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Balanced attack helps Spurs top Nuggets

Mar 28, 2013 - 4:31 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Tim Duncan posted a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds, as all five San Antonio starters scored in double figures in the Spurs' 100-99 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday at AT&T Center.

Danny Green drained six 3-pointers en route to 20 points, while Tony Parker registered a double-double with 18 points and 11 assists for the Spurs, who have won six straight at home and five of their last six overall.

"It's huge because we have a lot of tough games (coming up)," Parker said of the win. "We need to take care of home court advantage."

Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter added 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the victory.

JaVale McGee led the Nuggets with 21 points and 11 boards, while Wilson Chandler chipped in 15 points for Denver, which has lost back-to-back games on the heels of a 15-game winning streak.

Andre Miller finished with 14 points and eight assists, but missed a potential game-winning shot as time expired.

San Antonio held an 83-75 lead after three frames, but the Spurs went the first six-plus minutes of the fourth without a field goal, allowing the Nuggets to grab an 89-88 lead on Miller's jumper just over four minutes in.

Duncan's layup with 5:45 to play gave the Spurs their first field goal of the frame and the veteran big man followed with a turnaround jumper just over a minute later to give the Spurs a 94-89 advantage.

Denver answered with a 6-3 swing to pull within two with under two minutes left, but Manu Ginobili drained a clutch 3-pointer at the other end to make it 100-95 with 1:26 left.

Danilo Gallinari drained two free throws on Denver's next touch, and after Parker missed a jumper, Gallinari drew contact and hit two more from the charity stripe to bring the Nuggets within one with 34.2 ticks remaining.

Duncan got an open look at a midrange jumper on the ensuing San Antonio possession, but his shot was off the mark and the Nuggets grabbed the board before calling a timeout with 10.2 seconds on the clock.

On the final possession, Miller got the ball on the right wing and drove to the lane with time winding down, but his left-handed runner was off the mark, allowing the Spurs to escape with the victory.

"I've seen Andre make that shot a hundred times," Nuggets coach George Karl said of Miller's runner. "But I'm not disappointed. When Gallinari hesitated (before passing to Miller) it took enough time off the clock where Andre didn't have much anything to do but attack aggressively."

Denver shot 51.1 percent (23-for-45) from the field in the first half, and despite going 0-for-5 from long range, the Nuggets were able to take a 54-51 lead into the break.

The Spurs caught fire in the third, as they shot a scorching 62.5 percent (10- for-16) from the floor and outscored the Nuggets by 11 in the frame to take an 83-75 advantage into the fourth.

Game Notes

San Antonio improved to 31-4 at home this season ... The Spurs maintained their 1 1/2 game lead over Oklahoma City atop the Western Conference ... Nuggets guard and leading scorer Ty Lawson returned from a three-game absence, but managed just two points on 1-of-7 shooting ... Denver fell to 17-21 on the road.