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Tuesday, Mar. 27 8:30pm ET
Hornets suffer third straight loss

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Less than four minutes into the game, Tim Duncan had made each of the four jump shots he tried.

Tim Duncan
P.J. Brown couldn't slow down Tim Duncan, who had 34 points and 19 rebounds.

Duncan quickly set the tone for San Antonio's 93-79 rout of the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night as the Spurs became the first team in the NBA to reach 50 wins this season.

With a 34-point, 19-rebound performance, Duncan, San Antonio's leading scorer and rebounder, showed why the Spurs continue to dominate.

"He reminds me of Kareem, a guy with all the moves," said Jamal Mashburn, who led the Hornets with 22 points. "And tonight he was hitting his free throws."

Duncan, who had been shooting 58 percent from the foul line this season, went 12-for-12, foiling efforts to stop him. He went 11-of-19 from the field.

"It's hard to contain him 1-on-1, and when you double-team him, it takes away from your defensive principles a little bit," Mashburn said.

Duncan put it simply.

"I just feel good," said Duncan, who started the season not quite healed from knee surgery last May. "My body feels good right now. I just feel like every shot I shoot is going in."

The All-Star 7-foot forward said he finally found his stroke from the free throw line.

"It's been a long year for me from the line," Duncan said. "I hope this isn't a one-game thing."

"They had no answer for him," said the Spurs' other twin tower, 7-1 David Robinson. "Jump shots, hook shots – he was fantastic."

Duncan scored 24 of his points in the first half as the Spurs (50-21) reached the 50-win mark for the 11th time since they joined the NBA in 1976.

The Hornets (40-31), vying for a playoff spot in the tight Eastern Conference, had won 15 of their last 18 before weekend losses at Chicago and Dallas. Their current three-game losing streak is their longest since early February.

"It's all a mental approach for what we have to do right now," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. "When we were on our roll, I thought we were doing that very well. But we kind of relaxed a little bit and we're not good enough to not respect our opponents."

Mashburn had seven rebounds and six assists for the Hornets and Baron Davis had 13 points.

Derek Anderson scored 16 for the Spurs.

San Antonio was 31-for-35 from the foul line. The Hornets were 15-for-19 from the line.

The Spurs, who are 27-6 over the past two months, took the lead in the first minute and never trailed.

San Antonio went ahead 16-7 after Duncan hit four quick jump shots and Anderson drove for two layups and a dunk in the first 4:41. The Spurs extended the margin to 26-15 when Anderson made two free throws and then quickly grabbed Eddie Robinson's pass for another jumper by Duncan.

The closest the Hornets came was 44-37 with 3:18 left in the half when Elden Campbell followed P.J. Brown's dunk with two good free throws.

San Antonio went on a 12-2 run with Danny Ferry's 3-pointer and five free throws by Robinson to go up 64-43 with 6:13 left in the third.

Campbell fouled out in the final minute of the game.

Game notes
It was the Spurs' seventh straight home win. ... The Hornets lost their fourth straight road game. ... Duncan had 11 rebounds in the first half. ... San Antonio outrebounded the Hornets 45-35.

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RECAPS
Indiana 110
Washington 102

Boston 115
Atlanta 112

Toronto 101
Miami 92

Houston 109
Utah 86

San Antonio 93
Charlotte 79

LA Clippers 101
Detroit 94

Sacramento 124
New York 117


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