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Spurs return home to face Timberwolves

Dec 6, 2014 - 3:25 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Antonio Spurs return home from a successful road trip Saturday night to welcome the floundering Minnesota Timberwolves to the AT&T Center.

The Spurs went 3-1 on a recent trek which featured victories over the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Memphis Grizzlies along with a disappointing loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

Head coach Gregg Popovich was steamed after the loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday, but his defending champs took care of business on Friday against the Grizzlies.

Tim Duncan had his first triple double of the season with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the Spurs defeated the Grizzlies 107-101 to snap Memphis' 22-game regular season home winning streak.

San Antonio has beaten the Grizzlies nine straight times, including the postseason.

"It's not like we're running away from them ... we've just made more shots than they have," said Duncan, who is the sixth NBA player to record a triple- double this season. It was just the fourth one of his career.

The Spurs raced out to a 13-2 start in this one and their lead was never less than four the rest of the way, but that was with 21 seconds left when the game was already decided.

Manu Ginobili tallied 17 points and seven assists and Danny Green added 16 points for the Spurs, who have won nine of their last 10 games. Tony Parker chipped in 14 and Cory Joseph scored 12 off the bench. Parker left in the third quarter left with a hamstring injury and didn't return.

The Timberwolves dropped their fourth in a row on Friday night, a 114-112 overtime heart-breaker at home to the Houston Rockets.

Seldom-used rookie Nick Johnson muscled past fellow rookie Zach LaVine and got a layup to go with 0.8 seconds left to give Houston the victory.

The setback also came after Minnesota became the first victim this season of the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at home.

"We have to live in the present," said Wolves head coach Flip Saunders. "We can't worry about what happened in the past. We can't worry about Philadelphia."

Shabazz Muhammad led seven Wolves in double figures with 20 points, Thaddeus Young, who came up short from the foul line in a bid to tie it, scored 19 and Corey Brewer tallied 15 points along with team highs of seven rebounds and six assists.

After Saturday's tilt in Alamo City, the Timberwolves play four straight at home.

The Spurs beat the Wolves by 29 on Nov. 21 and have taken 22 of the last 27 meetings between the two. San Antonio has dominated Minnesota at home to the tune of 18-1.