Parker had 22 points in his return from an eight-game absence, Tim Duncan added 19 points and 16 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs escaped with a 104-97 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

Amid cries of “MVP,” Parker capped the scoring with a pair of free throws with 17.2 seconds left in overtime. He went 8 for 13 from the field and had five assists after missing eight games with a sprained left ankle. The Spurs were 6-2 in his absence, but struggled offensively.

“Tony was a little bit shy in the first half; he was just trying to feel his way a little bit,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “The game got tight at the end in regulation and then in overtime, and he was Tony Parker. Like I said, up until the time he got hurt, there wasn’t a point guard in the league playing better than Tony Parker.”

Parker had six points and two assists in overtime, including a cross-court pass to Kawhi Leonard for a 3-pointer to open overtime.

Leonard finished with 21 points, including five in overtime, and Danny Green had 15 points for San Antonio (53-16), which remains 2 1/2 games ahead of Oklahoma City in the West.

Mo Williams scored 23 points, Al Jefferson had 18 and Alec Burks 14 for Utah (34-35), which has lost three straight and dropped two games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the West’s final playoff berth.

“I can live with this,” Jefferson said. “It is the end of the season and we cannot afford to lose one game. We played a tough team on their home floor and had a chance to win for the first time in a long time. The energy and the effort was there for all 48 minutes plus. If we continue to play the way we did tonight for the rest of these 12 games, we have a great chance.”

Utah almost ruined what became a historic night for Duncan and Popovich.

Duncan’s 29th double-double of the season gives him 13,113 career rebounds, moving him past Shaquille O’Neal (13,099) for 13th on the all-time list.

Popovich recorded his 900th career victory, becoming the 12th coach in NBA history to accomplish the feat and joining former Utah coach Jerry Sloan as the only coaches to do so with one team.

“(The ankle) feels good; it’s more my cardio, my wind,” Parker said. “I’m definitely (tired). It was a hard game; playoff intensity. Utah is definitely fighting hard to get that eight spot.

“It was big win for a lot of reasons. For Pop, No. 900; for Timmy passing Shaq; and me, I’m just happy to be back and hopefully we can keep it going now.”

While Parker’s return helped settle San Antonio late on offense, it was the team’s defense that sealed the win.

The Spurs held the Jazz to 2-for-8 shooting in overtime after Marvin Williams’ 3 at the buzzer tied the game at 90, drawing a heated tirade from Popovich for the defensive lapse. In the end, however, Popovich was happy with the outcome.

“I thought it was a great game,” he said. “The guys fought hard. Utah’s a team trying to stay in the playoffs and really highly motivated. We ground it out. We just ground it out and found some combinations that work well. A lot of people contributed to that. It was a hell of a win. It’s one of our better wins this year for a lot of reasons.”

Parker made his first attempt, drawing huge applause after hitting a 15-foot jumper 2 minutes into the game. He had only six points in the first half, going 3 for 6 from the field in 17 minutes.

“It’s always tough, because you don’t want to mess with the chemistry,” Parker said. “They’ve been playing very good basketball at home. I was just trying to fit in. In the second half, Pop was calling plays for me. And being aggressive in the fourth quarter, so it came naturally.”

The Spurs had a 12-0 run to take a 16-4 lead with 6:26 left in the first quarter. Tiago Splitter capped the run by tossing in a hook shot after missing an open layup off a bullet pass from Parker.

Parker sat shortly after that pass, sparking a 17-2 run by Utah to close the quarter. San Antonio went scoreless for almost 5 minutes bridging the first and second quarters.

Leonard also had six points in the first half before going 6 for 8 from the field in the second half and overtime, including 3 for 3 on 3s.

“Kawhi’s a stud, he’s not afraid to shoot the ball,” Popovich said. “He knows that he’s got license to play; we went to him a couple of times down the stretch in regulation and he came through.”

