SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Tony Parker had a tough time for three quarters — and then proved that he knows plenty about closing a game.

Parker scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 99-83 on Friday and stay unbeaten at home.

Parker shook off a slow start as the Spurs (8-4) improved to 8-0 at home, their best start since the 2007-08 season when they started 13-0.

"They did a pretty good job on me the first three quarters," Parker said. "I was just trying to wait for my time."

Portland (7-4), meanwhile, lost its second straight game and for only the second time in its last 10 games against San Antonio.

Tiago Splitter scored 14 points for the Spurs, and DeJuan Blair and Danny Green each added 13. Rookie Kawhi Leonard had 11.

Parker made only four of 12 shots and had four turnovers through the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, though, he went 4 of 4 from the field and the free-throw line, had two steals and didn't commit a turnover.

"My teammates were playing great, and then in fourth quarter I felt like it was my moment to be aggressive," Parker said. "I got a couple of steals and made some plays for us to win the game."

LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 29 points. Raymond Felton had 13, and Wes Matthews and Gerald Wallace each had 12.

The Blazers played most of the game without starting center Marcus Camby, the team's leading rebounder. Camby went down with a sprained left ankle with 4:22 to play in the second quarter. After going up for a shot over Blair, Camby immediately went down and grabbed his ankle. Following a timeout, he was helped off the floor and didn't return.

He said after the game that he won't be available for Saturday night's game against Houston, but hopes to return at some point on the road trip. Portland will play its next eight games on the road.

"It's tough, a tough loss," Aldridge said. "We had control both halves. We just let it slip away. It wasn't even their starters tonight. It was their second unit tonight. They put pressure on us. They crashed the boards tonight. They had more energy tonight. We can't have these nights, when we have back-to-backs. I think we had control. We just didn't stay solid."

Leading the way for the Spurs' bench, which outscored Portland's 45-17, was Splitter, who scored nine of the team's 15 points in a rocky third quarter.

"We did a pretty good job, coming from the bench, all the guys playing hard, hard defense," Splitter said. "Gary (Neal) had to play the point guard. We brought the energy and did a good job."

For Parker, it was reminiscent of performances he's seen from Splitter in the past.

"He reminded me of me of when he was in the Euroleague," Parker said, "demanding the ball and making strong moves and if he's going to make his free throws then he is definitely going to be a force inside."

It was inside, in fact, that the Spurs won the game, outrebounding Portland 50-36.

"They don't have any monsters in the paint," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "Tim (Duncan) is good and Blair does a good job, but that's not a lot of length. Rebounding is about work, and we know we need to be a better rebounding team, so everybody has to play a part in that. I thought there were some times when we were assuming a teammate was going to get the board."

Notes: Spurs rookie F Malcolm Thomas, a teammate of Leonard's at San Diego State, played his first NBA game. He went scoreless in two minutes. ... Duncan scored seven points on 3-of-7 shooting. He has 22,805 career points, eight behind Gary Payton for 26th on the NBA career list. ... The Blazers haven't allowed the Spurs to reach 100 points in 12 games. The last time San Antonio reached the mark was Dec. 2, 2007. ... Neal had a large bandage on the top of his head after having to get staples to close a gash. He was hurt when he bumped his head on a medicine cabinet at his house.

Mavericks win fourth in a row, 102-76 over Bucks

DALLAS (AP) — Dirk Nowitzki went over 23,000 career points without having to play too much for the surging Dallas Mavericks. The defending NBA champions are finally on a roll.

