NBA Capsules: Spurs beat Hornets for 3rd straight win

SAN ANTONIO — By the standards of this underachieving season for the San Antonio Spurs, coach Gregg Popovich said even back-to-back wins is something of an accomplishment.

Don’t look now, but the Spurs have won three straight.

Tony Parker scored 20 points and the Spurs extended their longest winning streak in nearly two months, beating New Orleans 102-91 on Friday night to sweep the season series from the Hornets for the second time in four seasons.

Popovich said Parker likely won’t fully recover from a nagging ankle and sore hip until this summer, and that his point guard is in no shape to play 38 minutes. But Parker did play 30 against the Hornets, shooting 8 of 12 of the floor and handing out six assists.

"It’s a real double-edge sword," Popovich said. "He’s got to work to get in shape, but at the same time, he can’t exacerbate the ankle or the hip situation."

Manu Ginobili had 16 points and Keith Bogans scored 15 for the Spurs. San Antonio is on its longest winning streak since January and turn around Saturday to face Memphis, which are also trying to catch the Spurs for a playoff spot.

New Orleans, meanwhile, keeps tumbling from the playoff picture.

Rookie Darren Collison had 32 points for the Hornets, including 16 in the fourth quarter. But the Hornets still dropped their fourth straight, their longest skid of the season.

"These last four games that we’ve been losing has nothing to do with our offense. It has everything to do with our defense," Collison said. "I thought our effort was there today, I just thought they hit some shots."

Collison had his second 30-night game in four games, and didn’t miss any of his seven shots in the fourth quarter.

Marcus Thornton had 18 points for the Hornets, but left in the fourth after taking a hard fall. He was diagnosed with an upper back strain and did not return, and was to be re-evaluated Saturday.

Losing for the sixth time in seven games, the Hornets (31-32) fell under .500 for the first time since Jan. 2 and fell 5½ games behind Portland for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Climbing back won’t be easy. Still stuck without Chris Paul — who has watched his team go 6-11 since injuring his left knee — the Hornets have only seven of their remaining 19 games against losing teams.

David West had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets.

"I just don’t think we’re in a rhythm as a team," West said. "These games are being decided in three or four minute stretches. In those stretches we just have to play better."

Tim Duncan had 12 points and rookie DeJuan Blair had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, who had all their starters in double figures. Matt Bonner added another 12 off the bench.

Like the Hornets, the Spurs can relate to a tough final stretch: 17 of their remaining 23 are against winning teams, and San Antonio has just eight left at home. But the Spurs are also trying to balance resting Duncan for the playoffs while trying to ensure they’ll make it there.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before the game that March is a month where if they can find Duncan some rest, "they’ll do it." Unexpectedly, the 33-year-old has held up much better than Parker.

So has Ginobili, who Popovich said has seemed to gotten some of his old lift and quickness back.

Ginobili agrees.

"I feel like I can outsmart players and the shots are finally falling a little more," Ginobili said. "Honestly, I can’t complain right now. I’m feeling good."

NOTES: Thornton set the Hornets rookie record for 3-pointers in a season with 82, besting J.R. Smith’s former mark of 81. ... The Spurs still have more than a week to bring their roster to the NBA-minimum 13 players after waiving Michael Finley, who signed with Boston on Friday.

Nowitzki, Beaubois lead Mavericks past Kings

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks’ season-high winning streak has reached 10, and there’s not a blowout in the bunch.

This time, they needed a big game off the bench from rookie Roddy Beaubois to keep the streak alive.

Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points and 12 rebounds, Beaubois added a career-high 22 points, and the Mavericks extended the longest active streak in the league with a 108-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.

Beaubois went 9 for 14 from the field and 3 for 6 on 3-pointers in 24-plus minutes, stepping up in the absence of the team’s No. 2 scorer, Jason Terry.

"We really wanted to win this one because of (Terry) being out," said Beaubois, the 25th overall pick of the draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder before the native of Guadeloupe was traded to Dallas. "I really tried to be aggressive. We needed everyone to push themselves."

Terry, who averages 17 points a game, is expected to miss 10-14 days following Friday’s surgery to repair facial injuries sustained in Wednesday night’s win over Minnesota.

The team’s confidence is Beaubois is growing.

"Roddy did a great job for us being that energy plug that (Terry) usually is and hitting some big shots," Nowitzki said.

Dallas has only two double-digit victories during the current streak, 10-point wins over Phoenix and Orlando. The rest have gone down to the wire.

"When you’re on a streak like this, everybody’s gunning for you, everybody wants to be the team to take you down," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who was ejected in the second quarter. "So you’re going to get everybody’s best game. We’ve had some slow starts, but it’s something we’ve been able to overcome many times."

Carl Landry had 21 points, and Beno Udrih and Tyreke Evans each added 20 for the Kings, who’d won three of their previous four.

After trailing by as many as 10 in the first half, Dallas closed the third quarter with a 9-1 run with the help of Shawn Marion’s back-to-back baskets, building an 85-72 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes.

The Kings got as close as 102-100 with 1:36 remaining on Evans’ layup.

Sacramento had a chance to draw even, but Caron Butler stole the ball from a driving Evans, leading to two free throws from Nowitzki with 51 seconds left.

"We cut it to two and Tyreke drove to the basket, but he didn’t get the call," Sacramento coach Paul Westphal said. "I’m not saying it was a foul, I’m saying he didn’t get the call. (The Mavericks) did what veteran teams do, they put us away."

Nowitzki and Jason Kidd each converted two foul shots over the final 21.5 seconds to seal the victory. Kidd had 17 points and 12 assists.

Nowitzki has been successful on all 17 fourth-quarter free-throw attempts in the last two games.

Carlisle was tossed by referee Bob Delaney after picking up two quick technicals while protesting a no-call on a drive by Nowitzki.

Assistant coach Dwane Casey took over for Carlisle with Dallas trailing 43-33, and the Mavericks went on a 19-10 run over the remainder of the second quarter.

Asked if he communicated with Casey during the game, Carlisle laughed and said, "No notes, no text messages. That would be illegal."

Sacramento held a 53-52 halftime lead, despite Beaubois’ 16-point second quarter.

The Mavericks have won the last 12 meetings with the Kings in Texas, and have taken 13 of the last 15 matchups.

"Out of 48 minutes, we had probably 43 or 44 that were good enough to win," Westphal said. "The biggest difference was that we turned it over 17 times (leading to 24 points for Dallas)."

NOTES: In addition to Terry, the Mavericks are without C Erick Dampier (dislocated right middle finger) and F Tim Thomas (personal reasons). Starting C Brendan Haywood left after the first quarter with lower-back tightness and did not return. ... The Mavericks clinched their 10th consecutive season over .500. ...Dallas had winning streaks of as long as 17 games during the 2006-07 season. ... Kidd was back in the lineup after he was rested for Wednesday night’s game. ... F Jason Thompson (back) and Jon Brockman (sprained right knee ligament) are closing in on returns for the Kings. ... Kidd had his 21st double-double of the season. ... Carlisle was ejected for the second time of the season.

Mavericks' Terry to miss 10-14 days after surgery