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Duncan, Spurs edge Mavericks 92-91

Tim Duncan had 28 points and 19 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs escaped with a 92-91 victory over Dallas on Thursday night, sweeping their season series with the Mavericks for the first time in 15 years.

Gary Neal added 16 points and Kawhi Leonard had 12 for San Antonio, which has the Western Conference’s top record at 50-16.

Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Darren Collison added 12 points and O.J.Mayo, Mike James, Brandan Wright and Vince Carter had 10 points apiece.

San Antonio last swept Dallas during the regular season in 1998, Duncan’s rookie season.

The Mavericks pulled within 92-91 on a 7-0 run capped by Nowitzki’s fall-away jumper with 28.2 seconds left. After Manu Ginobili missed a jumper, Carter missed a long, fall-away 3 at the buzzer that would have won the game.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Garnett, Pierce reach milestones in Celtics win over Raptors

Kevin Garnett received his standing ovation in the second quarter, then joined Boston’s fans when they returned to their feet for Paul Pierce.

Garnett and Pierce added to their growing list of accomplishments with significant moves up the list of NBA career scoring leaders Wednesday in the Celtics’ 112-88 rout of the Toronto Raptors.

Garnett passed Jerry West for 15th all-time and Pierce joined him in the top 20 scorers in league history when he passed Charles Barkley for No. 20.

”The joke around here is that every two days or something we’re making history,” Garnett said. ”It’s not a bad joke to be a part of.”

Not at all.

Garnett needed four points to pass West (25,192 points) and finished with 12. Pierce finished with 15 points after entering the game nine points shy of tying Barkley (23,757) for 20th.

Garnett hit a bank shot with 10:03 left in the second quarter and received a standing ovation when his milestone was announced during a stoppage a few minutes later. Boston fans rose again in the third to recognize Pierce, who responded with a salute back to the crowd.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Kobe Bryant injures ankle in Lakers loss to Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks were mired in a slump. They were missing two key starters. And they were facing Kobe Bryant and the streaking Los Angeles Lakers.

Talk about an unlikely time to get a win.

Devin Harris scored 17 points, Ivan Johnson hit a key basket, and the short-handed Hawks shook off a 20-point third quarter by Bryant for a 96-92 victory Wednesday night, a physical game that was marred in the closing seconds when Bryant went down with a severely sprained left ankle after missing a game-tying shot.

The Lakers said Bryant is out indefinitely, just as the team is pushing for a playoff spot.

”I’ll just do what I have to do” to get back, he said.

Atlanta won for just the second time in eight games despite missing Josh Smith and Jeff Teague. Six players scored in double figures and everyone contributed to the victory, at least everyone who suited up.

”That’s the way we have to play,” said Kyle Korver, who hit the clinching free throws. ”When we’re missing guys, we can’t just say, ‘You’re the next-best guy on the team, you take all the shots.’ That’s a recipe for disaster.”

Bryant took a lot of shots for the Lakers – 33 in all – but he couldn’t knock down the one that mattered.

Then he couldn’t get up…

Bryant finished with 31 points, but made just 11 of those 33 shots.

— Reported by Paul Newberry of the Associated Press

John Wall shines in Wizards win over Bucks

Washington Wizards point guard John Wall and coach Randy Wittman got in each other’s faces. Then, after Wittman momentarily walked away, they got in each other’s faces again.

Whatever was said during that third-quarter timeout Wednesday night worked.

Wall had 23 points and 10 assists, and the Wizards beat the Milwaukee Bucks 106-93.

The exchange came as Washington was blowing a 20-point, second-half lead, but Wall rallied with eight fourth-quarter points to hold off the Bucks.

“Oh, that’s coaching. C’mon,” Wittman said emphatically. “I love that.”

Wall said the dispute centered around how the Wizards defended Ersan Ilyasova who finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

“Just us being both competitive and being on different pages,” Wall said. “But we talked about it, and we did a great job in the fourth quarter of keeping Ilyasova from getting hot.”

As Martell Webster said of Wall, “He is a competitor, and he feels like he has to be Superman.”-
– Reported by the Associated Press

Heat beat Sixers for 20th straight win

LeBron James missed once, then again, whiffing on two easy looks at the rim that could have left Miami shaken.

Like a good teammate, Dwyane Wade swooped in for the saving tip, preserving the lead and keeping the Heat’s amazing win streak rolling.

James scored 27 points and the Heat became the fourth team to win at least 20 consecutive games in a season, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 98-94 on Wednesday night.

Against a struggling Sixers team that was revved up like a playoff game, the Heat just found a way to win.

And when it was done, they took the time to admire their mark.

”Twenty is special,” Wade said. ”Win 20 games in a row, it’s awesome. You can’t get around it. We’re going to try to go for the next one.”

Wade scored 21 as the Heat needed big baskets over the final 2 minutes to top the Sixers for the milestone win. He stuck with the ball on James’ misses and scored the clutch tip that made it a three-point lead with 29 seconds left and squashed the Sixers’ upset bid.

— Reported by Dan Gelston of the Associated Press

Mavs beat Bucks 115-108 for 4th straight win

Vince Carter may not be able to throw down big dunks like he used to, though he can still knock down big shots.

Carter hit three key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 23 points off the bench as the Dallas Mavericks won their fourth straight with a 115-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

”I felt in the groove,” Carter said. ”The basket just seemed extremely big, and I felt comfortable with my shot. I was just in the flow of the game. A couple of shots, once I let them go, I happened to look down and see the 3-point line was up there. Oops. I know if I don’t make them, Coach is going to yell. But I was just prepared. I had my feet set, in rhythm, just in attack mode.” …

The Mavericks, who are three games out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race, know now is the time to get going if they are to make the postseason for the 13th consecutive time…

Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points, 17 in the first half, and 11 rebounds, while O.J. Mayo had 14 points. Mavericks rookie and former Marquette star Jae Crowder, last year’s Big East player of the year, was one off his career high with 14 points.