Nowitzki became the 23rd NBA player to score 23,000 points before he and the rest of the Dallas starters sat on the bench the entire fourth quarter in a 102-76 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night. The Mavericks have won four in a row. "Milestones are going to be great when I look back on my career in 10 or 15 years," Nowtitzki said. "But as of right now, I'm trying to help this team, and franchise, win as many games as I can. We've been playing better. That's all I'm worried about right now." The Mavericks (7-5) started the season with lopsided losses at home on consecutive days nearly three weeks ago, then lost their first road game for an 0-3 start. They have since won five in a row at home. They matched their season high in scoring against the Bucks, who had the lowest-scoring game by a Dallas opponent. "The first two games were poor to say the least. After that, we were all embarrassed. We had to bounce back and kind of snap out of it," coach Rick Carlisle said. "We were in a two-game whatever you call it, hangover, Christmas funk. Reality hit us really quickly. ... It helped us get our mindset in the right direction. We came out fighting after that." Jason Terry scored 17 points off the bench to lead the Mavs while starter Vince Carter had 16 for his highest-scoring game in Dallas. Roddy Beaubois had 15. Nowitzki, a 10-time All-Star, has played all 1,005 of his career games over 14 seasons for Dallas. He hit the milestone with 7:17 left in the first half. He played only 22 minutes and finished with 11 points, putting him at 23,008, third among active players behind Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. Brandon Jennings had 19 points and Shaun Livingston 15 for the Bucks (4-7), who are undefeated at home but now have an NBA-high seven road losses. "We've been very energetic at home, but we board the plane and we're half-asleep out there," coach Scott Skiles said. Milwaukee was without 7-foot center Andrew Bogut, who was out because of concussion-like symptoms. Bogut fell backward and hit the back of his head on the floor while taking a charge during Thursday night's victory over Detroit. Skiles said Bogut failed a pregame check for concussion symptoms and was ruled out in accordance with the league's concussion policy. With the Mavericks playing again at home Saturday night, before going to the West Coast to start a four-game road trip over six days, their starters got extended rest late with the game out of reach. Carter had 11 of his 16 points while making his first five shots in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game. "I was just trying to give our team a little life at the start," Carter said. "You have to hit first because we've seen teams hit us first and it's effective." Carter, the 13th-year pro that signed with Dallas last month, had a slam dunk on the opening possession. He had a driving layup, another slam and a 3-pointer before a reverse layup with 5:36 left in the first quarter put the Mavs up 18-13. Dallas pushed ahead 74-47 on a 3-pointer by Nowitzki that capped a 14-0 run over a 4-minute span early in the third quarter before Jennings made a jumper. The Bucks had a spurt of 10 consecutive points to get to 77-61 with 2:18 left in the third quarter. That was the closest they got. After Rick Carlisle called a timeout, Terry had a steal. He missed the breakaway layup, but Roddy Beaubois had a follow slam that started a 13-2 spurt. By the time Terry ended that run with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, Dallas led 90-63. "They made a lot of shots, they got a big lead and they never looked back," Jennings said. "We've got to get a least one road win. Geez." NOTES: Dallas led 60-45 at halftime, its highest-scoring half this season. ... Jason Kidd (lower back) missed his fourth consecutive game for Dallas, but is expected to play Saturday night. ... The 16 points by Carter were well short of his career high of 51. ... Bogut just returned Tuesday after missing four games to fly home to Australia to deal with a personal matter. The Bucks have now lost all five games he's missed. -- Stephen Hawkins Mavs' Nowitzki 23rd NBA player to 23,000 points DALLAS (AP) — Dirk Nowitzki became the 23rd NBA player to score 23,000 career points, reaching the milestone with a free throw with 7 minutes left in the second quarter in the Dallas Mavericks' game against Milwaukee on Friday night.

During a timeout less than 2 minutes later, fans stood and cheered when the milestone was announced. Nowitzki, who has spent all of his 14 NBA seasons in Dallas, acknowledged the crowd. "He's had a staggeringly awesome career," coach Rick Carlisle said before the game. "He's right up there (with the best ever)." Nowitzki, playing his 1,005th game, recently made his 8,000th field goal. Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett are the only active players with more points than Nowitzki. Elgin Baylor is next on the career list with 23,149 points. Nowitzki, the 2007 NBA MVP, was the MVP of the NBA finals last season when the Mavericks won their first championship. Dalembert, Lowry leads Rockets past Kings

HOUSTON (AP) — Samuel Dalembert had the best game in his short career as a Houston Rocket on Friday night. The fact that he did it against former team probably wasn't a coincidence.