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Nets-Spurs Preview

Jan 9, 2010 - 6:40 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

New Jersey (3-33) at San Antonio (21-13), 7:00 p.m. EDT

After bouncing back from a slow start, the San Antonio Spurs have stumbled twice in the past week. A matchup with the woeful New Jersey Nets could help them get back to winning.

The Spurs will try to earn their 14th straight victory over the Nets on Sunday night.

After splitting its first 18 games, San Antonio got on track by winning 11 of 13. The Spurs (21-13), though, have since dropped two of three.

They lost 91-86 at Toronto last Sunday as their rally from a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit fell short. San Antonio rebounded for a 112-92 home win over Detroit on Wednesday and held a 10-point lead entering the final period against visiting Dallas on Friday night before the Mavericks scored 42 in the last 12 minutes to win 112-103.

"We played a good third quarter, gave ourselves a lead, talked about building on it going into the fourth quarter," said Tim Duncan, who scored 31. "But bit by bit they got back into it. Their shooters got hot, and we didn't."

Duncan has been the Spurs' hottest shooter of late, making 57.5 percent of his attempts over the past five games while averaging 22.4 points. The perennial All-Star is shooting a career-best 55.4 percent and has averaged 28.7 points on 59.3 percent shooting in his past three matchups with the Nets.

Duncan has scored 23.1 points per game in 22 career meetings, and New Jersey is one of three teams he's averaged more than 23.0 against in his 13 seasons.

If he can lead San Antonio to another victory Sunday, it would tie the league's longest active win streak over one opponent. The Spurs also own that mark with 14 straight victories against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The addition of Richard Jefferson could help, as he's averaged 25.3 points in the past three meetings against New Jersey, where he played his first seven NBA seasons.

In Jefferson's final season there in 2007-08, the Nets won 34 games. They probably won't come anywhere near reaching that total this season.

New Jersey (3-33) enters Sunday looking to avoid its fifth straight loss and seventh in a row on the road.

The Nets nearly snapped both skids Friday night against New Orleans as they rallied for a one-point lead with 12 seconds remaining. However, they were outscored 5-0 after that and lost 103-99 to fall to 1-18 away from home.

"It's always disappointing when players don't finish the game," coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. "We're all disappointed, but (New Orleans) is a very good team. They played hard and they've won a lot at the end. We have nothing to be ashamed of. You have to give them credit for finishing well."

Courtney Lee had a team-best 28 points after scoring a combined 24 in the previous three games, and Keyon Dooling added a season-high 21 off the bench. After averaging 20.3 points in his previous seven games, Yi Jianlian was limited to eight.

The Spurs, 15-6 at home, are searching for their eighth win in 10 games there.