New Orleans grounded by Denver in 2OT
NBA: Kenneth Faried says the Denver Nuggets have had “fire in their eyes” since interim coach Melvin Hunt took over.
Denver certainly didn’t quit while down double digits in the second half and ultimately wore down a New Orleans squad that is still very much alive for postseason play.
Will Barton scored 25 points, including the tying 3-pointer late in the first overtime, and the visiting Nuggets won their fourth straight, 118-111 over the Pelicans in double overtime Sunday night.
“People think a lot of things about us, but we’ve got a great coach at the helm in Melvin Hunt who just kept believing in us,” said Faried, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds while defending Anthony Davis. “We just keep finding ways to win and we’ve got great players who are going to step up.”
Davis finished with 36 points, 14 rebounds, nine blocks and a career-high seven assists. No one in the NBA has had a game with totals that high in all four of those categories in at least 30 seasons, according to research by the Pelicans’ staff, but it wasn’t enough to prevent New Orleans from dropping a game behind Oklahoma City for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.
“It’s a tough loss, especially in the position we’re in,” Davis said. “We have to move on and get ready for our next game.”
Davis scored six of his points in the first overtime, but missed his only two shots of the final extra session.
“A.D. was shooting a lot, making shots, but I stayed the course and I was able to finally get his legs to give out,” said Faried, who had five fouls late in regulation but survived both overtimes.
• Blazers trip Toronto: LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 10 rebounds and visiting Portland beat the Raptors for the 12th time in 13 meetings, 113-97.
• Thunder top Bulls: Russell Westbrook had 36 points and 11 rebounds and Oklahoma City held off visiting Chicago 109-100.
• Rockets edge Clippers: James Harden scored 34 points, Terrence Jones had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Houston beat the Clippers in Los Angeles 100-98.
Holtby, Capitals slow surging Bruins 2-0
NHL: Braden Holtby made 32 saves for his eighth shutout of the season, Nicklas Backstrom became Washington’s career assists leader, and the Capitals cooled visiting Boston 2-0.
Holtby rebounded from being pulled during the second period of Friday night’s loss after allowing four goals on 22 shots.
Washington moved two points ahead of Boston, which had won five straight.
• Rangers win again: In New York, Cam Talbot made 38 saves and the streaking Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 for their 14th victory in 17 games.
New York (44-17-7) has an NHL-best 95 points and has earned at least one point in 17 of 18 games.
• GMs set to meet: With an interest in reducing shootouts (145 in 1,030 games this season, 14.1 percent), when general managers gather today in Boca Raton, Florida, they may follow up on last year’s recommendation for switching ends for overtime and this time could give more thought to three-on-three play.
Williams, Federer easily advance
MISCELLANY: Serena Williams beat up-and-comer Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-0 in 53 minutes in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California.
Four-time Indian Wells winner Roger Federer needed 10 more minutes to dispatch Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2 in the men’s second round.
• Burmeister first to Bering Sea: A 15-year Iditarod veteran who has never finished higher than fourth was back in the lead in the 2015 race to Nome, Alaska, his hometown. Aaron Burmeister, 39, was the first musher to reach Unalakleet, the first checkpoint on the Bering Sea coast. He covered the 90 miles of trail from Kaltag in 11 hours.
• Stanford ace has surgery: Stanford ace Cal Quantrill, the sophomore son of former MLB reliever Paul Quantrill and a top prospect for the 2016 draft, needs Tommy John surgery. • Ironmen caught in crossfire: Authorities say two competitors in a Puerto Rico Ironman triathlon have been injured by crossfire exchanged by occupants of two cars as they sped past the bicycling part of the event in San Juan. Puerto Rico police identified the wounded competitors as Wisconsin woman Liz Boivin, who was hit in the left calf, and Puerto Rico man Miguel Arroyo Ramos, shot in the side.
• Kenyans win L.A. Marathon: Kenyans Daniel Limo and Ogla Kimaiyo won the Los Angeles Marathon, and Jared Ward and Blake Russell captured the USA Track & Field National Championships that were run at the same time.
• Porte wins Paris-Nice: Richie Porte of Australia mastered tricky conditions to win cycling’s Paris-Nice for the second time after being fastest in the final time-trial stage. Porte trailed overnight leader Tony Gallopin by 36 seconds going into the 5.9-mile race against the clock, but was the quickest to climb the moderate ascent and won the stage in 20 minutes, 23 seconds. Gallopin finished 1:39 behind Porte to slip to sixth overall.