Monta Ellis scored 32 points for the Bucks, giving him 20 or more in all six of Milwaukee’s games this month. Ellis has been putting up big numbers since the All-Star break, averaging 23.7 points.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Ricky Rubio gets first career triple-double in Timberwolves win over Spurs

There hasn’t been much to cheer about at Target Center while the Minnesota Timberwolves endure another long, painful march toward another draft lottery.

Wolves fans do have Ricky Rubio, though. And that was enough on Tuesday night.

Rubio had his first career triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, leading the Timberwolves to a 107-83 victory over the San Antonio Spurs…

Rubio made 9 of 17 shots and grabbed his 10th board with 9:14 to play in the game, earning a standing ovation from the long-suffering Wolves fans. Alexey Shved broke out of a big slump to score 16 points and Barea had 17 for the Wolves, who hit 12 3-pointers…

Stephen Jackson had 14 points and Danny Green 10 for the Spurs, who left Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard at home to rest after they throttled Oklahoma City on Monday night. San Antonio turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 30 points for Minnesota, and shot just 35.4 percent…

”We’ve got to get things together and go back to who we were,” said Manu Ginobili, who had seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. ”Because it’s happening too often now.” …

Duncan and Leonard stayed back in San Antonio for the second half of a back-to-back with what the team called sore left knees. But coach Gregg Popovich has been known to rest players, especially older veterans like Duncan on back-to-backs. Point guard Tony Parker is also out for another few weeks with a sprained left ankle, so the Spurs started Jackson, Matt Bonner and Cory Joseph in their places.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

RELATED: Watch video of Rubio’s triple-double.

Brook Lopez scores 26, Nets beat Hornets

Having Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche on the floor at the same time worked in a big way for the Nets.

Brooklyn’s big men combined for 44 points in a 108-98 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night.

Lopez led all scorers with 26 points and enjoyed sharing the floor with Blatche, who scored 12 of his 18 points in the second quarter.

”He has such a high basketball IQ,” said Lopez, ”and he plays so well with everyone on the floor, which makes everyone’s job a lot easier.”

Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said the Lopez-Blatche tandem works well with specific match-ups, and considering Brooklyn needed an offensive jolt after Monday’s dismal loss to lowly Philadelphia, the plan worked.

”Andray makes the game easier for me,” said Lopez, who went on a 10-point scoring run himself in the third quarter to preserve a dwindling lead. ”You see Andray playing out there like that, I want him to play the entire game then. The great thing about our bigs, there are a lot of good players there who can do different things, so we can have a lot of combinations.”

Lopez had a monstrous dunk over his twin brother, Robin, with 3:49 left in the third quarter. It’s something the Lopez family will be talking about for years. Robin finished with 15 points and eight rebounds…

Deron Williams had 21 points and 13 assists, continuing his strong play since the All-Star break.

— Reported by Chris R. Vaccaro of the Associated Press

Heat winning streak is now 19 straight games after beating Hawks

Standing at his locker after yet another victory, LeBron James finally acknowledged the obvious.

This winning streak is something for the Miami Heat to savor.

Dwyane Wade scored 23 points and on a night where the stat sheet would suggest a struggle, the Heat rolled once again, extending their winning streak to 19 games and leading wire-to-wire in beating the Atlanta Hawks 98-81 on Tuesday.

”Let’s be honest, guys,” James said. ”We’re not sitting here and saying this is not something special. This is an unbelievable streak that we’re on. We’re playing great basketball. We’re winning in different phases of the game, we’re playing different styles, we’ve won every game, on the road, at home, double-overtime games, end-of-regulation games, whatever the case may be.”

James scored 15 points and Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers added 14 apiece for the Heat, who matched the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. They will try for their 20th straight win on Wednesday at Philadelphia, the start of a five-game trip.

Only three teams have won at least 20 consecutive games in the same season: the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33), the 2007-08 Houston Rockets (22) and the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20). The Washington Capitols also won 20 straight, spanning the end of the 1947-48 season and the start of the 1948-49 campaign.

”Ten is enough for me,” Bosh said. ”Twenty’s cool. I’d take it.”

Josh Smith scored 15 for the Hawks, who got 12 apiece from Al Horford and Jeff Teague.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Gerald Henderson scores 35, Bobcats beat Celtics

Paul Pierce rested while Gerald Henderson went to work.

Henderson scored a career-high 35 points and Charlotte Bobcats snapped a 10-game losing streak by pounding the lackluster Boston Celtics 100-74 on Tuesday night.

It was Charlotte’s biggest margin of victory since beating the Miami Heat 104-65 on Jan. 20, 2010.

”I was just trying to be aggressive from the start and just attack,” said Henderson, who was 11 of 19 from the field and knocked down all 12 of his foul shots.

Ben Gordon scored 17 points and new starting forward Josh McRoberts had his first double-double for Charlotte with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

When asked if the Bobcats took Doc Rivers’ decision to rest Pierce as a slap in the face, Gordon simply shrugged his shoulders…

Kevin Garnett needed nine points to pass Jerry West and move into 15th place on the NBA’s career scoring list, but was held to just five on 2-of-10 shooting. Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford each had 14 points for the Celtics, who were outrebounded 48-29 by a Bobcats team not known for its prowess on the glass…

The Celtics probably should have been expecting more of a game from the Bobcats after losing in Charlotte earlier in the season. But Rivers decided to sit the 35-year-old Pierce with Boston in the midst of a difficult part of the schedule.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press