NBA PLAYOFFS

Duncan gives Spurs a boost

SAN ANTONIO - The San Antonio Spurs rode 37-year-old Tim Duncan to victory - out of necessity.

They knew the Dallas Mavericks were not going to let them win with three-pointers, or with Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground.

That left it up to Duncan, who overcame a brief injury scare to score 27 points, leading the Spurs to a 90-85 victory in Game 1 of their firstround NBA playoff series at AT&T Center.

The Spurs, who trailed by 10 points with eight minutes to play, held Dallas to onefield goal in the final seven minutes.

The Mavericks’ lone field goal came with less than a second remaining.

San Antonio won despite going 3 for 17 on three-pointers.

“We got killed on threes in the first four outings this year,” Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki said. “It was no secret; we stayed home a little more on three-point shooters, but you’ve got to give them something, and Duncan in there is obviously still solid.”

Duncan, who banged knees with Monta Ellis in the third quarter, scored nine points on 4-for-5 shooting in the final quarter to help the Spurs overcome their deficit.

“Timmy, he’s not going to score 24 a game or anything like that,” San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s the base from which everything else occurs, whether he’s scoring or not. It just gives us a comfort level and a point from which to operate. He plays [defense], rebounds, scores here and there. He just does his job.”

Parker had 21 points, and Manu Ginobili added 17. Kawhi Leonard had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Tiago Splitter pulled down 11 rebounds for top-seeded San Antonio, which has won 10 consecutive against Dallas.

Devin Harris scored 19 points for the Mavericks, who nearly pulled off a huge upset.

The Spurs had insisted that what happens in the regular season doesn’t matter, and they were proven right for much of the game - much to the home fans’ dismay. Absent were the crisp passing, aggressive defense, bench scoring and three-point shooting that made for the league’s best record.

“It’s always tough to change gears from the regular season to the playoffs when you’re preparing for a team and they’re preparing for you specifically,” Duncan said.

San Antonio returned to its winning formula over the final seven minutes, taking an 86-81 lead with a 15-0 run. Splitter tied the game with five minutes remaining, rolling to the basket off a screen for an easy layup off a pass from Parker.

The All-Star point guard then drove the lane for a layup and drained a 13-foot jumper, which he punctuated with a loud scream after Dallas called timeout with 2:45 to go.

“I was able to push the ball and get some easy baskets,” Parker said. “It got our confidence going, so once again defensively, the stops that we made helped us offensively.”

Dallas had taken an 81-71 lead when Brandan Wright completed a three-point play with 7:45 remaining. The Mavericks proceeded to miss their next 12 shots and committed three turnovers.

“Defensively, we started making stops,” Ginobili said. “We were at a point where they were getting to the rim. They were making shots and nothing seemed to work for brief periods. There was a point where we were down 10 where we made a couple of steals. We ran, we got fouled, we got a couple of easy buckets, and that changed our mentality.”

Nowitzki, who finished with 11 points, was 2 for 6 from the field in the final quarter. The veteran forward was closely defended by Splitter.

“They’re not necessarily unbelievably athletic and long, but they are very smart,” Nowitzki said. “What they want to do defensively is take you out of your comfort zone.”HEAT 99, BOBCATS 88

MIAMI - LeBron James scored 27 points, Dwyane Wade added 23 and the Miami Heat used a late charge to beat the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Chris Bosh scored 13 points and James Jones had 12 for the Heat. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday.

Kemba Walker scored 20 points for the Bobcats, who led by nine early and led again in the third. Al Jefferson missed eight of his final 13 shots after getting hurt in the first quarter. He finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who got 17 from Gary Neal and 15 from Josh McRoberts.

Miami sealed it with an 18-4 run in the fourth, all but three of those points coming with James getting a rest.

WIZARDS 102, BULLS 93

CHICAGO - Nene dominated with 24 points, Trevor Ariza scored 18, and Washington rallied from 13 down to beat Chicago in their playoff opener.

John Wall scored 16 in his postseason debut. Marcin Gortat added 15 points and 13 rebounds, and the fifth-seeded Wizards pulled out the victory even though they looked like they were ready to be blown out.

They cut a 13-point deficit to one in the third and trailed by three going into the fourth, before outscoring Chicago 18-6 over the final six minutes to come out on top in their first playoff appearance since 2008.

Game 2 is Tuesday.

Gortat’s layup started the decisive run, and Trevor Ariza gave the Wizards an 88-87 lead when he hit a pair of free throws with 4:17 remaining. Jimmy Butler tied it for Chicago with one of his own, but a layup by Gortat and basket by Nene made it 92-88, and Washington hung on after Chicago’s Joakim Noah cut it to two on a tip-in with 2:11 left.

Gortat hit two free throws and added a jumper with 34 seconds left to make it a six-point game.

TRAIL BLAZERS 122, ROCKERS 120, OT

HOUSTON - LaMarcus Aldridge scored a franchise playoff-record 46 points and Damian Lillard added 31, including the go-ahead free throws in overtime, to lift Portland over Houston in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Aldridge fouled out with about a minute left in overtime and Lillard, who was making his playoff debut, took over. He scored the next five points for Portland and put the Trail Blazers on top by one point with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left.

Aldridge, who was playing in his home state, also had 18 rebounds and two blocks. James Harden and Dwight Howard each scored 27 points for Houston.

At a glance

SATURDAY’S GAMES Brooklyn 94, Toronto 87 Golden State 109, LA Clippers 105 Atlanta 101, Indiana 93 Oklahoma City 100, Memphis 86

SUNDAY’S GAMES San Antonio 90, Dallas 85

Dallas leads series 1-0 Miami 99, Charlotte 88

Miami leads series 1-0 Washington 102, Chicago 93

Washington leads series 1-0 Portland 122, Houston 120, OT

Portland leads series 1-0

TODAY’S GAMES All times Central

Memphis at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

Oklahoma City leads series 1-0

Golden State at LA Clippers, 9:30 p.m.

Golden State leads series 1-0

TUESDAY’S GAMES

Atlanta at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Atlanta leads series 1-0

Brooklyn at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Brooklyn leads series 1-0

Washington at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

Sports, Pages 13 on 04/21/2014

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