Spurs extend streak to 12

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the slumping New Jersey Nets, 93-77, Saturday night at San Antonio for their 12th consecutive victory.

Tony Parker led a balanced attack with 19 points, Tim Duncan had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Manu Ginobili had 12 points and Brent Barry 11.

The Nets have lost five in a row. Jason Kidd scored only seven points before he was ejected in the third quarter after picking up two technical fouls. Nets Coach Lawrence Frank was also ejected.

“Obviously, we didn’t see eye to eye with the officials,” Frank said. “The calls that went against us were hard to swallow because it was obvious that we had good intent.”

Bostjan Nachbar’s dunk with 8:20 left in the fourth quarter brought New Jersey to within nine points, and Vince Carter’s alley-oop slam 31 seconds later made it 74-67.

But Ginobili made a three-point basket and a rare dunk off a pass from Duncan for an 81-67 lead with 6:28 left. The Nets didn’t get closer than 12 after that.

Atlanta 99, Minnesota 93 -- Josh Smith scored a career-high 32 points to help the Hawks hand the Timberwolves their eighth consecutive loss and 11th in 12 road games. Kevin Garnett had 32 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Minnesota.

The lead changed hands seven times during the second half, but the Hawks never trailed after Salim Stoudamire fed Smith for a dunk that made it 84-83 with 5:58 remaining.

New York 90, Washington 89 -- Steve Francis made a three-point basket at the buzzer in Washington to complete a late comeback and lift the Knicks into a tie with Orlando for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Francis, who finished with 26 points, dribbled behind his back to get space and released the ball with about a second left on the clock.

Philadelphia 100, Indiana 96 -- The victory at Indianapolis was the seventh in a row for the 76ers, who handed the Pacers their eighth consecutive loss. It’s their longest losing streak since the 1988-1989 season.

Memphis 115, Charlotte 107 -- Pau Gasol had 31 points and 15 rebounds to help the Grizzlies end a six-game losing streak and win for only the fifth time in 33 road games. It was the eighth consecutive loss for the Bobcats.

Cleveland 94, Milwaukee 92 -- LeBron James had 32 points and nine assists, the last one to Anderson Varejao for the winning layup, and the Cavaliers rallied to beat the Bucks at Milwaukee. The Bucks lost their 12th in a row against Central Division teams

Utah 96, New Orleans 86 -- Mehmet Okur scored 29 points at Salt Lake City to help the Jazz improve to 8-2 since the All-Star break and win for the 14th time in 16 games.