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Show HERALD DAILY Saturday, March 6, 2004 the Day C3 Star of the day IN BASKETBALL San Antonio's Tony Parker scored 27 points and dished out five assists to lead the spurs past Dallas, 1 1 3-- 1 00. NBA STANDINGS Spurs withstand Dallas rally ' T I Badger. ATLANTIC DIVISION 'S? ASSOCIATED PRtSS THE Eastern Conference New Jersey SAN ANTONIO Even with his team ahead by more than 20 in the second half, a scowling Gregg Popovich stomped along the sideline and screamed at his players. The coach of the San Antonio Spurs must have known what was coming. Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash slashed the Spurs' lead to five with nearly three minutes remaining before San Antonio righted itself and vicheld on for a 0 tory over Dallas on Friday night. Nowitzki scored 17 of 21 points in his team-hig- h the fourth, while Steve Nash who missed the 113 previous two games with SPURS MAVERICKS 100 stomach flu collected seven of his 12 assists in the period. Afterward, a relieved Popovich summed up the night with, "All that matters is the ' W L 38 23 Pet Str L10 GB .623 Home W-- 1 New York 28 35 .444 11 37 W-- 1715 Boston 27 36 .429 12 4--6 W-- 4 14-1-8 Miami 26 36 .419 1212 W-- 1812 Philadelphia 24 38 387 1412 Washington 20 40 .333 17 12 Orlando 18 46 .281 21 12 7 2 W-- 1 5 Conf Away 21-- 9 18-2-4 8:24 6 2 1722 7 623 13:27 2 4 ? CENTRAL DIVISION nt O 113-10- W L Pet 46 16 .742 Detroit 39 25 .609 Milwaukee 33 28 .541 New Orleans 33 29 Cleveland 26 36 .532 , 13 .419 .' 20 Toronto 26 36 .419 20 Atlanta 20 42 .323 26 18 43 .295 Indiana Chicago . Str 8 1 2419 17-1- 3 20-2- 6 ' , 12 7 26-1-4 0 13 17 20-1- W-- 2 25 7 LI' 12 27 23-- 8 1 6--4 29-1- 0 1-- 1 5 5 Conf Away 24-- 6 W-- 64 12 12 Home W-- 8-- 20 12 20 1,5 Western Conference MIDWEST DIVISION win." Tony Parker scored 25 points and Hedo Turkoglu added 21 for the Spurs, who put runs to pile up a together two big first-halead at the break and 0 edge after three quarters. "We came out in the first half like it was unimportant," said Nash, who finished with 13 points. "It was like we were just punching the clock instead of trying to get somewhere." Nowitzki, held to shooting in the through three quarters, went fourth. His with 2:56 left made the 86-6- - L10 3 7 3 W L Pet Minnesota 44 18 .710 San Antonio 41 21 .661 Dallas 39 22 Memphis 37 24 .607 Houston" 35 26 574 412 612 812 Denver 33 29 .532 11 Utah 31 31 .500 13 GB GB 39 lf 59-3- 3 110 GB Str Home 20-1-0 . .22 19 13 22-- W-- Conf Away 24-- 8 82 W3 M W-- 1 14 16 22 16 19 21 18 Away Conf 23-- 0 11 1 1 5 13 2415 28-- 3 PACIFIC DIVISION 4 score "When we were ahead we were playing aggressively," Parker said. "They came back on us because we stopped being as aggressive. We can't let that happen." Rasho Nesterovic hit Malik Rose with a pass for a layup for San Antonio, then blocked Antawn Jamison's reverse layup. Manu Ginobili was fouled on the same play and made both free throws to put San Antonio ahead 103-9Dallas played the final 14 minutes without Michael Finley, who scored 13 of his 19 points in the third before he was ejected for 95-9- 0. W L Pet Saoamento 45 15 .750 - LA Lakers 40 21 .656 512 Portland 29 32 475 1612 '27 35 .435 19 Golden State 25 35 .417 20 LA. Clippers 25 35 .417 20 21 41 339 25 Seattle Phoenix : throwing a forearm into Bruce Bowen with referee James Capers just a few feet away. Mavericks coach Don Nelson was tossed out seconds later for arguing the call on didn't see the Bowen-- f inley dust-ubut he defended his player. "I don't think I've ever see (Finley) react s like