Spurs Cruise to 8th Straight Victory
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 4, 2007; 12:12 AM
HOUSTON -- Tim Duncan knew right away it was going to be a good night. Duncan scored 26 points and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets 97-74 on Saturday night for their season-high eighth straight victory.
Duncan hit his first five shots and scored 15 points in the first quarter. He had eight in a 12-0 run that opened an 18-5 lead with 6:18 to go in the first quarter.
  San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan (21) pulls up for a jump hook shot over Houston Rockets' Dikembe Mutombo during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 3, 2007, in Houston. (AP Photo/Tim Johnson) (Tim Johnson - AP) |
"It feels good to hit your first few shots," Duncan said. "It makes the rest of the game go easy. My shot felt good the entire night."
Duncan hit at least four of his trademark bank shots, soft floaters that look off at first before they glance off the glass and fall in.
"It's what's going in now," he said. "I hope it keeps going in for a while."
So do the Spurs.
"When he starts like that, it gives him confidence and gives us confidence, too," guard Manu Ginobili said. "When he starts making those shots, it opens up the whole game for us.
"We played great, especially defensively. It was a great overall game by everybody."
The Spurs got 14 points from Michael Finley and 13 points and eight rebounds from Francisco Elson as they won in Houston for the fourth straight time. San Antonio played without All-Star guard Tony Parker, who sat with a strained left hip.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pointed to the fact the Rockets are playing without center Yao Ming.
"I thought we played good defense tonight," Popovich said. "We also were playing a team that is very undermanned. I think Yao was playing at an MVP pace before he got hurt."
Tracy McGrady had 21 points, all in the first half, as Houston lost for the fifth time in eight games.
