NBA Report

Manu Ginobili scored 14 of his 21 points in the second quarter as the San Antonio Spurs beat visiting Minnesota, 94-91, Sunday night for their 15th straight victory over the Timberwolves. San Antonio put six players in double figures and ran its NBA-best record to 31-6 while extending the league's longest current winning streak against an opponent.

Elsewhere: The surprising Los Angeles Clippers beat the visiting Golden State Warriors, 105-91, for their seventh win in 10 games. Eric Gordon scored 25 points, and Blake Griffin had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who have roared to life after a 5-21 start to the season. . . . Andrea Bargnani scored 30 points, and DeMar DeRozan had 28 as the Toronto Raptors beat visiting Sacramento, 118-112. Sacramento guard Tyreke Evans, the team's leading scorer and last year's rookie of the year, missed the game with a sprained left ankle. It was just the third game the Chester native has missed this season. . . . The Miami Heat, behind a 44-point, 13-rebound, 6-assist performance from LeBron James, became the second NBA team to reach 30 wins for the season with a 107-100 overtime victory over host Portland.

The way Stephen Jackson sees it, the Charlotte Bobcats had no other choice than to fire Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. Charlotte's miserable 9-19 start, Jackson said, resulted from players resisting Brown's slowdown system.

"Nobody wanted to play no more," Jackson said. "Everybody wanted to play a different style than we were playing. We didn't agree with what was going on. Obviously, it wasn't working, so we needed a change."

Charlotte has gone 4-2 under interim coach Paul Silas.

Cleveland's scrappy center, Anderson Varejao, is done for the season with a torn right ankle tendon that will require surgery. Varejao averaged 9.1 points per game and a team-best 9.7 rebounds and was a hustler and the team's best interior defender.

The New Jersey Nets' attempts to acquire Denver's Carmelo Anthony are "further along" than any trade scenario that has been discussed and could be completed as soon as this week, sources close to the negotiations have told ESPN.com.

A three-team deal would also involve the Pistons and at least 15 players, with Detroit's Rip Hamilton, and Anthony and Denver teammate Chauncey Billups winding up in New Jersey; Denver landing Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, Anthony Morrow, and at least two first-round picks; and Detroit acquiring Troy Murphy and Johan Petro.

There are still issues to be worked out, however, including Billups' stated position that he will not go to New Jersey. - Inquirer wire services