Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO ó Manu Ginobili scored 22 points and the San Antonio Spurs became the NBA’s first 40-game winner, beating the Houston Rockets 108-95 on Saturday night.The NBA-best Spurs (40-7) will play nine straight on the road heading into the All-Star game, in which Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will direct the West squad.
Luis Scola led the Rockets with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Grizzlies 107, Wizards 93
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Zach Randolph had 24 points and 20 rebounds, Darrell Arthur added a career-high 22 points and Memphis kept Washington winless on the road this season.
Mike Conley and Tony Allen added 15 points each, Conley also had 12 assists, and Marc Gasol scored 14 points to help Memphis improve to 5-1 in its last six games.
Bucks 91, Nets 81
MILWAUKEE ó Andrew Bogut had 17 points and 18 rebounds and Brandon Jennings had two points in his return after missing 19 games because of a broken foot to help Milwaukee win its third consecutive game.
Bulls 110, Pacers 89
CHICAGO ó Carlos Boozer had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Derrick Rose added 20 points despite two stomach ulcers and Luol Deng had 19 for Chicago.
The Bulls improved to 11-0 against Central teams while remaining the lone unbeaten team against its own division. Josh McRoberts led Indiana with a career-high 20 points.
Mavericks 102, Hawks 91
DALLAS ó Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 points and Jason Terry added 18 points and a season-high 11 assists to help Dallas improve to 5-1 following a six-game losing streak.
Jason Kidd had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Tyson Chandler also had 12 points for the Mavericks. Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 27 points.
Timberwolves 103, Raptors 87
MINNEAPOLIS ó Kevin Love had his NBA-leading 42nd double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds and Minnesota handed Toronto its 11th straight loss.
Minnesota ended a six-game losing streak, holding Toronto to 33.7 percent shooting ó the lowest this season for both sides. Andrea Bargnani and Ed Davis each had 15 points for Toronto.
NOTES
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. ó Their meeting in the NBA finals last summer seemed to go on forever, stretching through seven games over two weeks until the exhausted Los Angeles Lakers finally edged the injury-depleted Boston Celtics in the final quarter.
After seven months to recover, the rivals are finally together again.
Yet when they meet today on the same Staples Center court where the Lakers won their 16th title and denied the Celtics their 18th, players on both teams claim they won’t think much about their epic shared history.
NEW YORK ó The Atlanta Hawks Marvin Williams, a former North Carolina star, was suspended for two games and the New York Knicks’ Shawne Williams one game for throwing punches Friday night.
Marvin Williams started things when he shoved Shawne Williams in the back as they ran up the court with 43 seconds left in the Hawks’ 111-102 victory. The NBA cited Marvin Williams on Saturday for throwing punches and fighting, while Shawne Williams got a one-game ban for throwing a punch during an altercation.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo says he believes an “energy drink” he bought at a gas station contained the substance that led to his 10-game suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy.
MIAMI ó Heat guard Dwyane Wade has a bruised right wrist and is listed as day to day.