Spurs beat Jazz 106-100 on strong fourth quarter

SALT LAKE CITY(AP) Manu Ginobili saved San Antonio from the foul line, where the Spurs struggled the most.Ginobili
made all eight of his foul shots in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of
his 13 points in the final period to help the Spurs hold off the Utah
Jazz 106-100 on Tuesday night.Ginobili made 11 of 12 foul shots,
saving the Spurs from an embarrassing night at the line and keeping the
Jazz from rallying at the end."Until that horn goes off, you're
worried about whatever may happen,'' said Tim Duncan, who had 24 points
and nine rebounds for the Spurs. "Luckily enough, Manu was great down
the stretch hitting free throws and giving us the lead we needed.''The
Spurs pulled away with a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter and led
the rest of the way, making their last 10 free throws to finish
21-for-32. Ginobili was 6-for-6 from the line in the final 24 seconds."Manu
is an important part of us winning basketball games,'' San Antonio
coach Gregg Popovich said. "He was aggressive and got to go to the
line.''Tony Parker added 24 points and six assists for the
Spurs, who have won five of six. Matt Bonner scored 20, going 6-for-7
on 3-pointers as the Spurs went 11-for-20 from beyond the arc."They
started off the second half really hot, knocking down 3s,'' said Ronnie
Brewer, who led Utah with 23 points. "We put ourselves in a bad
position and we had to fight our way out the rest of the game.''Deron
Williams had 19 points and 13 assists and Mehmet Okur had 22 points and
a season-high 17 rebounds for Utah, which lost its fourth straight.The Jazz reserves were outscored by San Antonio's 25-6.Utah
was without injured forwards Andrei Kirilenko (ankle) and Carlos Boozer
(knee), but had a chance at the end after San Antonio struggled from
the foul line.The Spurs were 9-for-16 entering the fourth
quarter and finished 21 of 32, thanks mostly to Ginobili, who added a
clutch rebound when Okur missed a 3-pointer with about 10 seconds left
to play. The Jazz outrebounded the Spurs 46-35, but couldn't catch up
after the Spurs took a 10-point lead early in the fourth."We
made some mistakes, got lost a couple times defensively in what we were
really trying to do,'' Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "They made some
plays to come up with the basketball as we came down the stretch.''Bruce
Bowen tied the game at 82 with a jumper, and put the Spurs ahead with
another jumper to start a 10-0 run. Duncan completed with a dunk before
the Jazz ended their scoring drought on an alley-oop from Williams to
C.J. Miles. The Jazz got within a 94-93 on a layup by Paul Millsap, but
no closer. Ginobili answered with a reverse layup, then made a steal
and hit two free throws to put the Spurs up 98-93 with 44 seconds left.Notes:
Kirilenko had a cortisone injection Monday and the Jazz hoped to know
by Thursday whether he will need surgery on his right ankle. ... Parker
forced Williams out of bounds late in the second quarter, causing a
turnover that allowed San Antonio to set up for Matt Bonner's 3-pointer
with two seconds left that put the Spurs up 50-49 at halftime. ... The
Spurs made 11 of 20 3-pointers. ... Millsap had 14 points and nine
rebounds.