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Monday, Jan. 10 8:00pm ET
Spurs back in first in Midwest | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- With Spurs fans chanting, "MVP, MVP," Tim Duncan played the part. Duncan scored a career-high 46 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 93-86 victory over the Utah Jazz, and back into first place in the NBA's Midwest Division.
"It felt good," said Duncan, who outscored Utah 19-18 in the fourth quarter. "It felt better to get the victory. After giving the effort we gave, it would have been bad to get a loss. It was a huge win. We needed it bad. We've played well two games in a row and now with this third game we keep rolling." The Spurs, who now lead the Jazz by a half game, had only two players in double figures as Terry Porter added 16 points. Duncan, who also pulled down 14 rebounds, was 16-of-28 from the floor and 14-of-16 at the free throw line as he topped his previous career-high of 42 points. Duncan scored 49.5 percent of his team's points, the highest percentage in the NBA this season. "He shot the ball every time he touched it," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's a special player and he had it rolling. We got the ball in his hands and kept going to him because he was having a great night." Karl Malone scored 23 points to lead Utah, Howard Eisley added 16 and Bryon Russell had 15. "We couldn't do anything with Duncan tonight," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "He is a tremendous player and an obvious MVP candidate. He scored on almost every possession in the final quarter down the stretch." Utah closed the third quarter with a 10-2 run capped by Eisley's 3-point field goal with 46 seconds remaining that gave the Jazz a 68-59 lead going into the fourth. Trailing 70-61 after a dunk by Greg Ostertag, San Antonio rallied with a 17-4 run, capped by a breakaway dunk by Antonio Daniels with 6:11 to play. With Duncan dominating in the low post, San Antonio stretched its advantage to 84-78 on Duncan's jump shot with 1:56 to play. Two free throws by John Stockton brought Utah to 84-82 with 1:13 remaining. Porter put the game away for San Antonio with consecutive 3-pointers in the final 51.1 seconds. His second gave San Antonio a 90-84 lead with 16.9 seconds to play. "Terry Porter was great off of the bench," Popovich said. "This was a big win against a great team. When both teams get together they make it a playoff situation. It feels great." Utah scored its final eight points at the free throw line, with Malone connecting on a pair to bring the Jazz to within 90-86 with 10.8 seconds remaining. Porter and Duncan answered with three free throws in the final 10.3 seconds to seal the victory. "This is not surprising, he played fantastic," Daniels said of Duncan. "We are not surprised he scored 46 points. I didn't know anyone could score 46 points off the glass, but nobody is surprised with that performance." Duncan had 14 of San Antonio's 20 second quarter points as the two teams played to a 41-41 halftime tie. "Tim had a great game," Malone said. "There is nothing else to say. End of story. Period."
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Utah Clubhouse San Antonio Clubhouse RECAPS Vancouver 112 Boston 103
San Antonio 93
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