that in my years here," said Nelson. "There must have been a reason." Rose added 18 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio, which played its fourth straight game without top scorer and Tim Duncan. Duncan suffered a Finley. "We ty' 'i bumped one another. He hit me it was all in the heat of the ,andl hiUinQ battle," Bowen said. "I saw him coming, but I didn't know he was going to do anything in front of an official." Donn Nelson, who took over the Mavericks when his father was ejected, said he five-plu- basket between TODAY'S GAMES points and J6 rebounds. itVst-eve- r season the Mavericks, whose 33 first-hasweep by points were their lowest production of the season. with 13 at Miami, Sacramento 1 4 1722 19 11 2 2 822 25 12 6 SUNDAY'S GAMES LA takers 99, Seattle 91 New Jersey 78, Golden State 74 San Antonio averted 21 16 23-- 5 18-1- Dallas at Houston. 11 a m New Orleans at Toronto. 11 a m New York at Washington. 12pm New Jersey at L.A. Lakers. 1 30 p.m Sacramento at Orlando. 5 p.m. Boston at Minnesota. 5 30 p m. Detroit at Seattle. 7 pm. Memphis at Golden State. 7 p.m. Portland at L.A. Clippers. 7 30 p.m. Indiana at Denver, 8 p.m Cleveland 88, New Orleans 85 Indiana 96, Utah 88 3-- W-- 5 Memphis at L.A. Clippers. 1 :30 p m. Chicago at Philadelphia. 5 p.m. Milwaukee at Cleveland. 5:30 p.m. Detroit at Denver, 7 p.m. San Antonio at Phoenix, 7 p.m. . Utah at Portland, 8 p.m. Boston 94, Washington 90 San Antonio 113, Dallas 100 Houston 112, Minnesota 109 left knee joint injury when these teams last met Feb. 26 in Dallas. The Spurs are 1 since Duncan got hurt. Nesterovic had his fourth straight double-doubl- e ' W-- FRIDAY'S RESULTS San Antonio's Devin Brown, center, is fouled as he tries to drive to the Dallas ' Danny Fortson, left, and Michael Finley on Friday. . . 17 13 Orlando 101, Atlanta 96 New York 109, Toronto 103. ERIC GAYAssociated Press k 27-- 5 6 THURSDAY'S RESULTS ft Home W-- 7 Miami 104, Milwaukee 98 Sacramento 114, Philadelphia 105 Detroit 83, Portland 68 2. Str L10 ,8-- :30 p.m. 1 lf NBA SCOREBOARD PACERS 96. JAZZ 88 Rockets squeeze past Timberwolves THE ROUNDUP ASSOCIATED PRESS The Houston Rockets found their league-leadin- g defense just in time to gain a rare road victory against one of the best teams in the MINNEAPOLIS West. Yao Ming scored 27 points, Steve Francis added 25 and the Rockets withstood two shot attempts by Minnesota 9 to outlast the Timberwolves Friday night. "The last couple games we weren't really able to get it going or get into a rhythm defensively," said Francis, who scored 14 points in the second half. "Tonight, we just contested harder late in the game." "From the beginning of the game we played great offense, but coach was continually getting on us about our defense," Yao said through an interpreter. The Rockets entered the game ranked first in opponent field goal percentage (.402), but had faltered defensively in losing two straight. On Friday, they held Minnesota to 40 percent shooting in the fourth quar- last-seco- 112-10- ter to win for the third time in Western Conference road games. "We came into a tough place against a tough team and dug out a big win for us," said Clarence Weatherspoon, who scored 11 points and defended Kevin Garnett down the stretch. Minnesota had a chance to tie the game with 3.4 seconds left, hit but Troy Hudson's the front of the rim. The Timberwolves got a second chance with 3.1 seconds left after Adrian Griffin missed two free throws, but Garnett's straightaway attempt was way off. I Cavaliers 88, Hornets 85: At New Orleans, LeBron James scored 19 points