Game notes

San Antonio’s victory was its first in overtime against Utah after losing the previous three in series history. . Parker is the only player averaging at least 20 points and seven assists while shooting over 50 percent from the field and 80 percent on free throws. … Popovich trails Don Nelson (1,335), Lenny Wilkens (1,332), Sloan (1,221), Pat Riley (1,210), Phil Jackson (1,155), George Karl (1,122), Larry Brown (1,098), Rich Adelman (994), Bill Fitch (944), Red Auerbach (938) and Dick Motta (935) in career victories. “It’s funny, I played for Don Nelson when he broke the record and now I’m back with Pop,” Stephen Jackson said. “I’m happy for Pop, he deserves it. I’m sure he’s got plenty more to come. He pushed the (postgame celebration) cake in my face and it should have been his face. But I’m happy for him; I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m happy to say that I was able to be coached and play for coach Popovich.” . Parker is the only active player averaging at least 15 points, five assists while shooting over 49 percent from the field for his career. The only other players to do that are Walt Frazier, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Kevin Johnson. … With its victory Friday, San Antonio joins Miami (31) and Oklahoma City (30) as the only teams with 30 wins at home this season.

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Tim Duncan had 25 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks, and San Antonio beat Golden State 104-93 on Wednesday night for its 29th straight home win against the Warriors.

Golden State has not won in San Antonio since Feb. 14, 1997, the season before Duncan was selected No. 1 overall by the Spurs.

“He’s a Hall of Fame player, an all-time great,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. “He certainly had a big game tonight.”

Tiago Splitter added 17 points and Manu Ginobili had 16 points and seven assists for San Antonio (52-16), which has won three straight and seven of nine overall. Nando De Colo had 10 points.

The Spurs are right behind Miami (53-14) for the league’s best record.

Stephen Curry had 24 points for Golden State (39-31), which remains sixth in the West. Jarrett Jack had 14 points, and David Lee added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Golden State closed to 92-88 when Curry went 1 for 2 at the line, but Duncan threw in a running hook and a 16-foot jumper to give San Antonio an eight-point lead with 2:37 remaining.

“My jump shot’s coming back,” Duncan said. “It doesn’t feel great, but it’s going in a little bit, so I’ll take it. Everything else feels really good. I feel healthy, moving well. (My) body feels good and shots are going in.”

Duncan was 11 for 17 from the field and 3 for 3 at the line. It was his 13th game of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds this season.

“Timmy has his rhythm back,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s in great shape and down the stretch we went through him. Manu and Timmy really decided to do that on their won and they did a great job of it.”

The Spurs needed Duncan to step up with All-Star point guard Tony Parker (sprained left ankle) still about a week away from rejoining the team, and the 16-year veteran is averaging 27.7 points, 14.7 rebounds and 3.3 rebounds in his last three games — all home victories.

“Unbelievable; he’s just unbelievable,” Splitter said. “He’s just figuring out how to play great at his age. It’s not easy, he’s not same guy like 10 years ago. He doesn’t have the same quickness, but he still knows how to play this game.”

Duncan also set the tone defensively.

Golden State (first) and San Antonio (fourth) are among the top five in 3-point percentage, but neither team connected from long range until Ginobili knocked down his second attempt with 10:30 left in the first half.

It was part of a greater emphasis on defense by the Spurs, who struggled in a 119-116 victory against Cleveland on Saturday.

“Focus more than anything,” Duncan said. “We’ve been playing hard. We just kind of get out of whack every once in a while kind of as the season goes along. It’s a long season. People lose focus for a little while. It’s good to go through a stretch like that to get a team refocused; to get guys individually refocused. I think we’ve done that.”

San Antonio still had some defensive lapses. Golden State went on a 10-1 run after De Colo’s 17-foot jumper gave the Spurs a 91-78 lead with 8 minutes remaining. But that’s when Duncan had his late run.

“Tim made plays and that is what he does,” Curry said. “We got back into it and had a chance to win at the end. If I would have made that second to last 3 I took, that would have changed the game.”

Curry missed a 3 pointer with 3 minutes left and Duncan followed with his 16-foot jumper that gave San Antonio a 96-88 lead.

San Antonio outscored Golden State 38-25 in the second quarter, going 6 for 11 on 3s after missing all four attempts in the opening period. Matt Bonner and Danny Green hit back-to-back 3s late in the second quarter as San Antonio led 60-47 at halftime.

De Colo had one of the highlights in the first half when he stripped Jack at midcourt and sprinted to the basket for a dunk, prompting Duncan to leap from his seat and shout “atta boy.”

