Duncan Leads Spur Rout

Tim Duncan already owned an NBA title, a Finals MVP award, a rookie of the year trophy and had been named co-MVP of an All-Star game. On Saturday night, he added to his list of accomplishments.

Duncan scored 17 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and handed out 11 assists to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 96-76 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at San Antonio.

“I’m excited. Big guys don’t get triple-doubles very often,� San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said. “I know he’s thrilled even though he doesn’t show it.�

Duncan was understated, as usual.

“It just happens,� the third-year forward said. “We had to start fighting. We started moving the ball and it’s great when our people start knocking down shots. Our defense was good.�

Jaren Jackson had 16 points, Avery Johnson and Mario Elie added 14 each and David Robinson scored 10 for San Antonio, which was assured of a playoff spot when the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Washington Wizards earlier in the day.

Cleveland, outscored in the second half, 48-27, was led by Andre Miller (15 points) and Lamond Murray (14). Shawn Kemp, who was averaging 18.1 points a game, was held to eight points on three-of-12 shooting.

San Antonio never led in the first half, but opened the third quarter with six consecutive points by Johnson to lead, 54-49, with 9:05 to play in the quarter.

After Cleveland regained the lead at 57-56, San Antonio answered with an 8-0 run to go up, 64-57, on Elie’s driving layup.

Charlotte 86, Atlanta 70--Eddie Jones scored 24 points and the Hornets pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the cold-shooting Hawks at Atlanta.

Charlotte, sixth in the Eastern Conference and looking to improve its position for the playoffs, has won three consecutive games. The Hawks lost for the seventh time in eight games, including three in a row.

Leading only 64-58 after Alan Henderson scored for Atlanta with 9:50 to play, the Hornets used an 18-3 spurt to blow the game open. Jones scored eight points during the run.

The Hawks made only 33% of their shots in their lowest-scoring game of the season. They led by as many as eight points in the first quarter before fading away in a barrage of missed shots.

Washington 93, Dallas 86--Chris Whitney scored a career-high 29 points, including a pivotal steal and layup with less than three minutes to play, as the Wizards continued their late surge with a victory at Dallas.

Mitch Richmond added 20 points to help the Wizards to their fourth victory in five games, matching their most successful stretch of the season.

Whitney was starting in place of Rod Strickland, who is on the injured list because of a strained quadriceps muscle. Whitney scored seven of Washington’s first nine points of the fourth quarter and, after Calvin Booth scored a field goal to give the Wizards a three-point lead, stole the ball from Steve Nash and converted a layup for an 84-79 lead with 2:40 to play.

Utah 84, Vancouver 75--Karl Malone had 25 points and 14 rebounds and the Jazz used tight defense down the stretch to secure a sloppy victory at Vancouver, Canada.

Malone recorded his 38th double-double of the season despite making only nine of 25 shots.

Utah held Vancouver without a field goal for 4:42 late in the fourth quarter en route to winning for the 20th time in 23 outings.

Around the League

The Phoenix Suns waived veteran center Mark West and put guard Jason Kidd on the injured list. Kidd suffered a broken left ankle Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings and will sit out the rest of the regular season. His availability for the playoffs is questionable. West, who first played for Phoenix from 1987-94, was re-signed as a free agent on Oct. 19 and averaged 1.4 rebounds in 22 games. He sat out nine games because of back spasms from Jan. 22 to Feb. 8 and has been on the injured list because of back problems since March 16.