and Carlos Boozer had 18. James hit a with 122 left to put and Cleveland ahead Boozer made a pair of free throws with 6 seconds remaining for the final margin. Jamal who made a late 3 Mashburn to force overtime in a Hornets' victory Wednesday night had a ( hance to do it again, but 16 84-8- fade this time his was off the mark. Celtic 94, Wizards 90: At Boston, Paul Pierce scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had eight assists to lead the Boston Celtics to their fourth straight win. Ricky Davis scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and Mark Blount added 17 points for the Celtics, whose winning streak is their longest under interim coach John Carroll. They won five straight in December under Jim long-rang- e O'Brien. I Magic 101, Hawks 96: At Orlando, Fla., Tracy McGrady had 28 points and Tyronn Lue scored eight consecutive points in the final 1:42 for Orlando's third victory over the Hawks this season. Lue made two free throws to put Orlando ahead 6 with 1 1.6 seconds to play. After a timeout, the Hawks' Jason Terry missed a layup and Orlando's Sean Rooks grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He hit both free throws for the final margin. I Knicks 1 09, Raptors 1 03: At Toronto, Stephon Marbury had 35 points and Nazr Mohammed 99-9- Houston Minnesota 0. Totals 3. F Jackson J Jackson Garnen Cassell Fouled outNone Rebounds M Jones Croshere Continued from CI 1 consecutive layups late in the fourth quarter as Indiana regained control and won its fourth straight. "That's a great go-tguy in the fourth quarter because it's hard to double him and he's so rrrmA r,nA nrckftV With thf has- -' ketball," Indiana's Reggie Miller "He makes things happen." Miller sealed the win on a 3- DCLimua icn pointer Willi and scored 16 points. Jermaine O'Neal had 30 points and 10 rebounds and Fred Jones scored 10 for the Pacers, who have , won eight of their last nine. "We're really good when we dephysically pound you on the fensive end and also get out ini transition and physically pound , you on the offensive end. That's what makes this team so good arh I think that's been the dif- ference," O'Neal said. "We're a team. We have a veiy physical o Andrei Kirilenko had 19 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for Utah! which had won four straight. The Jazz outrebounded the but Indiana made Pacers up for it at the free throw line, Indiana, which going swept the Jazz for the first time 0 since the season, has won eight of 10. The Jazz rallied after falling, way behind in the third quarter and led briefly in the fourth, but in the end they could not stop Artest and Miller. "It wasn't consistent defensively like previous games," said Kirilenko, who also had six turnovers. "We can't let, especially in the last two minutes, let them make so many easy layups." Raja Bell finished with 17.1 Mo Williams, who had eight points for Utah, tied the game at ll on two free throws with 42-2- 1999-200- 86-a- 72-6- 3, -- 44 (Garnett Yao 6). Minnesota 0 3l Spiewell 40 (Francis. Houston Assists 18) Houston Minnesota 30 (Cassell 13) Total Minnesota 21 Technicals Houston , Second. Francis 2 Minnesota Three Second 2. Minnesota coach Saunrjers, A 20 109(19 006) 19 7, Arroyo 7. Bell 9. Wins 6. 19. Gugliotta 13. Pavlovic 2 2 5 Ostertag 0. 17, Moore 8. Buflin Williams Lopez 0 Totals Defensive Three Defensive Hudson 88 35 23 Utah 22 15 21 22 CAVALIERS 88. HORNETS 85 24 22 ClVaAND(88) Jones F Indiana Utah Bed Pavlovic KirNenko Bender (Miller Artest Naikm . WWiamsO-t- Rebounds 9). Aaarata VJArroyo. Lopez 5). Total toitt Utah Detensve Jecrmtcala 19.911 Utah coach Sloan A 25. Utah 27 Indiana 11 21. P Brown 2 9 Daws 4 0 2 5. 