Parker rested with injury as Popovich left delighted with response.
There were five games on the NBA schedule on Sunday night, with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder looking to move ahead at the top of the Western Conference.
After their disappointing loss to the Milwaukee Bucks last time out, the Spurs needed a reaction as they slipped to 1-8 against their top five rivals in the Western Conference and the Indiana Pacers.
With the Bucks languishing at the bottom in the East and without a win since the turn of the year, it appeared to be the ideal scenario for coach Gregg Popovich and his players delivered despite missing Tony Parker, Danny Green, Thiago Splitter and Matt Bonner.
Patty Mills had 20 points, Tim Duncan added 11 points and 13 rebounds in limited action, but as is the usual case with San Antonio, it was a complete team effort as several other players contributed.
Marco Belinelli scored 14 points, Jeff Ayres and Nando De Colo had 13 points apiece while Kawhi Leonard added 11 points in just 21 minutes.
“Coaches are sick puppies,” Popovich said. “There’s always things you can improve and do better. You look at the film, try to keep your standard and get ready for playoffs, but overall it was a good performance.”
The Spurs move to 32-9 for the season, a half a game above the Portland Trail Blazers to move back to the top of the West where they will hope to stay for the remainder of the regular season.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder kept up the pressure on them with a 108-93 win over the Sacramento Kings, with Kevin Durant making it seven consecutive games scoring 30 points or more.
Sacramento coach Karl Malone insisted prior to the game that Durant would not score 54 points like he did two nights earlier, and while he managed to limit him, the Thunders star added nine assists to his game.
“I told you Durant wasn’t going to get 54 tonight, right?” Malone said with a smile after the game.
Serge Ibaka added 20 points while Reggie Jackson scored 16 as Oklahoma City won their third straight game and improve to 31-10 for the season, while the Kings had 38 points and six assists from Isaiah Thomas.
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Lakers ended a six-game winning streak at home for the Toronto Raptors with Nick Young scoring 29 points off the bench, while the Phoenix Suns defeated the Denver Nuggets.
NBA Results:
Los Angeles Lakers 112-106 Toronto Raptors
Boston Celtics 91-93 Orlando Magic
Sacramento Kings 93-108 Oklahoma City Thunder
Milwaukee Bucks 82-110 San Antonio Spurs
Denver Nuggets 103-117 Phoenix Suns
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