^

Sports

Parker scores 32 as Spurs beat Raptors 111-106

The Philippine Star

TORONTO (AP) -- Tony Parker called it was a game that ''could have gone either way.'' But with a perfect performance in the second overtime, Parker made sure his San Antonio Spurs came out on top.

Parker scored six of his 32 points in the second OT, Tim Duncanhad 26 and the Spurs beat Toronto 111-106 Sunday, their fourth straight victory over the Raptors.

Duncan said no one was more vital to San Antonio's win than Parker, who made all three shots he took in the second overtime and topped 30 points for the second straight game.

''He's our closer and he has been that way for the last couple of years,'' Duncan said. ''He steps up and makes big shots for us. That's what we ask him to do and he's delivered for us.''

Manu Ginobili scored 15 points, Danny Green had 13 and Boris Diaw 11 as the Spurs won their third straight and improved their NBA-best road record to 7-1.

''We take pride in winning on the road,'' Ginobili said.

Parker made jump shots on consecutive possessions with less than 1 minute, 15 seconds to go in the second overtime as the Spurs held on.

''We had to work hard for this one,'' Parker said.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich agreed, not that he was happy about it.

''In a lot of ways, (Toronto) played better than we did,'' Popovich said. ''They destroyed us on the boards. For most of the meat of the game they just threw it up there, missed it and they'd go get it again. That kept them in the ballgame. We did a better job in the overtimes defensively and on the boards, and that got us over the hump.''

DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 29 points, while rookie Jonas Valanciunas had 22. Kyle Lowry scored 20 points and Ed Davis had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost their past three games by a combined seven points.

Toronto's Andrea Bargnani had a disappointing game, scoring four points and making just two of 19 field goal attempts.

''Today was definitely a very bad night,'' Bargnani said. ''Maybe the worst.''

Raptors coach Dwane Casey dismissed suggestions that he should have benched Bargnani, the first overall pick in the 2006 draft.

''I've got to go with Andrea,'' Casey said. ''He's our guy.''

Valanciunas calmly made free throws to tie the score at 88 with 24 seconds left in regulation. San Antonio gave the ball to Parker, who let the clock run down to six seconds, but almost turned it over as he drove. Parker's 3-point effort fell short, giving Toronto one-10th of a second to try for the winning basket, but Bargnani's no-look shot went wide, sending the game to overtime.

San Antonio led 92-90 on Duncan's dunk with less than 30 seconds to go in the first overtime when a foul by Parker gave possession to the Raptors. But Parker stole Jose Calderon's inbounds pass and raced in for a layup, giving the Spurs an 94-90 lead with 24 seconds left.

''I saw that Calderon was going to lob it and so I felt that with my speed I could sneak in there and get it,'' Parker said. ''I just tried to make a play and it worked out for me.''

Lowry answered with a 3 for the Raptors, cutting the gap to one, but Ginobili made a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left, making it 96-93.

DeRozan's dunk cut it to one with 14 seconds left and, after Gary Neal made one of two from the line, the Raptors called timeout, trailing 97-95. DeRozan grabbed his own rebound and made a layup with 0.9 left, tying it at 97. The Spurs couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer, forcing a second overtime.

Toronto never led in the second extra session, with Green's 3 with 4:43 to go giving the Spurs the lead for good.

''It's tough that we couldn't close it out at the end,'' Davis said. ''We were fighting hard the whole game.''

Toronto opened the third with a 7-0 run, thanks in part to seven straight missed shots by San Antonio. Toronto led 60-51 with 7:29 left but the Spurs erased the deficit thanks to eight points from Ginobili. DeRozan made a driving shot with 27 seconds left and scored 12 points in the third as the Raptors took a 70-69 edge into the fourth.

NOTES: DeRozan accidentally kicked Duncan in the throat midway through the first quarter, forcing the Spurs to call timeout. Duncan remained in the game. ... San Antonio was without swingman Kawhi Leonard (left knee) for the fifth straight game, while swingman Stephen Jackson (right hand) missed his third straight. ... San Antonio's six-game trip continues Monday night at winless Washington. This was the first of four games in five nights for the Spurs, who visit Orlando on Wednesday and Miami on Thursday. ... Toronto scored more than 100 points for the first time in seven games. ... When Parker and Diaw caught Davis eavesdropping on their conversation about a play in the second quarter, they switched to French. ''He was kind of mad,'' Parker said. ''He was like 'Stop it.'''

 

BARGNANI

DUNCAN

GAME

GINOBILI

LEFT

PARKER

POINTS

SAN ANTONIO

SECOND

SPURS

TORONTO

  • Latest
  • Trending
Latest
Are you sure you want to log out?
X
Login

Philstar.com is one of the most vibrant, opinionated, discerning communities of readers on cyberspace. With your meaningful insights, help shape the stories that can shape the country. Sign up now!

Get Updated:

Signup for the News Round now

FORGOT PASSWORD?
SIGN IN
or sign in with