Wallace Comes Up Big for Portland

Rasheed Wallace showed why he’s one of the best at guarding Tim Duncan.

Wallace held the San Antonio Spurs’ all-star to five-of-18 shooting and scored 22 points to rally the Portland Trail Blazers to a 95-87 victory over the Spurs on Tuesday night at San Antonio.

“I just couldn’t knock anything down,” said Duncan, who finished below his 21.3-point average with 16. “Rasheed played some good defense though. That’s when it’s up to me to make a good pass.”

The 6-foot-11 Wallace was held to seven points in the first half by the 7-foot Duncan.

But with the Trail Blazers trailing by 11 points to start the third quarter, Wallace made two free throws and two turnaround jump shots in the first three minutes to whittle the deficit to 49-47.

He went on to make a three-point shot and another jumper as Portland outscored the Spurs, 33-16, in the quarter.

After San Antonio tied the score at 81-81 with 4:16 to play, Wallace made two jumpers and Scottie Pippen two three-point shots to make the score 91-83 with only one minute to play.

“We can only go as far as he takes us,” Pippen said of Wallace. “He’s been our catalyst. He came out and played aggressively on both the offensive and defensive ends.”

Pippen, in his fourth game back from elbow surgery, finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

The Spurs, who made only 21% of their shots in the third quarter, blew a 15-point second-quarter lead. The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, made 67% of their shots in the third quarter, taking their first lead at 66-65 on Arvydas Sabonis’ layup with 1:49 remaining. They never trailed again.

“We knew that we had to come out aggressively in the second half,” said Bonzi Wells, who scored 18 points for the Trail Blazers. “We took advantage of their mistakes in the second half, just like they did of ours in the first.”

Miami 103, Washington 95--Brian Grant scored 26 points and Tim Hardaway broke out of a scoring slump with 22 to lead the Heat at Miami.

The Heat, which won for the 12th time in its last 14 home games, made a season-high 56.2% of its shots.

“This was a night when guys had to step up,” Grant said. “We’ve been in this lag lately, and we have to find a way to get out of it.”

Toronto 101, Cleveland 89--Vince Carter scored 32 points and rookie Morris Peterson made seven three-point shots en route to a career-high 29 points in leading the Raptors at Toronto.

“When you got Vince Carter on the other wing sometimes you got to triple team him,” Peterson said. “I got it going, and I felt great. The basket felt like a big bucket.”

Dallas 116, Vancouver 112--Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points at Vancouver, Canada, as the Mavericks (36-22) moved 14 games above .500 for the first time in 13 seasons.

Around the League

The replay of Shawn Marion’s frightening fall, his head violently bouncing off the hardwood court, has been shown over and over again on television. The Phoenix Suns’ spectacular second-year forward remembers none of it. “I don’t remember falling. I don’t remember nothing,” he said. “The first I heard about it was when I saw it on TV. It was crazy. I was like, ‘Man, I didn’t know it was like that.’ I don’t like watching it. I just look away.” Marion suffered a Grade 3 concussion, the most severe type, and a sprained right wrist when he soared high for a rebound in the final minute of the Suns’ 90-80 victory over the Utah Jazz and came down on the back of the Jazz’s John Starks. Marion said he doesn’t blame Starks, and in a statement the NBA said that after reviewing replays of the play, it concluded that Starks did not intend to injure Marion and that no action would be taken. . . . The Minnesota Timberwolves waived guard-forward Todd Day.