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SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- David Robinson returned to the starting lineup for the San Antonio Spurs, but it was Tim Duncan and Avery Johnson who provided the spark for the NBA champions. Duncan scored 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Johnson added 22 on 11-of-14 from the field as the Spurs pulled away in the third quarter and extended their winning streak to a season-high six games with a 106-87 victory over the Detroit Pistons. The Spurs shot a blistering 84 percent (16-of-19) in the third quarter and outscored Detroit, 40-17, to open an 87-63 advantage and remained unbeaten in eight home games this season. San Antonio shot a season-high 59 percent (45-of-76) overall. "We made our shots," Johnson said. "We were fortunate to make our shots." After missing Saturday's game with cervical spasms, Robinson scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 26 minutes. Grant Hill scored 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting and was the only player in double figures for Detroit, which dropped its second straight game after winning its previous five. San Antonio led by only 47-46 at halftime and trailed by one after Christian Laettner made the first basket of the third quarter. But the Spurs went on an 14-1 run over the next 4:05 as Johnson scored six of his 12 third-quarter points, including a layup with 7:45 to go as San Antonio moved out to a 61-49 lead. "We knew Tim Duncan was going to have his points and get his shots," Detroit coach Alvin Gentry said. "So we decided we were going to make Avery Johnson beat us. We were going to force him to make his shots, he did and we lost. We needed somebody to step up in the second half and that didn't happen for us tonight." Led by Robinson's five points, the Spurs went on a 9-0 spurt to extend their advantage 72-53 with 5:14 left in the period. Johnson scored four points in an 8-0 run late in the quarter as San Antonio extended its lead to 83-57 with 2:25 to play. Duncan scored 13 points in the third quarter, including a 19-footer just before the buzzer, as San Antonio took an 87-63 lead into the final period. "We stepped it up a notch on defense after a not-so-great first half," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "The guys did a good job of stepping it up in the third quarter." The Pistons shot a miserable 19 percent (4-of-21) in the third quarter and 42 percent (34-of-80) overall, including 2-of-12 from 3-point range. San Antonio took its largest lead of the game at 99-71 when Steve Kerr drained a 20-footer with 7:38 left. Hill scored 10 points in the first quarter as Detroit grabbed a 25-22 lead. Terry Porter scored 11 of his 13 points in the second quarter as San Antonio led by one at the intermission.
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