
The San Antonio Spurs are again at full strength and appear to be moving back toward to the top of the Western Conference.
The Sacramento Kings, meanwhile, keep sinking lower and lower.San Antonio should be in good position to earn its fifth straight home win Monday, when the Kings will try to avoid coming up empty on their four-game road trip.
After playing much of the early season without injured guards Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the Spurs (16-10) have started to roll with both back in the lineup, winning six straight before losing at New Orleans and Orlando last week.
They bounced back Saturday night at home, hitting a franchise record-tying 16 3-pointers and beating Toronto 107-97 for their ninth win in 11 home games.
Parker, who missed nine November games with an ankle sprain, led the way with 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting along with 10 assists and eight rebounds. He shot 3-of-17 from the field in the previous game, a 90-78 loss to the Magic on Thursday.
"I knew tonight was going to be my night," Parker said. "... I couldn't wait to come back home and defend our court for a nice Christmas. We have two more games over the holiday, and hopefully we can take care of business and get some wins."
After facing the Kings, San Antonio hosts Minnesota on Tuesday before a Christmas Day showdown at Phoenix.
While the Spurs are again playing stifling defense this season, ranking fourth in the NBA with 93.8 points allowed per game, they looked almost Suns-like on the offensive end Saturday. San Antonio shot 16-of-35 (45.7 percent) from 3-point range, with Michael Finley, Matt Bonner and Roger Mason each making four 3s and Ginobili going 3-of-5.
"Things are always easier when you make shots," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Very little has been easy this season for the Kings, who've lost 13 of 15 and continue to play without injured guard Kevin Martin. The team's leading scorer with 23.7 points per game last season, Martin remains out with an ankle problem.
Sacramento (7-21) has dropped seven in a row on the road to fall to 2-12 away from Arco Arena. The team is 0-3 on its four-game trip, losing its most recent contest 99-90 to New Orleans on Saturday.
Guard John Salmons had 26 points and seven assists for Sacramento, but the Kings were dominated inside, with the Hornets holding a 48-28 edge in points in the paint.
"We weren't getting the calls we thought we were supposed to get or what we would have liked, but that shouldn't deter us from trying to take the ball to the basket and getting better shots and getting to the free-throw line," coach Kenny Natt said. "It's more our fault than anything that we weren't as aggressive as I wanted us to be."
The Kings are 1-3 under Natt since he took over for Reggie Theus, who was fired last week.
Natt will try to help Sacramento improve its fortunes against the Spurs. San Antonio has won 14 of the last 17 meetings and eight of nine at home.
The teams have met once this season, with the Spurs winning 90-88 at Arco on Nov. 16 behind a pair of Tim Duncan baskets in the final minute. Duncan has been especially successful over the years against the Kings, averaging 23.5 points and 13.3 rebounds - both above his career averages - in 42 games.