INDIANAPOLIS – Manu Ginobili scored 25 points to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers 90-87 on Friday night and snap a two-game skid.
Tim Duncan had 15 points and 15 rebounds and Indianapolis native George Hill scored 16 points for the Spurs, who overcame a 15-point deficit to become the first team in the league to win 30 games.
Tyler Hansbrough had career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds in his first start of the season, and Danny Granger added 15 points for the Pacers, who have lost five of six.
Indiana led 75-60 late in the third quarter, but the Pacers shot 1 for 15 in the fourth. The Pacers had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, but Roy Hibbert's hook shot over Duncan fell short.
Indiana led 87-83 in the fourth quarter when Hill scored and was fouled. He made the free throw to cut Indiana's lead to 87-86 with 1:07 to play.
San Antonio rebounded a miss by Mike Dunleavy and took a timeout with 23.1 seconds remaining. Ginobili drove to the basket and was fouled by Jeff Foster with 15.7 seconds to play. He made both free throws to give the Spurs their first lead of the quarter.
After Hibbert's miss, the Pacers were forced to foul. Tony Parker made two free throws with 0.8 seconds left to make it 90-87. Indiana's James Posey missed a 3-pointer from the left corner in his only action of the game as time expired.
The Pacers led for most of the first half, but Ginobili scored eight straight points to turn a 44-40 deficit into a 48-44 lead for the Spurs. Granger made a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to trim San Antonio's lead to 48-47 at the break.
Hansbrough hit back-to-back shots, then Granger drained a 3-pointer to give the Pacers a 60-55 lead.
Indiana extended the lead through the rest of the quarter and began to play to the crowd. Dunleavy faked a behind-the-back pass, kept the ball and laid it in to give Indiana a 75-60 lead. Hansbrough had 12 points and six rebounds in the third quarter to help the Pacers take a 75-64 lead at the end of the period.
Gary Neal's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter cut Indiana's lead to 75-69 and caused the Pacers to call timeout. Indiana didn't make a field goal in the quarter until Dunleavy made a floater with 6:41 left, and the Pacers didn't make another field goal the rest of the game.
NOTES: Hibbert went down holding his ankle in the first quarter, but got it retaped and returned later in the period. ... Hansbrough scored Indiana's first six points. ... Granger didn't score until 9:05 remained in the second quarter. ... Indiana has been held under 100 points for eight straight games.