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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- Gregg Popovich took the humble approach when told
he had become the San Antonio Spurs' winningest coach Tuesday night
after an 86-79 victory over the Houston Rockets.
|  | | San Antonio's Tim Duncan had 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Spurs to victory Tuesday. |
"I've been fortunate to be in one place a while with some
really good players," said Popovich, who is 178-124 since taking
over Dec. 10, 1996. "When that happens, you can win some games.
But hundreds of coaches could have done the same thing."
Tim Duncan, who scored 25 points, including 12 in the fourth
quarter, didn't agree.
"That (the milestone) is great," said Duncan, who also had a
game-high 15 rebounds. "I didn't even know that. He's been at one
place a while and he's done a great job, especially this year.
"It's the basics that he stresses. That's the key to his
success."
The Spurs trailed much of the first half before pulling ahead to
stay late in the third quarter, and Popovich believed it was
because of those basics.
"Our players got more aggressive and when that happens,
positive things can happen on both ends of the floor," Popovich
said. "I thought Terry Porter played real aggressive. He found
people in the right spots.
"We finally got Tim going, but the key was our good defense and
rebounding."
Houston's Rudy Tomjanovich said his team was just missing some
intangibles.
"If they had come out and just kicked our butts, it would have
been different. But there was an opportunity there for us and we
just wilted.
"I don't know what it was. I don't have an answer. The guys
have to find a way to get themselves going sometimes and they just
didn't do it in the fourth quarter," Tomjanovich said.
The Rockets were playing without leading scorer Steve Francis
(sprained ankle) and No. 2 scorer Cuttino Mobley was nursing a sore
elbow.
"It felt terrible," said Mobley, who had 16 points on 7-of-19
shooting. "It affected my game. I was forcing shots and it hurt
every time I extended my elbow.
"I probably hurt us more than I helped us. Maybe I should have
sat out like Steve did. We've got so many guys hurt. It seems like
as soon as one gets well, another gets hurt."
Derek Anderson added 15 points, Sean Elliott 13 and Terry Porter
10 as the Spurs beat the Rockets for the ninth consecutive time,
five of them at Compaq Center. David Robinson fouled out with 2:06
to play and had only five points and seven rebounds.
Moochie Norris, making his first NBA start in place of Francis,
scored a season-high 17 points, as did Hakeem Olajuwon. Maurice
Taylor added 14.
With Anderson scoring seven points, San Antonio used an 18-9 run
to go ahead 52-51 on a free throw by Duncan with 2:01 left in the
third.
Duncan then scored six of the Spurs' first eight points in the
fourth as they opened a 64-57 advantage with 9:43 remaining before
a 7-0 Houston run tied it 64-64 with 8:29 to play.
The Spurs then went on a 12-2 run to open a 76-66 advantage on a
3 by Porter with 4:18 to play. Duncan's jumper with 2:57 to play
gave the Spurs their biggest lead, 80-68.
Houston moved ahead 11-6 in the first six minutes of the game as
Olajuwon hit his first three shots. With Norris scoring 10 points,
including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Rockets managed to stretch
that lead to 20-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The lead reached eight as Norris made the first shot of the
second quarter, but the Spurs started coming back with the help of
five quick points from Danny Ferry to tie the game at 28-28 with
six minutes left in the half.
They took the lead on a three-pointer from Antonio Daniels with
1:07 to play in the second quarter. Mobley's breakaway slam with 21
seconds left gave the Rockets a 36-34 halftime lead.
Game notes
Francis injured his ankle against Denver on Saturday. He is
day-to-day ... San Antonio is 12-3 when holding opponents to fewer
than 90 points. ... Doug Moe had 177 wins as coach of the Spurs.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
San Antonio Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 103
Utah 95
Atlanta 87
New York 77
LA Lakers 81
Miami 79
Indiana 90
Chicago 85
San Antonio 86
Houston 79
Detroit 89
Phoenix 84
Golden State 120
Minnesota 99
Sacramento 106
Washington 72
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Rudy Tomjanovich Official Site
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