Spurs Rout Pistons With Big Third Quarter

A sizzling third quarter carried the San Antonio Spurs to their sixth straight victory.

Tim Duncan scored 28 points and San Antonio made 11 straight shots in a 40-point third quarter to beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-87, at San Antonio Tuesday night.

“This will really build our confidence. We know we are the world champs, now we’re starting to play like the world champs,” San Antonio guard Mario Elie said.

The Spurs led by one point at halftime but made 16 of 19 shots in the third quarter while outscoring the Pistons, 40-17.

Avery Johnson scored 22 points for San Antonio, which won its 21st straight regular-season game in the Alamodome.

The Spurs, who shot a season-best 59.2% from the field, scored on 15 straight third-quarter possessions before Jaren Jackson was called for an offensive foul with 1:35 left in the quarter.

“I would say that we would have to play almost a perfect game to beat this team,” Detroit Coach Alvin Gentry said.

Center David Robinson (11 points, six rebounds) returned to the San Antonio lineup after missing one game because of neck spasms.

Grant Hill, who scored 23 of his 30 points in the first half, was the only Detroit player in double figures.

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Philadelphia 74, New York 70--Larry Hughes scored 26 points and Eric Snow sank three free throws in the final minute as the 76ers beat the cold-shooting Knicks at Philadelphia.

Despite shooting only 30% from the field, the Knicks had a chance to win after Chris Childs made two free throws with 12 seconds left to cut Philadelphia’s lead to 71-70.

But Snow countered with two free throws for the 76ers and, after New York’s Latrell Sprewell missed a three-pointer with five seconds left, Snow made one of two from the line to seal the 76ers’ third straight win.

Allan Houston scored 20 points for the Knicks, including 10 of 10 from the foul line.

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Cleveland 106, Dallas 99--Shawn Kemp made six straight free throws in the final 2:08 and scored 25 points as the Cavaliers held off the undermanned Mavericks at Cleveland.

The crowd of 11,033 was the smallest in the six-year history of Gund Arena.

The Cavaliers survived a late shooting spree by Hubert Davis, who scored 16 of his 27 points for Dallas in the fourth quarter.

Maverick swingman Michael Finley had a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Dallas had only nine players in uniform because of injuries, and guard Steve Nash was limited to seven minutes because of an ankle injury.

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Sacramento 111, Orlando 102--Chris Webber scored 22 points and Nick Anderson had season highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds in his first game against his old team at Orlando, Fla.

Webber grabbed 11 rebounds before fouling out, and Vlade Divac added 17 points for the Kings, who bounced back from a 10-point loss at Miami Monday that snapped an eight-game winning streak.

Anderson, the first collegiate draft pick by the Magic, was traded to the Kings during the off-season.

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Atlanta 107, Toronto 89--Isaiah Rider had 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists at Toronto as the Hawks won for the 15th time in 16 games against the Raptors.

Antonio Davis had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, coming off an impressive 3-2 West Coast trip that included wins over the Lakers and Jazz.

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Washington 85, New Jersey 78--Juwan Howard scored 23 points and the Wizards held the Nets to one point over the final 5:55 at East Rutherford, N.J..

The Wizards, who trailed by 15 points late in the third quarter, snapped a two-game losing streak. The Nets lost for the 10th time in their last 11 games.

Keith Van Horn led the Nets with 24 points.

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Minnesota 109, Denver 92--Joe Smith scored 12 of his season-high 26 points in the decisive third quarter at Minneapolis as the Timberwolves extended the Nuggets’ road losing streak to eight games.

The Nuggets are 0-5 on the road this season and haven’t won outside Colorado since beating the Clippers on April 18.