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Parker, Ginobili boost Spurs over Bulls

Jan 18, 2009 - 5:12 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Spurs were a big tease on Saturday.

They kept sprinting away from the Chicago Bulls and letting them back in the game before finally using a late spurt to post a 92-87 victory.

"In the first half, we had a big lead and they came back and made a huge run," Spurs guard Tony Parker said. "Second half, we played better defense and made the key stops we needed to win the game."

The Spurs enjoyed a 77-71 lead in the fourth quarter before the Bulls ran off six unanswered points to knot the game on Andres Nocioni's layup with 4:18 left.

The Bulls moved in front, 82-81, when Drew Gooden hit a hook shot and completed a three-point play with just over three minutes left.

Parker gave the lead back to San Antonio with a pretty spinning drive that made it 83-82.

Manu Ginobili then drilled the dagger, hitting a 3-point basket with 1:05 left. He added a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left to make it 88-82.

Gooden closed the gap to 88-84 with a pair of foul shots but they were offset by a pair from the line by Ginobili.

Parker then fouled Nocioni on a 3-point shot as the Spurs continued to flirt with disaster. Nocioni hit all three free throws.

Nocioni then returned the favor, fouling Ginobili outside the arc as the 24-second clock ticked down. Ginobili hit 2-of-3 to ice the game.

"It is what it is," Ginobili said of getting his good friend Nocioni to go for the fake that led to the foul. "That is a tough situation, and he doesn't want me to get a three, sometimes these things happen."

Nocioni agreed.

"It happened, so what else can I say? He pumped-faked and I jumped (into him). That's it," Nocioni said.

Ginobili led the Spurs with 21 points. Parker added 20 and Tim Duncan chipped in with 18 and 13 rebounds.

"It was a good competitive game, down the stretch we made some shots, including a big hook shot from Tim that was key," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

The Spurs surged to a double-digit lead lead after the first quarter only to see the Bulls use a 26-15 run in the second to knot the game at intermission.

The Spurs used an 8-0 tear to build a 65-57 lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter before Thabo Sefolosha hit a driving layup to close the Bulls' deficit to six entering the final 12 minutes.

"It is just one game and we have to build on it," Duncan said. "If we go out and play the next game like we have played lately, this one will not mean a thing. We didn't play good in the second quarter, but we came out of it tied, which is better than being down."

Ben Gordon scored 20 points and Nocioni had 17 and 15 rebounds off the bench for Chicago.