Tony Parker had another impressive offensive performance, Manu Ginobili was stunning at both ends of the court and Tim Duncan recovered from a slow start to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 102-95 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
San Antonio took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 5 set for today. The Mavericks kept the game interesting and close throughout. But in the end, the absence of Dirk Nowitzki because of a sprained knee ligament was too much to overcome.
PHOTO: AFP
"We knew they were going to use the circumstances to give them energy, and they made a valiant effort tonight -- which is what we expected," San Antonio's Bruce Bowen said.
French-born Parker scored 25 points, Ginobili of Argentina had a career playoff-high 21 and Duncan -- who had only eight points at halftime -- added 21 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists for the Spurs, who overcame an emotional and desperate effort from the Mavericks.
San Antonio is now one victory away from advancing to the NBA Finals to play the New Jersey Nets beginning June 4.
"New Jersey finished Detroit and is getting some rest, so we need some rest, too. We've got some old guys on this team," Parker said.
Michael Finley and Steve Nash scored 25 each and Nick Van Exel added 22 for the Mavericks, whose comeback attempts in the fourth quarter fell short.
"I thought we had a shot," Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "I thought we were going to find a way to win, but evidently we got their attention with that first game in San Antonio."
With Nowitzki and two other centers injured, the Mavericks had no choice but to go with a small lineup and try to beat San Antonio the same way Phoenix did twice in the first round -- collapsing on Duncan on defense, and using dribble penetration plays and 3-point shooting on offense.
After San Antonio went ahead 89-80 with a 7-0 run, Dallas came back and pulled within two on a 3-pointer by Raef LaFrentz with 3:12 left. Malik Rose answered with a dunk, and LaFrentz airballed 3-pointer on his final shot attempt of the night. He fouled out less than a minute later.
Duncan hit one of two from the line, Ginobili stole the ball from Walt Williams and Rose scored inside with 2 seconds left on the shot clock for a 96-89 lead with 1:40 left.
Two misses by Van Exel were followed by an offensive foul on Duncan, sending the game into the final minute with San Antonio holding a 96-89 lead.
ESPN will show Dallas at San Antonio (Game 5) live at 9am tomorrow.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but