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SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- With "The Admiral" out, Terry Porter took command for the San Antonio Spurs in the fourth quarter. Porter scored 14 of his 19 points in the final period as the Spurs overcame the absence of center David Robinson to defeat the Denver Nuggets, 106-87, for their fifth straight win. After Antonio McDyess' 15-footer cut San Antonio's lead to 80-77 with 6:09 left, Porter keyed a 15-2 run over the next 3:36 with eight points, including two 3-pointers. His 25-footer with 2:56 remaining gave San Antonio a 95-79 lead. "With two players like Tim and David in our low post, some teams will go to defend that," Porter said. "We have to decide what they are going to do and if they will try to take away our low post. This year we can find people and get other people shots if those two are heavily covered." The Spurs shot a blistering 75 percent (15-of-20) in the fourth quarter, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Robinson missed the game with cervical spasms where his right shoulder blade meets his neck. The team expects Robinson to suit up for Tuesday's game against Detroit but his teammates picked up the slack tonight. Malik Rose scored 21 points, one shy of his career high, and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds off the bench. Tim Duncan had 17 points and 17 boards and Jaren Jackson added 18 points off the bench for San Antonio. Samaki Walker started in place of Robinson and scored four points in 18 minutes. "This gives me a lot of confidence," Rose said. "More importantly, it gives Dave a rest. We have to get ready for Detroit (on Tuesday). Now he will have three days of rest. We will need him for Detroit." Ron Mercer scored 26 points on 12-of-24 shooting and McDyess added 15 points for Denver, which was denied its first five-game winning streak in nearly four years. "In the second half we made a nice run and even took the lead," Denver coach Dan Issel said. "I thought we played well until the last six minutes of the game. Then it all fell apart." Denver has lost seven straight road games dating to last season and is 5-81 away from home since the 1996-97 campaign. San Antonio opened up a seven-point lead in the third quarter, but Denver took its only lead of the second half when Mercer hit a seven-footer with 3:54 remaining. Mario Elie's 3-pointer started a 9-2 run which ended on a dunk by Walker with 39 seconds left to give the Spurs a 69-63 lead. However, George McCloud sank a 23-footer with 20 seconds to go to cut San Antonio's lead to three entering the final period. Rose scored 10 points and Avery Johnson added eight of his 14 points in the first quarter as the Spurs took a 27-18 lead. Despite getting outrebounded, 33-14, in the first half, the Nuggets managed to trail by only five at intermission as Mercer scored 10 points and McDyess contributed eight in the second quarter. San Antonio shot 51 percent (42-of-81) from the field, including 8-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Spurs outrebounded Denver, 53-32, and held a 54-32 advantage in points in the paint and 21-6 in fast-break points. Denver made 44 percent (36-of-81) and committed only six turnovers. But the Nuggets had problems at the line, sinking only 10-of-20.
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