SAN ANTONIO – Tony Parker scored a season-high 25 points and the San Antonio Spurs never trailed, beating the Denver Nuggets 109-98 on Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila) for their sixth straight victory.
Kawhi Leonard added 20 points, Tim Duncan had 12 and LaMarcus Aldridge 11 for San Antonio, which is undefeated at home after five games.
Patty Mills was 3 for 6 on 3-pointers in scoring a season-high 17 points.
Denver rookie Nikola Jokic had 23 points off the bench, going 8 for 13 from the field against several Spurs defenders. The 6-foot-10 center from Serbia made his first 3-pointer of the season.
Gary Harris added 15 points and JJ Hickson scored 10 for the Nuggets.
The addition of Aldridge and continuing emergence of Leonard has allowed Parker to carry less of the offensive load in his 15th season, but he responded against a favorable matchup.
The speedy 6-foot-2 guard took advantage of rookie Emmanuel Mudiay's defensive aggression to keep him off-balance with a series of drives for layups and runners. Parker had 15 points in the first half.
The Spurs were without Manu Ginobili, who will miss the next two games with bilateral hip tightness. Ginobili will be re-evaluated before San Antonio's next home Saturday against Memphis.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Kenneth Faried (lower back pain) and Darrell Arthur (sinus infection) played after being listed as probable. Arthur limped off the court late in the third quarter after injuring his right leg, but returned a minute later. Denver is 5-3 when it starts Mudiay, Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Faried and Hickson. The Nuggets scored 58 in the first half, which was two points shy of matching their season high.
Spurs: The Spurs have missed a combined three games this season due to injury, with Ginobili having sat out twice. Leonard (upper respiratory infection) and Ginobili (strained abductor) both sat out San Antonio's 92-83 victory over Philadelphia on Nov. 14. The Spurs have 10 double-doubles this season. Aldridge leads the team with five, Duncan has three and Leonard has two. Parker's previous high was 17 points, which he scored Nov. 4 at Washington.
UP NEXT
Nuggets host Phoenix as the Spurs visit at New Orleans on Friday (Saturday in Manila).