AP FILE PHOTO
LOS ANGELES — San Antonio’s Patty Mills scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to guide the Spurs to a 113-103 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday as the NBA resumed from the All-Star break with a clash of divisional leaders.
Mills finished with 25 points and Tim Duncan had 19 points and 13 rebounds during a foul-plagued 38 minutes as San Antonio opened a 2-1/2 game lead over Houston in the Southwest Division.
The Spurs beat L.A. despite being without six-time All-Star Tony Parker, whom coach Gregg Popovich said would be sidelined “for the foreseeable future” because of numerous aches and pains — including a bruised shin, a groin strain and lower back spasms. Backup shooting guard Manu Ginobili retunred after eight games out with a hamstring strain.
Blake Griffin had 35 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, whose lead atop the Pacific Division was trimmed to four games.