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Duncan, Parker lead Spurs to rout of Bulls

Mar 21, 2008 - 5:36 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs were not going to revisit ancient history.

Duncan scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Spurs routed the Chicago Bulls, 102-80, on Thursday.

Tony Parker scored 10 of his 23 points in the second quarter and reserve Ime Udoka had 13 for San Antonio (45-23), which snapped a four-game losing streak and moved within 1 1/2 games of idle New Orleans (46-21) for first place in the Southwest Division.

"It feels very good to get a win," Parker said. "We've had some tough losses so it's nice to get back on track and play good basketball."

The Spurs, who avoided their first five-game skid in 11 seasons, outscored Chicago by 19 in the second to take control of the game.

"We played well on the defensive end of the court and that fueled what we did," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Our offense came from the good team defense we played."

Luol Deng had 18 points and seven rebounds and Drew Gooden scored eight of his 16 in the first quarter for Chicago, which fell two games behind idle Atlanta (29-39) and New Jersey for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"When you play the world champions you better bring your game," Deng said. "Tonight we didn't show up and didn't looked interested."

Trailing 23-22 after the first period, the Spurs opened the second on a 17-6 burst and finished the half leading 55-37. Parker scored 10 points, Udoka eight and Duncan seven as San Antonio shot 13-of-22 in the quarter.

"It's great to get off the schneid. The first quarter we didn't play well," Duncan said. "Then we hit a rhythm, which is what it's all about right now, getting into a rhythm. We have a game (Friday) so it was nice to not go back in during the fourth quarter."

The Spurs, who shot 45 percent (38-of-85) overall, held the Bulls to just six field goals in the period.

"When you play the World Champions you have to bring some enthusiasm," Bulls coach Jim Boylan said. "We tried to be ready for this game. Maybe I didn't have them prepared well enough."

San Antonio, which also ended a five-game road losing streak, increased its lead to 22 entering the final period to cruise the rest of the way.

Ben Gordon scored 12 and Larry Hughes added 10 for the Bulls, who shot just 38 percent (28-of-74) and lost both of their games to the Spurs this season.

"I am not sure if we didn't play with enough intensity," Hughes said. "We didn't play well enough on either side of the court and didn't get it done."