Ray Allen returned from a three-game injury absence and a long time on the bench in the fourth quarter to nail a go-ahead 3-pointer with 31.7 seconds left, lifting the Boston Celtics past the Dallas Mavericks 94-90 Thursday to complete an impressive sweep in Texas. Allen, recovering from a jammed left ankle, scored 21 points in 31 minutes. His clutch jumper came on his only shot of the final period and helped Boston win for the 14th time in 15 games. Paul Pierce had 22 points and a season-high 13 rebounds and Kevin Garnett added 20 and 13. Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 19 rebounds to led the Mavericks, Josh Howard added 24 points and Jerry Stackhouse had 17. Spurs 102, Bulls 80: At Chicago, Tony Parker scored 23 points and Tim Duncan had 22 to go with 10 rebounds as San Antonio downed Chicago to end a four-game losing streak. The defending NBA champs avoided their first five-game losing streak since the 1996-97 season – the one before Duncan's rookie year. And they had such an easy time of it that Duncan and Parker were able to rest in the fourth quarter. Luol Deng led the sagging Bulls with 18 points and Drew Gooden added 16 as Chicago fell 14 games under .500. Lakers 106, Jazz 95: At Salt Lake, City, Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, Lamar Odom had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Los Angeles ended Utah's 19-game home winning streak. Derek Fisher added 11 points and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 13 for the Lakers, who are the first team to win in Utah in 2008. Los Angeles missed just once in its first 10 shots and was ahead by 24 early in the second period. Carlos Boozer had 23 points and 15 rebounds and Deron Williams had 26 points and 12 assists for Utah. Andrei Kirilenko scored 15 points, Ronnie Brewer had 12 and Mehmet Okur 10. __
