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Mills powers Spurs over Bobcats

Feb 9, 2014 - 5:52 AM Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Patty Mills scored 18 of his season-high 32 points in the fourth quarter and had seven rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs held off the Charlotte Bobcats, 104-100, on Saturday night.

Tim Duncan tallied 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Nando De Colo added 15 points for San Antonio, which has won four of its last five games.

"I thought all the young guys that don't play much and played they way they did was really impressive," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "They were outtalented and outsized, but they gave everything they could and did a lot of great things out on the court. And of course Patty Mills was great, he was unconscious tonight."

Al Jefferson recorded 26 points and nine rebounds and Gerald Henderson chipped in 23 points for the Bobcats, who have dropped two of their last three.

"I thought our effort and approach all day was good. We just didn't play to the level we needed to on defense," said Bobcats coach Steve Clifford.

The game was tied at 82 before the Spurs used a 12-4 run to seize control.

Jeff Ayres' reverse layup and jumper on back-to-back possessions preceded a Mills jumper, which staked San Antonio to an 88-82 edge with 6:19 to play. A few minutes later Mills got his floater to drop and Duncan drained a pair of free throws to cap the surge and extend the margin to 94-86.

A quick 6-1 Charlotte swing whittled the deficit to 97-93 with 1:01 remaining and a Ramon Sessions layup cut the gap to 100-97 with 10.4 seconds on the clock. De Colo then hit two free throws before Henderson nailed a triple to make it 102-100 with 2.9 ticks left.

De Colo, though, made a pair of game-sealing free throws at the other end.

Earlier, Charlotte raced out to an 18-6 lead, but the Spurs answered with a 15-5 run to cut the margin to 23-21.

The Bobcats led 25-21 after a quarter of play, 42-41 at the break and were up 70-69 going into the final frame.

Game Notes

The Spurs shot 46.8 percent (36-of-77) from the floor and knocked down 24- of-28 (85.7 percent) foul shots ... Tony Parker had nine points and five assists for San Antonio ... There were 15 lead changes and 12 ties in the game ... San Antonio has won six straight and 12 of the last 13 meetings.