Spurs Tame T'Wolves 92-76

David Robinson finally got going in the fourth quarter, and so did the San Antonio Spurs.

Robinson, who was 0-for-9 from the field in the first three quarters, scored 12 points in the final period Wednesday night as the Spurs pulled away for a 92-76 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Robinson ended his field goal drought by hitting a short jumper with 10:45 left in the game.

"I told myself to get something easy to get me going and I did," said Robinson, who finished with 15 points.

The Spurs led by only six points after three periods, but outscored the Wolves 24-14 in the fourth quarter.

Tim Duncan had 20 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio, which has won five of its last six games.

The Spurs also got a boost from their backcourt of Avery Johnson and Vinny Del Negro. Johnson scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and Del Negro added 16 on 7-of-11 shooting.

"Avery stepped up tonight, everyone did," Duncan said. "We defended real well. David started out a little slow so we needed that tonight. No doubt we had to pick up the slack."

The 76 points were a season-low for the Wolves, as were their 14 fourth-quarter points. Their 34 points in the second half and 10 total free throws made (in 16 attempts) tied season lows.

"I thought we were pretty good in the first half and we contained Robinson pretty well," said Kevin Garnett, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half. "Robinson and (Tim) Duncan play pretty well together."

Minnesota shot only 36 percent from the field and fell to 8-16 since forward Tom Gugliotta went out with a season-ending ankle injury. The Wolves (33-33) fell to .500 for the first time since they were 16-16 on Jan. 7, but still lead Sacramento by 7 1/2 games for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"I said that when (Gugliotta) went out, our No. 1 goal was to get to the playoffs," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "We're fortunate that we played well enough at one point to build a little bit of a cushion."

Stanley Roberts had 15 points off the bench for Minnesota, while Stephon Marbury added 13 points and 12 assists.

NOTES: The Wolves started 6-foot-11, 240-pound Cherokee Parks at center instead of 7-foot, 290-pound Stanley Roberts to have a quicker lineup against the agile Spurs' front line. The Wolves are 16-13 when Parks starts. ... The Wolves' Bill Curley entered Wednesday's game with 47.3 seconds remaining in the first half. It was his first NBA action since the final game of the 1995 season, his rookie year with the Detroit Pistons. He missed time due to a series of knee, ankle and leg injuries. He scored with 9.9 seconds remaining in the half. ... It was the 46th double-double of te season for Duncan. Patrick Ewing led the league last season with 47 double-doubles.

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