DeRozan late basket lifts Spurs over Mavericks; Knicks triumph
DEMAR DeRozan scored 33 points, including the deciding jumper with one second to play, to lift the visiting San Antonio Spurs to a 119-117 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday that snapped a five-game losing streak.
After a back-and-forth three-and-ahalf quarters, the Spurs used a 9-0 run capped by DeRozan’s three-point play to assume a 113-104 lead with 3:22 remaining. Two putback layups by Dorian Finney-Smith allowed Dallas to get to within 114-113 before a three-point play by DeRozan with 1:14 to play pushed the lead back to four points.
A pair of free throws and then a running jumper by Dallas’ Luka Dončić tied the game at 117 with 19.4 seconds remaining. The Spurs called a time out and set up a play for DeRozan, who dribbled the ball on the perimeter before rising up over Finney-Smith to hit the game-winner.
Dejounte Murray added 25 points for the Spurs, with Lonnie Walker IV scoring 13 and Jakob Pöltl hitting for 12 points for San Antonio, which played the first of a road back-to-back that continues in Orlando on Monday.
Kristaps Porziņģis scored 31 points and took 15 rebounds for Dallas before fouling out with 1:14 to play. Dončić added 29 points, Josh Richardson scored 16, and Jalen Brunson hit for 11 points for the Mavericks, who have lost two of their past three. Meanwhile, Julius Randle finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists to help the Knicks end a nine-game losing streak against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night in New York.
The Knicks won their second in a row despite letting an 18-point third-quarter lead slip away to the Raptors, who had won the past four meetings between the teams at Madison Square Garden.
Trailing 98-96, the Raptors had a chance to take the lead when Kyle Lowry intercepted an errant pass by Alec Burks. Lowry passed the ball to Pascal Siakam, who then double-dribbled on his drive to the hoop, turning the ball back over to the Knicks with 11.8 seconds left.
Randle proceeded to hit four free throws down the stretch to seal the outcome.
RJ Barrett finished with 19 points and five assists while Elfrid Payton and Derrick Rose each had 11 points for New York.
Coming off a career-high 44 points in his previous game, Gary Trent, Jr. led the Raptors again with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
Siakam and Lowry also returned to the Raptors’ lineup as expected. Siakam made only one of his first 11 shots, and went 5-for-18 from the field to finish with 16 points and seven assists. Lowry totaled 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Chris Boucher had 17 points and 14 rebounds.