USA - Parker leads Spurs to victory over rivals

DALLAS (NBA) - Tony Parker helped the San Antonio Spurs make crucial plays as they rallied for a 97-91 win over the Dallas Mavericks in their season opener.

Resuming a raging rivalry in which the last meetings were the Western Conference semi-finals earlier this year, the Spurs gained a small measure of revenge for their excruciating loss in that series which ended their championship reign.

Parker scored 19 points for the Spurs, who sent an early message in the battle for supremacy in the Southwest Division and Western Conference.

"Obviously, we both wanted to win really bad," the Spurs' Argentina guard Manu Ginobili said. "After the great series we had last year, it's obviously a special game."

The conference semi-finals went to seven games, with San Antonio close to a remarkable comeback from 3-1 down when German star Dirk Nowitzki made the decisive play for Dallas.

It was one of the best play-off series in league history, and the teams picked up right where they left off with chippy play and another close contest.

"It was a hard-fought game. I thought both teams played pretty well," Spurs superstar Tim Duncan said. "I don't think either one of us is going to claim we played a great game, but we found a way to fight and tough it out."

The Spurs trailed, 75-72, but took the lead as the Mavericks missed their first seven shots of the final period. A basket by Parker gave San Antonio an 80-75 lead with 8:27 to play.

Dallas closed to 85-84 on two free throws and a floater by Josh Howard, who scored 20 points. Team USA's Bruce Bowen responded with a three-pointer from the right side with 2:18 left.

Nowitzki made a fadeaway, and the Mavericks had a couple of chances to tie. But Nowitzki missed an open jumper and Jason Terry missed a three-pointer before Duncan followed in a miss for a 90-86 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

After Nowitzki missed a lane jumper, Ginobili made a free throw and deflected the ball off Jerry Stackhouse and out of bounds. Parker made four of six free throws in the final 34 seconds to seal it.

Ginobili scored 16 points, Bowen added 13 and free agent signee Francisco Elson 12 as the Spurs compensated for a sub-par game by Duncan. The two-time MVP managed 13 points on just five of 13 shooting, adding 10 rebounds.

Nowitzki had 21 points and 11 rebounds but made just one basket in the fourth quarter. Terry scored 14 points and off-season acquisition Austin Croshere added 12.

"It's big. It's a huge rivalry. It's no secret now," Terry said. "You know when the Mavs face the Spurs, it's going to be a good ballgame. Tonight was no different. We just came out on the losing end."

In Los Angeles, Sam Cassell was the main man with 35 points to lift the Clippers to a narrow 96-95 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Off-season acquisition Tim Thomas added 21 points and sank a trio of three-pointers in the last three minutes for the Clippers, who ended their eight-game losing streak in home openers, which was the longest in the NBA.

"This kind of win we are going to need later down the stretch," Thomas said. "It goes a long way and gives us confidence to know that you can get it done in those crucial times."

Los Angeles erased a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to take a 94-93 lead on a three-pointer by Thomas with 36 seconds to go.

Following an empty possession by the Nuggets, Cassell stumbled trying to bait the referee into a foul call against JR Smith.

Cassell lost the ball as he was pivoting to pick up his dribble, allowing Smith to go in uncontested for a two-handed slam with just 18 seconds remaining. Smith had 21 points in his Denver debut.

On the ensuing possession, Cassell induced France youth international Yakhouba Diawara into a foul and calmly drained a pair of free throws, giving Los Angeles a 96-95 lead.

Marcus Camby collected 16 points and 18 rebounds and Earl Boykins and Carmelo Anthony - who was ejected for tossing his headband in the direction of an official in the third quarter - both added 15 points for the Nuggets.

Brazilian Nene, who missed almost all of last season with a knee injury, added 10 points off the bench for Denver.

PA Sport