Tim Duncan scored 13 of his
16 points in the second half and had 10 rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs'
109-98 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Tony Parker added
15 points and Ron Mercer had 12.
Eddy Curry and Lonny Baxter had 19 points each for Chicago, which lost its
second straight game under interim coach Pete Myers.
The Bulls, who have lost seven straight overall, are expected to hire former
Phoenix coach Scott Skiles to replace Bill Cartwright, fired Monday.
Chicago went on a 17-8 run, capped by Donyell Marshall's 3-pointer, to pull
to 83-80 with 6:27 to play, but San Antonio answered with a 16-4 run to make it
99-84.
Chicago could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
San Antonio, which won its second straight and fourth in the last five games,
scored on seven of its first eight possessions in the third quarter and led
61-49 on Duncan's jump shot with 8:09 to play in the period.