The San Antonio Spurs look to stay sharp against the Southwest Division-rival New Orleans Hornets when the two teams collide Monday night in the Big Easy.
The Spurs have won six in a row, eight of nine and 23 of the previous 29 meetings with New Orleans, losers in three straight as the host in this series. San Antonio is 15-5 in the past 20 matchups at the Hornets.
San Antonio has won eight of nine games overall and disposed of the Philadelphia 76ers, 109-86, Saturday night in the Alamo City. Tony Parker scored a team-high 20 points and Manu Ginobili tallied 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Tiago Splitter registered 12 points and 10 boards for the Spurs, who bounced back after having a seven-game winning streak snapped by the New York Knicks on Thursday.
"Tonight we did a great job getting them off the 3-point line," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I thought the guys really focused well on that, it was a big part of our theme tonight."
The Spurs are 13-7 as the guest this season. Forward Stephen Jackson (ankle) is listed as questionable Monday and did not play versus the Sixers.
San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers share the NBA lead with 27 wins.
The Hornets are only 3-14 in their last 17 games, but are coming off a 99-96 overtime triumph in Dallas in which Eric Gordon recorded a three-point play with 4.7 seconds remaining.
Gordon finished with 14 points and Greivis Vasquez posted a game-high 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Hornets, who had dropped two straight and three of four games.
"It's definitely a confidence booster to do well in overtime, especially for such a tough shooting night, it felt good to overcome it," Gordon said.
New Orleans will begin a three-game homestand tonight versus San Antonio, Houston and Minnesota, and has dropped seven in a row as the host. The Hornets are just 3-13 at home this season.
The Hornets own a paltry 3-16 record in conference play, going 1-7 at New Orleans Arena in that stretch.
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