Duncan Has 22 To Lift Spurs Over T-Wolves
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The Spurs made up for three quarters of lousy play with an excellent finish.
Tim Duncan scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds to help the San Antonio Spurs rally from a 15-point deficit to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-101 Friday night.
"It was a great fourth quarter, and our guys really hustled," said Duncan, who scored 10 of San Antonio's final 14 points in the first half. "We made plays and found a way to get it done. Obviously that's not the situation we want to be in on a nightly basis but given that situation, it's the best outcome possible."
Tony Parker and George Hill added 20 points apiece for the Spurs, who improved their NBA-best record to 16-3. Manu Ginobili had 16 and Richard Jefferson scored 15.
Michael Beasley scored 28 points and Kevin Love had 25 points and 18 rebounds for Minnesota.
Ginobili sank two free throws to give San Antonio the lead for good with 1:13 remaining. He made all 13 of his foul shots.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was ejected with 1:10 left in third quarter for arguing with referee Marc Davis.
San Antonio held Minnesota without a field goal in the final 4:13.
"That's what good teams do," Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis said. "Good teams have the confidence that they're going to come back and win. They know how to dig themselves out of holes. Young teams, unfortunately, can't figure out how to hold big leads."
Beasley made two free throws to give Minnesota a 99-95 lead, but a turnover by the Timberwolves eventually sent Hill to the line to tie it with 2:56 left in the game.
Both teams were scoreless for over the next minute and a half until Ginobili went to the free throw line.
"We are proud of the way we did, but are definitely not proud of the way we played for three quarters," Ginobili said. "We've been doing that too much. I guess luck has been on our side lately, but we've got to start playing for 48."
In the third quarter, Jefferson made a 3-pointer with 2:01 to play in the third that cut Minnesota's lead to four, but the Timberwolves answered with an 11-0 run.
"Aggressiveness. We were very aggressive," Ginobili said. "We attacked the ball. We started blitzing to try to force them to make mistakes and they did. We didn't make five 3s to make this comeback. It was with defense."
Luke Ridnour and Corey Brewer both finished with 14 points each for Minnesota. Darko Milicic fouled out with 3:15 left, exiting the game with four points, six rebounds and four assists.
Notes: The Spurs will play 11 of their remaining 14 games in 2010 at home. ... Minnesota hasn't defeated the Spurs on their homecourt since 2004 ... The Timberwolves are 1-10 on the road this season.
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