SAN ANTONIO (AP) ― Marco Belinelli scored a season-high 22 points and the short-handed San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 109-95 victory over New York on Wednesday night, handing the Knicks their 10th straight loss.
San Antonio, playing without its Big Four, was 10 for 19 on 3-pointers and shot 50 percent overall. The Spurs had seven players in double figures, getting 13 points from Danny Green and 12 from Boris Diaw.
San Antonio was without Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard. Parker (left hamstring) and Leonard (bruised right hand) were both injured, but Duncan and Ginobili sat out to rest on the second night of a back-to-back.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting for the hapless Knicks, who fell to 4-20. New York was without Carmelo Anthony, who experienced soreness in his left knee after playing 39 minutes in Tuesday night’s loss at New Orleans.
San Antonio Spurs’ Aron Baynes (right) is fouled from behind by New York Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire on Wednesday. (AP-Yonhap)
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wasn’t taking the night off, even without his big stars. The fiery coach called timeout a minute into the game to chastise Green for missing a defensive assignment that enabled Hardaway to score the game’s first points on an open 3-pointer. Popovich would call two timeouts in the opening 6 minutes to address the team’s defensive performance.
The team got the message, rolling to a double-digit lead while forcing the Knicks into 17 turnovers.
Spurs center Tiago Splitter returned from an 18-game absence, entering to a loud ovation with 8 minutes left in the third quarter. Splitter has been out since Nov. 5, but left 10 minutes into his season debut after again experiencing tightness in his right calf.
San Antonio 109, New York 95
Golden State 105, Houston 93
Denver 102, Miami 82
Dallas 112, New Orleans 107
Chicago 105, Brooklyn 80
Minnesota 90, Portland 82
Washington 91, Orlando 89
LA Clippers 103, Indiana 96
Charlotte 96, Boston 87
Atlanta 95, Philadelphia 79
