Mavericks build early lead, knock off champion Spurs

Josh Howard sparked first-half spurts of 17-1 and 11-0, letting the Dallas Mavericks build a huge lead that they turned into an easy 105-92 victory over the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs on Thursday at Dallas.

The first of four meetings this season between the Western Conference powers lacked the sizzle likely to be found in future matchups. If anything, this will give the Spurs more incentive next time around, on Dec. 5 in San Antonio.

The Mavericks came out aggressively on both ends and the Spurs – who’d won four straight and were a West-best 7-1 – were slow to respond.

Suns 112, Bulls 102: At Phoenix, Leandro Barbosa scored 25 points and Phoenix pulled away from Chicago in the fourth quarter for its fourth consecutive win.

Barbosa made 5 of 7 3-pointers, and Grant Hill added 24 points for the Suns.

Ben Gordon scored 24 and Luol Deng had 23 for the Bulls, who rallied from 14 down in the third quarter to take the lead in the fourth.