Spurs open title defense with win; Rockets spoil Bryant return
San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker (9), of France, celebrates following an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 101-100. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Tony Parker scored 23 points, including a big 3-pointer late in the game as the San Antonio Spurs opened their title defense with a thrilling 101-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time).
Manu Ginobili added 20 points for San Antonio, which shot 53 percent from the field. Tim Duncan had 14 points and 13 rebounds for his 14th double-double in a season opener, the most by any player in NBA history, according to Elias Sports.
Monta Ellis scored 26 points for Dallas, and Dirk Nowitzki had 18. Devin Harris finished with 17 points.
Following a video recap of the 2014 season narrated by actor and Spurs fan Samuel L. Jackson, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver presented San Antonio’s staff and players with their championship rings. The inscription inside the ring was “Good to Great,” which was coach Gregg Popovich’s mantra last season.
After Nowitzki gave Dallas a 100-98 lead with a fadeaway jumper over Boris Diaw with 1:37 remaining, Parker drained a 3 in front of the Mavericks’ bench off a feed from Diaw. Parker was 4 for 4 from long range, matching a career high for 3s in a game.
Houston’s James Harden scored 32 points, and Dwight Howard added 13 points and 11 rebounds before getting into a shouting match with Kobe Bryant as the Rockets spoiled Bryant’s return to the Lakers with a 108-90 victory.
Bryant’s comeback game got even worse when Lakers rookie forward Julius Randle seriously injured his right leg in the fourth quarter, leaving his NBA debut on a wheeled stretcher. The seventh overall pick out of Kentucky collided with two Rockets under the basket and landed awkwardly.
Bryant scored 19 points in his first game back at Staples Center after missing most of the Lakers’ worst season in a half-century with two major injuries.
Trevor Ariza and Terrence Jones scored 16 points each for Houston.
At New Orleans, Anthony Davis had 26 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocks to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 101-84 season-opening win over the Orlando Magic.
Ryan Anderson, coming back from surgery on a herniated disk that cost him more than half of last season, scored 22 points. The Pelicans’ new 7-foot (2.13-meter) center, Omer Asik, had a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
Tobias Harris scored 25 points for Orlando, while Nikola Vucevic added 15 points and 23 rebounds.
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