Spurs Beat Pacers, 89-88, in Overtime

It was supposed to be Tony Parker’s shot, but the ball instead ended up in Hedo Turkoglu’s hands. The result couldn’t have been better.

Turkoglu made a three-pointer with two-tenths of a second remaining to force overtime, and then made two baskets in the extra period to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 89-88 home victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

“It was like an Ali-Frazier matchup,” said Spur Coach Gregg Popovich, whose team won their fourth straight and 17th in the last 18 games. “They are the best team we’ve played.”

Down 81-78 with 3.9 seconds remaining in regulation, the Spurs took the ball out just past half court. Turkoglu inbounded to Tim Duncan, who touch-passed the ball back.

Turkoglu took one dribble, gave Indiana’s Jamaal Tinsley a head fake and then launched the high-arcing three-pointer that sent the game to overtime.

The play “wasn’t for me -- actually it was for Tony Parker,” he said. “But [Tinsley] switched on me and we didn’t have time.”

Washington 94, Philadelphia 87 -- Wizard guard Larry Hughes scored a season-high 43 points at Washington, leading the NBA’s second-worst team to a rare victory.

Hughes scored 28 points in the first half, shouldering the load by necessity after the pregame news that Gilbert Arenas would be sidelined three to six weeks after re-aggravating an abdominal injury.

New York 94, Milwaukee 88 -- The Knicks, playing at home, ended their losing streak at four games and might have saved Coach Don Chaney’s job.

Kurt Thomas had a season-high 28 points and 16 rebounds, Allan Houston scored 26, Stephon Marbury had 14 points and 11 assists and Penny Hardaway added 14 points off the bench.

Milwaukee’s five-game winning streak was broken.

Minnesota 83, Miami 77 -- Kevin Garnett had 28 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who earned a tough home victory over the short-handed Heat. Sam Cassell had 18 points for the Timberwolves, who have won eight consecutive games at home and 15 of their last 18 overall.

Brian Grant had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Lamar Odom chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who dropped to 4-16 on the road and 1-9 on the road against the West.

Chicago 89, New Orleans 84 -- Jamal Crawford scored 20 points, Eddy Curry had 19 for the Bulls at home. Hornets’ guard Baron Davis scored 29 points, 14 in the fourth quarter.

Chicago used a 20-4 run in the second quarter to pull away.

Utah 92, Atlanta 71 -- DeShawn Stevenson scored 17 points at Salt Lake City, earning Coach Jerry Sloan his 800th victory with the Jazz. Sloan’s career record improved to 894-538 as the Jazz took control in the third quarter. Sloan, who also coached Chicago for parts of three seasons, missed Utah’s last two games to be with his wife, Bobbye, after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Jazz forward Matt Harpring, the team’s leading scorer, expects to have surgery on his ailing right knee and could sit out the rest of the regular season.

Golden State 113, Seattle 110 -- Cliff Robinson scored five consecutive points in overtime and made a career-best six three-pointers on the way to a season-high 28 points for the Warriors at Oakland.

Jason Richardson added 25 points and 10 rebounds, scoring nine points in the fourth quarter before Ray Allen made a driving lay-in with 10 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Nick Van Exel missed a short baseline jumper just before the buzzer sounded.

But Van Exel scored six of his 13 points in overtime.