Rockets send Spurs to first home defeat
NBA: James Harden scored 31 points, Chandler Parsons had 25, and the Houston Rockets overcame a furious second-half rally to beat host San Antonio 112-106 on Saturday night, handing the Spurs their first home defeat.
Dwight Howard had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Terrence Jones added 10 points and 16 boards, and Patrick Beverly had 11 points for Houston (13-5).
Tony Parker had 27 points, Tim Duncan added 20 and Marco Belinelli scored 18 for San Antonio (14-3), which has lost two of three.
San Antonio outscored Houston 39-26 to open the second half, with Belinelli scoring 13 points after halftime to set up a furious finish.
Harden’s off-balance 3-pointer tied the game at 106 with 45 seconds left. Parker missed a driving layup over Howard, and Beverly tipped in Harden’s miss to put Houston up 108-106 with 31 seconds remaining. Manu Ginobili missed a 3-pointer, enabling Houston to outlet to Parsons for a dunk and a 110-106 lead with 16 seconds left.
• Wolves snap 3-game skid: Kevin Martin had 27 points with some key baskets late, Kevin Love had his usual double-double and the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak with a 112-106 victory at Dallas.
Love finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. All five starters scored in double figures for Minnesota (9-9), which had lost five of its previous six games. Monta Ellis scored 26 points for Dallas (10-8).
Kreider hat trick spoils Tortorella’s return
NHL: Chris Kreider scored three goals, and Rick Nash added a goal and two assists as the New York Rangers (28 points) spoiled the return of former coach John Tortorella by rolling to a 5-2 victory over his visiting Vancouver Canucks.
Kreider netted two in the first period for his first NHL multigoal game, and finished his hat trick by tipping in Anton Stralman’s shot with his back to the net at 9:38 of the third. Kreider had scored only five goals – three this season – in his first 43 career games. David Booth and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver (31 points).
• Sharks win in SO to take Pacific lead: Joe Pavelski scored in the shootout and Antti Niemi stopped all three attempts to help the San Jose Sharks beat the visiting Anaheim Ducks 4-3 at San Jose, Calif.
Logan Couture scored his first goal in eight games. Patrick Marleau and Marty Havlat also scored for the Sharks (41 points), who finished a season-long five-game homestand unbeaten and won their eighth in nine overall. Corey Perry, Alex Grant and Ben Lovejoy scored for the Ducks (40 points), who had won three of their past four.
Villanova stays hot, claims Atlantis crown
College basketball: Bell scored 20 points and sparked a huge Villanova rally, Josh Hart added 16 and the Wildcats beat No. 23 Iowa 88-83 in overtime to claim the Battle 4 Atlantis championship at Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Kris Jenkins scored five of his 10 points in overtime for Villanova (7-0), which was down by 15 in the first half, then held Iowa (7-1) to one field goal for nearly a 10-minute stretch of the second half.
Earlier, Perry Ellis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, Wayne Selden Jr. scored 14 and No. 2 Kansas (6-1) survived a stiff challenge before beating Texas-El Paso (4-4) 67-63 in the third-place game.
Running back’s body found off Oahu beach
Miscellany: Authorities say Hawaii running back Willis Wilson was found dead off of Oahu’s Sandy Beach after a wave overcame him in shallow water.
A Honolulu Fire Department report said Wilson was among a group who were wading in shallow water at about 4:30 a.m. Fire officials and Coast Guard rescuers were called after the group noticed that the 21-year- old was no longer with them.
• McIlroy denies Scott triple crown: Rory McIlroy birdied the 18th hole to beat Adam Scott at the Australian Open at Royal Sydney, winning for the first time in 2013 and denying Scott the rare Australian triple crown.
McIlroy started the last round four shots behind Scott but drew even when he eagled the seventh and birdied the eighth. Scott went a shot ahead with a birdie at the ninth, then the pair went shot for shot over the back nine before the tournament’s dramatic finish on the final hole.
• Gut bombs to 2nd straight victory: Lara Gut of Switzerland won a second straight World Cup race in the super-G at Beaver Creek, Colo. After claiming the downhill on Friday, she finished in 1 minute, 18.42 seconds.
In men’s, Dominik Paris of Italy won a tight season-opening downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta. The 24-year-old finished in 1:49.90 to win by 0.03 seconds for the third World Cup win of his career.
• Stevenson retains light heavyweight title: Canadian Adonis Stevenson retained his WBC light heavyweight title by stopping Tony Bellew in the sixth round at Quebec City.
Stevenson (23-1) knocked down Bellew (20-2-1) with a left uppercut. When the Englishman got up, he was not fighting back, even though he was still on his feet when referee Michael Griffin stopped the bout.