Green leads injury-depleted Spurs to win

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - The San Antonio Spurs needed a lift after a succession of injuries to key players and a series of deflating losses.

Patty Mills return gave the Spurs a boost, but withstanding an emotional and physical matchup with the Houston Rockets provided what they truly needed - a win.

Danny Green had 24 points and San Antonio held off a late rally to beat Houston 110-106 on Sunday, snapping a six-game skid against its intrastate rivals.

Mills had eight points, all in the final quarter, but his energy was the spark that helped the Spurs snap a two-game skid. The 6-foot guard from Australia even dived on his surgically repaired right shoulder for a loose ball in the first half and played all but 12 seconds in the fourth quarter.

His energy, just his activity is was contagious, San Antonio forward Tim Duncan said. It was great for us; brought a huge spark to the team.

Duncan had 16 points and Manu Ginobili had 15 for the Spurs (19-13).

James Harden had 28 points and Dwight Howard added 24 points and 17 rebounds for Houston (21-8). The Rockets newest additions had differing levels of success: Corey Brewer scored 25 points and Josh Smith added five points.

Smith sat all but 30 seconds in the final seven minutes due to what Houston coach Kevin McHale deemed a lack of familiarity on a couple of missed defensive assignments.

It wasnt just Smith that seemed lost, though. Houston had 25 turnovers, including eight in the final quarter that resulted in 11 points.

We werent really sharp all night, McHale said. They beat us on back cuts. They beat us on cuts and we werent as sharp as we needed to be and the turnovers just killed us tonight, 25 of them, just too many turnovers.

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Green leads injury-depleted Spurs to win