Blair powers Spurs past Raptors

Feb 10, 2011 |

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Toronto, Canada: San Antonio's DeJuan Blair scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 11 rebounds to power the NBA-leading Spurs past Toronto 111-100 on Wednesday.

George Hill added 18 points for the Spurs, who also had 16 points each from French playmaker Tony Parker and big man Tim Duncan and 12 points from Argentina's Manu Ginobili.

But it was Blair who played a pivotal role in San Antonio improving to 44-8 this season.

"He played great," Parker said. "He was a beast on the boards and he was doing everything. He was getting in great position when I penetrated or when Manu penetrated. He was feeding off everybody."

The Spurs won for the 15th time in 17 games, notching their fourth triumph in a row, while the Raptors fell to 14-39 with their 15th loss in 16 games.

San Antonio led 60-56 at half-time but the Raptors grabbed an 84-81 lead entering the fourth quarter, only to be outscored by San Antonio 30-16 over the final 12 minutes.

"We had a great fourth quarter but I thought in the first three quarters that Toronto sliced and diced us," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Finally in the fourth quarter, we handled it all well.”

"That's not good enough come playoff time."

But it was more than enough to handle the Raptors, who were led by 29 points from Italian playmaker Andrea Bargnani and 25 from DeMar DeRozan.

"In the fourth quarter we knew they were going to crank it up," Raptors coach Jay Triano said. "They had strategically rested their guys and came back in the fourth and made it difficult for us to score."

Blair finished an effort that matched his career scoring high by sinking 8-of-11 shots in the fourth quarter.

"He has just got a knack," Popovich said. "He's a natural player. He has got great hands. He understands what's going on. He has got great body control. He gets it done."

Hill praised Blair for making the most against foes who are almost always taller.

"He's the type that's going to lay it on the line and rebound and do some dirty work," Hill said. "We don't worry about his size. We all know he can make up for that with his strength. He just bullies people."

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