The San Antonio Spurs are showing how dominant they can be when healthy.
Argentine ace Manu Ginobili dropped in 22 points off the bench, Frenchman Tony Parker had 16 of his 20 in the opening quarter on Tuesday and the surging Spurs ran past the defenceless Chicago Bulls 104-96.
The Spurs have climbed back atop the league standings after fighting through a rash of injuries to key players the past two months.
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“It’s so different, January and February were so tough for us,” said Ginobili, sidelined for several contests because of hamstring injury.
“We had no personnel but the last 10 games we have the full squad, so hopefully we keep building from now on.”
Kawhi Leonard had 16 points with nine rebounds for San Antonio (47-16) which led by as many 32 en route to its seventh straight win and ninth in the last 10 games.
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“Our defence was excellent and it fuelled us offensively,” coach Gregg Popovich said after the Spurs improved their league-best road mark to 24-8.
D.J Augustin topped the Bulls with 24 points, Jimmy Butler added 23 and Joakim Noah netted 13 with eight rebounds and seven assists in the beat-down.
Other results
Indiana Pacers 94 – 83 Boston Celtics
Oklahoma City Thunder 106 - 98 Houston Rockets
Golden State Warriors 108 - 85 Dallas Mavericks
Memphis Grizzlies 109 - 99 Portland Trail Blazers
Detroit Pistons 99- 89 Sacramento Kings
Minnesota Timberwolves 112 -101 Milwaukee Bucks