The San Antonio Spurs started out on an embarrassing low and finished on a high.
Tim Duncan had 23 points with 10 rebounds as the defending champion Spurs overcame a franchise-record low five first-quarter points to clip the visiting Atlanta Hawks 89-74 on Monday for their sixth straight victory.
The come-from-behind win, coupled with the New Orleans Hornets' loss, vaulted the Spurs (38-17) atop the Southwest Division standings by one game.
PHOTO: AP
"I don't think I've ever been in a game with that kind of first quarter," Duncan said. "But with 82 games on the schedule, you're going to have some good ones and some bad ones and this was a bad one. Lucky for us there are two halves in a game."
The poor-shooting Spurs made one-of-17 field goals for just 6 percent and trailed 16-5 after the opening quarter before trimming the deficit to 37-30 at the half.
The Spurs finally got untracked, thanks to Frenchman Tony Parker. The speedy point guard put on a layup clinic with 13 of his 15 points in the third period, giving them the lead for good, 57-48, en route to a season-high sixth victory in a row.
"We played much better in the second half," said Parker, who handed out nine assists as well. "Our defense stepped up and we got stops that led to points in transition."
Ahead by as many as 12 points in the final frame, the Spurs' lead was sliced to 72-65 on a pair of free throws by Zaza Pachulia with four minutes left. However, the Spurs answered with a game-sealing 8-0 run triggered by Duncan.
The All-Star forward made two free throws, Argentine Manu Ginobili followed with a three-pointer before Duncan converted an old-fashioned three-point play, pushing the lead to 80-65 with 1:50 remaining.
Joe Johnson scored 17 points for the Hawks (22-32) who have dropped 10 straight games in San Antonio since 1997. Pachulia had 14 points while Al Horford finished with 12 with 13 rebounds.
"We simply struggled to come out in the second half. We felt our intensity go down and they took over the game," Horford said.
Celtics 104, Clippers 76
Paul Pierce and James Posey scored 17 points apiece as the league-leading Celtics crushed the Clippers to finish 2-3 on their grueling road trip.
Ray Allen added 15 points for the Celtics (43-12) while Kevin Garnett finished with 11 points in just 24 minutes. Tim Thomas led the Clippers (19-35) with 15 points.
Pistons 98, Nuggets 93
Chauncey Billups scored 20 points, including three game-sealing free throws in the final seconds, helping the Pistons to their 12th win in the last 15 games.
Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton also had 20 points apiece as the Pistons (42-15) improved to 2-0 on their four-game road trip.
Allen Iverson tossed in 28 points and Carmelo Anthony had 23 for the Nuggets (33-23).
Wizards 95, Hornets 92
DeShawn Stevenson's three-point buzzer-beater capped a career-high 33-point performance as the visiting Wizards handed the Hornets their third straight loss.
Chris Paul had 22 points while Morris Peterson added 18 for the Hornets (37-18), who dropped behind the LA Lakers and Spurs for the top spot in the West.
Mavericks 102, Bulls 94
In his first home game with the Dallas Mavericks in more than 11 years, Jason Kidd had 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in a victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Kidd came up short of his 100th career triple-double.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points for the Mavericks, who won their 11th straight home game.
Ben Gordon had 25 points to lead five Chicago players in double figures.
Raptors 102, Pacers 98
Chris Bosh had 24 points with 10 rebounds, Argentine Carlos Delfino had 23 with six three-pointers, carrying the visiting Raptors to their fourth win the last five games.
Danny Granger had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Marquis Daniels also scored 20 for the Pacers (22-35), losers in 12 of their last 15 contests.
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