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Short-handed Spurs cruise past Magic

Apr 4, 2013 - 4:23 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Danny Green scored 20 points, and the short-handed San Antonio Spurs pulled away down the stretch to post a 98-84 win over the Orlando Magic.

Gary Neal added 16 points for the Spurs, who played without Tony Parker (sore left ankle) and Kawhi Leonard (sore left knee). Guard Manu Ginobili is expected to miss 3-to-4 weeks with a strained right hamstring.

The Spurs got back Tim Duncan, who missed Monday's loss at Memphis due to a sore knee. Duncan had only five points and four rebounds in less than 14 minutes of court time.

"It's always good to get the win first. Second of all, the rest will hopefully help the team come tomorrow," Green said. "Guys are sore and banged up a little bit. So, hopefully they come out fresh tomorrow."

San Antonio moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Oklahoma City for the top seed in the Western Conference.

Stephen Jackson had just two points on 1-of-9 shooting, but the Spurs snapped a two-game skid by limiting the Magic to 7-of-23 from the field in the fourth quarter.

Mo Harkless had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Magic, who have lost 10 of their last 12 trips to San Antonio. Nik Vucevic added 16 points and 14 rebounds in Orlando's 11th defeat in 12 games. They've lost nine in a row on the road.

Tobias Harris hit a layup with 8:33 left to bring the Magic within 78-72, but the Spurs scored the next 11 points to cement the outcome. Green drained a pair of 3-pointers during the surge.

San Antonio scored 14 of the game's first 18 points and held a 28-23 edge after one quarter. The margin remained five (51-46) at halftime and it was 73-65 Spurs going to the fourth in a game the Magic never led.

"They have a system that works for them," Orlando guard Beno Udrih said. "They have been using it forever and the organization's scouts are really good for the system that they have. In the end we just lost a little bit of focus in the fourth quarter, so that's how we lost the game."

Game Notes

San Antonio has won four straight meetings ... The Silver and Black lead the all-time series 34-15 and have a 21-4 advantage in the Alamo City ... Udrih had 14 points, DeAQuan Jones 12 and Harris 11 for the Magic, while Tiago Splitter ended with 10 points and nine boards for the Spurs ... The Magic were missing Arron Afflalo (strained right hamstring), Jameer Nelson (sprained right ankle) and Hedo Turkoglu (personal reasons) ... DeJuan Blair (stomach virus) missed the game for the Spurs.