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Parker, Ginobili lead Spurs to sixth win in seven games

Dec 24, 2006 - 6:08 AM OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich's team was determined to end its weekend on an upbeat note.

Tony Parker scored 19 points, Manu Ginobili added 17 and Bruce Bowen 15 for the Spurs, who won for the sixth time in seven games with a 112-77 rout of the New Orleans Hornets.

After managing just 78 points - their second-lowest total of the season - in Friday's loss to the Houston Rockets, the Spurs shot 63 percent (44-of-70) from the floor to defeat the Hornets for the ninth time in 10 encounters.

"Everyone is doing a good job of knowing where everyone is on the floor, and knowing their role," Popovich said. "We've always been an unselfish team, but when you spread the ball around, shoot like we did and play defense, we are a pretty good basketball team."

"When you move the ball the way we do, guys are going to get open," Bowen said. "When you have the shooters that we do, we can get big nights from one guy, or a solid night from everyone, and that's what we did."

San Antonio made 12-of-18 shots in the first quarter and used a 21-8 run to close the period with a 30-20 lead. Parker opened the burst with a three-point play and Bowen and Brent Barry added 3-pointers.

"After (Friday), we knew what we were capable of, and we wanted to make amends for that, and I think we responded," Bowen said. "As players, you need to have a short-term memory and go put out the effort to win."

Devin Brown hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 36-35 midway through the second quarter before the Spurs again took command with a 24-8 spurt for a 60-43 bulge. Bowen and Michael Finley scored seven points and Matt Bonner added five in the run.

San Antonio poured it on by outscoring the Hornets, 30-18, in the third quarter. Barry, Parker and Finley hit consecutive 3-pointers for the Spurs to widen the margin to 87-64.

"They are very good on both ends of the court and very efficient on offense," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "They have been together a long time and know each other extremely well. Knowing how they played (Friday), we knew they were going to come in here ready and we didn't respond."

Bonner scored 14 points, Finley had 12 and Tim Duncan 11 for San Antonio, which limited the Hornets to 29 second-half points.

"It's big for our bench to have a night like this and it's big to get games where everyone chips in and contributes," Duncan said. "This is a confidence booster that will help us down the road win a lot of games."

The game seemed to be an instant replay of their last encounter on December 14, when the Spurs held the Hornets to only 35 points in the second half of a 103-77 victory. Parker scored 29 and Ginobili added 24.

"I think the better the defense is, the better the shooting becomes," Popovich said. "Momentum like that transfers. When you play good at one end of the floor, you usually play good at the other. The defense is really important for us and it was good to see it."

Last season's Rookie of the Year, Chris Paul scored 20 points and Rasual Butler added 16 for the Hornets, who lost for the fifth time in six games despite a 40-32 rebounding edge.

"We didn't play well tonight," Butler said. "Every mistake we made, they capitalized on it. When you play a team as good as the Spurs, you can't make mistakes and expect to win. It's unfortunate. We had good moments, but there were too many mistakes."