Kings Can’t Contain Parker

The San Antonio Spurs got out to a big early lead against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, and then they held on to win.

The Spurs fended off several second-half runs by the high-scoring Kings on their way to a 108-100 victory. The win was San Antonio’s 12th in the last 13 games.

Tony Parker matched his career high with 32 points, 19 of them coming in the opening quarter, to lead the Spurs.

“I was feeling it in the first quarter, and just took advantage,” said Parker, who made six of seven shots in the quarter. “I felt hot.”

Parker’s shooting wasn’t the only part of his game that hurt the Kings.

“He shot well from the outside, but his runner and his penetration killed us,” Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman said.

Tim Duncan added 18 points and 15 rebounds for San Antonio, but it was the play of the 20-year-old Parker that was the difference.

“Tony Parker came out ready to play,” said Sacramento guard Bobby Jackson, who scored 19 points off the bench. “He played like an All-Star. He’s the future of their team.”

San Antonio led by as much as 17 points in the first half and had a 13-point lead, 84-71, after three quarters.

Chris Webber scored 11 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter for Sacramento, whose five-game winning streak came to an end.

A jump hook by Webber at 5:12 of the quarter brought the Kings to within seven points at 91-84. But the Spurs then went on a 9-2 run to get its lead back up to 14 with less than three minutes left.

“We had a few runs, but we couldn’t sustain anything,” Adelman said. “They’re a very good team defensively. I was shocked we cut it to seven.”

The Kings made one more charge to get as close as 106-100 on Jim Jackson’s layup with 8.5 seconds left. Steve Kerr capped the scoring with a pair of free throws.