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Saturday, Apr. 15 8:30pm ET
Spurs win without Duncan | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Seventeen games after his stunning comeback from a kidney transplant, Sean Elliott had the type of game he was waiting for. Elliott scored a season-high 15 points as San Antonio maintained its slim hopes for a Midwest Division title with a 106-83 victory over Utah. "This was Sean's best one," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "He always plays great defense. We talked before the game about him having more of a devil-may-care attitude and letting it fly." San Antonio, which was led by David Robinson's 19 points and 12 rebounds, played its second straight game without Tim Duncan, out with a slight tear of the lateral meniscus in his left knee. The Spurs are now 3-3 this season without Duncan. Utah, which has lost three of its last four games, had its lead over San Antonio cut to 2½ games with three regular season games remaining for the Jazz. The Spurs have two games left. "They certainly deserved to win in what was, in my opinion, one of the biggest games of the year," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "They out-hustled, out-played us, out-coached us and did everything you have to do in order to win a ball game." San Antonio, which has won four of their last five games, also received 15 points from Malik Rose, while Samaki Walker added 14 points starting in Duncan's place. "We were aggressive tonight, we were driving the basketball," Elliott said. "We knew we had to make something happen." Karl Malone led Utah with 23 points while Jeff Hornacek added 13. "We didn't deserve to win this one," Malone said. "Not playing the way we did, especially with a division title on the line. They did everything to win this game. They came out and played hard from the start. I sure would like to win one of these on the road and not have it come down to the last one at home." After leading by 11 points at halftime, San Antonio opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run to lead 61-42 on two free throws by Mario Elie with 8:42 to play in the period. After San Antonio stretched the lead to as many as 20 points, 69-49, Utah closed the third quarter with 10-6 run and trailed 75-59 after three quarters. Robinson had four points early in the fourth quarter as San Antonio pushed the lead to 83-62 with 9:30 to play. Utah could get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way. San Antonio closed the first half with a 10-4 run to lead 51-40 at halftime. Robinson had 15 first-half points to lead the way for the Spurs, which outscored Utah 28-17 in the second quarter. Utah (53-26) closes the regular season with games at Phoenix (Sunday) and Denver (Tuesday) before returning home to play Sacramento on Wednesday. San Antonio (51-29) will remain at home for games against Vancouver and the Los Angeles Lakers. "We knew that we wouldn't have Tim," Elie said. "We have to rally around Dave. Other people have to step up. The bench came in and kept the energy going. We need that in the next two games, and especially in the playoffs." Game notesSan Antonio is now 29-10 at the Alamodome this season. ... David Robinson recorded the 2,500th block of his career, which is No. 6 on the all-time NBA list. ... The Spurs and Jazz split four games this season, with both teams winning a pair at home. ... The Spurs are now 42-18 all time against Utah in games played at San Antonio. ... Utah guard John Stockton played in his 1,255th game, surpassing Paul Silas for seventh place on the all-time NBA list. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Utah Clubhouse San Antonio Clubhouse RECAPS Milwaukee 120 Washington 116
San Antonio 106
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