Tony Parker helps Spurs take 3-2 lead over Mavericks

Tony Parker had 23 points hours after the birth of his first child and the San Antonio Spurs never trailed in a 109-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks last night, taking a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.

"Coming into the game I told him this is perfect for you," Spurs forward Tim Duncan said of Parker. "This is what he does in situations like this where he doesn't get a lot of sleep or is in a stressful situation. He always seems to play better."

Manu Ginobili had 19 points and Tiago Splitter added 17 points and 12 rebounds as host San Antonio kept home-court advantage in the tense series against their intrastate rival. Tim Duncan added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points for the Spurs.

Vince Carter scored 28 points, making numerous heavily contested shots in going 10- for-16 from the field for Dallas.

After averaging 16 points in the series' first four games, Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki found the stroke with 26 points. Nowitzki was 10-for-20 shooting, but it wasn't enough to overcome Parker and the Spurs return to form.

Rockets 108, Trail Blazers 98: Dwight Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin came off the bench to score 21 points as host Houston avoided elimination. The Trail Blazers lead the first-round series 3-2 with Game 6 tomorrow night in Portland. Houston finally slowed down LaMarcus Aldridge, limiting him to eight points after he averaged 35.3 points in the first four games. Wesley Matthews led the Blazers with 27 points and Damian Lillard added 26.

Source: Crawford the Man

Clippers guard Jamal Crawford will be named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year for the second time in his career, a league official with knowledge of the award told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the league hasn't announced the award. Crawford was the Clippers' third-leading scorer and the NBA's top-scoring reserve with 18.6 points per game.-- AP