Ageless Spurs outscore Rockets, 122-116, in barnburner

Dec 28, 2012; San Antonio, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) talks with San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) during the second half at the AT

Who says San Antonio is too old and slow to match the youth and athleticism of today’s NBA teams? Friday night, the San Antonio Spurs put on a show for the AT&T Center as they and the Rockets lit up the scoreboard.

The Spurs, behind big performances from their stars, took down the Rockets and remained undefeated against the Southwest Division. It was everything you could ask for from the two best scoring teams in the league.

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were big for the Spurs Friday with a combined 61 points. Parker, also, added 10 assists with his 31 points to give him the lone double-double of the game.

Danny Green added 17, all of which came from the perimeter minus two made throws. Manu Ginobili, also, felt it from beyond the arc adding 23 points of his own.

It was a big scoring night, and San Antonio wasted no time getting out in front. Houston played from behind most of the night, and you would think the Spurs would eventually go cold. However, the Spurs had one of their best shooting nights, connecting on 57.1% of their shot attempts.

Free throws, also, had a big impact on this one. San Antonio made 22-24 from the charity stripe, while the Rockets went 15-26, which made a difference consdiering the outcome of the game.

James Harden did put in 33 for Houston, but their new face of the franchise could not overcome a hot Spurs team. Jeremy Lin added 21, Chandler Parsons with 24, but Houston did not have the bench play to match San Antonio or a post to hang with Tim Duncan. Though, finding teams to match the Spurs on either one of those is few and far between.

This was another quality win for the Spurs, and after a two-game spurt, they’ve had no troubles getting buckets. They will need a similar performance Sunday night when they put their undefeated division record on the line once again.

San Antonio faces Dallas for the second time in seven days and will look to duplicate their 129-91 win over the Mavericks just a week ago.

The Spurs are rolling as the calendar year comes to an end, though Dallas is the first game of a back-to-back to end 2012. San Antonio will need all the firepower they can get Sunday. Dallas will have ample motivation to end San Antonio’s four-game win streak, who are currently on a five-game losing skid.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 pm CST, and can be seen on Fox Sports-Southwest.