Parker Carries Spurs Over the Heat

Tony Parker scored a career-high 38 points, including a game-clinching jump shot with 38 seconds left, as the San Antonio Spurs rallied at Miami to beat the Heat, 101-94, Friday night.

“Big win, big win,” Parker said. “It’s very motivating to play against Miami. Obviously, it’s one of the best teams in the league and we ... wanted to try to play solid basketball. And that’s what we did tonight.”

The Spurs led by 15 in the third quarter, then had to escape a four-point deficit midway through the fourth to match their best 40-game start (31-9) in franchise history. San Antonio had the same record last season on the way to winning the NBA championship.

Parker made 13 of 18 shots from the field and surpassed his previous career best of 35 points.

“It was surprising how he shot the ball tonight, but he got in a zone there, got his rhythm down, came off and was real confident with his shot,” said Tim Duncan, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs. “He had an unbelievable night and he’s had an unbelievable year.”

Dwyane Wade scored 36 points for Miami (23-17). Shaquille O’Neal had 23 points and Jason Williams added 18 for Miami, which has lost eight of its last nine games against San Antonio.

“Tough loss, because this is another one of, I think, nine or 10 games we let slip away this year,” O’Neal said.

“We’re going to need these games. And Coach [Pat] Riley was right when he said we need to start making a push now. Not tomorrow. Not yesterday. Now.”

Philadelphia 89, Memphis 86 -- Allen Iverson made the tying jump shot with 3.2 seconds left in regulation and scored 30 points to lift the 76ers to an overtime victory over the Grizzlies at Memphis.

“This would have been a bad one to lose, man, because we did put our effort on defense,” Iverson said. “We did play one of the best defensive games that we played.”

The Sixers had allowed 100 points in four straight games, and only Seattle allows more points than their 102.9 average. But from the first quarter when Samuel Dalembert blocked three shots to overtime when he had two clutch blocks on Pau Gasol, defense led the way.

Houston 109, Chicago 108 -- Tracy McGrady scored 35 points, including the tying shot at the end of regulation and the go-ahead three-pointer in the second overtime, to lead the Rockets over the Bulls at Chicago.

After missing five games with back spasms, McGrady made a three-point shot with 42 seconds left in the second overtime to break a 106-106 tie.

McGrady was 13 for 29 as the Rockets (13-25) snapped a seven-game losing streak. Luol Deng led the Bulls (16-23) with 19 points.

Denver 113, Utah 83 -- Carmelo Anthony continued his surge with 31 points and the Nuggets beat the Jazz at home for their fourth straight win.

Anthony made 11 of 22 shots from the field and nine of 10 free throws. He is averaging 31.3 points in his last four games. Kenyon Martin added 16 points and six rebounds as Denver increased its lead to 1 1/2 games over the Jazz in the Northwest Division.

Devin Brown had 23 points for Utah, which has lost three of its last four.

Andrei Kirilenko had 11 points.

Golden State 99, Cleveland 79 -- Jason Richardson scored 22 points on his 25th birthday and the Warriors thrived without suspended guard Baron Davis, beating the lifeless Cavaliers at Oakland.

Mike Dunleavy scored 22 points and Troy Murphy added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who won their second straight following a five-game losing streak.Golden State held LeBron James to 14 points, matching his lowest total of the season, on five-of-22 shooting.

They also handed Cleveland its sixth straight loss.

Minnesota 90, Indiana 85 -- Eddie Griffin had 17 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks, and Wally Szczerbiak scored 20 points at home to lead the Timberwolves over the Pacers.

Kevin Garnett added 17 points and eight rebounds and Szczerbiak was 12 for 12 on free throws.

Fred Jones scored 19 points and Austin Croshere added 18 points and six rebounds for the Pacers, who desperately missed star forward Jermaine O’Neal.

Boston 99, New Jersey 96 -- Ricky Davis scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Celtics held on at Boston for a win over the Nets.

Paul Pierce had 25 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Boston.

Jason Kidd had 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Nets, who play host to the Celtics on Saturday night in their second matchup this season. Vince Carter added 20 points and Richard Jefferson 16.

Toronto 121, Seattle 113 -- Chris Bosh made a team-record 17 free throws without a miss and finished with 29 points to help the Raptors beat the SuperSonics at Seattle.

Toronto made 36 of 39 free throws (92.3%) and shot 50% (11 for 22) on three-pointers.

Washington 110, New Orleans 99 -- Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler each topped 20 points, as the Wizards pulled away from New Orleans at home.

Arenas finished with 33 points, giving him at least 30 in 19 of Washington’s 38 games. Butler scored 24, and Jamison added 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Orlando 104, Charlotte 93 -- Dwight Howard had 19 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, Hedo Turkoglu scored 24 points, and the Magic beat the injury-riddled Bobcats at Charlotte, N.C.

Already without Emeka Okafor (ankle), Kareem Rush (finger), Melvin Ely (ankle) and Sean May (knee surgery), the Bobcats lost leading scorer Gerald Wallace to a knee injury in the third quarter.

Milwaukee 118, Atlanta 102 -- Michael Redd scored 28 points, Bobby Simmons chipped in with 25 and the Bucks snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Hawks at Atlanta.

Salim Stoudamire led Atlanta with 23 points.