Nowitzki Out, but Mavericks Still Roll

Dirk Nowitzki didn’t play Saturday night, but he vows he will before the regular season ends.

“I’ll definitely play Tuesday and Wednesday for sure and hopefully be ready for the playoffs,” Nowitzki said after his Dallas Mavericks rolled over the Seattle SuperSonics, 116-99, at Seattle.

Even with Nowitzki missing his third consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle, the Mavericks looked like a team that was ready to challenge for the NBA title.

Michael Finley scored 29 points and Nick Van Exel had 22 for the Mavericks in a matchup of possible first-round playoff opponents.

If the Mavericks (55-24) win the Midwest Division and the SuperSonics (44-36) finish No. 7 in the Western Conference, they’ll meet in an opening round best-of-five playoff series.

Utah 109, Golden State 101--John Stockton had 26 points and nine assists as the Jazz moved into a tie for seventh place in the Western Conference, with a victory at Oakland.

The Jazz and the SuperSonics both have 44-36 records, but Utah took three of four from Seattle for the tiebreaker edge.

Denver 98, Phoenix 94--Voshon Lenard scored 28 points and Donnell Harvey had 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets won at Denver.

Denver has won five in a row at home and took the season series (3-1) from Phoenix for first time since 1995-96.

Detroit 124, Chicago 106--Chucky Atkins scored 20 of his season-high 26 points in the first half as the Pistons defeated the Bulls at Chicago.

Atkins’ 15-footer in the first quarter sparked an 11-3 run that gave Detroit a 31-23 lead, and the Pistons never trailed again.

San Antonio 113, Memphis 92--Tim Duncan scored 30 points and Malik Rose had a season-high 26 as the Spurs won at Memphis, Tenn.

The Grizzlies allowed the Spurs to score 44 points in the first quarter, the most ever against the franchise--including its time in Vancouver.

Atlanta 128, Cleveland 123--Jason Terry had 43 points, including a tying three-pointer with less than a second left in regulation, and the Hawks rallied to defeat the Cavaliers in double overtime at Atlanta.