SAN ANTONIO – Tony Parker had 22 points and 10 assists, and San Antonio never trailed in a 108-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday, a day the Spurs lost two key players.
Tim Duncan added 18 points, Kawhi Leonard had 15 points and Tiago Splitter and Danny Green had 12 apiece as seven players scored in double figures for San Antonio (58-21).
DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Jason Thompson added 18 points, Toney Douglas had 15 and Jimmer Fredette had 14 for Sacramento, which lost its sixth straight to San Antonio.
The Spurs waived forward Stephen Jackson on Friday afternoon, ending his second stint with the team. Hours earlier, the Spurs lost reserve forward Boris Diaw, who will miss three to four weeks after having surgery Friday to have a synovial cyst removed from his lumbar spine.
“We probably look a little thin, but life goes on,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before the game. “Nobody knew it was going to be two or three weeks for Boris, but the two events are basically mutually exclusive in the sense of what had to be done.”
Leonard stepped up in their absence, sparking an 11-2 run, continually beating John Salmons to the basket for a pair of layups, a dunk and a free throw that gave San Antonio a 15-6 lead.
Sacramento shot 4 for 22 to start the game, missing seven straight early in the quarter. San Antonio held a 23-13 lead after the first, the second-lowest point total by a Spurs opponent in the opening quarter this season.
Parker’s first points came on a layup with 3:38 left in the second quarter, but he closed the first half by scoring 13 of the team’s final 15 points.
NOTES: Duncan was averaging 22 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.73 blocks and 2.7 assists in his 11 games prior to Friday’s victory. . Cousins picked up his league-leading 15th technical foul with 2:22 left in the first half after he was whistled for pushing Duncan. Cousins was upset there was no foul called on Duncan on a steal.
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