Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter VI Mobile College Basketball March Mayhem Picks College Basketball March Mayhem Picks VegasInsider.com VegasInsider.com
Handicapper Bios Sports Picks Free Odds Contests Sportsbook
Sports Betting Home NFL NBANHLMLBNCAA FBNCAA BKGolfAutoHorsesBoxingVI More Sports
 
NBA Scores Matchups Teams Standings Schedules Injuries News
 
 · Latest News
 · Player Updates
 · Transactions
Buy Picks Vegas Odds
 
 · Vegas Odds
 · Offshore Odds
 · Future Odds
 
Recap: Hawks , Spurs
Date: January 25, 2012 8:30 PM EDT
  

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Until Manu Ginobili's broken hand heals, the San Antonio Spurs are trying to produce points any way they can.

This blowout win over the Atlanta Hawks looked downright polished.

Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair both scored 17 points, Tiago Splitter had 16, and an unlikely cast of role players starred as the Spurs handed the surging Hawks their first lopsided loss of the season, 105-83 on Wednesday night.

Advertisement

It was a convincing win over the Southeast Division leaders after the Spurs had lost two of their previous three - including one to Sacramento at home - and barely squeaked past woeful New Orleans on Monday night.

``The bench has to perform,' said Spurs guard Tony Parker, who finished with 15 points. ``The bench has to bring something.'

The reserves brought plenty against the Hawks.

Atlanta's few losses this season included a triple-overtime heartbreaker to LeBron James and, and a two-point defeat to Derrick Rose and Chicago. But in this 22-point blowout, the Hawks (13-6) got manhandled by the Spurs, who had been underperforming.

Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 20 points. Kirk Hinrich made his season debut, after missing 18 games while recovering from shoulder surgery, and scored seven points in 14 minutes.

``I was not expecting them to go off as well as they did,' Hawks coach Larry Drew said of San Antonio's bench, which outscored Atlanta's reserves 51-27.

Yet, a bright spot for the Hawks was the return of Hinrich, who Atlanta has missed despite its solid start. Hinrich started 22 of 24 games for the Hawks last season after coming over in a trade from Washington.

``It felt pretty good tonight. I'm happy,' Hinrich said. ``The last thing I wanted to happen was to come back and have some sort of setback, or wasn't able to just do the things I needed to do to contribute.'

Joe Johnson, who had averaged 23 points in Atlanta's previous seven games, shot 5 of 12 from the floor and finished with 10 points. Josh Smith added 13 points on 6 of 17 shooting.

The loss was a rare embarrassment for the Hawks, who had won six of seven.

Tim Duncan scored six points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Spurs.

The Spurs shot 51 percent from the floor, marking the first time this season that Atlanta has allowed an opponent to make more than half its shots. The performance by the Spurs' bench satisfied coach Gregg Popovich, who was so irate with his starters at the start of the second half that he called a timeout one minute into the third quarter.

He subbed out everyone but Duncan.

The Spurs have been practically auditioning scorers without Ginobili, who could miss at least another month because of a broken left hand. Parker has been the lone constant on offense, yet even the 29-year-old star entered the game shooting his lowest percentage (46 percent) in a half-decade.

He stumbled early against the Hawks and finished 5 of 13. The reserves picked up the slack.

Bonner, the 3-point gunner stumbling through a career-worst shooting slump, eclipsed double digits for the third time this season and tied a season high with five 3s. Splitter, who scored a career-high 25 points in a weekend loss to Houston, was in double figures for the fifth straight game.

``I had the first couple go down. It always makes things easier,' Bonner said.

Even little-used rookie point guard Cory Joseph scored a season-best eight points in 19 minutes. The Spurs started the second quarter with the combination of Joseph, Splitter, Bonner, Gary Neal and Danny Green, who made for a surprising scoring unit that doubled San Antonio's lead to 41-28 in a span of six minutes.

Green finished with 10 points.

The Spurs improved to 10-1 at home, but are 2-6 on the road. They have only three more home games before they spend much of February away because of an annual Rodeo Road Trip.

Notes: The Hawks haven't beaten the Spurs on the road since Duncan entered the NBA in 1997.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2013
The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

 BETTING TRENDS
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 ATL  90%   43%   53% 
 SAS  10%   57%   47% 
BT MOVEMENTS

 
 
  
GOLD Membership
Over 150 Member Plays free each month. Signup Today!
 
 

NFL
NFL Sports Picks
NFL Vegas Odds
NFL Online Odds
NFL Matchups
NFL Scores

More Sports
Golf
Auto Racing
Horse Racing
Boxing
WNBA

MLB
MLB Sports Picks
MLB Vegas Odds
MLB Online Odds
MLB Matchups
MLB Scores

Features
Free Odds
Contests
Newsletters
VI Radio
Las Vegas Travel
Follow us on Twitter
Add us on Google+
Join us on Facebook

NBA
NBA Sports Picks
NBA Vegas Odds
NBA Online Odds
NBA Matchups
NBA Scores

Sports Betting Tools
Live Odds
Mobile Odds
Parlay Calculator
Gaming Terms
TV Listings
Handicapping Records
Sports Betting
About Sports Betting
Sportsbook Reviews

NHL
NHL Sports Picks
NHL Vegas Odds
NHL Online Odds
NHL Matchups
NHL Scores

VegasInsider Info
About Us
Help Center
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Refund Policy
Contact Us
User Feedback

College Football
NCAA FB Sports Picks
NCAA FB Vegas Odds
NCAA FB Online Odds
NCAA FB Matchups
NCAA FB Scores

Sportsbooks
CarbonSports · Review
SportBet · Review
Sportsbook · Review
TopBet.eu · Review

College Basketball
NCAA BK Sports Picks
NCAA BK Vegas Odds
NCAA BK Online Odds
NCAA BK Matchups
NCAA BK Scores

Rotation Schedules
Baseball: Mar 31 - June 02

Copyright © 1997-2013, VegasInsider.com Inc., The Global Leader In Sports Gaming Information. All rights reserved.
For questions or comments, please contact us at 1-800-211-4759.