Tim Duncan scored a season-high 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds Thursday to lead the San Antonio Spurs to their fifth straight victory, 88-80 over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Allen Iverson scored 24, Kyle Korver had 17 and Corliss Williamson added 15 for the Sixers, who set a dubious team record by scoring just 6 points in the first quarter.
PHOTO: AFP
"It was a great game for us," Duncan said. "We played pretty good defense. They missed some shots and we gave ourselves a lead there. They did a hell of a job coming back, but we fought straight through."
Rasho Nesterovic had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 17 for San Antonio, which had lost four in a row in Philadelphia since winning on Nov. 22, 1999. The Spurs improved to 7-1, their best start since the 1991-1992 season.
"We didn't knock down shots available to us," Sixers coach Jim O'Brien said. "They did what they had to do ... They're a potential world champion"
Philadelphia finished its five-game homestand with two consecutive losses after winning the first three games.
Cavaliers 106, Bobcats 89
In Charlotte, North Carolina, LeBron James helped break the game open late in the second quarter by driving baseline for a windmill dunk as Cleveland downed Charlotte.
James' dunk was one of three crowd-pleasers among his 19 points.
It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Cavaliers and moved them two games over .500 for the first time since 1999 -- James' freshman year in high school.
Jeff McInnis scored 18 points for Cleveland, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 and Newble scored 11.
Knicks 93, Rockets 92
In Houston, Jamal Crawford banked in a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to send New York past Houston for its first road win of the season. Crawford finished with 19 points, going 5-of-11 from the 3-point arc, and Kurt Thomas added 23 points and 14 rebounds to hand the Rockets their fourth loss in five games.
New York came back from an 11-point deficit to start the fourth quarter.
Tracy McGrady led the Rockets with 24 points and Yao Ming added 23 points and 11 rebounds.
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