Tony Parker recorded the first triple-double of his career with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists on Monday, as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets 134-126 in overtime.
Jeremy Lin tied a career high with 38 points while dishing out seven assists for Houston, who have lost three straight. Omer Asik added 21 points and 10 boards.
“It’s tough obviously,” the former New York Knicks star Lin said. “I am thankful that I was able to kind of get comfortable out there, but that’s definitely secondary to the fact that we blew another close game.”
Photo: Reuters
“I had the ball to win it and didn’t get a shot up and so this one definitely hurts,” Lin said.
Gary Neal nailed seven three pointers and finished with 29 points for the Spurs, who have won five consecutive games.
Manu Ginobili finished with 22 points and six assists and Danny Green had 14 points and a half dozen rebounds.
Tim Duncan had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs, which improved to 11-2 on the road this season.
Chandler Parsons had 20 points and seven boards for Houston in the loss. The Rockets were without guard James Harden because of a right ankle injury.
Carlos Delfino blocked Duncan’s jumper at the other end to force overtime.
San Antonio held a 124-122 lead with 2:57 remaining in overtime. They then went on a 6-0 run. Neal made a three-pointer and Ginobili finished off a three-point play to make it 130-122.
“It was a crazy game,” Neal said. “It went in overtime, they came out aggressively, made a lot of shots.
“I mean they shot the ball terrifically from three point and we were able to hang in there and keep it close and we were finally able to string some shots together to send it into overtime. It was an up and down game but we came out on top,” he said.
The first half featured five ties and five lead changes as San Antonio led 64-63 heading into the third quarter. Houston ended the third period on a 12-3 run to take a 93-91 lead into the final quarter.
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