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Tuesday, Jan. 23 8:30pm ET
Grizzlies lose 10th straight road game

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- For the first time in 10 days, the San Antonio Spurs left a game feeling good.

San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich was beaming Tuesday night after his Spurs ended a four-game losing streak with a 110-77 victory over the Vancouver Grizzlies.

Tim Duncan collected 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Spurs to their 14th straight win over Vancouver.

"It was nice to win one," Popovich said. "That's obviously the best thing about this evening. It just proves this is a simple game. If we play game defense the way we practice, we can win. If not, we are just another Joe Blow on the street. Tonight, we played defense from the beginning and continued through the whole game."

The Grizzlies, losers of five straight overall and 10 straight on the road, reached a new low in a couple of ways. The final score and halftime deficit were both new lows for the season.

"We didn't do anything right tonight," Vancouver head coach Sidney Lowe said. "Defensively, we didn't look good and offensively, we couldn't hit shots.

"I want our guys to feel the pain and the embarrassment (of a loss like this) and not want to ever (let) that happen again. I think you have to take games like this and use it as a motivating factor to get going."

An Alamodome crowd of 14,764 saw the homestanding Spurs never trail, jumping out to an early seven-point lead when Duncan hit a 15-foot jumper with 9:52 showing for a 9-2 advantage. A dunk by Samaki Walker gave San Antonio its largest lead of the quarter, 28-20.

San Antonio broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring Vancouver 32-16 to open a 60-38 lead at intermission.

Vancouver was outscored 14-2 in the first 5:35 of the quarter, falling behind 43-24 with 5:35 left.

San Antonio, which placed six players in double-figures, enjoyed a 38-point lead twice in the third quarter, the last time at 81-43 with 3:10 left.

"I think we were inconsistent in our effort," said forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds. "We really embarrassed ourselves. We have to make better plays; play with more energy and be more consistent (with) the total game."

Samaki Walker collected 16 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for the Spurs, who also got 16 points from guard Antonio Daniels and 14 from center David Robinson.

"It's real important to have guys who can step in and play well," Walker said. "The season only gets tougher as it wears on. It's real important to have depth.

Michael Dickerson had 16 points and Mike Bibby added 13 points for the Grizzlies.

Game notes
Malik Rose started in place of Ira Newble at small forward. Rose had missed the last seven games due to a sore right hip... Reserve forward Danny Ferry sported a plastic mask to protect his broken nose. Ferry sustained the injury after catching an elbow to the face by Samaki Walker at practice on Monday.
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Vancouver Clubhouse

San Antonio Clubhouse


RECAPS
Boston 83
Atlanta 82

Washington 97
Charlotte 95

Orlando 116
Toronto 111

Philadelphia 114
Dallas 98

Milwaukee 105
New York 91

Minnesota 82
Phoenix 73

Seattle 91
LA Lakers 80

Portland 104
Chicago 100

San Antonio 110
Vancouver 77

Denver 105
Houston 100

Utah 100
Golden State 78

Sacramento 130
New Jersey 104

FROM
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Mike Bibby Official Site


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