NBA roundup: Parker ignites Spurs to victory
Scores 23 on same day son is born
5/1/2014SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker had 23 points hours after the birth of his first child and the San Antonio Spurs never trailed in a 109-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Manu Ginobili had 19 points and Tiago Splitter added 17 points and 12 rebounds as San Antonio regained home-court advantage in the tense series against their intrastate rival. Tim Duncan added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points for the Spurs.
Vince Carter scored 28 points, making numerous heavily contested shots in going 10 for 16 from the field for Dallas.
After averaging 16 points in the series' first four games, Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki found the stroke in scoring 26 points. Nowitzki was 10-for-20 shooting, but it wasn't enough to overcome Parker and the Spurs returning to form.
Carter's 3-pointer with 3 minutes left pulled Dallas within 98-94 but Parker followed a minute later with his only 3-pointer of the game.
Parker had his finest start since the series opener despite playing on little sleep following the early morning birth of his son, Josh, with fiancee Axelle Francine.
RAPTORS 115, NETS 113
TORONTO — Kyle Lowry scored a career playoff-high 36 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer after Toronto had blown a 26-point lead, and the Raptors took a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
DeMar DeRozan had 23 points, Jonas Valanciunas scored 16 and Greivis Vasquez added 15 for the Raptors.
Joe Johnson scored 30 points and Mirza Teletovic had 17 for the Nets, who scored 44 points in the fourth quarter.
D’Antoni resigns
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni has resigned after less than two seasons on the job.
He went 67-87 after taking over the Lakers early in the 2012-13 season, replacing the fired Mike Brown.
The injury-plagued Lakers were 27-55 this season, their worst campaign in more than 50 years. Los Angeles missed the playoffs for only the third time in 38 years.
D'Antoni had one year left on his contract, but wanted the Lakers to pick up his option year for 2015-16 to have any chance of success. The Lakers apparently refused, leading to D'Antoni's resignation.
D'Antoni also coached the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks.
ROCKETS 108, TRAIL BLAZERS 98
HOUSTON — Dwight Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin came off the bench to score 21 points as Houston avoided elimination.
The Trail Blazers lead the first-round series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Friday in Portland.
A basket by Damian Lillard got the Trail Blazers within two points before James Harden stepped back and swished a 3-pointer to make it 103-98 with about 3 minutes left.
Harden’s shot was the start of Houston’s 12-0 run to close it out. He finished with 17 points and seven assists.
Houston finally slowed down LaMarcus Aldridge, limiting him to eight points after he averaged 35.3 points in the first four games. Wesley Matthews led the Blazers with 27 points and Lillard added 26.