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Monday, Jan. 29 10:30pm ET
Spurs keep pace with first-place Jazz

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The San Antonio Spurs, just two seasons removed from an NBA title, feel they aren't getting the respect they deserve despite having the third-best record in the Western Conference.

Tim Duncan
Duncan

"I really don't care. We don't worry about that," Tim Duncan said Monday night after the Spurs trounced the Los Angeles Clippers 96-67 for their fourth straight victory. They remained a half-game behind Utah in the Midwest Division.

"We dropped four in a row before we won these four, and everybody counts us out every week," said Duncan, who scored 16 points before relaxing through most of the fourth quarter. "But it doesn't matter what everybody thinks about whether we're going to win or lose. When it all comes down to the end, we feel we're going to be the team to beat."

The Clippers shot only 35 percent from the field against the undermanned Spurs, who have held each of their last four opponents under 40 percent. Lamar Odom had 15 points for the Clippers, who absorbed their eighth consecutive loss -- their 11th straight to the Spurs -- and had their lowest point total of the season.

"They played real good defense on us," Eric Piatkowski said after the Clippers suffered their most lopsided home loss ever to the Spurs. "They didn't score that much, but they were stopping us on the other side."

David Robinson, whose 71 points against the Clippers on the final day of the 1993-94 season earned him his only NBA scoring title, had 10 points and six rebounds.

Derek Anderson, facing the Clippers for the first time since leaving them as a free agent at the end of last season, finished with nine points. Had he scored one more point, it would have been the first time all season that every member of San Antonio's starting lineup reached double figures.

Duncan, named NBA player of the week earlier Monday, paced the Spurs to a 49-28 halftime lead with 12 points and six rebounds.

It was the lowest-scoring half of the season for the Clippers, who failed to make a basket in the final 3½ minutes of the second quarter and never got closer than 17 points the rest of the way.

"They've been playing really well in a lot of their games, but we've been playing real good basketball lately," Robinson said. "We went into Sacramento and Utah and played great, so I knew tonight we'd come out with a lot of energy and put a lot of pressure on them early."

The Spurs, short-handed because of injuries to Avery Johnson, Sean Elliott, Samaki Walker, Antonio Daniels and rookie Ira Newble, capped a game-opening 22-6 run with 16 straight points and held the Clippers without a field goal for almost seven minutes.

"We've just gotten to the point where we understand what we need to do," Duncan said. "Defensively, we're starting to play a lot better. We're starting to understand our philosophy and everybody's on the same page. That's going to continue to happen, and we're going to keep winning."

Clippers No.1 draft pick Darius Miles, who had the unenviable assignment of guarding Duncan after getting outscored 33-16 Saturday night by Sacramento All-Star Chris Webber, picked up his third foul with 9½ minutes left in the second quarter and finished with six points.

Game notes
The teams face each other again Wednesday night in San Antonio, with the Clippers hoping to beat the Spurs for the first time since a 110-96 overtime victory on Dec. 4, 1997 at the L.A. Sports Arena. The home-and-home set is the only one this season for either club. ... Clippers F Corey Maggette was activated after missing five games because of a concussion, and G Earl Boykins was placed on the injured list because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot. ... Duncan has received player-of-the-week honors the last five times the award has gone to a member of the Spurs. Prior to that, Robinson took the honors 15 of the 16 times it went to one of the Spurs since Feb. 29, 1990 -- with Elliott the only exception. ... The Clippers/Buffalo Braves franchise has had double-digit losing streaks against 13 different teams, which will increase to 14 if they lose to Cleveland on Feb. 21.
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

San Antonio Clubhouse

LA Clippers Clubhouse

RECAPS
Boston 99
Detroit 87

Washington 95
Cleveland 89

Phoenix 95
Atlanta 82

Minnesota 99
Milwaukee 96

Utah 97
Denver 91

Vancouver 97
New Jersey 86

Charlotte 93
Golden State 85

San Antonio 96
LA Clippers 67


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