Thunder win in 2OTs behind Durant’s 51
NBA: Kevin Durant had 51 points and 12 rebounds, All-Star guard Russell Westbrook limped off in the third quarter with a sprained right knee but the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder survived to beat the Toronto Raptors 119-118 in double overtime on Friday night.
Durant hit a go-ahead 3 with 1.7 seconds left in the second overtime, Reggie Jackson scored 25 and Serge Ibaka had 13 as the Thunder won their fourth straight and finished off a 3-0 road trip that also included wins at Chicago and Cleveland.
DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points and Amir Johnson had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors. Kyle Lowry scored 25 and Greivis Vasquez fouled out after scoring 21.
• Sixers tie second-longest losing streak: The 76ers have fumbled their way toward the wrong kind of NBA history.
Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Carmelo Anthony scored 21 and the New York Knicks won their eighth straight game, 93-92 over Philadelphia, sending the home team Sixers to their 23rd straight loss.
The Sixers have matched the Vancouver Grizzlies (1995-96), Denver Nuggets (1997-98) and Charlotte Bobcats (2011-12) for the second-longest single-season losing streak in NBA history.
The Cleveland Cavaliers set the NBA record of 26 straight losses in the 2010-11 season.
• Pistons’ Stuckey scores 23 in loss to Suns: Eric Bledsoe scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Phoenix Suns pulled out a 98-92 victory at home over the Detroit Pistons.
Goran Dragic added 20 points, 15 in the first half, and Markieff Morris scored 16 for the Suns.
Former EWU guard Rodney Stuckey scored 23 and Andre Drummond had 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons in their fourth overall loss and 12th straight on the road.
Chicago wins in first game without Kane
NHL: Jonathan Toews’ short-handed breakaway goal early in the third period snapped a tie, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 at home.
Patrick Sharp scored his team-leading 30th goal and Kris Versteeg ended an eight-game drought to help the Blackhawks win without leading scorer Patrick Kane, who was placed on long-term injured reserve after sustaining a lower-body injury in Chicago’s victory over St. Louis on Wednesday.
• Bruins first to clinch playoff spot: Patrice Bergeron and Carl Soderberg each had a goal, Chad Johnson stopped 31 shots for his third career shutout, and the visiting Boston Bruins beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 for their 11th win in a row.
Boston became the first team to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Marquette’s Williams going to Virginia Tech
Men’s Basketball: Buzz Williams is headed to Virginia Tech after six mostly successful seasons coaching at Marquette.
Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock announced Williams’ hiring in a statement. He will be formally introduced at a press conference Monday in Blacksburg.
Babcock called Williams a “proven winner” with a strong track record of success.
Scott holds record lead at Bay Hill
Golf: Adam Scott matched the lowest 36-hole score at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla., to take a record seven-shot lead into the weekend.
On a tougher and more blustery afternoon at Bay Hill, the Masters champion ran off five birdies in an eight-hole stretch late in the second round Friday. Even with a three-putt bogey on his last hole, Scott had a 4-under 68.
He was at 14-under 130, tying the 36-hole record at Bay Hill shared by Tom Watson and Andy Bean in 1981.
His seven-shot lead over J.B. Holmes, Chesson Hadley and Francesco Molinari shattered the mark of four for the largest lead at this event.
• Couples fires 66 for first-round lead: Fred Couples shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic at Fallen Oak in Saucier, Miss.
The 54-year-old Couples continued his run of good play after winning the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif., last weekend. He has also had recent success at Fallen Oak, winning in 2012.
• Lee leads Ko, Yoo at Founders Cup: Mirim Lee remained atop the JTBC Founders Cup leaderboard in her third LPGA Tour start.
The 23-year-old South Korean player shot a 5-under 67 to take a two-stroke advantage over 16-year-old Lydia Ko into the weekend at Desert Ridge’s Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix.
Sun Young Yoo was third at 10 under after a 65.
Former WSU golfer Kim Wells failed to make the cut after shooting 74 for a two-round total of 147.
Jitloff wins GS at U.S. Alpine Championships
Miscellany: Olympian Tim Jitloff won the giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine Championships by more than 11/2 seconds, when Sochi Games gold medalist Ted Ligety failed to finish.
Ligety was in third place after the opening run, but he skied out on the second leg.
Jitloff earned his fifth national title, including a consecutive in giant slalom. He also won that event in 2008 and 2009, along with a combined title in 2009.
• Kingsbury, Kearney retain world moguls titles: Mikael Kingsbury of Canada and Hannah Kearney of the United States retained their freestyle World Cup moguls titles in the last event of the season.
Kearney beat Olympic silver medalist Chloe Dufour-Lapointe in the women’s dual moguls final in LaPlagne, France to win her fifth World Cup discipline title.
Kingsbury lost to Olympic champion Alex Bilodeau in the men’s dual moguls final but still finished ahead of his compatriot in the discipline standings.
• California’s Franklin sets NCAA swimming record: Olympian Missy Franklin set a record in winning her first NCAA title for California and Georgia stretched its lead in the team standings on the second day of the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships in Indianapolis.
Franklin shattered the 200-yard freestyle mark, finishing in 1 minute, 40.31 seconds to beat Georgia Olympian Shannon Vreeland (1:42.26). Megan Romano of Georgia set the previous mark of 1:41.21 at the 2012 championships.
Georgia held a 369-297 lead over Stanford, with California and Texas A&M next.
Georgia senior Laura Ryan provided the Bulldogs with their first two NCAA diving titles in program history and 40 points, adding the 3-meter title to the 1-meter crown she won yesterday.
• Man U’s Van Persie out of Champions quarterfinal: Manchester United’s Robin van Persie will miss up to six weeks with a left knee injury, ruling the Netherlands striker out of both legs of a Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich and potentially six Premier League games.
It is a major blow to United’s hopes of winning the Champions League, the club’s only realistic route back into Europe’s top competition next season.
Following a second scan on the injury on Friday, United said Van Persie has a “sprained knee which will keep him out for around 4-6 weeks.”