Devin Harris scored 25 points, including 11 straight in the fourth quarter, and the Utah Jazz halted the San Antonio Spurs’ 11-game winning streak and boosted their own playoff hopes with a 91-84 victory Monday night.

Paul Millsap added 18 points for the Jazz, who avenged a 114-104 road loss Sunday to the Spurs.

Utah (30-28) is injury riddled but the Spurs (40-15) were short-handed in a different way, choosing not to bring stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili for the rematch. Coach Gregg Popovich wanted that trio, averaging 46.8 points, to rest.

Gary Neal and Tiago Splitter scored 14 points apiece, and DeJuan Blair added 13 in San Antonio’s first loss since March 17.

The Jazz were down eight, and pulled within two before Harris scored 11 straight, including a pair of 3-pointers. Millsap’s follow dunk sealed it for the Jazz, who won despite 20 turnovers.

Utah had lost its three previous meetings this season to San Antonio by nearly a 10-point margin and went 0-3 against the Spurs last season.

But Popovich called it a “no brainer” to rest Duncan, Parker and Ginobili when he looked at San Antonio’s upcoming schedule.

The Spurs play three games in four days starting with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. They have 11 games remaining in the condensed season and already have locked up a playoff spot.

Popovich wasn’t worried about securing the No. 1 overall seed but “trying to survive.”

The Jazz are trying to do the same, as they entered Monday’s game in 10th place, 1 1/2 games out of the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

Both teams looked out of sorts early, with the Jazz starting 1 of 7 with a pair of turnovers and the Spurs starting 1 of 6.

Much of it could be attributed to makeshift lineups both teams put together.

With their stars at home, the Spurs started Patty Mills, Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson. The Jazz, missing small forwards Josh Howard (knee) and C.J. Miles (calf) because of injury, started DeMarre Carroll, who was on his fourth team in three years and making only his second career start in 99 games.

While veteran Al Jefferson got things rolling for the Jazz with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in the first quarter, Blair carried the Spurs early.

Blair, whom Popovich sat Sunday to give him a rest, led the Spurs with 11 points in the first quarter on 5-of-7 shooting.

The Jazz took a 23-19 lead into the second quarter and bumped it to 30-23 on a spin move inside by Derrick Favors.

Neal, Mills and Splitter brought San Antonio back with seven points apiece in the second quarter as the Spurs pulled within 47-44 at the break.

The Spurs looked in control in the fourth, when they surged ahead 75-67 on a free throw by Splitter.

But Jamaal Tinsley hit a jumper, then Harris took over. He finished 7 of 17, but 3 of 7 from beyond the arc, and made 8 of 12 free throws.

Gordon Hayward added 16 points, and Jefferson had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Notes: Hall of Famer John Stockton was in attendance and received a standing ovation from the crowd when he was announced and shown on the big screen. … Utah signed NBA D-League sharp-shooter Blake Ahearn to a 10-day contract Monday. … The Jazz announced backup point guard Earl Watson would have surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee. He is out indefinitely. … Miles won’t travel with the team on its three-game road trip because of a strained left calf. … Jazz F Jeremy Evans sprained his right ankle in the third quarter and did not return.

SAN ANTONIO, April 1 (UPI) — Tim Duncan was a force at both ends of the court Saturday, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs’ 112-103 win over Indiana.

Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker helped the Spurs to their seventh straight win with 18 points each.

Gary Neal also reached double figures with 11 points for San Antonio.

Paul George and Danny Granger led the Pacers with 18 points apiece.

David West and Roy Hibbert chipped in 15 points each, but Indiana still lost for the second time in three games.

Tim Duncan had 23 points and 11 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs remained the hottest team in the NBA, beating the Indiana Pacers, 112-103, for their seventh consecutive win Saturday night.

Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili added 18 points apiece. The Spurs are 8-1 since making a rare plunge into midseason moves by adding forwards Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw, giving what Duncan calls the deepest San Antonio bench of his career.

Paul George and Danny Granger each scored 18 for Indiana. The Pacers have lost two of three while trying to break out of the logjammed East playoff picture and secure some home-court edge.

The Spurs aren’t budging in the standings, either. They’re 21/2 games behind first-place Oklahoma City and remain stuck behind the similarly streaking Thunder.

