The San Antonio Spurs eased past the Indiana Pacers 101-79 Monday to register their fourth straight victory this season. It is best start to a season for the Spurs so far.
Tim Duncan had 14 points and 11 rebounds with Tony Parker scoring six important points. "I'm surprised we're still doing records," Parker said of Spurs'4-0 start. "It seems like we did everything, but that's another one. That's great."
Manu Ginobili was out of the game for some time due to a back injury and while playing his second game of the season he looked in great touch. He added three points and seven assists.
"It's just a stat, not that important in the long-term," Ginobili said. "(But) at this point we are enjoying it. It's curious that a team this successful hasn't started that well before."
Gary Neal, DeJuan Blair and Stephen Jackson also contributed to team's success by scoring 17, 14 and 12 points respectively.
"That's kind of been our motto," Neal said. "With Manu coming off and Stephen Jackson, those guys could be starting on any team in the NBA. We are a deep team. We've just got to maintain effort when the bench comes in."
Both teams played aggressively from the beginning, with San Antonio's bench proving to be the difference. Once their players caught fire, Spurs took control adding nine consecutive points at one point before taking a 47-38 halftime lead.
"Their continuity is evident just watching them play," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "Thirteen of their 14 guys were here last year and their core guys have been here for many years winning championships.
"It's a system they are familiar with. They are a well-oiled machine and they play extremely hard on both sides of the court."
The Pacers missed their leading scorer Danny Granger. Granger is out with a sore left knee for an indefinite period.
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