In a rematch of the National Basketball Association's Western Conference semifinal last season, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Lakers in Los Angeles, 105-96, Friday.
Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 26 points and 16 rebounds, and four other San Antonio players also scored in double digits.
The Lakers, playing this year without their former star Shaquille O'Neal, trailed almost the entire game, but rallied to within six points in the fourth quarter. Kobe Bryant scored 28 points for Los Angeles.
The Lakers eliminated the Spurs from the NBA playoffs last season.
The Toronto Raptors enjoyed a 101-89 home court romp over the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons. Loren Woods had a double-double, 17 points and a career-record 14 boards. Teammate Vince Carter added seven of his 12 points in the game's final three minutes. The Pistons were without head coach Larry Brown who is recovering from from hip surgery.
The New Jersey Nets blew a 27-point lead in Chicago, but managed to slip past the Bulls, 111-106, in double overtime. In his second game since receiving a kidney transplant nearly one year ago, Alonzo Mourning scored 17 points and made five rebounds in 26 minutes on the court. Richard Jefferson led New Jersey with 26 points.
Other NBA winners Friday were the Suns, Pacers, Rockets, Magic, Trail Blazers, Jazz and SuperSonics.
The Phoenix Suns beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-96, the Indiana Pacers topped the Boston Celtics, 100-94, and Houston's Tracy McGrady scored 30 points to lead the Rockets over the Memphis Grizzlies, 89-81. The Orlando Magic edged the New Orleans Hornets at the buzzer, 90-89, and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers, 94-81. The Utah Jazz crushed the Golden State Warriors, 102-80, and the Seattle SuperSonics trounced the Atlanta Hawks, 106-85.
Some information provided by AP.
