SAN ANTONIO — Coach Randy Wittman could only chuckle to himself when he heard that San Antonio Spurs all-star power forward Tim Duncan, after missing the past four games with a sore left knee, was going to make his return against the Washington Wizards.
“Why not?” Wittman said, shaking his head, because his struggling team already faced a difficult challenge without the future Hall of Fame big man on the court, because the Spurs had remained the league’s hottest team in Duncan’s absence.
The Spurs didn’t have Duncan in the second half after an ugly collision with swingman Martell Webster and the Wizards took advantage and trimmed a 27-point lead down to six in the fourth quarter, but were unable to overcome a miserable first half and lost, 96-86, at AT&T Center.
A day after spraining his left shoulder in the second quarter of a loss in Memphis, John Wall didn’t appear to be hampered by the injury as he scored 21 points with nine assists and five rebounds, holding his own against Spurs all-star point guard Tony Parker, who led the Spurs with 19 points and 12 assists.
The Wizards have now lost 13 consecutive games in San Antonio, a string that dates back to Dec. 11, 1999. They didn’t help their cause in the first half, scoring a season-low 26 points and shooting 26.2 percent from the field. They also set a season low with nine points in the second quarter, creating a deficit so large that they scored 60 points in the second half and still lost by double digits.
Duncan was once again methodically effective in his first 13 minutes on the floor on Saturday night at AT&T Center, playing stellar defense, hitting his patented midrange jumper and tipping in errant shots by teammates. But in a horrific scene near the end of the second quarter, Webster drove baseline, fell after missing a layup and rolled into Duncan, whose back was turned to Webster.
Duncan eventually twisted and crumpled into a heap, unable to move as his teammates and Coach Gregg Popovich huddled around the player who led the franchise to four NBA championships and has kept it relevant for the past 16 seasons. Arms strapped around two teammates, Duncan walked off the court and headed to the locker room, never to return after spraining his already injured knee and suffering a sprained right ankle in the process.
The Spurs didn’t appear to be immediately affected by losing Duncan, as they jumped out to a 64-37 lead with seven minutes remaining third quarter. But they were quickly undone by boredom, as the Wizards staged an improbable second-half comeback. Wall led a unit that included Webster, reserves Kevin Seraphin and Trevor Ariza and seldom-used forward Chris Singleton on a 30-9 run that brought them within six points with 8 minutes 37 seconds left in the game.
Having seen enough, Popovich put starters Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter and Kawhi Leonard into the game and order was suddenly restored. The Wizards have lost four games in a row and dropped to 3-21 away from the Verizon Center. The Spurs (38-11) have won 18 consecutive games at home and have the best home record in the NBA at 22-2.
Nene had a terrible first half, going scoreless as he missed all six of his field goal attempts and both free throws. He had three assists but a lid was on the rim whenever he took a shot. Nene finished with 11 points, going 5 for 6 in the second half.
Singleton had been stashed deep into the rotation in the past month, but Wittman decided to give an opportunity with the Wizards down by a bunch and he responded with 11 points.
Ariza added 10 off bench. Webster added two late three-pointers and finished with 14.
After Parker made a jumper to put the Spurs ahead by 27, Wall responded with a jumper, converted a three-point play and then fed Webster for an alley-oop dunk that cut the deficit to 20 points. Webster had a driving dunk to bring the Wizards within 68-56 with a minute left in the third, but with an opportunity to draw closer, Seraphin missed two free throws.
The Wizards continued to make their charge against Spurs reserves. Backup shooting guard and Baltimore native Gary Neal opened the fourth quarter with three-pointer, but Wall scored four points during an 11-2 run over the next four minutes.
Ariza recorded his third steal of the game, picking off a pass from Danny Green and making a layup that brought the Wizards within 73-67, but the Spurs worked the ball to Splitter on consecutive possessions. Splitter (12 points) later added a jumper to put his team ahead by 13.
Green finished with 15 points and Leonard added 10 for the Spurs. Duncan finished with eight points and five rebounds.
