Mavericks have Spurs reeling
The way the Dallas Mavericks are going, every team is going to start using two point guards.
New starter Devin Harris and backcourt incumbent Jason Terry hit big shots in a fourth-quarter rally, then showed off their speed and shooting in overtime, sending the Mavericks past the San Antonio Spurs 123-118 Monday night in Dallas to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their second-round series.
Dallas has won three in a row since Harris joined the starting lineup. Now the Mavs are one win from making the conference finals for the second time in four years and the third time in franchise history.
The Spurs shook up their lineup for a second straight game, but it wasn’t enough. Despite an early surge, the Mavs caught up by halftime and persevered down the stretch of another terrific game in a series that’s living up to expectations that have been building since December.
The reigning champion Spurs go into Game 5 on Wednesday night in a heap of trouble.
Since Tim Duncan joined the club in 1997, the Spurs are 0-5 when trailing this deep into a playoff series. They also haven’t won an elimination game to keep a series going; the only time they won when facing elimination was Game 7 of last year’s finals.
Terry scored 32 points and it’s hard to say which was his biggest – the 19-footer that put Dallas ahead with 23 seconds left in regulation; his driving layup at the start of overtime that put the Mavs ahead for good; or his two high-arching jumpers that protected the lead in the final two minutes.
The last one might’ve been the sweetest because it was over Duncan.
“We get into overtime, and we said we’re going to continue to push it and push it,” Terry said. “We got stops. We pushed it. We got lay-ups. And hey, we put ourselves in a good position to win the ballgame.”
Cavaliers 74, Pistons 72: At Cleveland, here’s the latest playoff guarantee: There will be a Game 6. And, who knows? Maybe even a Game 7.
Rasheed Wallace’s defiant prediction of a Detroit victory backfired when LeBron James scored 22 points and the Cavaliers beat the Pistons to even their second-round series at 2-2.
Following Detroit’s loss in Game 3, Wallace had pledged the Pistons would not only win Game 4, but that the Cavs would be playing in front of their fans for the last time this season. Well, Cleveland has at least one more at home after winning its second straight over the favored Eastern Conference champs.
•In the midst of the NBA playoffs, the Cavaliers will travel to St. Louis and attend the funeral today of Justin Hughes, 20, the brother of guard Larry Hughes. Justin Hughes died last week.
Knicks not commenting
Larry Brown may be on his way out of New York. Owner James Dolan is considering buying out Brown’s contract, the New York Post and Daily News reported Sunday. His possible replacement: team president Isiah Thomas, according to the Post.
“We have not commented on anything over the last two days,” Barry Watkins, senior vice president of communications for Madison Square Garden, said.