SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- So far so good for the San Antonio Spurs

without Tim Duncan.

With the injured star watching from the bench, Tony Parker

scored 29 points and Kevin Willis added 17 -- season highs for both

players -- and the Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 117-92 on Saturday

night.

Carmelo Anthony, Denver's standout rookie, lamented that his

team didn't take advantage of Duncan's absence.

"When the players hear that the key player on the other team is

out, they just tend to relax or take the opportunity for granted,"

said Anthony, who led the Nuggets with 26 points, 20 in the first

half.

Willis, on the other hand, did take advantage of his 14 minutes

filling in for Duncan. It was his longest outing since November.

"That's part of being a professional," said Willis, who did

not play in seven of San Antonio's previous 12 games. "I don't

know when my name will be called, but I have to be ready when it is

called."

Duncan was placed on the injured list Saturday, two days after

he hurt his leg in a loss to Dallas. He is averaging a team-leading

23.2 points and 13 rebounds in 54 games.

The team says Duncan has an irritation of the left

patellofemoral joint, where the thigh bone meets the knee. His

condition will be reevaluated next week.

The Nuggets never led in the game, but they played San Antonio

close for nearly three quarters.

A pair of free throws by Anthony made the score 66-62 with 4:54

remaining in the third. Parker then keyed a 15-6 run with a pair of

3-pointers to break the game open. Parker made three 3-pointers in

the third, and finished 4-for-4 behind the arc.

San Antonio's defense frustrated Denver in the fourth, limiting

the Nuggets to only six field goals. The Spurs scored 64 points in

the second half.

"I didn't think we could score that many points if we were

locked in a gym with nobody guarding us," quipped San Antonio

coach Gregg Popovich.

Denver coach Jeff Bzdelik scorched his team for putting out a

poor effort.

"We were feeling sorry for ourselves, I guess, from the other

night," he said, referring to the Nuggets' 112-111 loss to the Los

Angeles Lakers on Wednesday in a game in which an official made a

bad call against Denver at the end.

"We gave up 68 points in the paint, which shows no defensive

effort whatsoever," Bzdelik continued. "We were awful

defensively, and we were very selfish and random offensively."

Rasho Nesterovic had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs,

while Malik Rose had 17 points and Hedo Turkoglu 12.

Earl Boykins contributed 15 points and Jon Barry and Rodney

White each had 10 for the Nuggets.

Without its first option on the floor, San Antonio spread out

its offense and pushed the ball in transition from the start.

"Pop asked us to be very aggressive with the ball," Parker

said. "We just tried to run with them and tried to get some easy

baskets."

A 15-footer by Nesterovic gave the Spurs a 19-9 lead late in the

first before Anthony found his range. He scored 12 of his 14

first-quarter points late in the period as Denver cut the Spurs'

lead to five.

Boykins made his first five shots in the second, including a

3-pointer that pulled the Nuggets to 46-45 with 2:59 left in the

half. He had 14 points in the second.

The Spurs ended the period with a 7-2 run capped by Ginobili

penetrating and feeding Nesterovic for a dunk with 3.9 seconds

remaining.<

^Notes:@The Spurs record without Duncan in lineup is 2-3 this season

and 8-11 in his seven-year career. ... Jason Hart, activated Friday

after San Antonio released Ron Mercer, scored two points in four

minutes. ... A third-quarter jumper by Anthony made him Denver's

all-time rookie scoring leader. He broke the record of 1,205 points

set by Laphonso Ellis in 1992-93. ... Anthony is averaging 27.3 ppg

in 11 games in February.