SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker had 23 points hours after the birth of his first child and the San Antonio Spurs never trailed in a 109-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in their
SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker had 23 points hours after the birth of his first child and the San Antonio Spurs never trailed in a 109-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Manu Ginobili had 19 points and Tiago Splitter added 17 points and 12 rebounds as San Antonio regained home-court advantage in the tense series against their intrastate rival. Tim Duncan added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points for the Spurs.
Vince Carter scored 28 points, making numerous heavily contested shots in going 10 for 16 from the field for Dallas.
After averaging 16 points in the series’ first four games, Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki found the stroke in scoring 26 points. Nowitzki was 10-for-20 shooting, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Parker and the Spurs returning to form.
Carter’s 3-pointer with 3 minutes left pulled Dallas within 98-94 but Parker followed a minute later with his only 3-pointer of the game, punctuating the shot with a loud scream.
Parker had his finest start since the series opener despite playing on little sleep following the early morning birth of his son, Josh, with fiancee Axelle Francine. The All-Star point guard mixed in three manic driving layups and two mid-range jumpers to start the game shooting 5 for 7.
San Antonio took its largest lead of the game at 24-11 6 minutes into the first quarter as Ginobili hit a 3-pointer seconds after entering the game.
The Spurs rediscovered the aggressive defense, long-range shooting and fluid ball movement that fueled them to the league’s best record.
San Antonio was 8 for 16 from 3-point range and had 24 assists while committing just six turnovers.
Ginobili gathered a loose ball in the paint and tossed an outlet to Parker, who found Leonard racing to the basket for a right-handed dunk despite a late foul by Monta Ellis. Leonard missed the ensuing free throw, keeping San Antonio’s lead at 49-44 lead with 3:15 remaining in the first half.
Danny Green hit a 3-pointer to give San Antonio a 67-57 lead with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter after starting a fast break by tipping the ball from behind on a driving Ellis.
Duncan rebounded Parker’s missed jumper over Samuel Dalembert and fed the ball to Splitter, who found Ginobili cutting to the lane for a scoop layup and a 51-46 lead.
Splitter threw a bounce pass into the lane to feed a cutting Parker for a layup with 7 minutes remaining in the game for a 91-81 lead.
NOTES: After initially stating that an ouster of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was a “slippery slope,” Dallas’ Mark Cuban refused to comment after NBA commissioner Adam Silver did just that Tuesday. In response to discriminatory and racist comments by Los Angeles’ longtime owner, Silver handed Sterling a lifetime ban, fined him $2.5 million and will seek a three-quarter majority vote from NBA owners to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. “I’m going to tell you exactly what I did,” Cuban said. “I went and looked at a picture of my house since I’m on the road and I saw that it was made out of a whole lot of glass, so I decided I don’t have anything more to say on the whole topic. That’s my statement.” When asked how he would vote, Cuban said, “That’s it. That’s all I’ve got to say.” .. Dalembert had to be helped off the court after twisting his left ankle while getting tied up with Green on a rebound. Dalembert returned to the game in the second quarter and finished with two points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
RAPTORS 115
NETS 113
TORONTO — Kyle Lowry scored a career playoff-high 36 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer after Toronto had blown a 26-point lead, and the Raptors took a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
DeMar DeRozan had 23 points, Jonas Valanciunas scored 16 and Greivis Vasquez added 15 for the Raptors, who would advance to face Miami in the second round with a victory in Game 6 on Friday in Brooklyn.
Joe Johnson scored 30 points and Mirza Teletovic had 17 for the Nets, who scored 44 points in the fourth quarter but lost their final chance when Andray Blatche fired a pass well over Deron Williams’ head into the backcourt for a turnover.
Toronto led 94-72 on a 3-pointer by Vasquez with 11:23 remaining, but Brooklyn scored 15 of the next 18 points, including a four-point play by Alan Anderson, to make it 97-87 with 7:15 remaining.
Johnson later converted a three-point play, then made a 3 to tie it at 101 with 3:16 left.
Two free throws by Blatche and a 3 by Teletovic tied it at 106 with 1:23 left, but Lowry made a 3, then followed a layup by Blatche with a driving hook shot, putting the Raptors up 111-108 with 27 seconds remaining.
ROCKETS 108
TRAIL BLAZERS 98
HOUSTON — Dwight Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin came off the bench to score 21 points and help the Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 108-98 to avoid elimination.
The Trail Blazers lead the first-round series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Friday in Portland.
A basket by Damian Lillard got the Trail Blazers within two points before James Harden stepped back and swished a 3-pointer to make it 103-98 with about three minutes left. The shot brought the crowd, which was clad almost completely in red shirts emblazoned with the words “Clutch City” on them, to its feet.
That started a 12-0 Houston run to close it out. Harden finished with 17 points and seven assists.
Houston finally slowed down LaMarcus Aldridge, limiting him to eight points, after he averaged 35.3 points in the first four games. Wesley Matthews led the Blazers with 27 points and Lillard added 26.
Lin got extended minutes on Wednesday night with Pat Beverley dealing with an illness. Beverley had five points in 21 minutes.
The Rockets led by as many as 17 points in the first half. Portland cut it to one point three times in the fourth quarter, but never went back on top.
Terrence Jones added a basket for Houston after the big 3 by Harden before Howard got after Aldridge on the other end. He blocked his short jump shot, sending it out of bounds. Portland got the ball back and Aldridge got the ball again, but he badly missed a shot with Howard in his face as the shot clock expired, leaving Aldridge yelling for a foul.
The Rockets were up by nine early in the fourth quarter after four quick points from Lin before Portland used an 8-0 run, with the first four points from Nicolas Batum, to cut the lead to 91-90 with 7:39 remaining.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Matthews cut Houston’s lead to 62-58 early in the third quarter. He added 12 more points in the period to finish with 18 of Portland’s 29 points.
Howard and Lin carried the Rockets in the third, combining for 18 points. Howard had 10 and Lin scored the rest, including a long two as the shot clock expired with Lillard right in his face.
