Spurs fall short, suffer rare defeat at home

Earl Watson hit a 14-foot fadeaway jumper with 17 seconds left and Shane Battier made a steal on the final play to give the Memphis Grizzlies an 84-82 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night in San Antonio.

The Spurs lost for only the second time in 26 home games this season, while the Grizzlies snapped a four-game losing streak.

Watson’s basket over Tony Parker gave Memphis an 81-77 lead, but Manu Ginobili then drove down the middle for a layup.

After two free throws by the Grizzlies’ James Posey, Ginobili made a 3-pointer on the left wing to make it 83-82 with 6.5 seconds remaining.

Brian Cardinal was fouled on the Memphis inbounds play, and he made one of two foul shots with 3.9 seconds left.

On San Antonio’s last-chance play, Brent Barry inbounded to Ginobili, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth.

Ginobili squared-up on Battier and started to make a move, but Battier reached in and slapped the ball away and grabbed it as time ran out.

Lorenzen Wright led Memphis with 19 points, Mike Miller had 12 and Watson 11.

Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 27 points and 19 rebounds, while Parker had 16 points.

Suns 124, Mavericks 123: At Dallas, Joe Johnson hit a 16-foot jumper with 4.7 seconds left, then Shawn Marion blocked Dirk Nowitzki from behind on a driving layup, giving Phoenix a thrilling victory over the Mavericks.

Johnson’s jumper over newly acquired Keith Van Horn capped a 7-0 run over the final 1:46. Then Nowitzki appeared headed for the winner when Marion flew in behind him and swatted at the ball as the 7-foot German held it over his head. The ball went into the rim and Marion grabbed it, securing the victory and ending Dallas’ six-game winning streak, its longest of the season. The Mavs also lost for the first time this season when taking a lead into the fourth quarter; they had been 28-0 in those situations.

The Suns won their second straight without point guard Steve Nash (strained left hamstring) and again scored above their league-leading season average without him. When he missed three games earlier this season, Phoenix lost them all and averaged just 87.3 points.

Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 33 points and 10 rebounds. Quentin Richardson scored 26 and Marion added 25 and 13 rebounds.

Jason Terry, who was scoreless in 15 minutes his previous game, led Dallas with 27 points and seven assists. Nowitzki had 26 points, 16 rebounds and five assists.

Knicks 90, Pacers 79: At New York, Stephon Marbury scored 21 points to lead New York past Indiana for its second straight victory.

Jamal Crawford added 17 points, and Kurt Thomas had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Knicks, who won consecutive games for the first time since taking the final three in December.

Jermaine O’Neal led the Pacers, who had a five-game winning streak end, with 24 points.

Bulls 94, Bobcats 90: At Charlotte, N.C., Ben Gordon got knocked down by good friend Emeka Okafor, picked himself up, and sank a 3-pointer that sealed Chicago’s victory over the Bobcats.

Okafor and Gordon, roommates at Connecticut while leading the Huskies to the national title last year and the Nos. 2 and 3 picks in the NBA draft, are battling each other for the Rookie of the Year honors this season.

Okafor won the statistical fight with 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead Charlotte.

But Gordon, who scored 11 points, had the big basket to win the game.