Parker has 18 to lead San Antonio in 101-85 win

SAN ANTONIO(AP) Gregg Popovich let his players figure this win out on their own.Tony
Parker committed five turnovers in the first 10 minutes but overcame
the rough start by scoring 18 points to lead the Spurs to a 101-85
victory over the reeling Sacramento Kings on Monday night.Facing
a Kings team that now has lost four in a row and is 3-17 since opening
the season 4-5, Popovich did little talking to his players during
timeouts."I did nothing to earn my money,'' Popovich said. "They
(the players) coached. They communicated. They changed defenses, called
plays. I just substituted players.''Parker was 8-of-17 from the
floor and added six assists in 28 minutes as San Antonio (17-10) won
for the eighth time in 10 games. The Spurs shot 52 percent and led from
the 5:38 mark of the first quarter. They were 7-of-15 from the 3-point
line.Sacramento (7-22) was held to 40 percent shooting. The Kings dropped to 2-13 on the road.Parker committed only one more turnover after the rocky first quarter, and the Spurs forced the Kings into 17 turnovers."We
turned the ball over way too much,'' said Spurs guard Roger Mason, who
scored 11 points in 18 minutes. "We cut that down in the second half.
Our main thing going into the game was our defense. I think we did a
good job containing them.''Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and rookie
George Hill each scored 10 as the Spurs led by as many as 21 points
early in the fourth quarter and let their starters rest."Hopefully,
we all learned a lesson from a team like that,'' Kings interim coach
Kenny Natt said. "Their poise, the way they execute and take care of
the basketball. Things like that. They gave us an A, No. 1 lesson on
that.''John Salmons scored 22 points to lead Sacramento. Beno Udrih, a former Spurs player and backup to Parker, added 13.Francisco Garcia added 10, but he struggled through a 3-of-13 shooting night."Especially in the second half we played better D,'' Mason said. "They didn't shoot well.''The Kings came out in the third quarter and scored 16 points.After
losing both games on the road last week against playoff teams, the
Spurs have won two straight against teams with losing records. They
finish a rare home back-to-back when they play Minnesota (4-22) on
Tuesday night.Parker, who had 10 assists and was two rebounds
short of a triple-double Saturday against Toronto, was mistake-prone to
open the game against the Kings. He committed five turnovers before
getting a rest with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.The
Kings led through the first 5 1/2 minutes of the game despite the Spurs
opening 8-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-3 from the 3-point line.But
if they weren't hitting a shot, they were turning the ball over. The
Spurs' seven first-quarter turnovers led to 11 points by the Kings."We
worked hard early on defense,'' Natt said. "We got the steals and got
the rebounds we were looking for, but we were turning the ball over and
the ballgame got away from us.''With Parker on the bench and
Hill running the team the last 2 minutes, San Antonio scored the final
eight points of the quarter and led 33-22.But Parker was mistake-free in the second quarter and finished with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting at halftime.The
Kings cut the 11-point first quarter lead to six when Bobby Brown hit a
3-pointer as the Spurs called a timeout with 9:04 left before halftime.San
Antonio outscored the Kings 20-9 during the next 6 minutes to go ahead
by 17. The margin remained the same as the Spurs went to the locker
room ahead 62-45."They were hitting their shots, and then we
went through a spurt where we turned the ball over,'' Salmons said.
"And we didn't get back into it after that.''Notes: Kings G
Quincy Douby did not dress because of a stomach virus. He had missed
two of the last four games because of coach's decision. ... Three
technical fouls were called in the game, against the Kings' Spencer
Hawes, Brad Miller and the Spurs' Parker for separate incidents of
arguing with the officials. ... Spurs C Fabricio Oberto did not dress
for the third straight game because of a sore left foot, and he's not
expected back for the next week. ... Udrih, who played for the Spurs
for three seasons until being traded before the 2007-08 season, was
cheered warmly when he was introduced in the Kings' starting lineup.
... The Spurs signed Malik Hairston, their second-round draft pick they
had cut after preseason. Hairston, who played at Oregon last year,
averaged 19.5 points in 11 games with the NBADL Austin Toros.