(Reuters) – The San Antonio Spurs took advantage of Toronto’s injury woes to snap the Raptors’ five-game winning streak with a 100-80 home victory on Wednesday.
San Antonio used a balanced attack, with all 12 of their players registering points, to systematically break down the visiting Raptors and ended Toronto’s longest winning run of the season.
Tim Duncan led the way with 15 points, Manu Ginobili added 14 off the bench and the Spurs (22-8) stretched their Southwest Division lead to two games over Memphis.
None of Toronto’s (9-20) five starters reached double-figures, although reserves Amir Johnson and Alan Anderson each finished with 12 points to pace the Raptors.
DeMar DeRozan had enjoyed strong performances against San Antonio in the past but only managed eight points in the latest encounter.
“You never know. Maybe he just had one of those nights where he wasn’t feeling it, but it’s better than the 25 he usually scores on us,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. “We’re thrilled with that.”
The Raptors had managed to string together a succession of victories prior to Wednesday’s game despite missing center Jonas Valanciunas, who broke his finger last week, guard Kyle Lowry and forward Andrea Bargnani through injury.
Toronto managed to stay pretty close to the Spurs until the latter stages of the third quarter, where San Antonio broke free with a 13-2 run that put them 70-55 ahead.
“We just came out more aggressive (in the second half) and realised we didn’t play well in the first half,” Ginobili said. “We were a little flat and we needed to pick it up.”
The victory was the second straight blowout for the Spurs, who routed Dallas 129-91 on Sunday.
This time, San Antonio barely had to exert themselves as they utilised the complete roster, and while Tony Parker registered 13 points and seven assists, it was the 45 points from the bench that made the difference.
