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It wasn't as easy as it looked to be on paper, but the Spurs rode Manu Ginobili's 28 points, and got solid performances from Tim Duncan (17 pts, 13 rebs) and a clutch performance from Tony Parker who made every shot down the stretch to carry the Spurs to an eight point victory over the game Sacramento Kings who were gunning to make it a sweep of last year's NBA finalists after knocking off the Heat in their last game.
Kings came out hot and matched the Spurs basket for basket until the second quarter when an 11-3 run put the Spurs up 14. But Sacramento refused to wilt and came back to tie the game in the third, and take their own nine point lead early in the fourth behind strong play from DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas, who combined for 80 points on the evening.
But Ginobili went into super-aggressive-mode, making plays all over the court and scoring from inside as well as deep. He had three rebounds and three assists to go with his scoring binge, and he got help from Boris Diaw (14, 6, 7) and Tiago Splitter (11, 8) to get it back even.
The fourth quarter was filled with pressure, and Duncan and Parker met the challenge head on. Duncan had a key bucket-and-one against Cousins, and Parker drilled a three from the wing, followed by a fall-away jumper from his favorite spot on the left side of the court to put the game away.