Dirk Nowitzki started to grab the part of his left leg that hurt the most, then stopped. He might not have known what to rub first.
So the reigning league MVP dejectedly put a hand on his head. Then pounded the court.
Nowitzki was injured on an ugly fall in the third quarter of Dallas's 88-81 loss to the visiting San Antonio Spurs yesterday, but left the arena without knowing how bad it was. The team termed it a lower left leg injury and said details would come today.
Nowitzki went down after running and jumping to block a shot late in the third quarter. With Nowitzki writhing on the court, Tim Duncan grabbed the loose ball and scored, putting San Antonio ahead for the first time in the second half. It came during a 19-0 run that took the Spurs from 12 points down to in control the rest of the way.
San Antonio won its third straight since a 1-6 slump and got some breathing room over Dallas in the Western Conference playoff race. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 26 points.
Warriors 115, Lakers 111 - Stephen Jackson scored 31 points and made two 3-pointers in final 40 seconds to send visiting Golden State over Los Angeles.
Monta Ellis also had 31 points for the Warriors, who won for the 10th time in 14 games and remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Denver in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Kobe Bryant scored 36 points for the Lakers (48-22), who had their three-game winning streak snapped and fell percentage points behind the Western Conference-leading New Orleans.
Wizards 95, Pistons 83 - Antawn Jamison (24 points, 12 rebounds) and Caron Butler (17 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds) led host Washington to an impressive win over Detroit, despite the distraction of a drama featuring Gilbert Arenas.
Arenas took part in the morning shootaround and was expecting to play, but he instead missed his 61st consecutive game with a left knee injury after team doctors would not clear him to play. Arenas was unhappy about the news - "I'm not coming back this year," he muttered about an hour before the game - and he left because he didn't have suitable attire to wear on the bench. He reappeared in the first half and took his place on the bench.
Nuggets 109, Raptors 100 - Allen Iverson had 36 points and Carmelo Anthony added 33 as Denver won in Toronto.
