Lakers down Heat,
win 10th straight

LOS ANGELES — Jordan Farmar scored a career-high 24 points and Kobe Bryant came up with 21 as the Los Angeles Lakers whipped Miami 106-88 on Thursday to extend their NBA winning streak to 10 games.

The Lakers improved to 41-17, keeping a one-game lead in the Western Conference over the San Antonio Spurs and two games over Phoenix and New Orleans.

"We’re really having a good time playing with one another. It makes the season that much more enjoyable," Bryant said.

Seven-foot center Pau Gasol scored 13 points and hauled down 11 rebounds. Gasol was one of four Lakers who finished with 10 or more rebounds.

Dwyane Wade scored 18 points for Miami, which has an NBA-worst 10-45. The Heat were coming off a 107-86 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Tim Duncan scored 31 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to their seventh consecutive victory, a 97-94 home win over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Spurs All Star, who broke a 94-94 tie with a pair of free throws with 34 seconds remaining, also had 15 rebounds in the battle of the Texas teams.

"Tim is the backbone of everything we do," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

"On offense, the ball goes through him. On defense, he’s our defender, our rebounder. Everybody rotates off him," Popovich added. "He’s just really special. We don’t get anything done without him."

Michael Finley added a final free throw at the end of the game to complete a strong rally for the Spurs.

Dallas had held a 10-point lead with 3:44 left in the third quarter before Finley, who finished with 16 points, scored nine points in a 13-1 burst to put the Spurs ahead.

The fourth quarter was close throughout.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 28 points and newly-acquired guard Jason Kidd had 10 assists.

The Mavericks’ chances melted when Nowitzki and teammate Jason Terry missed five shots in the final 65 seconds.

"It was a heavyweight fight, and we just didn’t have that last punch at the end to bring it home," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said.

Manu Ginobili added 17 for San Antonio, which leads the Southwest Division by a game over New Orleans.

The Los Angeles Lakers streaked to a 10th consecutive victory, crushing the Miami Heat 106-88. Jordan Farmar scored a career-best 24 points and Kobe Bryant added 21 for the Western Conference leaders. Dwyane Wade led Miami with 18 points.

Devin Harris scored 16 of his 21 points in a first-half spurt to lead the New Jersey Nets to a 120-106 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Michael Redd had 33 points for the Bucks.