“I thought he was a really physical player tonight,” Popovich said. “He showed a penchant to stick his nose in and played physically. He was very good in that regard and that’s what we’ve been wanting to see from him.

“He’s a smart player, we already know that, but he’s got to be able to bang and hit and keep up with a physical game like it was tonight -the way it’s going to be in the playoffs.”

Game notes

Parker participated fully in San Antonio’s practice Tuesday, but Popovich said he was still about a week away from rejoining the team. … All but three of San Antonio’s 14 remaining games are against teams with a winning record. … Warriors F Richard Jefferson, who played two seasons with the Spurs, was booed when he entered the game late in the first quarter. … Duncan was assessed a technical foul with 6:59 left for arguing a foul called against De Colo. It was Duncan’s first technical foul since April 15, 2007, against the Dallas Mavericks.

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Irving made it through a full practice on Sunday and took part in the Cavs’ morning shootaround Monday. Barring any setbacks, Cavs coach Byron Scott said Irving will start against the Knicks. The Cavs rested Irving all last week, holding him out of games against Chicago, Toronto and the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Cavs listed Irving as “probable” for the game with the Knicks, who were beaten at home on Sunday by the streaking Miami Heat, winners of 14 straight. Cleveland also listed rookie guard Dion Waiters and center Tyler Zeller as “questionable” because of illness.

The Cavs went 2-1 last week without Irving, who has missed 14 games in his second NBA season because of injuries. He banged knees in practice last month with teammate Omri Casspi and played in two road games despite soreness before the team sat him out. Irving missed 11 games with a broken index finger.

The NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2012, Irving is averaging 23.3 points, 5.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds.

He scored a career-high 41 points on Dec. 15 in a loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Irving played that game wearing a protective mask over a broken jaw.

The Knicks have lost 10 consecutive games in Cleveland.

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Clippers (26-18, 11-10 away) vs Pacers (25-18, 13-6 home)
Coverage: FOX WEST
When: 7:00 PM ET, March 20, 2012
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

After dropping three of four to open their six-game homestand, the Clippers (26-18) finished that grueling eight-day stretch with four-point victories over Houston and Detroit. While Los Angeles averaged just 91.0 points on 40.5 percent shooting in those wins, Paul made half of his 30 shots and totaled 42 points.

He scored 12 of his 23 in the final 2:42 of Saturday’s 95-91 win over the Rockets, then had nine of his 19 in overtime Sunday in an 87-83 victory over the Pistons.

The All-Star point guard is among the NBA’s best with an average of 6.9 points in the fourth quarter.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find a better guy with the ball late in the game than Chris in this league,” said coach Vinny Del Negro, whose team next gets back-to-back days off April 20-21.

While the Clippers sit 1 1/2 games back of the Los Angeles Lakers for the Pacific Division lead, the Pacers (25-18) have virtually no shot of catching the league-best Chicago Bulls in the Central Division after losing six of eight following a season-best 6-0 run.

Indiana has scored over 100 points twice in its last eight games after doing so in each of its previous five.

“Our offense just isn’t working,” forward Danny Granger said Saturday after the Pacers were swept in a home-and-home set by New York with a 102-88 home loss. “We’re not getting the job done. Our goal is to win games, and we’re not going to win games this way.”

Perhaps the addition of veteran guard Leandro Barbosa will provide a spark. Acquired from Toronto on Thursday for a second-round draft pick and cash, Barbosa is expected to make his Pacers debut Tuesday. He scored a team-high 19 points for the Raptors in a 103-91 road loss to the Clippers on Jan. 22.

While Indiana needs to get its offense in gear, it faces a stiff test against All-Star forward Blake Griffin, who had a career-high 47 points in the last meeting, a 114-107 home win for the Clippers on Jan. 17, 2011.

Given the outside shot by the Pacers, Griffin hit a number of tough jumpers and made a career-best 19 field goals while also grabbing 14 rebounds.

Griffin had 12 points with eight boards as the Clippers were routed 107-80 in their last visit to Indianapolis on Nov. 18, 2010.

The Pacers have won four in a row against Western Conference foes and are 9-3 against teams outside the East.

The Clippers have won 11 of 15 against the East, taking four of six on the road.

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