NEXT GAME
Blazers at Grizzlies, 5 p.m. Monday.
TV: CSN, cable Channel 37. Radio: FM 95.5
SAN ANTONIO — George Hill scored 22 points and the San Antonio Spurs became the NBA’s first 20-game winner this season with a 95-78 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Manu Ginobili added 18 points to help the Spurs win their fifth in a row and stop Portland’s winning streak at four games.
Wesley Matthews led the Trail Blazers with 17 points.
Tim Duncan played in his 1,000th career regular-season game but with little fanfare. He had eight points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes, though did make an appearance in the fourth quarter for the first time in four games.
San Antonio improved to 5-0 on its longest homestand of the season and can end it unbeaten with a victory Wednesday night against Milwaukee.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 16 points and Marcus Camby had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Portland.
The Trail Blazers lost for the first time since ending a demoralizing six-game skid that included a players-only meeting, McMillan saying his team wasn’t “responding to him” and Aldridge and others publicly supporting their head coach.
Portland never led after the first quarter and never got within double-digits in the fourth. Still, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich put Duncan back in the game for a few minutes, a move the Spurs have seldom needed to make on this homestand.
Duncan had been watching the Spurs coast to an NBA-best record of 20-3 while resting on the bench, where the Spurs want to see their perennial All-Star as much as possible this early in the season. The last time Duncan was truly needed in the fourth was Dec. 3 against Minnesota, when he finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Remarkably, the Spurs haven’t seen or needed those Duncan-like games during what is the best start in franchise history. Popovich wants to limit the wear-and-tear on his 34-year-old star, and so far the plan is working: Duncan entered the game averaging a career-low 28.8 minutes.
Brandon Roy had just nine points on 4-of-16 shooting, as Portland had just three scorers in double figures. The Blazers matched their season-low for points while shooting just 38 percent from the floor.
Portland’s Nicolas Batum had another bad game after going 0 for 7 in a win Friday night at Phoenix. Batum scored five points and made just 2 of 9 shots.
Tony Parker had 14 points and Gary Neal added 11 for the Spurs.
Notes: The Trail Blazers have lost five of six on the road. … Although Duncan reached the four-digit milestone Sunday for games played in the regular season, the 34-year-old was appearing in his 1,171st game, counting the playoffs.
