Duncan leads Spurs past Pacers

Francisco Elson scored 14 points for the Spurs, who stopped a two-game losing skid. Matt Bonner had 10 points and nine boards, and Tony Parker added another 10 points for San Antonio.

"We played a lot better in the second half," Parker said. "We finally picked it up and played great defense and when you play great defense you create a lot of opportunities on offense and get some easy baskets in transition and get a couple good shots from the outside. Finally got a good win."

Ike Diogu scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Indiana, which has lost 13 out of 14 and fell into a tie with Orlando and New York for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Orlando also lost on Wednesday, falling to Toronto, 92-85. Mike Dunleavy added 11 points for the Pacers, who lost their ninth in a row on the road.

Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal was limited to 10 points.

"I played on one leg tonight," O’Neal said. "But this time of year you just give all that you can give. My explosion is just zapped. I’m not at a level that I need to be at to help this team right now."

San Antonio blew the game open in the third quarter. After a Dunleavy layup cut the Spurs lead to 46-43, San Antonio ran off 13 straight points, with an Elson jumper pushing the Spurs advantage to 59-43 with 4:38 left.

A Michael Finley jumper in the final seconds of the quarter boosted the San Antonio lead to 70-50 entering the fourth quarter.

Indiana could not threaten San Antonio’s double-digit lead, which topped out at 22 points, in the fourth quarter as the Spurs coasted to victory.

Indiana scored seven straight late in the first quarter, turning a 15-13 deficit into a 20-15 lead, and took a 22-17 advantage into the second quarter.

San Antonio scored 11 straight midway through the second quarter, capped by a three-point play by Duncan to put the Spurs up 28-26 with 7:07 left in the half. The Spurs kept the heat on, pushing their lead out to 42-33 after a Bruce Bowen jumper with 1:38 left.

The Spurs led 42-37 at the break.

Game Notes

San Antonio has won seven of nine against the Pacers, including five in a row at home...San Antonio shot 49 percent from the field, compared to a 35 percent performance by the Pacers...Indiana attempted only five three-pointers, missing them all.