NBA Scores And More: Spurs A Breath Too Late Against Mavs, Heat Hold On Against Bulls

The Spurs bench was more active, moved the ball quicker and, most importantly, made their shots where the starters couldn’t get as much to fall. At the apex of their run, up nine with five and a half minutes to go, the fatigue of having to make a run of that nature was starting to show.

Dallas, meanwhile, was working Dirk back and, while Nowitzki did collect 13 rebounds in his 37 minutes, his shot was just a bit off, managing only 10 points on 5-14 shooting. The crux of the Mavericks’ production, especially in the second half, fell on Terry’s shooting touch. Terry outscored his teammates 22-18 in the second half, driving inside to score and making tremendous shots of curl routes around screens.

Billups scored a season-high 32 points Sunday night in his return to the Mile High City to help lead the Clippers to a thrilling 109-105 victory. In the final three minutes, he made a three-pointer (his sixth of the game) to tie the score at 99, and seconds later converted a traditional three-point play to give the Clippers a 102-99 lead. Then with 18 seconds left and the Clippers clinging to a two point lead, he drew a charge from Nene to seal the win. The Denver crowd, so used to seeing Billups’ clutch play work in their favor, could only moan in disbelief.

This was a crucial road win for the Clippers, who had previously won only a single game away from home. The win boosts L.A.‘s overall record to 11-6, while Denver drops to 14-6, 7-3 at home.

The Lakers had complete control of the game for most of the night, but they did create some excitement down the stretch. In fact, LA trailed for a total of 26 seconds and never by more than two points, but those rare Minnesota leads came in the fourth quarter after the Lakers blew an 18-point third-quarter lead. Pau carried the team early with 14 of his 28 points coming in the first quarter, then Kobe hit four threes in the third quarter (on his way to a game-high 35-points and 15 rebounds) to help grow the advantage to double-digits.

The Lakers improved to 2-7 on the road and 12-9 overall, while the Timberwolves fell to 5-7 at home and 9-11 on the season. To put the loss into perspective for Minnesota, consider this little nugget from the game preview at Canis Hoopus, which is unfortunately still just as relevant after the game:

Rose had a big game overall, scoring 34 points with six assists and six rebounds, but shot just 11-28 from the floor and 0-4 on three-pointers. Rose took 14 free throws overall; the only two he missed were those in the final minute.

The game was remarkably even. The margin in each quarter was three points or fewer, and while Miami picked up a few brief double-digit leads and never trailed, it always seemed as if the game would come down a few possessions late, as it did.