2;? 88 11 21 (65) Masnbum6-2West (19.9111 18 Hgausnas 19 12 Wagner Totals NEW ORLEANS 816 9 James Battle 4. 0 OHie 13 Second Ostertag Three Boozer Mdnnis3-!- 6, (Lopez Fouled out None Arroyo Indiana 37 (O'Neal 101. Utah 55 (Kirilenko Indiana 21 (Artest. Tinsley 5). Utah 15 Gugliotta 15 Williams E Gull 5 Magioire 26. Wesley 0 0 0. Augmon Armstrong 4 Smith 5 Lynch 19 85 7 0 32;84 0 Totals 16- KNICKS 1097 RAPTORS 103 NEW YORK Cleveland Hew Orleans (109) Thomas Mohammed Thomas 13 20, Houston 35. Sweetney 16. 13. T Marbury K. (Davis Augmon Armstrong out 3- - 4 Totals Jersey Nets made a late rally for another victory without Jason Kidd. Jason Richardson scored 22 points for the Warriors, who lost their fourth straight. Mike Dunleavy had 20, but Golden State was shut out in the final 3:59. 0:0 4, Peterson 7 4 Moiso 28 35 York Goats 28 25 New York 32 21 29 14 - 0 T Thomas Defensive Second Three A 4 13. T GOLDEN STATE 5. Wi8 0 0 Brown 0 Ward 27 27 40 27 0 113. one-hand- San Warkerl IB 15 29 30 Cants Goad 1r Bowen coach coach Popovich. 4 (Turkoglu Footed out 2. Ginobiti f 2, Nowitzki. San Antonio Flagrant touts Rnley DstWrotttlXvitwito A 18.797 Don Nelson rrtarj--f lewis 0 0 14 ROCKETS 112 TIMBERWOLVES 109 6. Cato 6. Yao 27. 18. Taylor Griffin 2 Totals 3 74 8 17 28 20 78 21 19 16 74 " ' LAKERS Fo 15 l 2 7 0. Potapenko 13 James (99) 8 0 Medvedenko 0 Payton6 11 Bryant 11 Russell 6. 9. Cook 3 5 ' 0. George Walton U (Rush Fisher 112. totals 3 4 5 20 Radmanovic 16 Rush i LXlaktri 8 NflBI 7, Fisher Saaltla Seattle - 2 3 2 2 9 Totals 418 lews Darnels 91 98 Allen Murray Payton George 1 Russell Walton 3 Fo t lakers l 4 A FoWad Seattle 47 (lewis 10) L A Lakers Rebounot 91 AaaMa Seattle 4 IDamels 71. LA:. Seattle 26 LA Lakers 22 (Fon. Payton 7) Total tea Lakers 22 Toctmrcala L A. Lakers Defensive Three Second A 18 997(18 997) 51 (Walton IMMESOTA (108) 12. Garnett Sprawsa 25. Johnson 6. Hudson Madson 4 0 Miller 0 J, 32. l2.Hassea2-- 04 0 0. Szczertaak Uowokandi4-64-- 0 Totals .1 4.Cassel.9-1- 2. 12. Trent 18 26 109 , 91 16 28. RaOmanovic 5. 32 9 Daniels 00 Sesay 0 LA. (4 Evans 18 3 3 19 7 Murray 91 (112) 25. MoMey Totals 99, SUPERSONICS Boats weatherspoon 3. M.Jackson 6 6 iKitltes Jersey Armstrong 0 Rogers 0 99 16. FtogersO- 4 New - 7 RKtnour -9 Francis ' Collins 0 Dampier 2 3 22 Dunleavy 8 15 20. 2 Johnson 0 0 4 Cheaney 5 8 13 IB Allen 00 2 0 Horry J Jackson 23 2) GoWen Scalabrme Pietrus 0 2 State 2 16 (Dunleavy 2 5 Cheanev 0 Fouled out- - None flobmson Richardson Rebounds -N- pv. Jersey 49 (Kitties 91 GottJen stale 41 New Richardson Punteavy 5) Assists (Dampier Jersey 16 iJeflerson 41 Golden State 21 (Robinson 6i 19 ?0. Gotoen State Total loura-N- ew Jersey Grjtoen State coach Musseiman A Tachnlcala 17.354 (19 (18.500). HOUSTON 74 11 2 4 2 2 2 Totals LAKERS OaHas 54 (Nowitzki 9). Naiera. Howard Rabrjunda San Antonio 60 (Nesterovic 15). AaaMa Dallas 19 2). San Antonio 23 (T Parker. Nesterovic 5) (Nash Total Inula Dallas 31. San Antonio 26 Technlcala -Dallas 795 SEATTLE (91) Jamison San Antonio Parkar 100 113 2. Nowitzki (Finley Daniels 3. Nash Williams ' 21 27. Turkoglu Totals T 18. Nesterovic Parker Horry 0. Hart 7 (74) 9 Pietrus Foyle Soars- 2 2 4 9 Natera 100 Totals GmoMl Total - 78 19 Bradley 4 Dames Scalabrme 0 0 4 Armstrong Jersey Golden State 21. Williams SAN ANTONIO (113) Bowen 11, Rose - Fouled 0. Williams 0. Plammc New 3 5 Richardson 7. Fortson 0 Best Jefteison 9 14 3 17 Harns4 New Howard two-hande- (78) 9 Robinson 13. Finley 12. Jamison New 31. 