NBA Game Summary - Seattle at San Antonio

San Antonio, TX (Basketball News) - Tony Parker scored a game-high 28 points, Manu Ginobili added 15 and San Antonio defeated Seattle, 89-76, in a battle of two of the Western Conference’s best at the SBC Center.

Sean Marks and Bruce Bowen each added nine points for the Spurs, who have won three straight. San Antonio entered the day one game behind Phoenix for the best record in the West.

The Spurs continue to play without two-time MVP Tim Duncan, who remains sidelined with a badly sprained right ankle. San Antonio is 4-5 since he went down with the injury.

"It is important that we play well night in and night out," said Bowen, "We miss Tim (Duncan), but we understand that he is not there and we have to play well and go out there and execute."

Ronald Murray paced Seattle with 17 points. Ray Allen struggled from the floor, hitting just 6-of-17 shots to end with 14 points. Damien Wilkins, Antonio Daniels and Nick Collison each chipped in 11 points for the Supersonics, who have dropped two of three.

Seattle played without All-Star forward Rashard Lewis, who is nursing a knee and foot injury.

The Spurs took immediate control of the contest and raced out to a 10-2 lead with under 10 minutes left in the opening frame. San Antonio would stretch its lead to 28-15 on Marks’ jumper with 2:16 remaining in the frame. The home team then carried a commanding 31-18 lead after 12 minutes of action.

San Antonio would carry a comfortable 51-35 lead into the break. Seattle, which never got the deficit below double-digits in the third, trailed by 20 going into the fourth.

However, the Supersonics proved pesky in the fourth quarter, trimming the deficit to 75-65 on a free throw by Murray with 6:16 left in the contest. But that was as close as Seattle would get the rest of the way.

The Spurs responded with a quick 6-0 spurt, capped by Parker’s short jumper in the lane, making it 81-65 with just under four minutes remaining in the game. Seattle never recovered from that point on en route to the 13-point setback.