NBA Roundup: Staying Away From The Alamo

Notes on Sunday's games in the National Basketball Association:

• Spur Of The Moment . Would the defenders of the Alamo have beaten the Mexican army if it had been a road game? Possibly. Tony Parker scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Spurs over the SuperSonics 98-78 on Sunday, making San Antonio a league-best 7-0 on the road this season (12 straight in the regular season dating to last season). That's the best road start in franchise history. Next up; at Golden State tonight. Tim Duncan had 18 points and 16 rebounds, and the Fabulous Fabricio Oberto had 16 points for the Spurs.

• The Clang Of Victory. Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 21 and 19 points respectively, but combined to shoot only 14-of-40 from the floor, somehow leading LA over the Nets 99-93. So ridicule Luke Walton all you want (and you should; seriously, Luke, Dad's not around, you don't have to pretend you like the Grateful Dead anymore), but he was 4-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 on 3-pointers, to add a bit of consistency for LA.

• And Then They Celebrated At The Olive Garden. Hey, remember when the Toronto Raptors made Italy's Andrea Bargnani the first No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft from a European country? Awesome. Whatever happened to him anyway? Toronto beat Indiana 92-83 on Sunday, keyed by a 14-2 run in the second quarter, with Bargnani scoring eight of those points. He finished with 14.

• OK, Who Has Nugget Fever? Carmelo Anthony had 33 points and you had zero, unless you are J.R. Smith, in which case you had 23. The Nuggets beat the Clippers 103-88 for their fifth straight win.

By the way, The Basketball Jones has some throwback goodness and a pretty good podcast today ...