San Antonio, TX – Tony Parker scored 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and the San Antonio Spurs held off the Los Angeles Lakers, 108-105, on Wednesday.
Manu Ginobili had 19 points, including a key 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining, and pulled down eight rebounds for the Spurs, who bounced back from a loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Monday.
Tiago Splitter tallied 14 points and 14 boards for San Antonio, which improved to 15-2 at home this season. Stephen Jackson donated 14 points before being ejected with 3:32 to play.
Kobe Bryant ended with 27 points for the Lakers, who have lost five in a row. Metta World Peace added 23 points, eight rebounds and seven steals, while Earl Clark had 22 points and 13 boards.
"We have lost five games in a row, it is pretty self explanatory," Bryant said. "We played very hard and I think we figured a few things out. We still have to straighten some things out on the defensive end but I feel like we competed and that was very important."
The Lakers trailed by as many as 17 and made a late push. Down by 12, 105-93, with 4:15 to play, Los Angeles put together a 9-0 run to make things interesting. After Jackson was ejected, Steve Nash made the ensuing free throw and Antawn Jamison added a layup to cut the gap to 105-102 with 2:56 left.
Los Angeles had multiple chances down the stretch as the Spurs turned the ball over and missed shots. The Lakers, however, failed to take advantage as World Peace, Jamison and Bryant missed 3-pointers.
The margin stayed at three, 108-105, following 3-pointers by Ginobili and Clark.
Parker's turnover with 10.4 seconds to play gave the Lakers another shot at tying the game. This time around, it was Bryant and Clark who missed shots from beyond the arc.
"We made some good stops at the end," Parker said. "We need those to win the game. In basketball it can go both ways and luckily it went our way tonight."
San Antonio led by as many as eight in the first quarter and took a 24-17 lead into the second.
The Spurs scored the first four points of the second period to build a 28-17 margin. The home team led for the duration of the frame and took a 54-45 edge into the locker room.
Holding a 76-66 lead with 4:31 to go in the third stanza, the Spurs went on a 7-0 flurry to build an 83-66 margin.
However, the Lakers scored the next nine points and trailed by 10, 85-75, after three quarters.
Game Notes
The Lakers have lost four in a row versus the Spurs ... Los Angeles continues to play without center Dwight Howard (right shoulder) and forwards Pau Gasol (concussion) and Jordan Hill (right hip) ... The Spurs went 12-of-25 from beyond the arc ... San Antonio turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 20 Los Angeles points ... Nash had 14 points and nine assists.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.