Manu Ginobili scored eight points in a 19-0 third-quarter rally that sent the San Antonio Spurs past Dallas 88-81, but the Mavericks came away worried mostly about injured star Dirk Nowitzki on Sunday.
Nowitzki, the NBA's most valuable player, hurt his lower left leg during a nasty spill after running to block a shot. The team said he would be re-evaluated yesterday.
San Antonio actually went ahead on that play, with Tim Duncan grabbing the loose ball and scoring, wiping out what had been a 12-point Dallas lead only minutes before. Duncan added a free throw and the Spurs were headed to their third straight win. They also claimed the season series 3-1.
Ginobili led San Antonio with 26 points and Duncan finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Warriors 115, Lakers 111
In Los Angeles, Stephen Jackson scored six of his 31 points on two three-pointers in the final 38 seconds and Golden State beat Los Angeles after blowing a 26-point lead.
Monta Ellis also had 31 points along with seven rebounds and five assists for the Warriors, who won for the 10th time in 14 games.
Baron Davis scored 18 points and Al Harrington added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Golden State (43-26), who remain one-and-a-half games ahead of Denver in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Kobe Bryant scored 16 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and added a season-high 14 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Lakers (48-22), who had their three-game winning streak snapped and fell percentage points behind the Western Conference-leading New Orleans Hornets.
Lamar Odom had 19 points and a career-high 22 rebounds.
Nuggets 109, Raptors 100
In Toronto, Allen Iverson had 36 points, Carmelo Anthony added 33 and Denver scored 100 or more for the 11th consecutive game.
Chris Bosh was one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists as Toronto lost for the seventh time in eight games.
Iverson, who has averaged 30.4 points in 36 career games against Toronto, made two of Denver's six three-pointers in the fourth, including one with 1 minute, 7 seconds remaining that capped a 7-0 Denver run and gave the Nuggets a 103-98 edge.
Wizards 95, Pistons 83
In Washington, Antawn Jamison had 24 points and 12 rebounds as Washington topped Detroit.
The Wizards earned their third straight victory. They shot 53 percent and moved one-and-a-half games ahead of sixth-placed Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference.
Richard Hamilton scored 19 points to lead the Pistons, who have lost two in a row. Rasheed Wallace scored 11 points on three-for-12 shooting and was called for a technical for shoving Andray Blatche during the Wizards' key fourth-quarter run.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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