Gary Neal scored 11 points and Tiago Splitter added 10 as the Spurs showed off their newfound depth. Their bench outscored Indiana’s, 52-29.

at New York 91, Cleveland 75: JR Smith scored 20 points, Carmelo Anthony had 19, and the Knicks shook off more bad injury news before beating the Cavaliers. Already without Amare Stoudemire, the Knicks announced before the game that Jeremy Lin would have surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and could miss six weeks. That leaves them without their second- and third-leading scorers as they try to hold onto a playoff spot.

at Philadelphia 95, Atlanta 90: Elton Brand scored 13 of his season-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead the 76ers to a comeback win over the Hawks. Andre Iguodala scored 18, and Brand had 10 rebounds to go with his 10-for-12 shooting.

at Detroit 110, Charlotte 107 (OT): Will Bynum’s three-pointer with 15.7 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime, and the Pistons went on to edge the Bobcats.

Memphis 99, at Milwaukee 95: O.J. Mayo scored a season-high 24 points, and Rudy Gay had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies to a win over the Bucks. Marc Gasol added 13 points and 14 rebounds for Memphis, which is in the midst of playing seven games in nine days.

at Lakers 88, New Orleans 85

— associated press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Australian point guard Patrick Mills has signed with the San Antonio Spurs after last playing in China during the NBA lockout.

The Spurs announced that the former Portland Trail Blazers backup will be in uniform Tuesday night at Phoenix. Mills had been in talks with the Spurs since last week but first needed to resolve work visa issues.

He averaged 5.1 points and around 11 minutes a game in two seasons with Portland. He essentially fills the void left by point guard T.J. Ford, who abruptly retired this month following another scare to his surgically repaired spine.

The Spurs are second in the West and trying to upgrade their roster for a playoff push. They added Stephen Jackson at the trade deadline and signed forward Boris Diaw last week

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili went on another one of his whirling drives to the basket in the first quarter of the Wizards’ 112-97 loss at AT&T Center, but Chris Singleton greeted him at the rim, spiking Ginobili and the ball back to the ground. Singleton had two blocks in the first seven minutes, including a rejection of a Tim Duncan layup.

I put the ‘No!’ in Ginobili.
(Bahram Mark Sobhani – AP)
But the main reason why the Wizards lost their fifth consecutive road game and got ran off the court was because those type of stops were non-existent for most of the game. The Wizards didn’t play much defense, as Tony Parker used Tim Duncan screens to get to the rim at will and the Spurs’ perimeter shooters camped out for several open looks from three-point range.

“We took advantage of their defense and we had wide open shots everywhere,” Parker said after returning from a quadriceps injury to score a game-high 31 points on 13 of 18 shooting.

The Wizards are playing a more uptempo pace, but that means that their opponents are scoring more, too. They have given up at least 110 points in six of their past nine games – including four of their past five road games – and have lost all six games. They are 0-8 this season when they allow 110 or more points.

“Until we get committed defensively, for 48 [minutes], that’s what it boils down to,” Coach Randy Wittman said.

It may not have seemed like it, but the Wizards have seen pick-and-rolls before, but their defense against the Spurs on that offensive staple was beyond abysmal. The Wizards were a half step late closing out, and their rotations were bad, leaving too many layup opportunities.

The Spurs had a season-high 30 assists, with 23 coming in the first half when the team had 28 field goals and shot 62.2 percent from the field. Their first 51 points came as the result of five three-pointers and 18 layups or dunks. They hadn’t attempted any free throws while building an early 18-point lead.

“It’s not just the guards, it’s not just the big guys, it’s everyone,” John Wall said after the game. “We have no help on the weak side, not closing out on the shooters. They basically scored anytime they wanted to until we started playing defense in the second half. But we can’t wait until the second half to start playing defense against a team like the Spurs.”

JaVale McGee scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, but Wittman didn’t want to acknowledge his scoring output. “Again, that’s what we’re all worried about – ‘I got my 21,’ ” Wittman said, pausing to explain that he wasn’t criticizing McGee, but a mentality among some players that they had a good game if they scored a lot of points. “I don’t care about the 21, 15 I like. But what’s he doing in the pick and roll? What are we doing defensively. That’s what we’ve got to get our focus to. We’ve got to get away from that. I’m not worried about that part of it.”

Wittman would rather discuss the number of contested shots, the defensive stops, and the incredible blocks. The Wizards are at their best when they score 100 or more, going 6-7 this season. But they have surrendered triple digits 25 times and are just 4-21. With this new high scoring offense, the Wizards have to find a way to make sure their opponents have fewer points.

“We just have to get better on defense individually and as a team,” McGee said. “We just need to help each other out on defense and when we get that down, we’ll be fine.”

Tony Parker is the man for the San Antonio Spurs right now. Parker was almost unstoppable Monday night in the Spurs’ 112-97 home victory over the Washington Wizards. The AT&T Center crowd was buzzing as the retirement of Spurs’ guard TJ Ford was announced before the game, and the fans gave him a standing ovation despite this being his first year with the team. Tony Parker was also obviously motivated by the retirement of his veteran backup and friend as he came out and put on a basketball clinic for the crowd (31 points, 13 of 18 from the floor, 4-4 free throws).

