National Basketball Association
Spurs off to franchise-best start
National Basketball Association

Spurs off to franchise-best start

Published Dec. 8, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

The San Antonio Spurs were determined to make franchise history at home.

Tony Parker had 19 points and nine assists, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors 111-94 on Wednesday night to set a franchise record for best start in a season through 21 games.

''We just try to play well at home, win as much games as we can because we know the second part of our schedule is going to be a lot of games on the road,'' said Parker, who was 9 of 14 on field goals.

DeJuan Blair added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs (18-3), who have won their past 25 games against the Warriors in San Antonio.

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It was Blair's third double-double of the season.

Reggie Williams made eight 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 31 points for Golden State (8-14), which has dropped five straight and 10 of 11. Monta Ellis added 19 points.

''I thought Reggie (Williams) was good,'' Warriors coach Keith Smart said. ''I had a film session with him today. I shared with him that 'You look like you're not ready to play, and you're afraid to make a mistake on the floor,' and he saw that on film.''

The Warriors also lost Stephen Curry in the second quarter to a sprained right ankle. The second-year guard was dribbling behind the 3-point line when he hunched over, called a timeout and fell to the ground in pain. He was helped off the court by teammates and did not return.

The team said Curry's X-rays were negative and the club thinks the injury is a sprain.

''Any time you lose a talent, you drop down three or four levels,'' Smart said. ''Not having him on the floor was definitely difficult because I had to move a lot of players around to positions to bring some of the younger guys off the bench to play.''

''You have very little room for error against a team like this team.''

And Golden State used up all the room it could, turning the ball over 22 times, which the Spurs translated into 20 points.

San Antonio shot 51 percent and put six players in double figures. George Hill scored 17, Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter each had 12 points and Richard Jefferson 10.

Tim Duncan, who had a triple-double in San Antonio's win at Golden State on Nov. 30, finished with eight points in 17 minutes.

''Coach said it was going to be a penetrating and kick out kind of game,'' Hill said. ''If we do that we're gonna have a lot of open shots. It started with (Parker) and (Ginobili). They started the game moving the ball great and finding the open shots for everybody else, and we just fed off that.''

Parker's driving layup from the right side sparked a 16-0 run in the first quarter as the Spurs held the Warriors without a field goal for more than five minutes.

The Warriors rallied in the second quarter behind Dorell Wright and Williams. The duo each knocked down a 3-pointer and a jumper during a 10-0 rally that cut it to 46-43 with two minutes left in the half.

But San Antonio, in the middle of its longest homestand of the season, held Golden State to 42 percent shooting in the first half and led 57-47 at the break.

''I thought everybody did a really good job of finding the open man, being aggressive, but understanding that teammates were open and making the easy pass to the next guy,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ''I thought everybody did that very well.''

Notes: The Spurs' 25 straight home wins against the Warriors is the longest active streak of its kind for any NBA team against a single opponent. San Antonio has won nine straight against the Warriors overall. ... San Antonio has scored at least 103 points in 15 of its wins. ... No Spurs starter played more than 30 minutes.

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