Tim Duncan Leads Spurs to Fifth Straight Victory With 97-88 Win Over Clippers
By ELIZABETH WHITE | Associated Press | Mar 26, 08 11:42 PM CDT in
Sports
Tim Duncan had 26 points and 12 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs withstood a late rally from the Los Angeles Clippers for a 97-88 victory Wednesday night.
It was the fifth straight victory for the Spurs, who are in fifth place in the Western Conference and have a 1 1/2-game lead over the Phoenix Suns.
Corey Maggette scored 22 points for Los Angeles, which has lost nine in a row and is out of playoff contention. Al Thornton added 21 points and nine rebounds and Chris Kaman, back after a nine-game absence with a sore lower back, scored 16.
The return of Kaman, who had been relatively quiet for the first three quarters and played limited minutes, proved crucial to the Clippers in the fourth quarter. He and Maggette keyed an 11-0 Clippers run, and his basket with 7:23 to play gave them their first lead _ 80-79 _ since they were up 3-2 early.
The Clippers went up by five before the Spurs answered with an 10-0 run _ highlighted by a 3 from the team's resident spark plug, Manu Ginobili _ that put them up 89-84 with 1:43 to play. At the same time, the Clippers didn't post any points for more than 4 1/2 minutes and didn't hit a field goal for the last 5:58 of the game.
The surge gave San Antonio the lead for good, though Ginobili didn't stop and scored another basket, followed by a 3 from Michael Finley to make it 94-86 with 37 seconds to play and put the game out of reach for the Clippers.
Finley added 16 points for the Spurs, Tony Parker had 15 and Ginobili scored 13. Cuttino Mobley scored 10 points for Los Angeles.
The Spurs jumped out to a 27-18 lead after the opening quarter and led by as many as 13 in the first half, but eight straight Clippers points from Thornton to close the half brought Los Angeles to within 48-44.
In the third quarter, the Clippers crept close to the Spurs before finally tying it at 69 with 1:04 to play off Thornton's jumper, but they never took the lead. It was tied again at 71 before Bruce Bowen's 3-pointer, from his sweet spot in the corner, gave the Spurs a 74-71 lead with one quarter to play.
Notes:@ Spurs G Brent Barry, who re-signed with the team this week after a monthlong absence as part of a San Antonio-Seattle trade in February, was on the Spurs' bench but didn't dress for the game. ... Clippers C-F Aaron Williams continued to sit out with a lower abdominal strain. ... Spurs F Robert Horry was still out with a left knee contusion. ... The Clippers shot 39 percent from the field.
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