Parker scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 99-83 on Friday and stay unbeaten at home.
Parker shook off a slow start as the Spurs (8-4) improved to 8-0 at home, their best start since the 2007-08 season when they started 13-0.
“They did a pretty good job on me the first three quarters,” Parker said. “I was just trying to wait for my time.”
Portland (7-4), meanwhile, lost its second straight game and for only the second time in its last 10 games against San Antonio.
Tiago Splitter scored 14 points for the Spurs, and DeJuan Blair and Danny Green each added 13. Rookie Kawhi Leonard had 11.
Parker made only four of 12 shots and had four turnovers through the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, though, he went 4 of 4 from the field and the free-throw line, had two steals and didn’t commit a turnover.
LaMarcus Aldridge was amazing in that first quarter and played strongly throughout the game. He kept to his strengths: jumpers, turn-arounds, and deeper posts. 12-21 shooting, 5-5 free throws, 29 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals. He made Tim Duncan look like a slouchy statue.
Gerald Wallace did his best to pick up every piece of the puzzle the Blazers fumbled tonight. In the first half he stole the ball like a madman. In the second half he rebounded like a champ. He only went 4-11 on the night but frankly that's because the Blazers' impotent offense forced him into shots that aren't his strength. 12 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals, 5 assists.
Wesley Matthews went 5-11 for that dozen points in the second quarter. He didn't score a single point outside of that period but we'll take it.
Marcus Camby played 13 minutes with 3 rebounds. He was defending well. Get back soon.
Outside of a few marvelously aggressive drives in the opening period Raymond Felton was on a different page--no, in a whole different book--from his teammates and possibly the game plan. When the offense started sputtering he tried to pick it up himself. That's always curious behavior from a point guard, more so when the point guard has been struggling on offense all season, even more so when the solution he chooses is the jumper, even more so when those jumpers just don't fall. Felton went 6-17 for 13 points. He had 5 steals. That part was excellent. His 7 assists were fine. But most of his brilliance came early and then it was just bad.
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