Spurs’ home dominance leads to Southwest title

Ginobili went 10-of-16 from the field and added seven rebounds for San Antonio, which entered Tuesday’s action one game behind Phoenix for the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. It is the fourth division title for the Spurs in the last five seasons.

In his second start for the Spurs, Nazr Mohammed netted 10 points and pulled down 14 boards, while Bruce Bowen, Beno Udrih and Glenn Robinson contributed 11 points apiece in the win.

San Antonio won its third straight overall and ninth consecutive at the SBC Center, improving to a league-best 37-3 at home this season.

Leading Portland, which fell to 1-8 in its last nine games, was Darius Miles with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Joel Przybilla had 16 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots in the loss.

Ruben Patterson chipped in 14 points, while Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Sebastian Telfair tallied 11 points apiece for Portland, which was outrebounded 51-38.

This game was all San Antonio in the first half as the Spurs raced to an 11-4 edge early and continued leading 23-15 after the first quarter.

A Bowen three-pointer with 7 1/2 minutes remaining in the second frame gave San Antonio a double-digit lead, 31-21. The Spurs then ended the quarter on a 17-9 run, building a 48-30 cushion by halftime.

The Blazers outscored the Spurs 32-24 in the third quarter, trimming San Antonio’s lead to just seven, 69-62, late in the third quarter. However, Udrih drained a three-pointer to restore the double-digit lead, 72-62, heading into the fourth quarter.

The teams traded baskets for a majority of the final 12 minutes with Portland never really threatening to win the game.