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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The San Antonio Spurs didn't have David Robinson Saturday night, but they had Malik Rose and that was
more than enough.
Rose scored 21 points and had a career-high 14 rebounds as the
Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets 106-87. The Spurs were without
the services of Robinson, who missed the game with cervical back
spasms that he suffered in Friday night's 121-98 win against
Boston.
|  | | Tim Duncan lunges to bat the ball away from Nuggets forward Ryan Bowen. |
"I always expect to box out, do my job on the boards," said
Rose. "When you have the two trees out there, they tend to get
most of the rebounds. I try to help them as much as possible by
keeping as many people off the boards as I can."
With Robinson out of the game, the Nuggets turned their
defensive attention to Tim Duncan, who still finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds.
"Duncan is going to get his points and rebounds," said Denver
coach Dan Issel, "but Malik made sure that his playing instead of
David wasn't going to let them get beat. His play was really the
difference."
Duncan agreed that Rose, who finished one point off his career
high, was the difference.
"Malik Rose was incredible," said Duncan. "He went out there
and was playing out of his mind. It's fun to see him play like
that. He works so hard and, when things get rolling his way a
little bit, it's a lot of fun."
With San Antonio only leading 69-66 after three quarters, Terry
Porter scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the
Spurs pulled away from Denver. The loss snapped Denver's
season-high four game winning streak.
Ron Mercer led Denver with 26 points, followed by 20 for Antonio
McDyess.
Rose entered the game 1:46 into the first period and scored 10
points in the quarter.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Robinson's absence couldn't, and
didn't, alter the Spurs' approach. With Rose coming through, it
didn't have to.
"We are what we are and we have to play that way," said
Popovich. "Malik was fantastic. Malik was magnificent. He worked
off the ball, he worked with the ball, he rebounded and he played
defense."
McDyess, who got into early foul trouble, and Mercer kept the
Nuggets close in the first half as Denver trailed by seven at
halftime.
"It's pretty frustrating," said McDyess. "It's happened in
about three games now where I've had my second foul early and had
to sit. It seems like I'm just helpless to my team."
Game notes
The Spurs won their 20th consecutive home game, their
longest such streak in history. They last lost in the Alamodome on
March 26, falling to the Toronto Raptors. ... The Nuggets and Spurs
franchises are each only 32 years old, including the Spurs' first
six years as the Dallas Chaparrals. Yet, the two teams have had
four head coaches in common -- Stan Albeck, Bob Bass, Larry Brown
and Doug Moe. ... Porter played in his 346th consecutive game
Saturday night against the Nuggets. Only A.C. Green (1,042) and Hersey Hawkins (523) have longer streaks.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Denver Clubhouse
San Antonio Clubhouse
RECAPS
New York 99
Orlando 96
Atlanta 94
Boston 84
Cleveland 106
Charlotte 89
Miami 89
Washington 86
Dallas 95
Chicago 83
Minnesota 113
Vancouver 82
Philadelphia 82
Milwaukee 79
San Antonio 106
Denver 87
Phoenix 129
New Jersey 90
Toronto 106
Golden State 88
Portland 88
LA Clippers 71
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