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Spurs seek bounce-back effort in Big Easy

Dec 26, 2014 - 3:21 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to break out of their current funk Friday night when they host the New Orleans Pelicans at AT&T Center.

San Antonio has dropped five of its last six, including a disappointing home loss to the Kevin Durant-less Oklahoma City Thunder on Christmas Day.

Russell Westbrook was dominant for the Thunder as Durant sat for the fifth consecutive game. OKC prevailed, 114-106, to mildly avenge last season's six- game playoff loss in the Western Conference.

Seven Spurs reached double figures, with Matt Bonner's 17 points leading the balanced attack. Tim Duncan scored 15, Corey Joseph and Tiago Splitter had 14 apiece and Manu Ginobili tallied 11 with a game-high 13 assists.

"They were more physical than us. They got a lot of offensive rebounds, loose balls and we turned the ball over a lot," Ginobili said.

Danny Green chipped in 12 points, while Tony Parker only managed 10.

Parker's drive and dish to Duncan for a dunk at 6:48 of the fourth gave the Spurs a 93-89 lead. The rest of the game belonged to Westbrook. His layup less than a minute after Duncan's slam tied the game, and his feed to Steven Adams for a thunderous dunk gave Oklahoma City the lead. Westbrook then took it from Joseph and went coast-to-coast for a layup.

Out of a Spurs timeout, Westbrook hit a pull-up jumper and assisted on Anthony Morrow's 3-ball that made it 102-93.

San Antonio was without Kawhi Leonard (hand) for the fifth straight game.

The Pelicans have dropped two of the last three, including their most recent outing, a 96-84 setback Tuesday night on the road against the Indiana Pacers.

Anthony Davis led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting to go along with nine rebounds. Jrue Holiday scored 16 points with five rebounds and five assists, while Tyreke Evans netted 14 points with 11 rebounds for the Pelicans.

"They were a lot more physical than we were all night long," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "We waited too late to try and turn it on."

After trailing by nine to start the fourth quarter, Holiday's layup later in the frame cut the deficit to five, 87-82, but C.J. Watson and Roy Hibbert answered with baskets to keep the Pacers out in front with over two minutes to go.

The Pelicans defeated the Spurs by one in San Antonio on Nov. 8 to end a five- game series losing streak. The Spurs have won five of their last six trips to the Big Easy.