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Evans leads Nuggets past Spurs

Apr 19, 2007 - 6:18 AM SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- Reggie Evans and the Denver Nuggets picked up a road win over the San Antonio Spurs with ease. They will need at least one more before their season is over but it will be much harder.

Evans scored 19 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as the Nuggets posted a 100-77 victory over the Spurs in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Evans was 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-10 from the line in 30 minutes off the bench.

"It felt good. It was a good feeling to get a win," Evans said. "It was nice to finish with a victory like this going into the playoffs. It was a good run for the reserves tonight because you never know when you might be called upon. Tonight was about being professional. It was just another game and we approached it like this from a professional standpoint."

Denver will be back here on Sunday as the sixth seed in the Western Conference when it opens a first-round playoff series against third-seeded San Antonio.

With nothing to gain, neither team took a chance of losing a star player. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker each sat out for the Spurs (58-24) while Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Nene took the night off for the Nuggets (45-37).

J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza each scored 17 points for Denver, which has won 10 of its last 11 games.

"I thought this game more showcased our personality as opposed to theirs," Denver coach George Karl said. "They matched our tempo and ran with us most of this game. San Antonio is more likely to play a bit of a smarter tempo when we see them again. It gave us a confidence that we are going to need to find in a new way next time out."

Beno Udrih scored 13 points for the Spurs, who won the season series with the Nuggets, 2-1.

"We're happy to have the playoffs starting," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "This will be one of the best years ever for fans, every matchup is tough. For us it's crazy."