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Duncan leads Spurs past T'Wolves

Mar 22, 2012 - 4:57 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Tim Duncan scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds as San Antonio earned a dominating 116-100 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.

Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Jackson and Gary Neal added 16 points apiece, while Danny Green netted 14 and Tiago Splitter contributed 11 in the Spurs' 15th straight home win against Minnesota.

The Timberwolves have not earned a win in San Antonio since January 14, 2004.

"He definitely looks like the old Tim and to get where we want to be, we are going to need him to play like that," Jackson said about Duncan.

J.J. Barea paced Minnesota with 18 points and 11 assists. Kevin Love also had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the Timberwolves' sixth loss in eight games.

San Antonio controlled the action from the start, recording the game's first four points and holding on to that lead for the remainder of the contest.

Minnesota stayed within two possessions over the first six-plus minutes of the first quarter, but after Martell Webster's three-pointer made it 14-11 just past the midpoint of the first, the Spurs closed out the quarter with an 18-5 run to take a 32-16 advantage into the second quarter.

The Spurs' advantage stretched to as many as 18 points in the second before the Timberwolves took advantage of a 29.2 percent shooting performance by San Antonio in the frame, using a 19-9 swing to cut the deficit to eight, 46-38, on Kevin Love's free throws with 3:47 left in the half.

Minnesota, though, would get no closer than seven from there and San Antonio held a 56-47 lead at the break.

San Antonio then pulled away in the second half, shooting 65 percent in the third quarter en route to a 91-71 lead entering the fourth quarter, where they held at least a 16-point advantage for the remainder of the game.

"We played against a tough team tonight," said Barea. "You have to give San Antonio a lot of credit. They played with more energy."

Game Notes

Spurs forward Matt Bonner sat out the game with back spasms...San Antonio leads the all-time series, 69-25, including a 39-8 advantage at home...Minnesota fell to 2-4 on a seven-game road trip that ends in Oklahoma City on Friday...The Spurs pulled down a season-high 56 rebounds in the contest.