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San Antonio Spurs 114, Portland Trail Blazers 80
Portland, OR Dec. 30 / Wire Reports -- The San Antonio Spurs beat the
Trail Blazers in so many ways, Portland coach Maurice Cheeks stopped counting.
``They kicked us from start to finish,'' Cheeks said. ``From tip-off until the end of the game.''
Tim Duncan had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs and Tony Parker added 18 points in their 114-80 rout on Thursday
night.
San Antonio has won four straight and seven of its last eight, but this victory stood out.
``It was one of our best games all year,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ``We're not this good though and Portland is not
that bad. That's just what happens when someone is playing very good and somebody is not playing well.''
Darius Miles had 17 points for the Blazers in their most lopsided loss of the season. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 14 points and
10 rebounds, while Nick Van Exel added 12 points for Portland.
Parker, coming off a season-high 29 points against Phoenix, scored 15 in the first half. Portland's guards struggled to keep
up with Parker, especially 33-year-old Van Exel, who has bad knees and has said he intends to retire at the end of the
season.
Parker came into the game averaging 22.8 points on 59 percent shooting in his last five contests, helping San Antonio (24-6)
move closer to league-leading Phoenix (25-4).
San Antonio had six players in double figures, including rookie Beno Udrih, who had 12 points and 10 assists. The Spurs had
more assists (34) than the Blazers had field goals (30).
``We're a very unselfish team,'' Parker said. ``We always try to find the guy who is wide open. That's how we play.''
The Blazers had no answer for Duncan inside, especially after center Theo Ratliff left the game with a sore shoulder.
Portland was outrebounded 49-39 and outscored 62-42 in the paint.
Duncan and Rasho Nesterovic all but shut down Zach Randolph, Portland's leading scorer and rebounder, holding him to 10
points and six rebounds.
Portland made only one of its first nine shots while Parker scored nine early points to help San Antonio open up a 17-2
lead. Portland rallied, scoring 12 unanswered points late in the first quarter, but Parker got the Spurs running again and
pushed the lead to 40-25 midway through the second. San Antonio made 14 of 21 shots in the second quarter and led 57-36 by
halftime.
``From one to 12, whoever stepped onto the floor didn't have anything tonight,'' Cheeks said. ``There's no explaining the
effort tonight.''
Abdur-Rahim returned to the Blazers after sitting out six games with an elbow injury, playing 31 minutes with Randolph on
the bench for long stretches.
Spurs guard Brent Barry scored 15 points while starting in place of Manu Ginobili, who sat out with a strained neck.
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