Duncan, Ginobli key win

Tim Duncan scored 28 points and Manu Ginobili added 27, and the San Antonio Spurs dominated in the paint to beat the visiting Miami Heat 98-84 Wednesday night.

Dwyane Wade scored 31 points but got little help from the rest of the Heat, who shot 36 percent from the field and had no answer for Duncan. Shaquille O’Neal, who sprained his ankle Nov. 3 in the Heat’s home opener against Indiana, remained on the team’s inactive list.

The Spurs scored 54 points in the paint compared to 22 for the Heat. Tony Parker had a season-high 11 assists and scored 14 points as the Spurs shot 47 percent.

San Antonio led by three points after the first quarter, but Gary Payton hit two quick jumpers to begin the second and Antoine Walker’s layup gave the Heat their first lead of game with 9:19 to go. The Heat tied the score twice before the Spurs went on a 20-5 run, including nine points by Ginobili in the final 2:11 of the half.

The Spurs went to the locker room with a 47-30 lead.

James Posey began the third with two 3-pointers for the Heat. But Michael Doleac’s ejection with 5:25 in the quarter for a flagrant foul on Parker halted Miami’s momentum. Parker hit both free throws to give San Antonio a 20-point lead, its largest of the game.

The Heat cut it to 12 at the end of the quarter, and Wade hit two free throws to cut the lead to eight with 3:29 left. But the Heat couldn’t get any closer than seven.

Ginobili hit key free throws down the stretch and drove the lane to match scores by the Heat, whose league-leading shot blocker, Alonzo Mourning, had no blocks.

Timberwolves 84, Trail Blazers 74: At Portland, Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Minnesota erased a 14-point second-half deficit to beat Portland.

Wally Szczerbiak scored 19 points and made a key 3-pointer late in the game as the Timberwolves won their fourth straight, sweeping a four-game road trip.

Clippers 84, Knicks 79: At Los Angeles, Elton Brand had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Cuttino Mobley scored eight of his 24 points in the final 2 minutes and Los Angeles beat New York.

Sam Cassell scored 16 points for Los Angeles. Corey Maggette, the Clippers’ second-leading scorer, was sidelined by a sprained left foot. James Singleton, the eighth overall pick in the 2002 draft, made his first NBA start at Maggette’s small forward spot and played 16 minutes without scoring.

Suns 118, Warriors 110: At Oakland, Calif., Steve Nash had 28 points and 14 assists, and Shawn Marion added 27 points and 14 rebounds as Phoenix beat Golden State for its eighth straight win.

Raja Bell scored 19 points for the Suns, who extended the NBA’s longest current winning streak and snapped Golden State’s five-game streak with a late rally after blowing an eight-point lead with 5 minutes left.

Lakers 102, Raptors 91: At Toronto, Lamar Odom scored 19 points, and Los Angeles beat Toronto in Kobe Bryant’s lowest-scoring game of the season.

Bryant sat out the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points for the Lakers, who put the game out of reach by outscoring Toronto 31-18 in the third quarter.

Bucks 88, 76ers 85: At Phildelphia, Andrew Bogut’s go-ahead putback with 10.7 seconds left capped a frantic fourth-quarter rally and helped Milwaukee beat Philadelphia for the third time this season.

Michael Redd scored 24 points, and Maurice Williams sank two clutch free throws in the final minute and scored 16 for the Bucks.

Nets 97, Bobcats 84: At Charlotte, N.C., Vince Carter scored 23 points to lead New Jersey over Charlotte.

The win was the 1,000th in franchise history for the Nets and improved them to 5-0 against the Bobcats. Charlotte, meanwhile, has dropped five straight.

Bulls 102, Magic 93: At Orlando, Fla., Jannero Pargo scored a season-high 23 points and Luol Deng had 22 to help Chicago beat Orlando to snap a two-game losing streak.

Filling in for injured teammate Kirk Hinrich, who sustained a concussion when he took an elbow to the face from Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki on Monday night, Pargo was 9 of 13, including 5 of 8 on 3-point attempts.

Celtics 101, Hornets 87: At Oklahoma City, Paul Pierce scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Ricky Davis added 26 points, and Boston never trailed in a victory over New Orleans.

Jazz 95, Hawks 83: At Salt Lake City, Andrei Kirilenko scored 14 points and matched his career high with 10 assists, and Utah ended a four-game home losing streak by beating woeful Atlanta.

Around the league

NBA players will not be allowed to take their drug tests during games, the league said Wednesday, a day after a Seattle’s Reggie Evans missed the first few minutes of the second half against the New York Knicks while being tested. But the league is changing when tests are allowed to avoid that situation.