Mavericks win thriller, take 2-1 lead
Tim Duncan got the San Antonio Spurs in position to pull out a victory in Dallas.
Manu Ginobili nearly took them the rest of the way – until he fumbled a handoff from Robert Horry in the closing seconds.
The ball rolled across midcourt, then out of bounds, and the Spurs couldn’t make anything out of a wild last-gasp chance, letting Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks cling to a thrilling 104-103 victory Saturday night and a 2-1 lead in their second-round series.
“I don’t know what happened,” Ginobili said of the squandered chance. “Someone tipped the pass from Robert. It was an unfortunate play.”
It happened so fast that Mavs coach Avery Johnson credited Josh Howard for getting his fingers on it, but Howard credited Jason Terry and Devin Harris.
Harris took the credit, making him the star for a second straight game. He was a surprise starter in Game 2, when he scored 20 points and energized Dallas to a 22-point victory.
“I was able to get a hand in without fouling and got a little piece of the ball,” said Harris, who scored 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Nowitzki scored 21 of his 27 points from the foul line, including a go-ahead pair with 7.9 seconds left, and had 15 rebounds.
Nowitzki played the final 1:05 with a badly twisted ankle suffered on the play when Duncan fouled out with a season-high 35 points and 12 rebounds.
“(Nowitzki) came back out there and gutted it out,” Johnson said. “He knew we needed this game.”
As great as Duncan was – for the third straight game this series – he and the Spurs are going to have to be better.
They go into Game 4 Monday night trying to shake a strange fact: Since Duncan arrived, San Antonio has never won a series it trailed after three games. The last time the Spurs were behind this deep in the playoffs was the last one they lost, against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round two years ago.
“We’re going to have to come out and know the importance of this (next) game,” Duncan said. “It is a must-win for us.”
Cavaliers 86, Pistons 77: LeBron James wasn’t quite ready for his first taste of the NBA playoffs to end swiftly.
James scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and got his second triple-double of the postseason, leading Cleveland to a win over visiting Detroit and pulling the Cavaliers within 2-1 in their second-round series.
Getting his only rest at halftime, James finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and four steals for the Cavaliers, who played with more confidence than in Games 1 and 2 and ensured they will play at least two more games this season.
Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao added a career-high 16 points and Flip Murray, starting in place of Larry Hughes, had 13 for the Cavaliers, who were 11 of 15 from the floor and 9 of 9 from the line in the fourth.
Cleveland can even up the best-of-7 series at home in Game 4 Monday.
Richard Hamilton scored 22 points to lead Detroit.
Hughes remained with his grieving family and missed Game 3 following the death of his 20-year-old brother after a lifelong battle with heart problems.
Jazz in the red
On the last day of regular NBA play last month, the Utah Jazz reached a break-even record for the season.
Financially, however, they’re not even close. The team was more than $10 million in the red, according to owner Larry Miller.
Losses for the last two seasons combined approach $25 million, Miller said.