Pelicans 81 - 93 Spurs
Final
  for this game

Parker, Spurs use late spurt to get past Hornets

Feb 3, 2012 - 6:37 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Tony Parker finished with 18 points and seven assists and provided the Spurs the spark they needed in the fourth quarter, as San Antonio fended off the New Orleans Hornets, 93-81.

The final score was not a reflection of the close contest thanks to Parker, who had eight points and four helpers in the final frame to help the Spurs improve to 12-1 at AT&T Center.

Tim Duncan logged 19 points and nine rebounds, while Tiago Splitter had 16 and seven in the victory, San Antonio's third straight overall.

Carl Landry netted 17 points and Greivis Vasquez added 16 in New Orleans' fourth straight setback.

Incredibly, neither team led by more than four points over the first 36 minutes. There were 15 ties and 14 lead changes leading up to the fourth, which started with the Spurs holding a 71-68 lead.

Parker ignited to an 11-2 run to open the final frame. The point guard fed Splitter for a pair of buckets, scored twice inside and threw a behind-the- back pass to Matt Bonner for an open three-pointer to cap the flurry.

"I thought Tony was really good in the second half in forcing the issue and I thought Tiago had a great run in there defensively and offensively," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. "The two of them really got us going and that was it."

New Orleans cut the deficit to seven a little later, but San Antonio scored the next nine points -- four coming from Parker -- to pull away for good.

"The guys we were counting on to step up tonight just didn't have it," Hornets head coach Monty Williams said.

Game Notes

San Antonio led 23-22 after the first quarter and trailed 45-44 at halftime...The Spurs outscored the Hornets at the free throw line, 21-12...San Antonio will close out its three-game homestand versus the Thunder on Saturday and will commence its annual Rodeo Road Trip with nine straight games as the guest on Monday at Memphis...New Orleans has lost five in a row on the road.






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