San Antonio took control of this game early, opening up a 32-24 first quarter lead and pushing it up to 63-49 by half time. The Wizards managed to keep up with the Spurs in the third quarter at 25 points apiece, but could only shave one point off the lead in the fourth, resulting in the 13 point final margin of victory.

Tony Parker led all scorers in the game with 31 points, and he also chipped in 7 assists and 3 rebounds. Tim Duncan came up just short of a double-double with 14 points and 9 boards. JaVale McGee was the leading scorer for Washington with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Jordan Crawford added 19 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.

San Antonio improves to 27-13 on the season, and are still on top in the Southwest division. The Spurs get to enjoy a day of rest before they host Dwight (Superman) Howard and the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, March 14. Washington drops to 9-31 for the year with the loss, and continues their Texas road trip with a match up against Dallas Tuesday night.

Team Note – Spurs’ back-up point guard TJ Ford announced his retirement Monday, having re-aggravated a chronic back condition after taking an elbow to the back in the Knicks game last Wednesday night. Ford entered the league as the third pick in 2003, and his recent injury relates to a spinal fusion surgery he had all the way back in 2004.

Clayton Browne lives in Austin, Texas and is a big-time NBA fan. He follows both the Spurs and the Mavs closely.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

San Antonio Spurs guard T.J. Ford announced his retirement from the NBA on Monday, saying his departure was for the best after the latest in a series of neck and spine injuries.

Ford, who turns 29 next week, averaged 3.6 points, 3.2 assists and 1.3 rebounds a game in limited playing time over 14 games with the Spurs this season, his eighth in the NBA.

“Official ‘I Retire from the NBA’ as of today,” Ford posted on his Twitter page. “Thanks to all my fans who follow my career since a kid from all over the world. Basketball has been great to me & my family for 28yrs.

“Today will be a new beginning in life”

Ford, who played collegiately at the nearby University of Texas, has been nagged by neck injuries, the most recent coming last Wednesday in a victory over New York.

“While this was a tough decision to make, it is what is best for me and my family at this time,” Ford said in a statement. “Regardless of what the future holds, I will carry the experiences, the friendships and the memories with me forever.”

Ford began his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks as the eighth overall selection in the 2003 NBA Draft, but midway into his rookie season suffered a spinal injury that forced him to miss the entire 2004-2005 season.

He played the following season for the Bucks and the next two with Toronto before joining Indiana in 2008 and having his best season, averaging 14.9 points, 5.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 74 games with the Pacers.

Ford spent three seasons at Indiana before joining the Spurs this season. For his NBA career, Ford averaged 11.2 points, 5.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.16 steals in 27.7 minutes a game over 429 appearances.

“The entire organization has enjoyed having T.J. Ford in San Antonio this season,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I congratulate him on all that he has achieved as a player and fully support the difficult decision he was forced to make.”

T.J. Ford, shown when he was with the Toronto Raptors in 2006, announced Monday that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from basketball. (UPI Photo/Christine Chew) 

SAN ANTONIO, March 12 (UPI) — San Antonio Spurs guard T.J. Ford said Monday he is retiring as a player and will take a look at other opportunities to stay in the sport.

Ford said he is still physically able to play, despite having gone through years when his doctors advised against it, but a game last week when he wound up face down on the floor, unable to move, led him to his decision.

“After last Wednesday, I felt that being on the floor and being in that position and that scenario of being on the floor one too many times, I felt that was enough for me and my basketball career,” Ford told sportswriters.

“So I definitely will be retiring and that was my last basketball game you guys will see me play.”

Ford said the Spurs management has invited him to remain with the team to “help out and mentor.” He said he would use the opportunity “to see if that’s a route I want to take some day.”

Ford, 28, had his playing time limited due to a series of neck and spine issues.

“While this was a tough decision to make, it is what is best for me and my family at this time,” Ford said in an earlier statement.

“I have been blessed to play alongside wonderful teammates for great coaches and organizations from high school, to college, to the NBA. Regardless of what the future holds, I will carry the experiences, the friendships and the memories with me forever.

“The support I’ve received from family, friends and the fans has been humbling and I am looking forward to evaluating my professional options following this season.”

Ford was a first-round pick in the NBA draft by Milwaukee in 2003 and averaged 11.2 points, 5.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds over 429 regular-season games.

Ford played three seasons with the Bucks before joining Toronto for two years and then Indiana for three. He signed with San Antonio this season but injuries limited his play to 14 games.

Ford collected several Player-of-the-Year honors in 2003, his second and final season as a collegiate player at Texas.