20 iWcsley 6) 19 7 Kittles 7 16 2 Rebounds None 7, Nowitzki 2. 0 18. New Orleans Cleveland Martin Carter Glover (100) 2, Nash Mclnnis (James Wagner NETS 78, WARRIORS York 58 (Mohammed 18), Toronto 42 (Marshall 11 Anrsta New York 21 (Marbury 9). Toronto 25 (Carter 9) Total toub New York 19. Toronto 15 Toronto Technlcala 19.287(19.800). 85 Wesley ! 3 Lynch HasntanO-4- Orleans New 21 (Mclnnis touts 109 103 (Houston Toronto Sweetney Peterson Fouled out Marbury 88 Cleveland 64 Williams Rebounds Magioire New Orleans 53 (P Brown 12) Assists -- Cleveland 11. NEW JERSEY (Marshall Strickland 19 (17 200) 103. 9 New 710 0 0 19, Bosh 32, Marshall 8. Patecio 17, Glover 12. Strickland 4- - 7 20 23 29 Cleveland Williams E Orleans (103) Carter 23 Nailon 109 TORONTO 18 20 21 Goals ' 4. 0. Totals 8. Anderson 'Hardaway Walker Jazz 109 (Francis 4 5 Mooley Minnesota (Hudson 5, (88) Kirilenko Nets 78, Warriors 74: At Oakland, Calif., Richard Jefferson scored 23 points and the New quarter. After a timeout, Artest missed from way outside, and d Kirilenko had a dunk. Artest put back an offensive rebound, then Williams answered with a long jumper. The Jazz got a defensive rebound and Kirilenko took it for a dunk over O'Neal to give Utah its first lead with 5:55 remaining. It was also Utah's only lead. O'Neal scored the next four points and Indiana never trailed again. "We were hoping to get a spurt at the end," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. "We know that Utah is a great second-lial- f team. They kept coming at us." Notes: Jazz guard Gordan Giricek missed the game to be in1 Orlando with his wife, who gave birth to a baby girl Friday afternoon. ... Utah had seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter, but Indiana was from the field to take a 35-2-3 lead. 112 61 UTAH DALLAS remaining, but Artest made two straight layups to put Indiana back up by four and Miller sealed it with his The game was physical and featured several collisions and knockdowns, but no fights broke out. Utah coach Jerry Sloan and Greg Ostertag both got technicals, but once the game got close in the fourth quarter tempers oh both sides simmered down. Miller hit a and O'Neal followed with a basket to put the Pacers up 70-5- 5 early in the third, but Carlos Arroyo helped the Jazz trim the margin to by the end of the period. He was fouled on a jumper from the top of the key and converted the three-poiplay, then hit another jumper in a JH) Utah run. In the fourth, Bell hit a jumper to keep the Jazz within five at 78-7then Haul Lopez drove for a reverse layup that made it 78-7-5 p the closest Utah had been since the first 24 Houston 16. Harnngton AJohnson 0. Bendet 96. 4, 20 points and had a season-hig- h 18 rebounds to make New York coach Lenny W Likens a winner in his return to Toronto. Wilkens returned to Toronto for the first time since being fired after last season. Fans booed his introduction. New York moved 1 12 games ahead of Toronto for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. I Lakers 99, SuperSonics 91 : At Los Angeles, Shaquille O'Neal took over after Kobe Bryant went out early with a shoulder injury, scoring 32 points. Bryant hurt his right shoulder in a collision with Seattle's Reggie Evans in the first minute of the game and left the arena to have an MRI. There was no immediate report on the severity of the injury. Millet 7. Tinsley 1 Pollafd Foster 30 17. O'Neal Cardinal 3:41 28 20 20 INOIAKA (96) Artest SPURS 113, MAVERICKS 100 lot of size and can hurt you on a lot of post ups. We just keep sending them at you." 28 37 36 28 , i More NBA boy. C5 ' |