 games remaining.
Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland reacts after he missed the 5th hole during the third round of the Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, on Feb 1, in Red Sea resort of King Abdullah Economic
City, Saudi Arabia. (AP) Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (right), drives to the basket while Los Angeles Lakers guard Danny
Green defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, on Jan 31. (AP)
Thunder 111, Suns 107 In Pheonix, Danilo Gallinari scored 27 points, Dennis Schroder added 24 and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied in the final minutes to push past the Phoenix Suns 111-107.
Oklahoma City used a 13-0 run late in the fourth quarter to flip a 99-92 deficit into a 105-99 lead with 25 seconds left and held on for the win. Schroder drained a 3-pointer during the rally to tie the game at 99, and Chris Paul hit a go-ahead jumper to make it 101-99. Paul had 20 points and 10 assists. The Suns led 81-79 going into the fourth quarter after Jevon Carter hit a 3 in the final seconds of the third and pushed their lead to 99-92 with 4:30 remaining on Deandre Ayton’s layup. But then they didn’t score for more than four minutes, missing seven straight shots as the Thunder rallied.
Nuggets 127, Bucks 115 In Milwaukee, Will Barton had 24 points and eight assists to lead the tired and short-handed Denver Nuggets to a 127-115 victory that snapped Milwaukee’s nine-game winning streak and handed the NBA-leading Bucks just their third home loss this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Milwaukee, finishing just shy of his fifth triple-double this season. Khris Middleton added 24 points for the Bucks, who hadn’t lost at home since Dallas beat them 120-116 on Dec. 16.
Nets 133, Bulls 118 In New York, Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 54 points, making all 10 shots in the first half and 19 of 23 for the game, to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 133-118 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Irving’s previous season high was 50 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the season-opening 127-126 loss on Oct 23. Irving is the first player in Nets franchise history to score 45 points in three games in a single season.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 20 points off the bench and Taurean Prince chipped in with 16. Jarrett Allen and Garrett Temple contributed 12 and 11, respectively.
Rockets 128, Mavericks 121 In Houston, James Harden scored 35 points, Russell Westbrook added
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) goes to the basket next to Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New
Orleans, on Jan 31. (AP)
32 and the Houston Rockets built a big lead and held on for a 128-121 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Harden led the Rockets with a season-high 16 rebounds with center Clint Capela out with a bruised heel.
The Rockets led by 16 points entering the fourth quarter on a night when Mavericks star Luka Doncic sat out with a sprained right ankle that is expected to keep him out at least six games.
Houston led by 17 later in the third before the Mavericks used an 8-2 run, with the first five points from Porzingis, to get within 94-83.
Raptors 105, Pistons 92 In Detroit, Pascal Siakam scored 30 points and Serge Ibaka added 21 to lift the Toronto Raptors to their 10th straight victory, 105-92 over the Detroit Pistons.
Siakam made his first five shots from the field and scored 13 points in the first quarter, when the Raptors quickly built their lead into double digits. They were mostly in control after that, handing a Pistons team that was missing Blake Griffin its fifth loss in a row.
The victory clinched a trip to the All-Star Game for Raptors coach Nick Nurse and his staff, who will coach Team Giannis.