Thursday, December 27, 2007
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Parker Has 28 in Spurs' Win over Bulls

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[December 27, 2007]  SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Tony Parker scored 28 points and the San Antonio Spurs easily beat Chicago 94-79 Wednesday night in the Bulls' first game since firing coach Scott Skiles.

Michael Finley added 15 points for San Antonio and Tim Duncan had 11 rebounds.

Joe Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Ben Gordon added 18 points for the Bulls, who have dropped four of their last five. Assistant coach Pete Myers, who played in the league for eight years, served as interim coach for Chicago.

Skiles was let go on Christmas Eve as the Bulls, who started with high hopes, continued to struggle this season. They lost 10 of their first 12 games and have a 9-17 mark, one of the worst in the East.

The Spurs were up by double digits for almost the entire second half and led by as many as 25 points, despite the absence of the team's No. 2 scorer, Manu Ginobili, who is out with a sprained left index finger.

Myers said lead assistant coach Jim Boylan had stayed behind in Chicago. Myers said he wasn't sure whether he would continue to be interim head coach for upcoming games.

"I don't know that yet, which is kind of good, because we always talk about taking one game at a time, taking one play at a time," he said before the game. "That's basically what I'm doing now."

Bruce Bowen, Ime Udoka and Matt Bonner all scored 12 points for San Antonio.

Reserve Chris Duhon scored 13 points for Chicago and Luol Deng had 12. Ben Wallace, who has been dealing with a sore left foot, scored just two points on 1-of-4 shooting.

After a good first quarter, the Bulls cooled in the second and shot 8-of-21 from the field, just as Parker heated up.

With the Spurs already up by seven, Parker scored 10 points in a 15-4 run that put them up 47-29 with 4:35 left in the half.

[to top of second column]

Parker scored 12 points in the quarter and had 17 at the break, when San Antonio was up 51-39. The Spurs went ahead for good on Finley's jumper with 12 seconds gone in the second quarter that put San Antonio up 23-22.

The Bulls seemed to lose energy as the game went on, allowing San Antonio to extend its lead to 72-59 by the time three quarters were done and pull even farther away in the final 12 minutes.

Parker's bucket that counted because of a goaltending call gave the Spurs an 86-65 lead with 6:33 to go. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich subbed most of his starters soon after, and Finley's bucket gave San Antonio its biggest lead, 94-69 with 3:56 to play.

Notes: The Spurs continued to pick up new injuries Wednesday. G Brent Barry strained his left calf with about 3:20 left in the first quarter. The team said he will have an MRI Thursday. ... Myers played for the Spurs for a total of 30 games during the 1987-88 and 1990-91 seasons. ... Myers served as interim head coach for two games during the 2003-04 season, when the Bulls played Dallas and San Antonio. ... Before the game, Myers said of his chance to act as head coach: "This is someplace I'd like to get one day. I'm not sitting there as assistant coach just to be a great assistant. I would like to run my show one day, for sure. ... I'm excited every day I wake up. I mean, this is what I know. I like this game. Just to get the opportunity to display it as a head guy, it's great." ... The Spurs signed F Marcus Williams on Wednesday. They had drafted the Arizona player with the 33rd overall pick in the draft in June. Williams had been playing for the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. ... Spurs C Francisco Elson was back after sitting out three games with a sprained right ankle.

[Associated Press; By ELIZABETH WHITE]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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