News / Sports
NBA Scores: Spurs Hold off Nuggets to Even Series 1-1
Tim Duncan scored 22 points and grabbed 7 rebounds and Tony Parker added 20 points and 6 assists as the San Antonio Spurs held off a Denver Nuggets fourth quarter rally to win 97-88 and even their Western Conference playoff series at 1-1.
The Spurs headed into the fourth quarter with a 74-60 lead and it appeared as if they would coast to an easy victory but the Nuggets made things interesting with a 15-5 run that cut San Antonio’s lead to three with 45 seconds left in the game.
After Allen Iverson hit a three-pointer to bring Denver to within three, 91-88, Duncan answered for the Spurs with a short jumper. Carmelo Anthony then missed a triple and Denver was forced to foul. Michael Finley hit a pair of free-throws with 16 seconds on the clock and Tony Parker added two from the line with nine seconds to seal the win.
While Denver shot just 38 percent from the floor they did hit 7-16 from beyond the three-point line to stay close to San Antonio. The Spurs helped themselves in the game by hitting 91 percent (21-23) from the foul-line, during the regular season they averaged 75 percent from the charity stripe.
Anthony led the Nuggets with 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Marcus Camby had 10 points and 18 boards in the loss.
The two teams will meet again in Denver on Saturday for game three of their best of seven series.
