San Antonio, TX – Tony Parker totaled 24 points and 13 assists and was instrumental in a late run that pushed the San Antonio Spurs over the New Orleans Hornets, 106-102, at AT&T Center.
Tiago Splitter, taking control down low in the absence of Tim Duncan, had 25 points and seven rebounds, while Stephen Jackson and Danny Green added 15 and 12 points, respectively, in the Spurs' sixth straight victory.
The Hornets, who beat the Spurs earlier this month and had won three of four coming in, were ahead 86-85 at the midway point of the fourth quarter, but saw San Antonio score 16 of the next 19 points to build a double-digit cushion.
Greivis Vasquez recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists to lead New Orleans, which got 17 points from Eric Gordon and 16 from Ryan Anderson.
"Our defense was below par all night long," Hornets head coach Monty Williams said. "We had so many breakdowns on the ball."
Duncan sat out with a sore left knee and frontcourt teammate Kawhi Leonard was nursing a left patella contusion.
With the big men out, the Hornets were able to start out fast, going up 31-21 on an Al-Farouq Aminu alley-oop slam with under 3 1/2 minutes to go in the opening quarter.
San Antonio scored 11 of the final 15 points in the frame to pull within 35-32, but never pulled ahead until Parker's bucket gave the hosts a 72-70 lead with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter.
The Hornets, who were ahead 64-60 at intermission, held a slim 79-78 lead entering the fourth, and led by one before Parker opened the deciding flurry with a pair of buckets.
His short jumper gave the Spurs their biggest lead at that point, 89-86, and Green and Jackson each scored inside the next two times down to build a seven- point cushion.
Vasquez hit from behind the arc with 3:15 to go before Parker again responded with consecutive baskets. Manu Ginobili, who returned from a four-game absence, forced back-to-back turnovers that lead to layups from Splitter and Green to build a 12-point lead that held up over the final two minutes.
"The first half we had no energy and were a little bit flat," Parker said. "But the second half our defense was great. ... We were able to get some baskets and make the stops that we needed."
Game Notes
Ginobili, who had been out with a hamstring, played 17 minutes and had nine points, five assists and three steals ... The Spurs shot just 12-of-23 from the foul line ... San Antonio scored 21 points off 13 turnovers ... New Orleans won the battle on the glass, 46-39, but were outscored in the paint, 66-36.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.