Matthews ruins Wade’s birthday bash
Mavericks edge out Bulls, as Joseph shows true colours for Raptors
Dallas forward Wesley Matthews drained the goahead three-pointer 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 up their third straight win. Matthews and Deron Williams both finished with 11 points. Dirk Nowitzki, steadily returning to full strength after right Achilles tendon trouble, 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.
Suffocating defence
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Butler led the Bulls with 24 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. But the Mavs responded to his go-ahead basket with a pick and roll that sent 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 defence 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, second in the Western Conference behind the Golden State Warriors.
Leonard’s rebound and race down the court for a dunk with 7:36 to play highlighted a 20-2 scoring run for San Antonio that saw the Spurs turn a 90-83 deficit into a 103-92 lead.
Cory Joseph was the unexpected star for Toronto, scoring a career-high 33 points to lead the Raptors to a 119-109 victory over the Nets in Brooklyn.