Tim Duncan (photo. Jonathan Mannion)

Spurs/Mavs wasn’t so competitive. San Antonio is in kick-ass mode, and without Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler, the Mavs are a collection of shooters instead of scorers — they might have to dial up Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre before long to see what’s good … The Spurs went up double-digits in the first quarter as Tony Parker (18 pts, 6 asts) carried the offense, then Tim Duncan (16 pts, 12 rebs) decided to end it in the third when he took over. The “dagger” came midway through the third when Duncan crammed on DeShawn Stevenson, and-one, then reacted with the excitement of a guy waiting for his girl to finish shoe shopping … Antonio McDyess should be cloned and put on every NBA team’s roster. Less than a minute to go in a blowout win, ‘Dyess was still running up into the fourth row trying to save possessions … Rather than a boring old pick-and-pop jumper, David West (29 pts, 9 rebs) tied up the Hornets’ game in Houston by measuring Jared Jeffries, taking him to the rack and dunking on his ‘fro something vicious. Kevin Martin hit a J on the other end, but West forced overtime with two free throws … And then Chris Paul (11 pts, 8 asts, 5 stls) dominated the extra frame. He tied it with a steal and layup, gave N.O. the lead with a pull-up J, and iced the W when he intercepted an inbound pass and scored just before the buzzer … Other stat lines from Friday: Kobe Bryant dropped 27 points in the Lakers’ win over New Jersey; Derrick Rose put up 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Chicago past Indiana; Shaq had 23 points and 5 blocks as Boston beat Charlotte; Deron Williams posted 26 points and 9 assists as Utah toyed with Cleveland; Beno Udrih scored 26 in Sacramento’s win at New York; Lou Williams dropped 25 points off the bench as Philadelphia edged Milwaukee; and Tracy McGrady put up 22 points and 5 dimes while teaching Toronto fans again that they should just stop booing their ex-stars. Hasn’t Vince done enough up there? … Rip Hamilton caught another DNP-CD in the Detroit win. It says we’re supposed to take that as an indication that a Carmelo Anthony trade is going down soon, but by now it’s like a boxer saying he’s retired. We’ll believe it when we see it … The two best prep players in the country — that is, according to the High School Hoop National Top 50 Ranking — went head-to-head yesterday as St. Patrick’s (N.J.) played Winter Park (Fla.) on ESPN2. Duke-bound guard Austin Rivers dropped 38 points for Winter Park and showed why he holds that No. 1 status, but his squad was outmatched by a St. Pat’s team that was just bigger, faster, meaner and better. Kentucky-bound forward Michael Gilchrist, the No. 2 player in the country, made a solid argument for the top spot while posting 22 points and 7 rebounds … We’re out like the Mavs’ identity …