Spurs add to Mavs’ misery
Tony Parker had 21 points and nine assists, Manu Ginobili had several key baskets among his 20 points, and the San Antonio Spurs handed the Dallas Mavericks their sixth straight loss, 111-86 Sunday night in Dallas.
Dirk Nowitzki had eight points on 3-of-9 shooting a week after making a surprise return in a 38-point loss to the Spurs in San Antonio.
The Spurs led all the way, with Tim Duncan helping a 20-6 start by hitting several jump shots. He finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Darren Collison scored 18 points to lead the Mavericks, whose losing streak is their longest since January of their championship season in 2010-11.
Dallas was within five in the third quarter when Ginobili hit a 3pointer with the shot clock winding down, and he made an even longer 3 with the shot clock inside a second to put San Antonio ahead 80-70. He finished the third quarter the same way he did the second — with a lastsecond shot that put the Spurs up by 12.
Nowitzki struggled again a week after making his season debut at San Antonio. It was his third game in four nights, and he was limited to 17 minutes Friday against Denver, the second of back-to-back games. He missed his first three shots of the second half before finally hitting a driving layup to get Dallas within six.
Ginobili keyed a late spurt in the first half that turned a five-point lead into a 12-point halftime edge. He assisted on a 3pointer by Kawhi Leonard and scored the final two baskets of the half, the last a pull-up jumper with less than a second left for a 57-45 lead.
The Spurs ran out to a 20-6 lead on midrange jumpers from Parker, who scored 10 in the first quarter, and a couple of 3-pointers from Danny Green, who had a careerhigh seven from long range against Dallas a week ago. Green finished with eight points and was 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.
The Mavericks closed the gap late in the first behind Elton Brand, who scored six in the first quarter after going scoreless for the second time this season two nights earlier against Denver. Brand scored 14 points in this one.
O.J. Mayo, Dallas’ leading scorer, was held under 10 points for the fourth time in five games.
Pistons 96, Bucks 94: Tayshaun Prince made two free throws with 10.9 seconds left for host Detroit after it blew a 14point lead.
Prince scored 20 points, and Greg Monroe added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit, which had five players in double figures. Charlie Villanueva and Brandon Knight added 11 points apiece, and Jason Maxiell scored 10 for the Pistons who scored the game’s first 13 points.
Monta Ellis had 30 points and nine assists, and Erson Ilyasova scored 24 points for the Bucks.