Spurs Hold Off Rockets' Late Surge

Spurs Hold Off Rockets' Late Surge
Tracy McGrady made some key shots as the Houston Rockets were rallying from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The San Antonio Spurs answered back each time. Tim Duncan had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Tony Parker added 17 points, helping the Spurs hold off the Rockets 86-80 on Thursday night.


"We just have to make sure that we don't make mistakes in the fourth quarter like we did tonight," Parker said.

After Juwan Howard's layup cut Houston's deficit to 64-52 with 2:58 left in the third quarter, San Antonio scored the next eight points to stretch their lead to 20. Robert Horry scored the last six points of the run, capped by a pair of free throws for a 72-52 lead with 11:19 remaining.

However, the Rockets scored six straight points to cut the deficit to 14 on David Wesley's jumper with 9:43 left, and McGrady's first 3-pointer made it 75-66 with just over 5 minutes remaining.

Horry followed with a 3 that pushed the Spurs' lead back to 12 with 3:50 left. Just 41 seconds later, McGrady's second 3 pulled the Rockets within 78-71.

"(McGrady) scares me from the time I get up in the morning until the game ends," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's done it game after game after game. ... He's confident. He single-handedly brought them back."

In the only other games, it was: Minnesota 109, Washington 98; and Dallas 87, Atlanta 78.

After Parker's jumper gave San Antonio a nine-point lead, McGrady's three-point play cut it to six with 2:24 remaining. Manu Ginobili, who had 15 points and four steals, and Parker each hit two free throws push the Spurs' lead to 84-74 with 1:46 left.

Houston didn't get closer than seven until Luther Head's 3 with 15 seconds remaining finished the scoring.

"I'm just happy we got a win," said Horry, who had 16 points.

McGrady led Houston with a game-high 27 points and 12 rebounds, but was held to 0-7 shooting in the first half. Yao Ming had 19 points, but just one in the second half.

San Antonio, which shot 46 percent compared to Houston's 38.9 percent, dominated on defense and inside, scoring 52 points in the paint.

"They are just better than us right now," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "There are some things we need to do better to get to that level they are at right now. ... They just dominated us going to the basket tonight. They drove by us at will and pick and rolled us to death."

McGrady credited the Spurs' Bruce Bowen, who guarded him most of the night, in helping stop the surge.

"Facing a guy like Bruce Bowen, you just have to try to block everything out and concentrate on the moment," McGrady said. "That's a tough night of work. He's one of the premier defenders in this league and on a fresh night, he's going to make your night miserable."

Mavericks 87, Hawks 78

Josh Howard had 25 points and five blocked shots, and Dirk Nowitzki added 20 points and 13 rebounds, helping host Dallas extend Atlanta's season-opening losing streak to eight games.

Keith Van Horn added 14 points for the Mavericks, who improved to 3-0 at home and 6-2 overall.

Zaza Pachulia led the Hawks with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Atlanta and the Toronto Raptors are the league's only winless teams — both at 0-8.

Timberwolves 109, Wizards 98

Kevin Garnett had 25 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, and Richie Frahm hit key shots in the fourth quarter, as Minnesota beat visiting Washington to snap a two-game losing streak.

Wally Szczerbiak scored 17 points, and Frahm and Troy Hudson added 16. Six Timberwolves players scored in double figures.

Gilbert Arenas had 33 points and Caron Butler added 15 for Washington, which has lost two straight. The Wizards had five players in double figures.