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Spurs defeat Magic for 11th straight victory

Nov 23, 2010 - 6:17 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Tony Parker scored 24 points with 10 assists and Manu Ginobili tallied 25 points to go along with nine assists, as San Antonio won its 11th consecutive game, a 106-97 decision over Eastern Conference foe Orlando.

The Spurs scored 12 of the game's final 14 points to flip a one-point deficit into nearly a double-digit victory over the game's final 2 1/2 minutes. Tim Duncan and Matt Bonner each contributed 15 points for the Spurs, who won their 11th straight game for the first time since a run from February 11-March 6, 2008.

"That's got to be one of the better games of the season for a lot of reasons," said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. "They made those shots and we made the shots. Something like this is always a team effort."

Dwight Howard compiled a game-high 26 points to go along with 18 rebounds, while Jameer Nelson added 15 points and Rashard Lewis tallied 14 for the Magic, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.

"I think for us to be able to win a game like that against a very good team on the road, there is two things I think have been regular problems for us that we have to get cured," said Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy. "One is the turnovers. The second thing is we have to be able to both close down the lane and close on shooters."

Lewis' three-pointer put the Magic in front, 95-94, but Ginobili answered with a trey of his own 21 ticks later to push the Spurs ahead for good. After a replay review reversed an out-of-bounds call and gave the basketball to the Spurs, Duncan's layup with 1:07 on the clock made it a two-possession game, 99-95. Ginobili's floater in the lane with 30.9 seconds remaining then put the game away.

Orlando led 77-74 after three quarters and the game was tied at 83-83 after Lewis connected on a jumper with just over 7 1/2 minutes to go. San Antonio held an 88-85 lead with just under five minutes to play, but the Magic scored the next five capped by Mickael Pietrus' trey for a 90-88 game. Parker answered with a three, and the game stayed close until the Spurs' late scoring stretch.

San Antonio took a 30-28 edge into the second period thanks to George Hill's three-pointer in the closing seconds. The second stanza also remained close with the homestanding Spurs holding tight to their one-point advantage, 53-52.

Game Notes

Hill scored 10 points in the victory...Richard Jefferson struggled for San Antonio, making just 2-of-7 shots for eight points...Vince Carter tallied only eight points, while JJ Redick totaled 11 points in defeat...The Magic made 48.8 percent of their shots and half of their three-point attempts (9- of-18)...San Antonio was just a little better, converting on 49.4 percent of its attempts and draining 12-of-19 treys...The Spurs have won five of the last eight meetings.