Sunday, March 21, 2010

SAN ANTONIO (AP) The Golden State Warriors have lost 24 consecutive times in San Antonio, but they've never seen anything here like this.

Making his move: Boston's Paul Pierce drives past Houston's Trevor Ariza in the first quarter on Friday night. The Celtics beat the Rockets 94-87. AP PHOTO

Ditto for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Scoring the most points in a game in nearly 20 years, the Spurs throttled the Golden State Warriors 147-116 on Friday night in the most points scored under Popovich since he took over in 1996. Manu Ginobili scored 23 points, and Richard Jefferson had 21 for the Spurs, who've won nine of their last 11.

"The win is more important than the points," San Antonio guard George Hill said.

It was nonetheless impressive.

Not since a 140-91 win against Dallas to open the 1991-92 season had the Spurs scored so many points in a single game.

Monta Ellis scored 39 points for the Warriors, who haven't won in San Antonio since Valentine's Day in 1997 and whose defense was dreadful even by their NBA-worst standards. The Spurs shot 65 percent from the field and flirted with eclipsing 70 before emptying their bench for the entire fourth quarter.

San Antonio's Tim Duncan had 17 points on 8-of-8 shooting, but most importantly played just 14 minutes.

Cavs 92, Bulls 85

In Chicago, LeBron James became the youngest player to score 15,000 career points, breaking Kobe Bryant's mark by about two years, as Cleveland pulled away late to beat the Bulls for its 12th win in 13 games.

Bucks 114, Kings 108 (2OT)

In Sacramento, Milwaukee rookie star Brandon Jennings scored 35 points, hit a career-high eight 3-pointers and added eight assists.

Suns 110, Jazz 100

In Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire scored the first 11 points for the Suns en route to a season-high 44 and Phoenix led all the way in a victory over Utah that pulled it within a game of the Jazz for fourth place in the West.

Hawks 93, Bobcats 92 (OT)

In Atlanta, Joe Johnson sank a fallaway jump shot over three Charlotte defenders just before time expired for the Hawks.

Trail Blazers 76, Wizards 74

In Portland, Brandon Roy rebounded from a cold spell to hit a 6.7-meter jumper with 0.9 seconds left and the Trail Blazers beat Washington.

Roy, who averaged 27 points last week as the Western Conference player of the week, finished with 14 points for Portland, which has won five straight.

Celtics 94, Rockets 87

In Houston, Paul Pierce scored 26 points, and Ray Allen hit five 3-pointers and had 19 points as Boston snapped the Rockets' winning streak at four games.

Thunder 115, Raptors 89

In Toronto, Kevin Durant scored 31 points and Jeff Green had 25 to lead Oklahoma City past the Raptors for its sixth victory in seven games.

Knicks 92, 76ers 88

In New York, Toney Douglas scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter to rally the short-handed Knicks past Philadelphia.

Pacers 106, Pistons 102

In Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 29 points in his return from a cheek injury and Troy Murphy added 20 points as Indiana beat Detroit.

Lakers 104, Timberwolves 96

In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant had 22 points and a season-high 13 assists, leading the Lakers to a victory over Minnesota and sending the Timberwolves to their 12th consecutive loss.

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Shiga Lakestars standout Masashi Joho is the subject of Ed Odeven's latest Hoop Scoop column, featured exclusively on The Japan Times' Web site.

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