NBA

Spurs get even with Nuggets

SAN ANTONIO - The San Antonio Spurs made nine of their first 10 shots Wednesday and then outscored the Denver Nuggets by 20 points in the second quarter en route to a 104-76 win that evened their first-round playoff series at one win each.

Game 3 will be Saturday night in Denver, with Game 4 scheduled for Monday.

San Antonio, which lost the opener Sunday after missing 17 straight shots down the stretch, went back to basics on offense: getting the ball to Tim Duncan.

On his first touch, Duncan drove on Kenyon Martin and hit a short bank shot. Next trip down, he backed down Marcus Camby in the post and flipped in a jump hook.

Establishing Duncan early created shots on the perimeter, and the Spurs made them. They hit their first four 3-pointers, two by Brent Barry, and they built an 11-point lead less than eight minutes into the game.

Tony Parker scored 12 in the first period, matching his total for all of Game 1. He finished with 19.

Duncan had 24 points, while reserve Manu Ginobili added 17 in 18 minutes. Barry, who started in Ginobili's place, made all four of his 3-pointers for 16 points.

DerMarr Johnson led Denver with 12 points. Andre Miller added 11 and Carmelo Anthony 10, while Camby had 12 rebounds.

The Nuggets made three of their first four shots, then missed nine of their next 10 before a driving layup by Miller made it 23-12.

Wesley Person made a corner 3-pointer early in the second quarter to trim San Antonio's lead to 29-21, but the Nuggets followed with another dry spell while the Spurs piled up points.

A 10-foot jump hook by Duncan restored the Spurs' double-digit lead with about 11 minutes left in the half. Less than four minutes later, a short runner by Parker made it 46-25. Parker later dished to Duncan for a dunk that extended San Antonio's lead to 30 points with 2:27 remaining.

The Nuggets missed 13 of their 14 shots during the Spurs' 27-5 run.

SUNS 108, GRIZZLIES 103: Host Phoenix erased a five-point deficit with a 14-4 over the final 4:04 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round series. Game 4 is Friday night in Memphis.

Amare Stoudemire, who scored just nine points in the series opener, had 34 points and 10 rebounds, including 18-of-22 shooting at the foul line. The physical Grizzlies sent Phoenix to the line 40 times, and the Suns made 32 of them.

BULLS 113, WIZARDS 103: Kirk Hinrich found his shooting touch and the Bulls are headed to Washington with a 2-0 lead in their opening-round playoff series.

Hinrich scored 21 of his 34 in the fourth quarter and the Bulls overcame a strong start by the Wizards. Hinrich rebounded from a tough 8-for-23 shooting night in Chicago's 103-94 win in the opener Sunday night, hitting 12 of 15 shots and spearheading key runs at the end of the first half and beginning of the final quarter.

Antonio Davis added 18 points and Ben Gordon 14 for the Bulls.

Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played at the MCI Center on Saturday and Monday.

[Last modified April 28, 2005, 01:37:02]