NEW YORK • Another night, another milestone for Tim Duncan.
The 39-year-old centre recorded his 954th victory as a San Antonio Spur - a National Basketball Association record for one player with one team - in a 94-84 win over the New York Knicks on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
He passed Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton, who went 953-551 with the Utah Jazz.
Duncan, now in his 19th season out of Wake Forest, is on 954-381.
He also tied Gary Payton for 10th place on the all-time list in games played with 1,335.
The 2.10m-tall Duncan scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to earn his 831st double-double.
He is fifth all-time in that category. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who stands in fourth place, registered 885 double-doubles.
Since Duncan joined San Antonio as the first pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, the Spurs have recorded 18 straight winning seasons.
They have captured five league titles and 10 division crowns.
"He's the same," said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.
"He just has other people scoring more points than he does.
"He rebounds, he plays defence, he blocks shots, he leads. He makes everybody better. It's the same stuff he always does, he just doesn't score as many points."
Duncan had plenty of help as San Antonio (3-1) dominated the paint.
Forward Kawhi Leonard had 18 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points while point guard Tony Parker chipped in with 16.
The Spurs outscored New York (2-2) 56-32 in the paint.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points but struggled on just 4 of 17 shooting while being primarily guarded by Defensive Player of the Year Leonard.
Anthony was coming off a season-best 37 points on Saturday in a victory at Washington.
Knicks' rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis, who left the game late in the fourth with what appeared to be a neck injury after falling for a loose ball, recorded his first double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
"I thought overall our effort was okay," said Knicks coach Derek Fisher. "There were times we weren't aggressive as we needed to be defensively.
"I thought we were solid but we are not good enough yet to have solid efforts against a good team like San Antonio. We have to have a maximum effort every time we touch the floor."
REUTERS
