USA - Ginobili inspired as Spurs down the Jazz

NEW YORK (NBA) - Argentina international Manu Ginobili continued to make San Antonio a house of horrors for the Utah Jazz on Friday.

Ginobili scored 25 points and Tim Duncan added 20 and 14 rebounds as the Spurs notched their 16th straight home win against the Jazz with a 102-93 victory.

France skipper Tony Parker collected 23 points and 11 assists for San Antonio, which last lost on its home floor to Utah on February 28, 1999, when it played in the Alamodome.

Carlos Boozer added 18 and 10 rebounds and Mehmet Okur collected 16 and 11 for Utah.

In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki showed the injury-riddled New York Knicks why he may win the MVP this season. But Josh Howard may be the Dallas Mavericks' most important piece.

Germany star Nowitzki scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and Howard saved the game with an acrobatic block on the final possession as the Mavericks set a franchise-wins record with a 105-103 victory over the Knicks.

Howard had 20 points and eight rebounds for Dallas (61-11), which holds a seven-game lead over  Phoenix (54-18) for the top spot in the Western Conference.

Superstar Kobe Bryant had his offensive game going, but his two mental mistakes cost the Los Angeles Lakers dearly.

Bryant reached the 50-point plateau for the fifth time in seven games, but his two late blunders gave the Houston Rockets a 107-104 overtime triumph over the Lakers.

China's Yao Ming collected 39 points and 11 rebounds and fellow All-Star Tracy McGrady had 30 points and 10 assists for Houston, which has only lost twice in its last 13 games.

A nine-time All-Star, Bryant scored 53 points to finish the month of March with a 40.4 average - the first NBA player since Wilt Chamberlain to achieve the feat.

Bryant shot 19-of-44 from the field, including three of nine on three-pointers, and made 12-of-14 free throws.

Lamar Odom had 16 points, 17 rebounds and four steals for Los Angeles, which shot 40% (36-of-88) from the field and scored 17 second-chance points.

Lights-out shooting by the Seattle SuperSonics turned out the lights on the Memphis Grizzlies.

Nick Collison scored 22 points and Rashard Lewis added 21 as the SuperSonics posted their third straight win, a 120-93 triumph over the Grizzlies.

Johan Petro scored a career-high 22 points and Luke Ridnour had 13 and 12 assists for Seattle, which shot 58% (47-of-81) from the field and posted its largest margin of victory in the all-time series between the teams.

Hakim Warrick scored 26 points and rookie Tarence Kinsey added 20 for the Grizzlies, who were trying for their first three-game winning streak of the season.

Playing against his former team, Jason Hart helped the Los Angeles Clippers finally post a win in California's capital.

Hart had 16 points and seven assists and Cuttino Mobley added 26 points as the Clippers snapped a 17-game road losing streak against the Sacramento Kings with a 105-101 victory.

With his Phoenix Suns teammates trailing by a double-digit margin, Shawn Marion decided to take over.

Marion scored 22 of his 33 points in the second half as the Suns rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 125-108.

Raja Bell and reserve Leandro Barbosa each had 19 points and current two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash added 18 and 11 assists for Phoenix (54-18), which maintained its two-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs (52-20) for the second best record in the Western Conference.

Amare Stoudemire scored 12 points and James Jones added 10 off the bench for Phoenix, which shot 55% (49-of-89) and has beaten Denver 15 of the last 19 meetings here.

Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points and grabbed 10 boards and Allen Iverson added 26 points for the Nuggets (35-36).

Grant Hill scored 22 points and Trevor Ariza added 17 off the bench as the Orlando Magic continue to move toward the post-season with a 95-87 triumph over the reeling Indiana Pacers.

Playing short-handed, the Miami Heat used a balanced scoring attack and strong defense against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Udonis Haslem led five players in double figures with 19 points and added 14 rebounds as the Heat posted a 92-77 victory over the sinking Timberwolves.

Eddie Jones scored 18 points and James Posey added 16 for Miami (39-33).

The Detroit Pistons brought out the broom against the New Jersey Nets and Chauncey Billups helped push it.

Billups collected 32 points and 14 assists and Rasheed Wallace added 22 points and three steals as the Pistons completed a season-series sweep over the New Jersey Nets with a 110-105 victory.

Rookie Walter Herrmann and the Charlotte Bobcats finally got over the hump against Michael Redd and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Herrmann scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds and the Bobcats used a big third quarter to post a 97-81 win over the Bucks.

Gerald Wallace added 24 points and Emeka Okafor scored 11 with 12 rebounds in just his second game back after missing the previous 15 with an injured calf for the Bobcats.

With their captain watching from the bench, the Boston Celtics missed a chance to win their third straight game. Paul Pierce missed the game with a sore elbow as the Celtics committed 24 turnovers in an 88-82 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Finally in Washington, Morris Peterson drained a desperation heave as time expired in regulation and Chris Bosh scored eight of his 37 points in overtime as the Toronto Raptors posted an improbable 123-118 victory over the Washington Wizards.

All-Star Bosh shot 15-of-24 from the field and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Washington's Gilbert Arenas scored 34 points on just nine of 29 shooting.

Jamie Strickland
FIBA