Manu Ginobili returned just in time for the Spurs’ trip to Newark to take on the struggling Nets.
Ginobili or not, the Spurs had no problem sending the sputtering Nets to their sixth straight loss.
Behind a balanced scoring attack, the Spurs took down the Nets, 103-89.
Gary Neal scored a team-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Tim Duncan led the Spurs’ starters with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Ginobili scored eight points after returning from a 22-game absence due to a broken left hand.
“They’re a really good team,” forward Kris Humphries said. “We expect to compete every night, but we’ve got to start beating teams like Detroit if we think we’re going to come in and beat San Antonio.”
The Nets remained competitive through the first quarter, but the game was all San Antonio after that.
The Nets fell apart offensively and defensively in the second quarter leading to a Spurs’ rout.
The Spurs outscored the Nets, 31-18, in the second quarter and shot 73.7 percent from the field. They also limited the Nets to 29.6 percent shooting, pulling away at halftime, 55-40.
“A team like this you can’t get down against them,” Deron Williams said. “It’s just an uphill battle the whole game, just the way they play and how they space you out and get to every spot they want to get to.”
The Nets managed to pull within six points when Williams buried a straightaway three-pointer with 5:49 left in the third quarter, but the momentum could not be sustained.
In just 12 seconds, Danny Green knocked a three-pointer at the other end to put the Spurs up, 65-56.
“They made seven out of 22 threes, but the seven that they made were always at the worst time,” Avery Johnson said.
The Nets never recovered.
Neal’s floater with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter gave the Spurs an 88-67 lead. The 21-point lead was their largest of the night.
“They’re just a team that really knows how to play the game at both ends of the floor,” Williams added.
The Nets trailed by 30 points in the second half of their loss to the Detroit Pistons Friday night.
Johnson believed the Nets would have fared better against the Pistons with the energy they displayed against the Spurs.
"I think we all wish that, but the reality is we didn’t,” Humphries said. “Sometimes you play against a good team like the Spurs and you come out with a little more enthusiasm... Almost like a you don’t have anything to lose type situation.
“I think that’s something that’s kind of weak-minded,” Humphries added. “We’ve got to be able to approach Detroit like they’re Miami.”
Deron Williams posted another prolific performance, but he had very little help. Williams scored 27 points and dished out eight assists, but the Nets managed only 40.2 percent shooting from the field.
The Spurs also pounded the Nets in the paint, outscoring them 50-34.
The Nets made a brief run, opening the third quarter on a 6-0 run capped by a Johan Petro baseline dunk. The Spurs forced Johnson into a timeout after Danny Green was left alone under the basket for an uncontested dunk with 8:36 left in the third quarter.
Green’s dunk put the Spurs ahead, 59-46.
With the Spurs poised to run away with the game early, the Nets countered with a 12-2 run to take a 17-15 lead with 2:22 left in the first quarter.
Deron Williams scored nine points in the first as the Nets trailed, 24-22.
Courtside Stars
Two-time NFL champion Sean Landeta sat courtside. Landeta, the New York Giants punter, won Super Bowls in 1986 and 1990.
Former Nets sideline host and current ESPN personality Michelle Beadle also sat courtside.
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