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Spurs beat Clippers for 5th straight win
Tim Duncan scored 23 points, and Tony Parker added 21 points and 11 assists to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers 98-79 on Friday night for their fifth consecutive victory.
The Southwest Division-leading Spurs, off to the best start in franchise history, improved to 25-6 with their 17th victory in 20 games despite the early ejection of coach Gregg Popovich. Manu Ginobili, who sat out Thursday night's victory in Portland because of a strained neck, had nine points in 25 minutes.
The Clippers dropped to 13-14, marking the 25th time in 29 years that the franchise took a losing record into New Year's Day — not counting the lockout-delayed 1998-99 campaign. It was the third time in four games that the Clippers have scored fewer than 80 points, and the 10th time they failed to reach 90.
Popovich never made it to the end of the first quarter. He got the bum's rush from referee Eddie F. Rush, who ejected him for arguing about a possession ruling after the rebound from Rasho Nesterovic's missed layup deflected off the fingertips of Clippers guard Lionel Chalmers and out of bounds with 58.4 seconds left in the quarter and the Spurs trailing 19-12.
The ejection was the first for Popovich since Nov. 3, 2003, when he complained about a foul that wasn't called against the Memphis Grizzlies and made contact with referee Tony Brown. That incident led to a one-game suspension and a $1,000 fine.
Clippers point guard Marko Jaric missed his fifth straight game, and is expected to be out at least another four weeks after an MRI taken Thursday on his injured right foot revealed a stress fracture. Starting forward Bobby Simmons, nursing a sore left wrist after he was victimized by a flagrant foul from Utah rookie Kirk Snyder in Wednesday's 101-90 victory.
Brunson, starting in Jaric's absence, ended the third quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from 28 feet out that narrowed the gap to 70-62 after San Antonio pulled away to a 60-44 lead with a 21-5 run that opened the second half.
But the Spurs began the fourth quarter with a 15-6 run that opened up an 85-68 lead with 7:18 to play. Former Clipper Brent Barry, who scored 12 points on his 33rd birthday, capped the rally with two free throws and Los Angeles got no closer than 15.
The Spurs, who hardly broke a sweat in Thursday's 114-80 rout at Portland, could do no better than a 39-all tie at halftime after shooting 35.7 percent from the field. They entered with the league's best defense, holding opponents to 85.3 points per game. Last season the Spurs set NBA records by allowing only 84.3 points per game and a 40.9 shooting percentage by their opponents.
Assistant coach P.J. Carlisimo again guided the Spurs in Popovich's absence, and moments later they went on a 12-4 run that sliced a 10-point deficit to 26-24. They pulled ahead on Duncan's 18-footer with 1:21 left in the half.
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