Associated Press
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — Here comes Tim Duncan once again. It turns out San Antonio’s steady star needed a couple weeks to find his rejuvenated form from a year ago.
Duncan made a jumper with 0.4 seconds left to lift the Spurs to a 102-100 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
“(Duncan) did a great job,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We were having a tough night in a lot of ways and he was superb.”
Duncan finished with 23 points and 21 rebounds, becoming the oldest player with 20 points and 20 rebounds since the NBA began keeping track of rebounds during the 1985-86 season.
“We know the type of player he is,” Atlanta center Al Horford said. “He’s just a winner; he finds ways every time.”
Boris Diaw had 16 points and Tiago Splitter finished with 11 as San Antonio outscored the younger and more athletic Atlanta front court 50-40.
The Hawks had all five starters score in double figures. Jeff Teague had 19 points, Horford added 18 and DeMarre Carroll finished with 17.
After struggling in the first month of the season, including a career-low two points on Nov. 13 against Washington, the 37-year-old Duncan is starting to pick up his play. He is averaging 16.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in his last five games.
“I feel a lot healthier now,” he said. “For a while there, I was dealing with some stuff, but now my body is feeling good and I’m starting to get my legs underneath me.”
The Hawks trailed 98-94 when Paul Millsap made a 3-pointer over Diaw with 17.5 seconds remaining. Manu Ginobili then made a pair of free throws for the Spurs, but Teague drained a 3 over Kawhi Leonard to tie it at 100 with 4.7 seconds left.
Curling off a pick by Marco Belinelli, Duncan drained a jumper over the 6-foot-8 Carroll near the free-throw line to put San Antonio ahead to stay.
“Tonight was good for (Duncan),” Ginobili said, “but we never lost trust in him. We would be crazy if we did. It does feel good to see him coming back, especially over the past few games.”
Millsap’s desperation jumper hit the side of the backboard.
“They did a good job running that play,” Horford said. “They had guys flying all over the place. Belinelli came into the paint, I called the switch. If I could have gone back, I probably would have tried to chase Duncan off of there, but Belinelli got me pretty good, I’ve got to give him credit. That’s how he was able to get free and get that shot up.”
The Hawks knew the play was coming since they are coached by longtime Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer.
There were 20 lead changes and 17 ties in a game with almost identical schemes.
“It was a heck of an NBA basketball game,” Budenholzer said. “I’m proud of our guys. It was a very good effort. If we play that long and that hard in games, we’re going to be OK. San Antonio tests you in a lot of different ways. They test you on both ends of the court. It’s good for our guys to compete the way they competed.”
Tony Parker added 15 points for the Spurs. Belinelli had 13 and Ginobili finished with 10.
The Spurs returned to their ball-sharing ways after they struggled on offense in a loss to Houston.
Nine of the 10 Spurs who played in the first half scored. Danny Green didn’t score until there was 2:54 remaining in the game, but it proved to be a critical basket. He drained a jumper just before the shot clock expired to give San Antonio a 94-87 lead.
“It’s a very, very (tough loss),” Millsap said. “The effort was there, the effort was definitely there. Guys were out there in sync. So to get out there and lay it all out there and not come out with the victory is kind of tough.”
CHICAGO — Jrue Holiday made a three-point play with 2.6 seconds remaining in the third overtime Monday night, giving the New Orleans Pelicans a 131-128 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Holiday had 19 points and 12 assists for the Pelicans. He made an 18-footer with 3.9 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score at 103 and force overtime.
Ryan Anderson had a career-high 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 7 for 11 on 3-pointers. Eric Gordon added 23 points for New Orleans (9-8).
Luol Deng led the Bulls with 37 points and also had eight rebounds and seven assists.
PORTLAND, Ore. — LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 10 rebounds and to help Portland snap Indiana’s seven-game winning.
Paul George had a career-high 43 points for Pacers (16-2), who own the NBA’s best record.
The Blazers pulled in front until early in the fourth quarter but the Pacers kept it close, and George hit consecutive 3-pointers that narrowed it to 98-96 with 1:37 left. Damian Lillard answered with a 3-pointer and Nicolas Batum made a pair of free throws for the Blazers before George hit another 3-pointer that got Indiana within 103-99 with 21 seconds to go.
Lillard hit free throws and George made yet another 3 with 10 seconds to go to make it 105-102, but the Pacers couldn’t get closer.
Lillard finished with 26 points for the Blazers, who have won 13 of their last 14 games.
SALT LAKE CITY — Marvin Williams scored five points in the final two minutes, Gordon Hayward broke out of a shooting slump to score 29 points and Utah beat Houston to earn its first back-to-back wins of the season.
With Utah clinging to a 101-98 lead, Williams stole James Harden’s pass and raced down for a dunk with 2 minutes left. Williams then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 59 seconds to go to boost the lead to 108-100.
Rookie Trey Burke posted career highs of 21 points and six assists for Utah, which shot 54 percent and made 10 of 17 from beyond the arc.
Harden had 15 of his season-best 37 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Rockets close, but they couldn’t get enough defensive stops.
Dwight Howard had 15 points as Houston lost for only the second time in its last 10 games.
WASHINGTON — Trevor Ariza scored 24 points, John Wall had 16 points and 13 assists, and Washington beat Orlando to get to .500 for the first time since it split its first four games of the 2009-10 season.
Nene scored 14 points and Marcin Gortat finished with 13 for Washington (9-9).
With top scorer Bradley Beal out of the lineup for the fifth straight game, Ariza supplied the offense, hitting 8 of 9 from the field, including four 3-pointers.
Arron Afflalo scored 21 points for Orlando, and Victor Oladipo added 13 points and six rebounds.