Tim Duncan perfectly summed up the San Antonio Spurs' latest effort, a below-par effort that was still good enough for victory.
Duncan had 29 points with 12 rebounds and the surging Spurs rolled to their 10th consecutive victory by beating the visiting New Jersey Nets 81-70 on Tuesday night.
Despite winning for the 13th time in the last 14 games to remain ahead of the LA Lakers atop the Western Conference, Duncan didn't think his club had a very good outing.
PHOTO: AP
"Defensively we weren't very good. Our focus was a little down," he said. "We didn't shoot the ball well, but we did well enough to win the game."
Argentine Manu Ginobili scored just 12 points and Frenchman Tony Parker added 11 for the Spurs (42-17), who overcame an icy 33.9 field goal shooting performance with a strong defensive effort.
Vince Carter netted 19 points, Marcus Williams added 16 off the bench for the Nets (26-34) who connected on 37 percent from the field en route to their 11th consecutive loss to the defending NBA Champions.
"They won the game shooting 33 per cent, that's how good they are," Nets head coach Lawrence Frank said. "Those guys are the gold standard. They make you grind it out and they frustrate the heck out of you. We gave a very good effort, but we could not put the ball in the hole and Duncan was a monster."
After dropping the opener of the home-and-home series 93-83 on Sunday, the Nets made 10-of-15 shots and led by seven after the opening quarter. However, Duncan scored 13 of his 18 first-half points in the second stanza, the Spurs forced the Nets into six-of-23 shooting and outscored them 27-13 for a 44-37 halftime advantage.
"That second quarter was the separator," Frank added. "We just couldn't make shots."
The Spurs continued to pull away, and Duncan's dunk with 7:12 remaining in the third quarter made it 53-38.
The hosts carried a 63-51 advantage into the final frame and maintained a double digit the rest of the way.
"They're not pretty the way they play but they get it done," said Nets new point guard Devin Harris, who finished with just eight points in his third game since being acquired from Dallas as part of the Jason Kidd trade.
Lakers 117, Kings 105
At Sacramento, California, Kobe Bryant scored 17 of his 34 points in an electric fourth-quarter performance, and Pau Gasol added 31 points in Los Angeles' 12th victory in 13 games.
Bryant scored all of his fourth-quarter points in the final 5:56 against the Kings, including 11 straight as the Lakers took their first lead in a mean-spirited game between longtime rivals. Bryant, newly christened the NBA's player of the month for February, led the way with a series of balletic moves, including a spinning layup and a 360-degree two-handed jam as Los Angeles pulled away.
Kevin Martin and Ron Artest scored 23 points apiece for the Kings, who lost for the fifth time in six games.
In other games it was:
* Suns 97, Trail Blazers 92
* Magic 102, Raptors 87
* Warriors 135, Hawks 118
* Bobcats 109, Timberwolves 89
* Pistons 100, SuperSonics 97
* Bulls 112, Grizzlies 97
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS