Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) – Tony Parker led a balanced attack with 19 points and seven assists, and DeJuan Blair finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, as the San Antonio Spurs outlasted the Detroit Pistons, 100-89, at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Manu Ginobili went for 13 points, six assists and five boards, while Richard Jefferson made 3-of-5 from three-point range and ended with 11 points for San Antonio, which has won three straight and 14 of 16 overall.
The Spurs, who also got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Tim Duncan, are now 3-1 on their nine-game “Rodeo Road Trip” and improved to an NBA-best 43-8 this season.
Will Bynum went for a team-best 21 points off the bench for the Pistons, who had a brief two-game winning streak snapped and have dropped five of their last seven. Greg Monroe turned in a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds in defeat.
Parker scored 11 points in the opening quarter to help the Spurs grab a slim 26-25 lead after 12 minutes of action and things stayed close throughout the second.
Parker’s runner with 45.8 seconds left before the half gave San Antonio a 52-48 edge, but Tayshaun Prince hit a three-pointer to get the Pistons within one heading into the break.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the third as neither side was able to go in front by more than three until the late stages of the period.
Ahead by one, Ginobili hit a jumper and Blair followed with a pair of makes to give San Antonio a 66-59 lead with 2:42 left, but Rodney Stuckey accounted for five points during a 7-0 run to even things with 42 seconds to go.
However, Gary Neal drained a triple and a driving layup by George Hill had the Spurs up 71-66 after three.
San Antonio started finding the range from long distance in the fourth, as Ginobili made a pair of threes sandwiched around a Matt Bonner trifecta as part of a 9-2 run that extended the visitors lead to 89-80 with 4:44 to go.
Detroit was only able to get as close as six in the remaining time on the clock.
San Antonio, which shot 52.9 percent from the field and made 10 three- pointers, improved to 18-6 on the road this season…Detroit made 43.4 percent of its shots and only 3-of-11 from beyond the arc…Bonner chipped in with 10 points in a reserve role for the Spurs…Prince had 12 points for the Piston