MILAN, Italy -- The San Antonio Spurs flirted with making history of the most unenviable sort Friday night before their little guys saved the day.
Trailing almost throughout their semifinal against Italy's Varese Roosters, the NBA champions used a late run for a 96-86 victory and avoided becoming the league's first team to lose at the McDonald's Championship.As Spurs big men Tim Duncan and David Robinson had poor offensive games, point guard Avery Johnson had 18 points and 12 assists, while backcourtmate Mario Elie scored half of his 16 points in a 32-13 run over the final 9:30.
Varese forward Francesco Vescovi had 20 points.
San Antonio will play South American titlist Vasco da Gama in Saturday's final of a tournament billed as a world club championship.
San Antonio's win improved the NBA's record to 17-0 in the 12-year history of the event -- but not without a scare before an announced sellout of 10,122 at the FilaForum arena.
"We are very, very, very, very happy that we won that game," a drained Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Varese was fantastic, and we were outplayed for most of the game."
The Spurs trailed by as many as 14 points during the first half, were down 49-42 at halftime -- the first time an NBA club had been behind at intermission -- and 63-60 after three quarters.
CLIPPERS 112, RAPTORS 102: At Toronto, Lamar Odom, who slipped to fourth overall in the draft, scored 25 points as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Toronto Raptors 112-102 in a preseason game Friday night.
With game tied 91-91 with 6:40 remaining, Odom faked a pass and nailed a jumper from 10 feet out to give the Clippers the lead for good.
Derek Anderson, who scored 20 points, had six points down the stretch to help seal the victory.
Odom was considered the best talent in the draft, but his stock fell after he fired his agent, failed to show up for workouts and changed his mind about entering the NBA.
CELTICS 104, HAWKS 79: At Providence, R.I., Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce scored 15 points apiece and Danny Fortson pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics over the Atlanta Hawks 104-79 Friday night.
Boston (1-1) had five players scoring in double figures, with Kenny Anderson getting 13 and Eric Williams and Walter McCarty netting 12 apiece.
Chris Crawford led Atlanta with 14 points, while Bimbo Coles added 10. Alan Henderson had 11 rebounds.
MAGIC 85, HEAT 76: At Orlando, Chris Gatling sparked a late rally with 13 fourth-quarter points to pace the Orlando Magic to an 85-76 comeback victory over a depleted Miami Heat squad Friday night.
For the Magic, who trailed for most of the game, the victory marked its second straight preseason win while Miami dropped its first contest against an NBA opponent.
Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway and Dan Majerle did not travel with the team due to minor injuries.
Monty Williams led Orlando with 20 points in 24 minutes, including 13 straight during a 5-minute stretch of the third period. Anthony Carter led the Heat with 15 points.
ROCKETS 107, CAVALIERS 97: At Houston, Kelvin Cato had a triple-double with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocked shots Friday night as Houston nearly coughed up a big early lead before pulling away for a 107-97 preseason victory over Cleveland.
Cato, who came to Houston as part of the deal that sent Scottie Pippen to Portland, was 7-of-10 from the floor. Houston (1-1) blocked 20 shots and outrebounded the Cavaliers 51-35.
The Cavaliers (1-1), who were led by Shawn Kemp's 17 points, trailed by as many as 21 in the first half before a 13-4 spurt to start the third quarter.
The Rockets were without Charles Barkley, who has a sore elbow and did not dress.
BULLS 97, NUGGETS 91: At Moline, Ill., rookie Ron Artest scored nine of his 13 points in a second-quarter surge Friday night that carried the Chicago Bulls to a 97-91 exhibition win over the Denver Nuggets.
Artest, a 19-year-old shooting guard from St. John's, scored seven straight points in second period as the Bulls (2-0) turned a 23-18 lead into a 50-37 halftime advantage.
Ron Mercer led the Nuggets (1-2) with 19 points. Chris Anstey's 15 points paced the Bulls, while top draft pick Eldon Brand had just six, all on free throws.