Hawks beat Jazz in 4 OT marathon

Mon., March 26, 2012

Atlanta Hawks' Jason Collins, front, defends the ball as he fights past the Utah Jazz's Enes Kanter, rear, and DeMarre Carroll. (Associated Press)

NBA: Joe Johnson scored 37 points, Josh Smith added 22 and the Atlanta Hawks ended Utah’s six-game winning streak with a 139-133 home win Sunday night in the NBA’s first quadruple-overtime game since 1997.

The four OTs tied for the third-longest in NBA history. It was the ninth NBA game to go four OTs and the first since Phoenix beat Portland 140-139 on Nov. 14, 1997.

Al Jefferson finished with 28 points and 17 rebounds for the Jazz before fouling out in the final overtime.

• Suns continue surge for playoff spot: Marcin Gortat and Markieff Morris scored 22 points apiece and the Phoenix Suns never trailed in a 108-83 road victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Steve Nash added 13 assists for the Suns, who have won six of eight to get back into the Western Conference playoff race. Phoenix improved to 11-4 since the All-Star break.

• Love powers Wolves over Nuggets: Kevin Love followed up his 51-point game with 30 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 117-100 win over the Denver Nuggets in Minneapolis.

Luke Ridnour had 25 points and six assists for the Timberwolves, who are trying to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff race.

Minnesota was in position to make the playoffs – sitting eighth in the West – when they played the Los Angeles Lakers March 9, but have since gone 3-6 to fall to 11th in the conference.

• Blazers beat Warriors: Raymond Felton scored 24 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 18, including a fadeaway jumper and two free throws that proved the difference in the final minute, leading the Trail Blazers to a 90-87 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Portland.

Ovechkin puts Caps back in playoff hunt

NHL: Alex Ovechkin continued his recent resurgence with his ninth goal in seven games, and the Washington Capitals pulled back into the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 3-0 victory over the visiting Minnesota Wild.

Jason Chimera and Mathieu Perrault also scored, and Braden Holtby made 28 saves in his fourth start of the season as the Capitals broke a two-game skid to move back into a tie on points with the Buffalo Sabres, with Washington holding the tiebreaker.

The Capitals and Sabres, both with just six games remaining in the regular season, meet in Washington on Tuesday night.

• Nielsen lifts Islanders to shootout win: Frans Nielsen scored the only goal in the shootout and the New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 in Sunrise, Fla.

Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson scored in regulation, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 33 shots.

• Crosby finds net as Penguins top Devils: Sidney Crosby scored in his second straight game and added an assist to help the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the visiting New Jersey Devils 5-2.

Evgeni Malkin also had a goal and an assist for the Penguins to push his points total to 97, tops in the NHL.

• Blues activate Steen: The St. Louis Blues have activated 28-year-old forward Alex Steen, who missed 39 games with a concussion suffered on Dec. 27 in Detroit, from injured reserve.

Medlin takes Utah State into CIT final

Men’s basketball: Preston Medlin scored 26 points and Brockeith Pane had 20 points and 10 assists to lead Utah State (21-15) past Oakland (20-16) 105-81 in the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com tournament in Logan, Utah.

Utah State will play Mercer for the title on Wednesday.

Henry leads Red Bulls to first win of season

Soccer: Thierry Henry scored his first two goals of the Major League Soccer season and assisted on one of Kenny Cooper’s pair to lead the New York Red Bulls (1-2) to their first win of the season, 4-1 over the Colorado Rapids (2-1) in Harrison, N.J.

Cooper also got a goal in the 89th minute.

• Sporting Kansas tops FC Dallas: Kei Kamara atoned for a missed penalty kick with a goal in the 88th minute, leading Sporting Kansas City to a 2-1 victory over FC Dallas in Kansas City, Kan.

Graham Zusi had two assists for Sporting, giving him an MLS-leading four in three games.

Venus rallies to hold off Wozniak

Tennis: Venus Williams erased a match point and rallied to outlast Aleksandra Wozniak 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.

Wozniak served for the match at 5-4 in the final set, but dumped a forehand in the net when she had a match point. The tiebreaker swung Williams’ way when she smacked an overhead that clipped the net cord before landing softly for a winner and a 4-2 lead.

Her final shot was a 119-mph service winner.

Evans wins Criterium International race

Cycling: Tour de France champion Cadel Evans won the Criterium International after finishing the third and final stage in fourth place.

The 35-year-old Australian, who took the yellow jersey on Saturday after winning the time trial, held on comfortably in the day’s final climb up to Col de l’Ospedale, France.

French rider Pierrick Fedrigo won the stage in a closely contested sprint from Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy and Lars-Peter Nordhaug of Norway to finish second overall, eight seconds behind Evans. The top four in the stage were timed at 4 hours, 52 minutes and 34 seconds.

Foxworth elected president of NFLPA

Miscellany: Domonique Foxworth has been elected president of the NFL Players Association without opposition.

In 2007, Foxworth was elected by the Broncos as a player representative. In 2008, he became the youngest vice president of the NFLPA Executive Committee.

Elected to serve on the executive committee are Matt Hasselbeck (Tennessee Titans), Matt Light (New England Patriots), Brandon Moore (New York Jets) and Ben Watson (Cleveland Browns).

• Cardinals, Gay agree to deal: The Arizona Cardinals and cornerback William Gay have agreed to a two-year deal.

Gay spent the previous four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

• Italian volleyball player dies on court: The Italian volleyball federation says 1996 Olympic silver medalist Vigor Bovolenta has died after he was stricken with a heart attack while playing a match in Macerata, Italy. He was 37.

Attempts to resuscitate failed following his collapse on the court Saturday during a second-tier league game between his Volley Forli team and Lube Macerata. Bovolenta had reportedly complained to teammates of feeling faint during the match.