Parker leads Spurs past Sonics

SEATTLE – Tony Parker was blunt in his own assessment. For three quarters, he did very little to help San Antonio.

Parker’s nearly perfect fourth quarter, however, kept the Spurs perfect away from home.

Parker scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs improved to 7-0 on the road with a 98-78 win over the Seattle SuperSonics on Sunday night.

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Parker said. “The first three quarters, I didn’t get a lot of shots so I was just trying to make something happen.”

After sitting for nearly seven minutes, Parker re-entered with 9:14 left and the Spurs’ lead down to 74-71. Determined to be more aggressive, Parker scored 10 of the 13 points in a 13-2 run that turned the close game into a rout.

The Spurs are the only unbeaten road team left in the NBA, and the fourth team in the last 10 years to start 7-0 or better on the road. The Spurs will be tested twice more on their current three-game road trip – Monday night at Golden State and Wednesday in Utah.

Tim Duncan scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and made team history, despite the efforts of Seattle’s defense. The eight-time All-Star became the third Spurs’ player to eclipse 15,000 points in his career, joining David Robinson and George Gervin.

Duncan needed 10 points, and reached 15,000 when Nick Collison was called for goaltending on Duncan’s short jumper with 2:05 left in the first half.

Ray Allen led Seattle with 21 points and Collison added 15 off the bench, but the Sonics’ were held to a season-low 78 points and Rashard Lewis was held to a season-low eight points, 15 below his average.

SuperSonics 98, Spurs 78

San Antonio (98)—Bowen 2-5 1-2 5, Duncan 7-11 4-4 18, Oberto 7-8 2-2 16, Finley 4-9 1-2 10, Parker 10-18 0-0 20, Barry 4-9 1-1 12, Horry 3-6 0-0 8, Udrih 1-4 0-0 2, Elson 1-4 0-0 2, Vaughn 0-0 0-0 0, Bonner 2-4 0-0 5, Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 41-78 9-11 98.

Seattle (78)—Ras.Lewis 3-7 2-2 8, Wilcox 2-6 3-3 7, Petro 3-11 0-2 6, Allen 9-20 3-3 21, Ridnour 5-14 0-0 11, Watson 1-8 0-0 2, Glyniadakis 1-2 0-0 2, Wilkins 3-5 0-0 6, Collison 6-12 3-6 15, Gelabale 0-0 0-0 0, Wilks 0-1 0-0 0, Sene 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-86 11-16 78.

3-Point Goals—San Antonio 7-15 (Barry 3-8, Horry 2-4, Bonner 1-1, Finley 1-2), Seattle 1-10 (Ridnour 1-2, Ras.Lewis 0-1, Watson 0-3, Allen 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—San Antonio 53 (Duncan 16), Seattle 44 (Petro 9). Assists—San Antonio 25 (Duncan 6), Seattle 17 (Wilcox 5). Total Fouls—San Antonio 12, Seattle 13. Technicals—San Antonio Defensive Three Second, Seattle Defensive Three Second. A—15,483. (17,072).