NBA: Spurs and Bulls win close games, Jazz drown out Mavericks

The Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz joined the ranks of 1-0 teams, with their respective wins, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) in the NBA. Chicago beat the Sacramento Kings 93-87, the Spurs survived the New Orleans Hornets 99-95, and the Jazz manhandled the Dallas Mavericks 113-94. The San Antonio Spurs ruined the debut of 2012 overall number one pick Anthony Davis by getting the win late on the New Orleans Hornets' home court. An and-one dunk by Tim Duncan, followed by a put-back of his own miss had the Spurs on top late, 94-93, sandwiching an alley-oop by Davis from his point guard Greivis Vasquez. Two charities by the Kentucky product then gave his side the lead, 95-94, only for Tony Parker to counter with a triple. Off a timeout, Vasquez missed a triple in an attempt to get back the lead, with Duncan hauling down the rebound. Forced to foul with 24 seconds left, Duncan connected on the charities, and the Hornets were unable to get the score down any lower. The Duncan-Parker combo proved to be still potent, as they combined for 47 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists. With Manu Ginobili sidelined, Kawhi Leonard was the Spurs' third option, and he responded with 19 points, seven rebounds, and five steals. Davis had 21 points, seven boards, a steal and a block in his first professional game, shooting 50 percent from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the stripe. Al-Farouq Aminu added 17 points, while big men Ryan Anderson and Jason Smith came off the bench to total 23. In Chicago, the Derrick Rose-less Bulls managed to win their home opener, squeaking past the Sacramento Kings. The Kings' last lead came at the 1:06 mark of the first quarter, before the Bulls took over, to lead by as much as 14, 56-42, on a Richard Hamilton jumper early in the third period. Sacramento made a game of it though, getting their deficit down to three, 86-83, on a Tyreke Evans jumper with 41.2 seconds left. Charities by Luol Deng and Richard Hamilton doubled Chicago's advantage back to six, 89-83, before scores by Aaron Brooks and DeMarcus Cousins cut it to four, 91-87, with 19.1 seconds left. Joakim Noah was then sent to the line, and the career 72 percent free throw shooter canned both, 16 ticks remaining. Marcus Thornton missed on a triple with 9.8 seconds left, and after Luol Deng secured the rebound, Chicago was able to kill the rest of the clock. Noah led all scorers with 23 points, in addition to 10 rebounds and five steals. Front court partner Carlos Boozer added 18 points and eight boards, while Richard Hamilton sank 19 markers. After the game, it was also announced that reserve power forward Taj Gibson and the Bulls agreed to a four-year extension worth $38 million.

Taj Gibson extension is 38 million over 4 years. — K.C Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 1, 2012

Tyreke Evans dropped 21 points to pace Sacramento, while Marcus Thornton added 15 off the bench. 2012 fifth overall selection Thomas Robinson had a quiet debut, finishing with just three points and three rebounds. In Utah, the Dallas Mavericks were unable to build off their upset of the Los Angeles Lakers, falling to the hometown Jazz in a rout. The Mavericks actually led 63-55 at the break, thanks to a combined 25 points from their backcourt of OJ Mayo and Darren Collison, but the entire team's shooting went cold, as the Jazz went on to outperform them 37-13 in the third. Dallas shot just 22.7 percent from the field in that period, versus Utah's 46.7 percent clip, as they more than doubled the Mavericks' number of converted field goals, 14-to-5. With the score at 92-76, and a quarter left to play, the Mavs simply couldn't muster enough offense to catch up, as they began cycling in their reserves with about six minutes left on the clock. Mo Williams scored 21 points in his first game back as a member of the Jazz. Marvin Williams, acquired in a trade during the summer with the Atlanta Hawks, also scored 21. Starting big men Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap provided the muscle underneath, as both finished with double-doubles, 12 points and 14 rebounds, and 13 points and 15 rebounds, respectively. Darren Collison had 17 points and seven dimes to lead Dallas. Brandan Wright chipped in 15 points and rejected two shots. The Jazz's big men dominated the glass, 61-40, 20-8 in offensive rebounds. - AMD, GMA News