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
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