San Antonio, boasting the best record in the NBA, cruised past depleted Dallas 101-89 on Friday, taking full advantage of the absence of Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki.
Tony Parker scored 18 points and DeJuan Blair added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs, who won their fifth straight and improved to 34-6.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, lost their fifth straight and their seventh in the nine games since Nowitzki was sidelined with a sprained right knee.
Photo: AFP
Dallas have now fallen seven games behind their Texas rivals in the Southwest Division.
“They didn’t have Dirk and we took advantage of it, but it doesn’t mean nothing because they’re not the same team without him,” Parker said.
Shawn Marion had 14 points for Dallas.
Photo: Reuters
Nowitzki didn’t speak to reporters after the contest, but he told ESPN television during the broadcast he hoped to return as early as the weekend and Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said the same.
“Then again, maybe not,” Carlisle said, stressing he wouldn’t take any chances with his star. “We can’t mess with that.”
Dallas were just three-and-a-half games behind the Spurs when they last played on Dec. 30, three days after Nowitzki was injured.
The news for the Mavericks got worse when Caron Butler suffered what was likely a season-ending knee injury on New Year’s Day.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the injuries were a blow to a Mavericks team he otherwise counted among the league’s elite.
“If you’re going to pick somebody, I still think the Lakers are the best team, once it’s all said and done,” Popovich said. “Before Dirk got hurt, I thought they were real close to them.”
Tyson Chandler had eight points in 16 minutes for Dallas despite skipping the morning shoot-around because he felt unwell.
Jose Barea and Dominique Jones were the only other Mavericks to score in double figures with 13 points each.
“I think if you lose two star players off any team, they’re going to go through the stretch we’re going through,” Chandler said. “This isn’t anything anybody else in the league wouldn’t go through.”
CELTICS 99, BOBCATS 94
In Boston, the hosts held off Charlotte, inflicting the Bobcats first defeat in five games.
Shaquille O’Neal had 23 points, five rebounds and five blocks in a season-high 35 minutes for the short-handed Celtics. O’Neal went 10 for 12 from the field as he huffed and puffed up and down the court all night and even made all three of his foul shots.
Boston was missing Kevin Garnett for the ninth straight game and played without Paul Pierce much of Friday because of foul trouble.
Pierce still finished with 19 points.
Gerald Wallace led Charlotte with 20 points.
BULLS 99, PACERS 86
In Indianapolis, Derrick Rose had 29 points and a season-high 10 rebounds to help Chicago beat Indiana.
Rose, who scored 20 points in the second half, also had five assists. Luol Deng had 17 points and five assists for the Bulls.
Danny Granger scored 22 points for the Pacers, but shot four for 17 in the first three quarters when the game was up for grabs.
Chicago held the Pacers to 33 percent shooting.
HORNETS 110, ROCKETS 105, OT
In Houston, New Orleans came from 16 points down in the third quarter to beat Houston in overtime.
David West scored 29 points while Jarrett Jack added 23 points and seven assists for the Hornets, who have won five straight over Houston.
Kyle Lowry matched his season high with 28 points for the Rockets, who have lost seven of their past eight games and four straight on the road.
LAKERS 100, NETS 88
In Los Angeles, the hosts made it seven wins in succession by hanging on to beat New Jersey.
Kobe Bryant scored 27 points and Pau Gasol had 20 points and nine rebounds as the Lakers extended the NBA’s longest active winning streak.
The struggling Nets got 35 points from Brook Lopez in their ninth loss in 10 games.
SUNS 115, TRAIL BLAZERS 111
In Phoenix, Steve Nash had 23 points, including a three-pointer that put Phoenix ahead for good with 1:11 to play, and handed out 13 assists to lead the Suns over Portland.
Grant Hill, back after missing two games with a sprained knee, scored 21 for the Suns.
Andre Miller scored all 19 of his points in the second half for the Trail Blazers in the last of four games between the teams this season. Portland won the first three.
Six players, including all five starters, reached double figures for Phoenix.
PISTONS 101, RAPTORS 95
In Toronto, Tracy McGrady scored 22 points to lead Detroit over Toronto.
Rodney Stuckey had 19 for the Pistons, who posted their first road win in over a month.
Andrea Bargnani scored 31 points and DeMar DeRozan had 15 for the Raptors.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Jazz 121, Cavaliers 99
‧ Kings 93, Knicks 83
‧ 76ers 95, Bucks 94
‧ Warriors 122, Clippers 112
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