The Big Fundamental hit a jumper from the elbow with .4 seconds left as San Antonio sneaks by Atlanta.
The Spurs seemed a bit sleepy for most of the night in Mike Budenholzer's return to San Antonio, but when his young Hawks came in and put the home team on the ropes, the Western Conference champs rode the back of their biggest star.
Tim Duncan hit a jumper from the right elbow off a pin-down screen with .4 seconds left, and the Spurs snuck out of the AT&T Center with a 102-100 win behind the 23-point, 21-rebound performance from the future Hall-of-Famer.
But Atlanta made the win anything but easy. Paul Millsap hit a three to pull within one point with 17 seconds left, and Jeff Teague hit another to tie the game with just four seconds remaining before Duncan took the court.
Then this happened...
It was Duncan's first 20-20 game in nearly a year, and San Antonio needed it against a game Hawks squad. All five Atlanta starters scored in double figures, and the team forced 19 Spurs turnovers on the night. But Millsap's three-point attempt from the corner hit the side of the backboard as time expired.
Boris Diaw had 16 points in his return from a brief absence due to a dislocated finger, Tony Parker had 15 and Marco Belinelli continued his hot shooting with a 13-point night.
Atlanta got 19 points from Jeff Teague, 18 from Al Horford and 17 from DeMarre Carroll in the two-point loss.
The Spurs managed to hold the Hawks to 43.8 percent shooting, but sloppy play, turnovers and a scrappy Atlanta team kept the game close. San Antonio stayed alive by shooting 53.8 percent in the game.
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