MAVS SPOIL WADE’S DAY; SPURS TRIUMPH
LOS ANGELES— Dallas forward Wesley Matthews drained the go-ahead threepointer with 11.8 seconds remaining on Tuesday as the Mavericks spoiled Chicago guard Dwyane Wade’s 35th birthday with a 99-98 NBA victory over the Bulls.
Wade missed at the buzzer and the Bulls fell to the Mavericks for the second time this season—after absorbing a 25-point defeat last month in Dallas.
Harrison Barnes scored 20 points, Seth Curry had 18 and JJ Barea added 12 for the Mavericks, who notched their third straight win.
Dirk Nowitzki contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavs, who built a 13-point lead in the third quarter then withstood a Bulls charge that saw Chicago take a 98-96 lead on Jimmy Butler’s jump shot with 22.8 seconds left.
But the Mavs responded to his go-ahead basket with a pick and roll that sent Deron Williams driving for the basket, only to find Matthews for what proved to be the game-winner.
Once the Mavs were ahead again, Matthews was determined not to give Butler a chance to beat them.
“Obviously, everybody knew where the ball was going to go,” said Matthews, whose suffocating defense forced Butler to get the ball to Wade, who missed a jump shot as time expired.
“The shot didn’t go in,” Wade said. “They made plays, we made plays. They made a little more down the stretch.”
In San Antonio, Kawhi Leonard paced the Spurs with 34 points in a 122-114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 29 points for San Antonio, who shook off a shaky start to improve to 32-9.