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 The defending NBA champions toyed with the Timberwolves,
especially in the second half, in a 121-92 win on Friday night at
Target Center.
Minnesota was without four starters, including leading scorer Kevin
Martin. Its 10 active players combined for about 300 more career
minutes than Spurs forward Tim Duncan by himself.
Afterward, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich stated the obvious.
"It wasn't a fair fight," Popovich said. "It's hard to compete when
you don't have all your guys out there. They're having a tough time
with that right now."
Minnesota did its best to keep it close, trailing by only three
after the first quarter.
But the veteran Spurs gained control, opening an 11-point lead at
the break before blowing the game open after halftime, outscoring
Minnesota 32-14 in the third quarter.
Spurs guard Tony Parker led all scorers with 28 points, despite not
playing any of the fourth quarter with San Antonio holding a big
lead. He had 13 at the end of one and 10 in the second quarter. His
23 at halftime was already eight more than his season average.
 "Tony was really focused tonight, aggressive," Popovich said. "He
got us going tonight."
Parker finished 12 of 18 from the floor, including 3 of 3 from
beyond the arc. It was the third time this season that Parker has
finished with 28 points.
"The goal is to try and get a lead," Parker said. "We know we have a
lot of veterans and need to get some rest for the back-to-back
(games). Our mindset was to be focused from the get-go and rest some
guys in the second half."
With San Antonio leading by four midway through the second quarter,
Spurs guard Danny Green hit back-to-back 3-pointers, pushing to the
lead into double figures for the first time. The Spurs led 59-48 at
the half.
Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard spearheaded a 13-2 run to start the
third quarter, hitting a 15-foot jumper, a long three to make it a
20-point game and two free throws as San Antonio opened a 72-50.
"The frustrating thing was we just didn't have the size to put in
against Duncan and their bigs," Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders
said. "Their perimeters are good. Parker had it going. He loves to
play in this arena and shoots the ball well."
Five Spurs scored in double figures, including forward Austin Daye,
who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. It was the second
double-double of his career.
"He's going to make shots, he's going to miss shots. We're trying to
get him to play a complete game," Popovich said. "He went to the
boards hard."
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Green finished with 15 points and Leonard with 14. Forward Tim
Duncan had nine points and 10 rebounds.
In addition to Martin, Minnesota was without point guard Ricky
Rubio, center Nikola Pekovic and forward Thaddeus Young.
"That's part of the game, you know, next man up," Timberwolves guard
Mo Williams said.
Forward Anthony Bennett led the Timberwolves with a career-high 20
points. Williams had 15 to go with four assists and forward Andrew
Wiggins finished with 14 points.
"(Bennett) played well. I thought he played within himself,"
Saunders said. "I would have like to have seen him rebound better.
But I thought he did some things offensively, shot the ball well,
competed."
Each team plays the second half of back-to-back games on Saturday.
San Antonio has now won three straight overall and heads home for a
game against Brooklyn. Minnesota will also play at home against
Sacramento.
NOTES: Spurs SG Marco Belinelli returned to the lineup Friday after
missing the past eight games with a mild groin strain. Belinelli
averaged 8.3 points in three games to begin the season. ... Spurs PF
Matt Bonner missed the game with an illness. He is day to day. ...
Timberwolves SG Kevin Martin was diagnosed with a fractured left
wrist Friday and is out indefinitely. Martin injured the wrist
during the first quarter on Wednesday in a 115-99 win over the New
York Knicks. Martin scored a season-high 37 points in the victory
and is Minnesota's leading scorer at 20.4 points per game. ... The
Timberwolves were without three of their five starters from opening
night because of injury or absence. PG Ricky Rubio (ankle), PF
Thaddeus Young (personal reasons) and C Nikola Pekovic (wrist) were
all unavailable.
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