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Spurs hope to avoid third straight loss

Mar 23, 2009 - 7:44 PM By Anthony Giornalista Stats Senior Writer

Golden State (25-45) at San Antonio (45-24), 8:30 p.m. EDT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Tim Duncan's late scoring burst helped San Antonio beat the Golden State Warriors in February. His failure to produce down the stretch in his last game is partly to blame for the Spurs' fall from the Southwest Division lead.

Coming off a costly late-game collapse, Duncan and the Spurs look to win their 22nd straight home game against the Warriors on Tuesday night.

San Antonio (45-24) lost 87-85 to Houston on Sunday, dropping a half-game behind the first-place Rockets in the Southwest.

It was the third loss in four games for the Spurs, who started pulling away midway through the fourth quarter before Houston went on a 10-2 run and won it on Yao Ming's pass to Luis Scola underneath for a basket with 11.9 seconds left.

"We're concerned with playing well and closing out games," San Antonio guard Roger Mason said. "We're concerned about being ready for the playoffs. ... If we take care of what we're supposed to do I think we'll be OK."

Duncan had 23 points after being held under 20 in 12 straight games, but he went scoreless in the final period on four missed shots.

The veteran big man, who has been hampered by a sore knee in recent weeks, had a clutch effort in the Spurs' 110-105 overtime win at Golden State (25-45) on Feb. 2, scoring five points in OT en route to matching a season high with 32.

In the teams' only other meeting this season, Duncan had 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists as the Spurs beat the Warriors 123-88 on Dec. 6, their 21st straight home win in the series.

San Antonio has held Golden State to 85.0 points per game and 38.6 percent shooting during that run. The Warriors haven't won at San Antonio since a 108-94 victory Feb. 14, 1997 -- the season prior to Duncan's first with the Spurs.

Golden State enters this contest having lost five straight and 16 of 18 on the road.

But San Antonio, in danger of losing three straight for the first time since starting the season 0-3, has to bounce back from an emotional letdown.

Tony Parker had 22 and 12 assists for the Spurs, but missed a tough 7-footer with 2.9 seconds left. The point guard is averaging 25.4 points and 8.2 assists in his last eight games.

Parker will be matched up with Monta Ellis, who averaged 25.2 points in his first six contests after returning from an ankle injury before being held to 12 in Golden State's 99-89 loss to New Orleans on Sunday.

The Warriors, who shot a season-high 56.5 percent in a win over Philadelphia on Friday night, made 30.2 percent (13-for-43) of their shots en route to scoring a season-low 37 points in the first half versus the Hornets.

"You can't wait and play too late against a good team," said Golden State swingman Stephen Jackson, who had 22 points after averaging 11.3 in his previous three outings.

Jackson had 33 points and 11 assists in February's contest with the Spurs, but has been held to eight points or fewer in four of his six road games against his former team.