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WASHINGTON (AP) - Tim Duncan scored a season-high 31 points Wednesday night before fouling out in the second overtime, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Washington Wizards for an NBA-high 16th time in a row, holding on for a 125-118 victory.
Patty Mills scored 11 of his 23 points in the two overtimes for the Spurs, who haven't lost to the Wizards since a 110-95 defeat on Nov. 12, 2005. The Spurs moved ahead of Miami's 15-game domination of Charlotte for the longest current team-vs.-team streak in the league.
Duncan also had 11 rebounds, and Danny Green added 22 points for San Antonio, but Tony Parker left at halftime with tightness in his lower back and did not return. The Spurs, 2-0 in the early days of their nine-game rodeo road trip, were already without Manu Ginobili (tight left hamstring) and Kawhi Leonard (broken left hand).
John Wall scored 29 points, and Bradley Beal had 19 for the Wizards, who were trying to shatter their second longstanding barrier in a week. On Monday, they beat the Portland Trail Blazers to move above .500 for the first time since 2009.
Duncan fouled out with 4:13 remaining, but Green hit a 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 122-117 lead with 1:16 to go. The Wizards went 0 for 11 from the field in the second extra period.
The Spurs blew a seven-point lead in the first overtime, when Wall scored six points in the final 10.2 seconds. Wall stole an inbounds pass and made a layup with 1.4 to go to force another five minutes of basketball.
The Spurs trailed by 17 in the first half. Wall got off to a strong start, shooting 6 for 8 for 14 points in the opening period. San Antonio committed seven turnovers in the first quarter, six in the second. A steal by Wall turned into a fast-break dunk by Beal that gave the Wizards their biggest lead, 55-38, late in the half.
The score was 62-48 at the break _ the most points allowed by the Spurs in the first half this season _ but Duncan took over in the third, scoring 14 of his team's first 21 points. San Antonio played a turnover-free quarter, and Cory Joseph's jumper gave the Spurs their first lead since early in the first.
Garrett Temple's buzzer-beater put the Wizards ahead 83-82 headed into the fourth. Duncan tied it at 99 with 1:02 remaining, the final points of regulation.
NOTES: As a student of Russian culture, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich offered some thoughts on the Winter Olympics in Sochi. "One would wonder with everything that's going on why it would be put in a dangerous spot, when you think about the Caucasus and that area and what's going on," he said. "At the time when the Olympics were won it wasn't maybe as much in the forefront in everybody's mind. Since that time a lot of things have happened, and you could almost make the case of `Where is it not dangerous in the world?'" ... Popovich said his wife will make him watch figure skating during the Olympics. "Very honestly when they fall I feel awful for them," he said. "Just like somebody missing two free throws at the end of a basketball game and they go home and want to jump off a building. ... I don't care what country it is, it just drives me crazy so I can't watch. I turn away like it's a horror movie."
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