Nets Defeat Spurs, but Now Must Wait

The All-Star break could not have come at a worse time for the New Jersey Nets.

After posting a season-high third consecutive victory, it’s now time for a vacation.

Stephon Marbury scored 38 points and Johnny Newman added a season-high 25 points as the Nets defeated San Antonio, 99-97, on Thursday night at East Rutherford, N.J., ending the Spurs’ eight-game winning streak.

“I wish the All-Star game was canceled,” Net Coach Byron Scott said. “We could bring in L.A. [Lakers] and play tomorrow.”

In a season beset with injuries, Scott has to be a little excited at this point. New Jersey (17-34), which plays host to the Lakers on Tuesday, is finally getting healthy. Keith Van Horn and Jaime Feick are back in the lineup and the winning streak has moved the Nets within six games of the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with 31 games left.

“I’d trade the All-Star game in a heartbeat if we could keep going like this and put together a run that would take us to the playoffs,” said Marbury, who will be making his first All-Star appearance Sunday in Washington.

San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and David Robinson, who will join Marbury in the All-Star game, almost ended the Nets’ winning streak.

After helping the Spurs rally from an 18-point first-half deficit, Duncan and Robinson nearly forced an overtime.

San Antonio had three shots to tie the game in the final 12 seconds. Robinson missed a drive across the lane with about two seconds left and Duncan, who missed four crucial free throws in the final 5:05, had the tip fall off the rim just before the buzzer.

“I don’t know how it came out,” Duncan said. “I tipped it right down. I was right at the rim and I thought it was in.

Duncan finished with 35 points and 21 rebounds. Robinson added 22 points and nine rebounds.

Toronto 99, Denver 92--Vince Carter scored 31 points and Keon Clark had 15 and five blocks against his former team as the Raptors rallied from a 14-point deficit at Toronto and won their second in a row.

Nick Van Exel had 25 points and nine assists for the Nuggets, who have lost three in a row.

Charlotte 101, Atlanta 84--David Wesley scored 27 points as the Hornets ended their four-game losing streak with a victory over the Hawks at Charlotte, N.C.

Baron Davis had 18 points and nine assists for Charlotte. Elden Campbell added 13, and Eddie Robinson had 11.

Houston 103, Detroit 90--Cuttino Mobley scored 18 of his 29 points in the first quarter at Auburn Hills, Mich., as the Rockets improved to 14-3 against Eastern Conference teams.

Maurice Taylor added 22 points, Steve Francis finished with 19 and Hakeem Olajuwon had 17 points and eight rebounds as Houston won its third in a row.