Manu Ginobili Scores Season-High 34 Points to Help Spurs Hold Off Raptors 93-88
Associated Press | Feb 11, 08 9:24 PM CST in
Sports
Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 34 points and added a career-high 15 rebounds, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 93-88 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night.
Tim Duncan added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs, who led from wire-to-wire and won for the fifth time in six games. San Antonio's only defeat in that time was a 98-90 loss at Boston on Sunday.
Ginobili had 21 points in 19 first-half minutes, scored three more in the third, then helped put the game away with 10 in the fourth.
Ginobili's biggest rebound came in the final 20 seconds when he rebounded his own miss and was fouled with the Spurs clinging to a three-point lead.
Toronto's Jose Calderon scored a career-high 27, and Andrea Bargnani had 12. Chris Bosh and Carlos Delfino each had 11 points and eight rebounds as the Raptors dropped their third straight at home.
San Antonio has won 10 of its past 12 against Toronto.
The Spurs led 68-56 at 2:41 of the third, but didn't score again in the quarter, allowing Toronto to cut the gap to 68-60 at the start of the fourth. San Antonio called a timeout after a jumper by Jason Kapono made it 70-66 with 10:38 remaining.
Duncan and Jacque Vaughn returned for the Spurs, who scored nine of the next 11 points to lead 79-68 at 7:44. But Toronto closed again, with 3-pointers from Calderon and Delfino and a layup by Rasho Nesterovic making it 87-84 with 3:32 left.
Bosh made it 91-88 on a jumper from the top of the key with 1:20 left, but missed an almost identical shot 45 seconds later that would have made it a one-point game.
Toronto, who previous three games were against last-place opponents (Miami, the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota), struggled early against the defending NBA champions.
The Raptors missed their first six shots and didn't score until a jumper from Jamario Moon at 8:33. San Antonio led by as many as 12 in the first and pushed their lead to 18, at 53-35, on a second-quarter basket by Ginobili.
Toronto's hopes took a hit when Bosh limped off midway through the first after injuring his right knee in a knee-on-knee collision with Vaughn. Bosh returned three minutes later wearing a black wrap on his knee.
Raptors guard T.J. Ford played eight minutes in the first half but was kept on the bench in the second because of a sore right wrist. Ford returned Feb. 4 after missing 24 games because of neck and arm pain, the result of a Dec. 11 fall at Atlanta.
Spurs point guard Tony Parker (left ankle) missed his seventh straight game, while guard Brent Barry (left calf) missed his ninth straight.
Notes:@ Raptors coach Sam Mitchell left the team Monday and flew home to Atlanta following the death of his father-in-law. He's not expected back until after the All-Star break. Mike Evans served as head coach Monday and Jay Triano will be the head coach Wednesday against New Jersey. ... San Antonio outrebounded Toronto 16-4 in the first quarter. ... The Spurs wrap up a season-high nine-game road trip at Cleveland on Wednesday.
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