A spectacular half and a late surge by Tony Parker couldn’t save the San Antonio Spurs from the brink of elimination as the Dallas Mavericks won 99-90 for a 3-1 lead in their NBA playoffs series on Saturday.
Josh Howard scored 28 points, seven in an early second-half spurt that put the Mavericks ahead to stay.
Parker had 31 of his 43 points by halftime, matching George Gervin’s team playoff record for points in a half.
PHOTO: AP
Without an incredible comeback tomorrow in San Antonio, the Spurs will be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2000.
HORNETS 95, NUGGETS 93
At New Orleans, Chris Paul played as hard and long as required to give New Orleans a desperately needed victory.
Paul had 32 points and 12 assists in 46 minutes, helping to cut Denver’s lead in the first-round series to 2-1.
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points for Denver, but missed a jumper that could have put the Nuggets in the lead with less than 5 seconds left. James Posey, playing with a sprained knee, corralled the rebound. Game four is today.
New Orleans’ David West had 19 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the final minute. Rasual Butler scored 17 points and Posey had 13 points and nine rebounds, none bigger than his last with 3.2 seconds left.
In other NBA action it was:
• Heat 107, Hawks 78
• Lakers 108, Jazz 94
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Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
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