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Spurs stay hot with win over Hornets

Dec 6, 2010 - 6:51 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Tony Parker registered 19 points and six assists in a well-balanced San Antonio attack that trounced New Orleans, 109-84, at AT&T Center.

Matt Bonner went 4-of-5 from the three-point arc and finished with 14 points for San Antonio, which has the best record in the NBA at 17-3.

Richard Jefferson had 13 points, while Tim Duncan, George Hill and Gary Neal all recorded 11 points in the victory. Duncan also chipped in with nine rebounds.

"I thought that our team defense was very good from the beginning to the end of the game," said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. "It's one of the few games this year we've had really consistent defense for the whole 48 minutes. That was the best part of the game to me because to be an elite team we've got to do that more and more. I think that allowed us to be in a position where we happened to make shots on top of it, and that's always a good combination."

Chris Paul notched 16 points and eight assists to lead the Hornets, who have dropped four of their last five games. Trevor Ariza and David West both had 13 points in the loss.

The Spurs went on a 17-point spurt that spanned a little more than three minutes in the third quarter, giving them their biggest lead of the game at 38 points. Blair scored a layup to start the run with 7:51 left in the quarter and it was finished by a Jefferson three-pointer.

San Antonio held a 31-point cushion heading into the final 12 minutes and most of its starters enjoyed the game from the bench. New Orleans could only cut the lead to 19 with 3:49 to play when Jason Smith put back his own missed jump shot.

The Spurs were able to close out the remainder of the game with help from their reserves.

"Their pressure on us took us out tonight," said Hornets head coach Monty Williams. "When a team plays you that way you have to execute. They made shots but you are going to face teams that make shots. If they are going to shoot that way all night, and we don't then you have to live with that. I think their pressure took us out of a lot of our things -- the things we wanted to do."

The Spurs had a 17-8 lead during the first five minutes after Jefferson's alley-oop layup from Duncan. They ended up leading by as many as 13 points in the opening quarter after Manu Ginobili hit two free throws to make the score 32-19.

San Antonio's offense continued to roll during the opening 3 1/2 minutes of the second quarter with a 16-2 run. The spurt was highlighted by two Bonner three pointers. The home team kept a healthy 68-41 margin heading into halftime thanks to a Parker free throw.

Game Notes

San Antonio is 9-2 at home and 14-0 this year when scoring 100 or more points...The Hornets have gone nine straight games without scoring 100 or more points...It started a six-game homestand for the Spurs...San Antonio shot 58.6 percent from the field and made 50 percent of its three-point attempts.