In the absence of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker scored 23 points and 12 assists as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Atlanta Hawks 98-93, to clinch their fourth straight victory on Saturday night.
''Tony is just incredible,'' The Associated Press quoted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich as saying. ''What competitiveness. What a will to win. What a will to carry the team. He's really fun to watch at both ends of the court. And he's been doing that all year.''
For the Spurs, Matt Bonner contributed with 17 points and five rebounds, while Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter finished with 14 points apiece.
Parker added 10 points in the final few minutes of the last quarter to spoil the Hawks' efforts to launch a comeback.
''In the fourth quarter I was trying to be aggressive and take more shots and at the same time still find Tiago on the roll,'' Parker said. ''It worked out pretty well tonight."
''That's what I do best. I go to the paint and try to create, and if I feel comfortable when I go to the basket, I always feel like I can get a shot up. I've been doing that my whole life.''
For the Hawks, the top scorer Josh Smith scored 21 points and chipped in eight rebounds, Kyle Korver added 19 points and eight rebounds, Jeff Teague had 16 points and eight assists and Devin Harris finished with 13 points. Zaza Pachulia grabbed nine rebounds against the Spurs.
The Spurs outshined the Hawks 25-16 in the first quarter. They again outscored Atlanta in the second quarter 27-26, to enter the second half with a 10-point lead.
The Spurs fought back in the second half and their offense added 28 points in the third quarter and stopped the Hawks at 20, to cut the opponent's lead to 72-70.
The Hawks tied the game at 72 when John Jenkins had a basket early in the fourth quarter. San Antonio answered them with Bonner's basket to resume the lead.
Jenkins hit two free throws with 22 seconds left in the game to cut the Spurs' lead to 94-91, but Splitter finished the game with a basket and the Spurs beat the Hawks by five points.
Injured Lou Williams could not play in the game against the Spurs, and the Hawks missed him badly as Atlanta had no player to match his skills in the fourth quarter.
''It certainly hurt us because I thought at that point we were really getting into a groove and a rhythm with our speed,'' Hawks coach Larry Drew said. ''Kyle was making some shots. Josh was doing a good job in attacking the rim. We were active, and we were really getting up and down the floor. We lost Devin, and that kind of let the wind out of our sails a little bit.''
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