Spurs 118, Warriors 98 // Record: 15-2

The best backcourts in the NBA faced off last night in Oakland and the Spurs remained the only unbeaten team on the road with a 20-point win over the Golden State Warriors.

The big story last night was that Tim Duncan recorded a triple double with 15 points, 18 rebounds and a career-high-tying 11 assists. I had the pleasure of watching the game at Oracle Arena. (You can see a few game photos I took on my Droid X and posted to Twitter. Next time, remind me to bring a proper Digital SLR camera.)

Back to last night’s game…

It’s Duncan’s first triple double since May 29, 2008 when he had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals. The Spurs lost that game, which denied them a shot to defend their NBA title that year.

They didn’t waste Duncan’s huge game this time.

“I couldn’t make a shot so I figured I’d pass it and let somebody else make a shot,” Duncan said. “I wasn’t trying to do it. Just the flow of the game and the plays that were being called.”

Late in the third quarter, when Timmy needed just one assist to get the triple, my Warriors fan friend asked, “How many career triple doubles does Duncan have?” I replied, “I don’t know, but I’d guess a couple dozen.”

Boy, was I waaay off. Who knew the answer was two?! Hard to believe, but last night was only Duncan’s third career triple double. I thought he had more. It seems like he should have more than three. David Robinson recorded five triple-doubles in a SINGLE SEASON, including the fourth quadruple-double in NBA history with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocks vs. Detroit on 2/17/94.

Video, game story, box score and play-by-play at NBA.com.