LOS ANGELES, 30 December 2003 — The defending NBA champions San Antonio Spurs are more than just league Most Valuable Player Tim Duncan.
Argentine ace Manu Ginobili had 25 points and nine rebounds, and a stingy defense carried the Spurs to an NBA-best 13th straight victory, 89-74 over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night.
“You tell us we’re going to hold Tim Duncan to 12 points, I like our chances,” said Milwaukee coach Terry Porter. “We took away one of their key offensive weapons in Duncan but Ginobili and their other shooters really hurt us a lot.”
Duncan struggled to score 12 points -all in the first half — after aggravating a left ankle sprain on the opening tip-off, to go along with 14 rebounds for San Antonio.
“My hat goes off to Timmy because he’s hurting bad,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “He sprained his ankle again on the jump ball, believe it or not, to start the game. He had a tough time physically, but he hung in and stayed out there for us.”
Turkish star Hedo Turkoglu had 12 points and a season-best 12 rebounds, while Frenchman Tony Parker finished with 12 points and five assists.
San Antonio had its 16-point sliced to 69-65 early in the fourth quarter before using an 11-0 to pull away. Ginobili started the spurt with a basket, buried a fadeaway jumper and split a pair of free throws, before his reverse dunk gave the Spurs a 78-65 cushion with 5:25 remaining.
Turkoglu finished the decisive stretch with a jumper 28 seconds later and Parker netted nine points in the final two minutes to help seal the win.
Michael Redd scored 22 points to pace Milwaukee, which had its three-game winning streak stopped after shooting just 36 per cent from the floor.
LA Lakers 105 Boston Celtics 82
Shaquille O’Neal had 22 points to pace seven teammates in double figures and grabbed 16 rebounds as the hosts Lakers overpowered the visiting Celtics.
Derek Fisher netted 15 points off the bench and Devean George added 14 for the Lakers, who improved to an NBA-best 21-7 record with just their third win in the last seven games. Paul Pierce scored a game-high 24 points for Boston, which was out-rebounded 55-34.
Sacramento Kings 98 Utah Jazz 89
Peja Stojakovic scored 20 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, to go along with a career-high six steals, as the host Kings snapped their season-high two-game losing streak.
Sacramento’s Mike Bibby added 23 points. Russian Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Utah while Spaniard Carlos Arroyo contributed 15 points.
Cavaliers 86 Trail Blazers 74
Rookie LeBron James scored 12 of his 32 points in a 14-2 closing run, to go along with 10 rebounds and nine assists, as the Cavaliers kept the Trail Blazers winless on the road this season.
Zach Randolph scored 20 points for Portland, which remains the only team without a road win after dropping to 0-10.
Nuggets 103 Warriors 79
Marcus Camby scored 17 points while reserve guard Earl Boykins had 13 and a career-high 13 assists in host Nuggets’ third straight win.
Jason Richardson had 14 points for Golden State while Troy Murphy added 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Raptors 94 Clippers 88
Jalen Rose scored 23 points and Vince Carter had seven of his 22 in the final 3:44 to help the Raptors’ snap an 18-game road losing streak against Western Conference opponents.
Quentin Richardson scored 16 points while Elton Brand had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, whose home winning streak was halted at five.
Suns 100 Philadelphia 76ers 92
Shawn Marion scored 26 points and Joe Johnson added 23 as the Suns built a 19-point first-half cushion before holding off a late charge by the visiting 76ers to snap a three-game slide.
Glenn Robinson had 23 points and nine rebounds for Philadelphia, which played without Allen Iverson (swollen right knee) and his NBA-leading 28.9 point average for the seventh consecutive game.
