Nets Routed by Tony Parker-Led Spurs

Tony Parker had 18 points to lead six players in double figures and the San Antonio Spurs rolled past the listless Nets 113-92 on Tuesday night.

Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan had 15 points each and Tiago Splitter and Patty Mills each had 12.

Miles Plumlee and Shaun Livingston had 15 points each to lead Brooklyn. Kevin Garnet was held to two points, failing to make a field for only the second time in his 19-year career and the first time since 1996.

The Nets (10-30) began the season with the same hope as a New Year's Eve celebration after a blockbuster trade brought former NBA champions Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to the team. That promise ended quickly and the lackluster loss to the Spurs was a microcosm of their season so far.

It got so bad for the Nets they couldn't even end the game. Brooklyn was forced to call a timeout with 0.2 seconds left after a long delay because they only had four players who hadn't retreated to the locker room — thinking the game had ended. Several Nets had not fully retreated, but resumed after initially stopping when the officials ruled the game was not over. With first-year coach Jason Kidd and his staff standing around puzzled, Andrei Kirilenko slowly walked back to the court and was subbed in to complete the game with an inbounds pass.

While San Antonio walked off the court collectively high-fiving and in good spirits, Brooklyn walked in separate packs, with the five players who were on the court appearing tired as they trudged to the locker room slowly.

Kirilenko was playing his first game after missing the last 25 with back spasms. He had four points.

The Nets fared better offensively in the second half, but their defense was just as lackluster. The Spurs set a season high for points in the third quarter in a 39-32 period.

San Antonio went 4 for 4 on 3-pointers in the third quarter, steadily increasing its lead to 65-38 on Marco Belinelli's with 9:22 remaining and to 98-62 on Patty Mills' in the final seconds.

Gregg Popovich emptied his bench for the fourth quarter, sitting Duncan, Parker, Ginobili for the entire period. The loudest ovation in the fourth quarter came when former Spurs center David Robinson was shown on the giant television screens at midcourt.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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