Mavs lose, Spurs win Midwest title
Associated Press

PHOENIX — Center Jake Tsakalidis scored 19 points and guard Stephon Marbury recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 assists Wednesday night as the Phoenix Suns beat Dallas 89-76, relegating the Mavericks to fourth place in the Western Conference.

The Mavs went into the finale tied with San Antonio Spurs at 57-24. But the Spurs held the tiebreaker, and their victory at Utah an hour earlier ended Dallas’ shot at its first division title in 15 years.

This loss completed the playoff seedings, because the Los Angeles Lakers, who played later, held the tiebreaker against the Mavericks. The two-time defending champs are seeded third and will play Portland.

The Dallas Mavericks will begin their playoffs Sunday versus Minnesota in a best-of-five first round series.

The NBA announced Wednesday that the Mavericks’ opening game in the Western Conference playoff would be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the American Airlines Center.

San Antonio rookie point guard drove the length of the floor with 2 seconds in the game to give the Spurs an 86-84 victory over the Utah Jazz Wednesday and clinching the Midwest Division for
the Spurs.

Wang Zhizhi led the Mavericks with 12 points and Johnny Newman had 11. Michael Finley was the only Dallas starter in double figures, with 10 points.

The Suns snapped Dallas’ three-game winning streak and their own three-game losing streak, winning their season windup for the fifth straight year.

Phoenix forward Joe Johnson had 16 points off the bench, Shawn Marion scored 14 and Dan Majerle, who made his first start for the Suns since April 4, 1995, scored 10 points and eight rebounds in the final game of his 14-season career.

Majerle initially rejected the offer of coach Frank Johnson to start, but reconsidered on game day. He was honored in a pregame ceremony.

The Spurs’ Tim Duncan had 26 points and 16 rebounds as the Spurs won the division for the second straight year and closed the regular season with a nine-game winning streak.

Point guard John Stockton had 23 points and 10 assists and forward Karl Malone scored 15 for the Jazz, who had to wait for the late game between Memphis and Seattle to learn their playoff opponent.

The Spurs will have the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and will play the SuperSonics or Utah, depending on the outcome of the Seattle game.

credits

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