TORONTO, 2 March 2005 — Tim Duncan hit a 19-foot jumper just before time expired to give the San Antonio Spurs a dramatic 94-92 win over the Cavaliers in National Basketball Association play in Cleveland on Monday.

Duncan wound up with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs after missing the first seven shots he took in the game.

He took a pass from Tony Parker in the dying seconds and sank the winning basket moments before the final horn sounded. His shot completed a Spurs comeback, as San Antonio out-scored Cleveland 30-22 in the fourth quarter.

Parker had 19 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Spurs, who handed the Cavaliers their third straight loss.

Manu Ginobili added 17 points for the Spurs, but missed a pair of free throws with 19.2 seconds left that could have given the Cavs a four-point lead.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 26 points for the Cavaliers, including a game-tying dunk with 14.2 seconds remaining after Ginobili missed his free throws. LeBron James wound up with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Cleveland, losers of four of its last five games.

The game marked the end of Gordon Gund’s 22-year run as owner of the Cavaliers. Detroit businessman Dan Gilbert was to take over the team yesterday, with Gund becoming a minority owner. San Antonio improved to an NBA-best 43-13, a half game ahead of Phoenix in the overall NBA standings.

In other games, Tim Thomas scored a season-high 35 points to lead the Knicks past the Los Angeles Lakers 117-115 in overtime in New York. The Knicks blew a 10-point lead in the final 46 seconds of regulation, but recovered to win their third straight game. Michael Sweetney had 19 points and 12 rebounds for New York.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 30 points and eight assists, while Lamar Odom added 26 points and 15 rebounds.

Los Angeles has lost three straight games.

In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks got by the New Orleans Hornets 90-86. Marquis Daniels added 13 points for the Mavericks. Lee Nailon led New Orleans with 14 points, while P.J. Brown added 12 points and 14 rebounds.

In Salt Lake City, Keith McLeod had 18 points and eight assists as the Utah Jazz edged the Los Angeles Clippers 87-86. Raja Bell added 14 points for the Jazz. Bobby Simmons had 17 points to lead the Clippers.

Bryant Settlement Talk Is Fueled by Deposition Delay

In Denver, Colorado, the long-awaited questioning under oath of basketball star Kobe Bryant was canceled at the last minute, a lawyer in the case confirmed Monday.

The cancellation immediately sparked speculation among lawyers watching the case closely that the civil sexual assault lawsuit against Bryant might be near settlement. Lawyers involved in the case would not comment.

Lawyers for the woman, who has accused Bryant of raping her, were scheduled to question the Los Angeles Lakers player privately on Friday in the offices of a court reporting service in Orange County, California.

L. Lin Wood of Atlanta, Georgia, the woman’s lawyer, confirmed that the deposition did not take place but declined to say anything more.

In the US a deposition is where lawyers question a party to a lawsuit before a trial, without a judge present. Pamela Mackey of Denver, Bryant’s lead lawyer, does not return telephone calls about the case from journalists.

The woman, who has sued Bryant, has accused him of raping her during the summer of 2003 at a Colorado mountain resort where he was a guest and she was an employee.

Criminal charges also were filed against Bryant in Eagle County, Colorado, where the sexual encounter occurred, but were dismissed during jury selection in September 2004 when the woman said she would not proceed as a witness. Lawyers in the civil lawsuit initially had said they wanted to schedule Bryant’s deposition in early December 2004.

The session was delayed, however, by the lawyers’ arguments in advance over the questions that Bryant would have to answer. Bryant’s lawyers wanted the woman’s lawyers barred from asking Bryant some details about his sexual history.