The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ira Winderman) reports: Before Friday night’s 99-83 victory over the Spurs at the AT&T Center, the Heat was 1-20 all-time in San Antonio, with the lone victory 12 years ago. That previous victory came when Heat assistant coach Keith Askins was the team’s starting small forward, when future NBA coaches Avery Johnson and Vinny Del Negro were in the Spurs’ starting backcourt, and when Tim Duncan was still on campus at Wake Forest… This is a game the Heat should have won, even as it redefines itself in the wake of last season’s NBA-worst 15-67 record. With Manu Ginobili still sidelined from preseason ankle surgery and Tony Parker lost in the first quarter with a sprained left ankle, the Spurs were reduced to Duncan and a bunch of fill-ins lacking anything in the way of championship pedigree.
Nov 7: Rockets 92, Clippers 83
The AP reports: In a game where Tracy McGrady was merely a footnote and Ron Artest had a lackluster first half, the Houston Rockets nearly blew an early 15-point lead before reserve Carl Landry came to the rescue. Artest finished with 23 points, Landry added six of his 20 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes, and the Rockets sent the Los Angeles Clippers to their sixth straight loss with a 92-83 victory Friday night… Yao Ming had 16 points and nine rebounds. McGrady, a two-time NBA scoring champ and seven-time All-Star, missed all five shots and finished with two points in 26 minutes after averaging 22 points in the Rockets’ first five games… Chris Kaman had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles. Baron Davis also scored 23 points and Marcus Camby had 13 rebounds.
Nov 7: Grizzlies 109, Warriors 104
The AP reports: O.J. Mayo is making a quick adjustment to the NBA. “At the end of the day it’s just basketball,” Mayo said after scoring 20 points and grabbing a career-high nine rebounds in the Grizzlies’ 109-104 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night… Mayo had 11 points, two assists and two rebounds in the third, while Rudy Gay added six of his team-high 23… Hakim Warrick had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Darrell Arthur had his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Grizzles, who beat Golden State for the second time in five days. Stephen Jackson had 27 points to lead Golden State, while Andris Biedrins had 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Nov 7: Nuggets 108, Mavs 105
The AP reports: The hometown kid had quite the homecoming—with a little help from Carmelo Anthony. Chauncey Billups made a triumphant return to the Nuggets with 15 points, Anthony scored 28 and Denver beat the Dallas Mavericks 108-105 on Friday night… Jason Kidd finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Mavericks… Gerald Green scored all of his 13 points in the final period, Dirk Nowitzki finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandon Bass had 12 points and 10 boards.
Nov 7: Kings 121, Wolves 109
The AP reports: Kevin Martin decided to play and scored 26 points, and the Kings welcomed back starting center Brad Miller and never trailed in a 121-109 victory Friday night. Martin said he told Kings coach Reggie Theus he wouldn’t be playing following the morning shootaround. Still, Martin proved as difficult to stop as normal, shooting 9-of-23 from the field, 6-of-7 from the free throw line and adding five rebounds… John Salmons scored 23 points for the Kings, Beno Udrih had 15 and Spencer Hawes 13. Mikki Moore had 12 points and Miller contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks… So did Kevin Love, who had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves in his first NBA start, yet couldn’t stop the Timberwolves from dropping their fourth straight game… Mike Miller scored 16 points, Sebastian Telfair had 15 and seven assists, while Al Jefferson had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Nov 7: Jazz 104, Thunder 97
The AP reports: Jerry Sloan became the first NBA coach to win 1,000 games with one team, getting 16 points and 12 rebounds from Andrei Kirilenko in the Utah Jazz’s 104-97 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. Utah fans chanted “Jerry Sloan!” and “Jer-ry! Jer-ry!” at the end in honor of the coach, who is 1,000-596 with the Jazz. Brevin Knight had 11 assists, Carlos Boozer finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, and the Jazz held on despite letting a 31-point lead slip to eight in the fourth quarter… Kevin Durant scored 24 and Jeff Green had 22 points for the Thunder, who were swept by Utah last season when they were the Seattle SuperSonics.
Nov 7: Bulls 100, Suns 83
The AP reports: Ben Gordon issued a warning to the rest of the NBA after teammate Derrick Rose showed off a dizzying array of moves Friday night—the talented rookie is only going to get better. Rose had 18 points and six assists and Gordon scored 23 in the Chicago Bulls’ 100-83 victory over the Phoenix Suns… The Suns played without Shaquille O’Neal, who got the night off as part of a plan to rest him periodically throughout the season… Amare Stoudemire, coming off a 49-point performance against Indiana on Wednesday, finished with 26 points and seven rebounds for the Suns… Steve Nash played only 24 minutes and finished with six points and five assists.
Nov 7: Heat 99, Spurs 83
The AP reports: Tony Parker’s encore to 55 was two to four. That’s how many weeks San Antonio is preparing to be without the NBA’s leading scorer after he sprained his left ankle early in a 99-83 loss to Miami on Friday night. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the ankle is “pretty swollen.” Tim Duncan found solace that it wasn’t worse. Dwyane Wade, who had 33 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, pitied that “another great player” went down… “I don’t know what it is,” said Duncan, who had 22 points and 11 rebounds but sat most of the fourth quarter… Rookie Michael Beasley added 20 points for Miami and briefly left the game with what the Heat described as a left shin contusion. He later returned to the bench, and the team said X-rays were negative. Roger Mason scored 18 points and Ime Udoka had 14 off the bench in trying to rally the Spurs with Parker out.
Nov 7: Hawks 110, Raptors 92
The AP reports: Mike Bibby scored all of his 19 points in the first half, making four 3-pointers during an 18-4 run that broke open the game, and the unbeaten Hawks routed the Toronto Raptors 110-92 on Friday night. Bibby added 12 assists for Atlanta (4-0). The Hawks are off to their best start since 1997, when they won their first 11 games… Chris Bosh led Toronto (3-2) with 26 points. Jose Calderon, the Raptors’ second-leading scorer, had only six points on 2-of-10 shooting, but finished with 12 assists… Flip Murray added 16 points for Atlanta. Maurice Evans scored 15 and Marvin Williams 14. The points were season highs for Bibby, Murray, Evans and Williams.
Nov 7: Celtics 101, Bucks 89
The AP reports: For the second straight game, the defending NBA champions trailed early then won by a big margin, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 101-89 behind 18 points and 10 rebounds from Paul Pierce on Friday night… Richard Jefferson scored 20 points and Charlie Villanueva added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee. Garnett had 16 points for Boston and Kendrick Perkins had seven blocks in 24 minutes. The last Celtic to get more in a game was Kevin McHale, who had eight against Sacramento on Jan. 9, 1987… Boston had 28 assists, 17 turnovers and 13 steals. Milwaukee finished with 22 turnovers and 17 assists.